How to pronounce “confucian” in English

often in the sound bite driven commentary, and even in Chinese media as well, as transcending generations. Consider for example the supposedly timeless Chinese attachment to quote unquoteConfucian values; such as social harmony. The oldest residents of the PRC can remember a time when China was governed by a non-communist regime, that of Chiang Kai-Shekthat venerated Confucius and made much of the need to follow his moral dictates. For Chinese born between the mid to late 1940's and early 1960's by contrast, the current

And it probably comes partly cultural.Confucianism, which has been part the Chinese culture as well as many Asian cultures there, value scholarship not because it's supposed to help make you wealthy.The idea is that education and educating oneself is for the common good--for the common good of society.

They're also different, and this fits with this orderliness, that Xi Jinping talks positively about Confucius and Confucian traditions in China.And Confucian traditions are based on kind of stable hierarchies, for the most part, and sort of clear categories of superior and inferior,whereas Mao like things to be turned upside down.

that society was becoming corrupted and was going away from that sort of purity of the sages when the relationships were all in order.So Confucianism was a kind of conservative or even backward-looking thing.It wasn't arguing for progress, it was arguing for reclaiming a pure golden age in the past.

between different competing political groups over which part of the Chinese past to connect with.Was it to the Confucian tradition or to the kind of rebellious Monkey King tradition, which was what Mao connected to.Xi Jinping, and before him, to some extent, you know, hu Jintao, we saw this a little bit, the Olympics, it was more this kind of mix it all together view.

That's always been throughout Chinese history.And that relates to Confucianism.Now, the opportunities, and coming back to the competition point is that the opportunity's getting slimmer and slimmer.

whereas Mao like things to be turned upside down.He thought of Confucianism as a futile way of thought that it hold held China back.So you can come up with things that they're similar and you can come up with things where they're really opposites.

kind of translation and how do you figure out when you're supposed to put them in or out if you have a machinedynastic times and when Confucianism was very strong that the idea of love and

They are the ideas that first of all, that correct and benevolent behavior towards one another is what makes a person virtuous or moral.The ultimate aim in the Confucian system of thought was to become a jinsa-- a gentleman, a person of integrity--or even a sheng-- a sage, someone who really had the level of wisdom.

in Chinese society, as it did in many other societies around the world.So bearing in mind that the Confucian system of thought for good or ill changing in various ways had the same sort of cultural influencethat Christianity or Greco classical, Greco Roman classical norms did on large parts of the Western and Mediterranean world

And that particular paradox is one that has shaped the China we see today.is as far from the old Confucian norms as you could possibly imagine.

Very secret, very hush-hush.It was like "Mission Impossible" with Confucian scholar kings.And he gets his scholars together.

So you described the China's economy model is rooted in its history.So can we talk about Confucianism?Can you explain to what degree those roots run back to Confucianism, and in general, to other parts of Chinese history?

Even something that in the West, we often think of as a kind of quintessentially egalitarian relationship between brothers,in the Chinese tradition of Confucianism, there was only older brother and younger brother.Brotherhood was not an egalitarian relationship.

with this history, it is often ignored or glossed over in school books and their parents sometimes prefer not to talk about it. There's nothing remarkable at all about PresidentHu Jintao's claim that communism and Confucianism are compatible rather than opposite ideas.So these are some images that would seem ordinary to some Chinese of a certain age and extraordinary for others, things people they thought they would never see, things that they've simply

Often it was a very kind of forceful form of education.But I think that's a carryover from the Confucian times.And over time, this Confucian idea led to the creation of one of the early great civil service exams,

But I think that's a carryover from the Confucian times.And over time, this Confucian idea led to the creation of one of the early great civil service exams,an idea that bureaucracy should be run not by people who were born into the right families, but ones who had shown their ability

Something else is kind of taking over in a way.And so this is the thing that as a Confucian ruler allows you to cause people to follow you without coercion.

All of a sudden you find yourself not quite fitting in with a group.I have to say that my father's Confucian values kind of went a little bit deeper than just food and language and that type of thing.And his values were especially pronounced and especially deep in the area of authority and humility, and how the different roles in the family-- as the youngest

So, is this Western culture pollution or Eastern cultural appropriation or subversion?And to use Lady Gaga to preach for Confucian family values seems to me pretty cool, especially coming from a groupof very euphoric senior citizens.

So can we talk about Confucianism?Can you explain to what degree those roots run back to Confucianism, and in general, to other parts of Chinese history?- Yeah, Confucianism is more of a moral philosophy than let's say religion or a belief system.

Can you explain to what degree those roots run back to Confucianism, and in general, to other parts of Chinese history?- Yeah, Confucianism is more of a moral philosophy than let's say religion or a belief system.It prioritizes social harmony above anything else.

kind of translation and how do you figure out when you're supposed to put them in or out if you have a machineinterestingly kind of flipping back to a little bit of Confucianism about

But now the whole globe, through internet commerce, is a large market.of your family, because in the Confucian-- you might have a lot of money, but in the Confucian hierarchy, you were low down.

