Jeffrey Wasserstrom

Xi Jinping, and before him, to some extent, Hu Jintao, we saw this a little bit at the Olympics, there was more of this kind of mix-it-all-together view. Anything that suggested greatness in the past could be something that could be fused together. So Xi Jinping says that Mao is one of his heroes or one of the people he looks to as a model, but so is Confucius. And

Xi Jinping, and before him, to some extent, Hu Jintao, we saw this a little bit at the Olympics, there was more of this kind of mix-it-all-together view. Anything that suggested greatness in the past could be something that could be fused together. So Xi Jinping says that Mao is one of his heroes or one of the people he looks to as a model, but so is Confucius. And

Xi Jinping, and before him, to some extent, Hu Jintao, we saw this a little bit at the Olympics, there was more of this kind of mix-it-all-together view. Anything that suggested greatness in the past could be something that could be fused together. So Xi Jinping says that Mao is one of his heroes or one of the people he looks to as a model, but so is Confucius. And

There's really, they had so little in common, but they both in his mind and the minds of others suggest a kind of power and greatness of the Chinese past.

There's really, they had so little in common, but they both in his mind and the minds of others suggest a kind of power and greatness of the Chinese past.

There's really, they had so little in common, but they both in his mind and the minds of others suggest a kind of power and greatness of the Chinese past.

Yeah, and it involves smoothing out all kinds of internal contradictions. You had the first emperor of China, jumping forward a bit in 221 BC, he is anti-scholars. He burns books and he doesn't venerate these kind of rituals and things. So he was very much against the things that Confucius stood for. And Mao, in a sense of having to choose between Confucius and the first emperor,

Yeah, and it involves smoothing out all kinds of internal contradictions. You had the first emperor of China, jumping forward a bit in 221 BC, he is anti-scholars. He burns books and he doesn't venerate these kind of rituals and things. So he was very much against the things that Confucius stood for. And Mao, in a sense of having to choose between Confucius and the first emperor,

Yeah, and it involves smoothing out all kinds of internal contradictions. You had the first emperor of China, jumping forward a bit in 221 BC, he is anti-scholars. He burns books and he doesn't venerate these kind of rituals and things. So he was very much against the things that Confucius stood for. And Mao, in a sense of having to choose between Confucius and the first emperor,

He said, well, maybe the first emperor had the right idea. You know, scholars can be a pain. So he said, like, if you have to choose between Confucianism and that. But Xi Jinping, I think, continually is kind of not choosing. And if he wants to say, well, look at the Great Wall, look at this wonderful—in fact, that was a symbol of kind of strength and domination related to the first emperor—

He said, well, maybe the first emperor had the right idea. You know, scholars can be a pain. So he said, like, if you have to choose between Confucianism and that. But Xi Jinping, I think, continually is kind of not choosing. And if he wants to say, well, look at the Great Wall, look at this wonderful—in fact, that was a symbol of kind of strength and domination related to the first emperor—

He said, well, maybe the first emperor had the right idea. You know, scholars can be a pain. So he said, like, if you have to choose between Confucianism and that. But Xi Jinping, I think, continually is kind of not choosing. And if he wants to say, well, look at the Great Wall, look at this wonderful—in fact, that was a symbol of kind of strength and domination related to the first emperor—

who, by the way, didn't build anything like the Great Wall you see today. He built walls, and they were fine. They were good. But the Great Wall itself didn't come into being until many centuries later. But still, this idea of anything that suggests a kind of greatness is something that has, in many ways, a nationalist above all else. Xi Jinping is a

who, by the way, didn't build anything like the Great Wall you see today. He built walls, and they were fine. They were good. But the Great Wall itself didn't come into being until many centuries later. But still, this idea of anything that suggests a kind of greatness is something that has, in many ways, a nationalist above all else. Xi Jinping is a

who, by the way, didn't build anything like the Great Wall you see today. He built walls, and they were fine. They were good. But the Great Wall itself didn't come into being until many centuries later. But still, this idea of anything that suggests a kind of greatness is something that has, in many ways, a nationalist above all else. Xi Jinping is a

supporter of the party and single party rule that's something he clearly believes in and he's um a nationalist he wants to see china be great and acknowledged as great on the world stage boy so many contradictions always with stalin he was a communist but also a nationalist right that contradiction is

supporter of the party and single party rule that's something he clearly believes in and he's um a nationalist he wants to see china be great and acknowledged as great on the world stage boy so many contradictions always with stalin he was a communist but also a nationalist right that contradiction is

supporter of the party and single party rule that's something he clearly believes in and he's um a nationalist he wants to see china be great and acknowledged as great on the world stage boy so many contradictions always with stalin he was a communist but also a nationalist right that contradiction is

Sure. So there's an optimism to this. There's an optimism in the sense of an ability that people can be good. And when exposed to exemplary figures from the past, they'll want to be like those exemplary figures. So it's a form of education through kind of emulation of models and study of past figures and past texts. were exemplary.

Sure. So there's an optimism to this. There's an optimism in the sense of an ability that people can be good. And when exposed to exemplary figures from the past, they'll want to be like those exemplary figures. So it's a form of education through kind of emulation of models and study of past figures and past texts. were exemplary.