That's exactly what it was.At this time, if you know anything about Confucian society, taking the tests in Chinese to prove how great you are at Chineseis what got you a place in the government, which are the best jobs.

So there's a very strong emphasis that you as a citizen have a responsibility to contribute to society as a whole.- On the education side, a part of Confucianism is a value for meritocracy.So how does that permeate the education system in China?

Now that seems like a strong statement, but let me give again another of their examples before I bring it to our own age.So I mentioned this guy Confucius that we tend to associate with Confucianism, this idea that we should just follow a bunch of ritualsto train us into being certain types of beings.

But if heaven has removed his support, then the rebellion will succeed, and then a new ruler will be justified in taking power.So it's an interesting sense that the universe, in this Confucian view, has a kind of moral dimension to it.But it's when things actually happen that you see where the side of morality is.

It's this idea that our parents arrived here penniless strangers from another shore, that if we got an A-minus on a report card, we were beaten.It's the diligent, up by your own bootstraps myth with a Confucian twist, with a slightly different lookto it. And what I'd like to do is debunk this model minority myth, explain why, like every racial stereotype,

And it controlled for the effects of gravity.Because it's not part of the culture, certainly not part of Confucian cultures.

At the same time, something else, which again is not very compatible with the modern world is the idea that hierarchy--relationships and hierarchical relationships-- are not just necessary, but actually positively important in the Confucian world.So that could be the relationship between the ruler and the ruled; or I have to say, between the husband and the wife,

but the problem. The person whose ideas of hierarchy, of benevolence, of trying to keep a sort of ordered society, had held China back.And they said, well, if Confucian thought gets us invaded by the West and leads China into disaster, then we need a very different way of thinking.And Chairman Mao-- Mao Tse-Tung's thinking, and the thinking of the Chinese Communist Party was perhaps the most radical break with Confucius that

We're certainly not living our own lives.So China kind of exemplifies our stereotypes of a traditional world, both in the Confucian focus on social roles and even in the more positive waywe tend to think of it, Daoist notion of sort of harmonizing with the larger natural world.

That was absolutely forbidden.And I-- I mean, I get into some of the differences between Eastern-- Eastern-- Chinese Confucian views on creativity and Western views.

So I have lots of stories and a lot of experience that crosses cultures, because I grew up very bicultural.My father was very Chinese, and my parents had very strong Confucian values which they instilled in us.There was no English spoken at home.

In fact, the satirical and rebellious "Gangnam Style" might even be considered unseemly to China's censors and cultural guardians.Instead, Hu Jintao encouraged the development of Chinese national culture rooted in Confucian tradition capable ofcountering Western cultural influence.

And he had the same notion that then the emperor to the ministers were...These were all parallels, and there were no egalitarian relationships in Confucianism.Even something that in the West, we often think of as a kind of quintessentially egalitarian relationship between brothers,

and all about actually a progressive view of history moving from one stage to the next.- So that's the interesting thing about Xi Jinping and the China today is there is that tension of Confucianism and communismwhere communism Marxism is supposed to, you know, let go of history, and Confucianism, there's a real veneration of history that's happening in China of today.

So you can, you know, there are a lot of ways that they're similar, a lot of ways they're different.They're also different, and this fits with this orderliness, that Xi Jinping talks positively about Confucius and Confucian traditions in China.And Confucian traditions are based on kind of stable hierarchies, for the most part, and sort of clear categories of superior and inferior,

And he has kickass martial-arts skills, but he also has great wisdom, you know, Daoist, and Confucian, and Buddhist wisdom

I think for them, it probably just feels very black and white, sort of that Confucian household where kids are supposed to revere their parents,

bearing in mind this was a long, long time ago; or between the teacher and the student.Again, that education, that bit of learning very central to the Confucian worldview.In a sense, the only one of the five great relationships as they are called in the Confucian world that's purely equal--

Again, that education, that bit of learning very central to the Confucian worldview.In a sense, the only one of the five great relationships as they are called in the Confucian world that's purely equal--non-hierarchical-- is the relationship between a friend and another friend.

And that particular paradox is one that has shaped the China we see today.After half a century or more of Confucius being downgraded or condemned by Mao as a feudal character, now we're back in a world where Confucian language--

And that particular paradox is one that has shaped the China we see today.So one favorite phrase of Mr. Hu-- -- the harmonious society, a very Confucian-sounding phrase, became a standard part of the political rhetoric.

And I wanted to shape the new generation of Chinese, which is not very historical, heavy handed in Confucian tradition, but someone totally in love with the Sex Pistols,

about quote unquote what their experience was making it and actually working in the United States.And so when you start unpacking that, it's interesting because-- let's take the value of humility, which is a very, very strong Asian Confucian value.

And that's been a continuity and that connects them to the leaders in between them two as well.- So there's some degree, as you said, that Xi Jinping has pauses the ideas of communism and the ideas of Confucianism.So let's go all the way back.

- So that's the interesting thing about Xi Jinping and the China today is there is that tension of Confucianism and communismwhere communism Marxism is supposed to, you know, let go of history, and Confucianism, there's a real veneration of history that's happening in China of today.So they're able to wear both hats and balance it.