China's Prosperity: Capitalist, Communist or "Non-Rational"

"Yang Chien, the founding emperor of the Sui dynasty, came to power in 581 and though the dynasty itself lasted less than forty years, it's accomplishments, as Arthur Wright has written were 'prodigious and its effects on the later history of China were far reaching.' It was also a time marked by the revival of religious traditions, for Sui Wén-ti (Yang Chien) actively sought the support and sanction of all three religions, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism - to consolidate his empire, thus reversing the persecutive policies of some of his predecessors in the Northern Chou dynasty and providing exemplary actions for the early T'ang emperors in the next dynasty."¹

Our analysis begins with a response to The Next Great Transformation², John Feffer's excellent analysis of Chinese economic success in today's world in which he attributes the country's growth at least in part, to the communist government in Bejing. He begins:

"By one estimate, China has been at the top of the global economy for 18 out of the last 20 centuries. That's an impressive track record, whatever you might think of imperialism, communism, and all the other systems that have prevailed in that vast country over the centuries."

Feffer writes, "The common wisdom is that the Chinese economy has prospered in the last two decades despite rather than because of communism." ... and then asks, "But what if the Chinese [communist] government, for all of its defects, has been part of the solution rather than part of the problem?"

Western governments and economists' analyses begin from the typical anti-communist perspective, assuming that China's economic growth reflects a Western economic model while viewing the communist government as, "dead weight: corrupt, censoring, and clinging to its poorly performing state-owned enterprises."² Who can plumb the depths of such ignorance at the highest levels of Western governments, think tanks, universities, intellectuals, economists, and religious leaders?

The Western media would have us believe that the Central Government in Beijing consists of moldy old communists who have been salted away in back rooms of the politburo in Beijing, rendered impotent by the glorious advance of free market economics and globalization. Such views smack of the myth that Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviets and destroyed the Berlin wall with his own sledgehammer in one hand while cutting weeds from his horse with the other on his California ranch. It should be obvious that China's economic engine is not at odds with their government; rather, the two have been working in collusion with one another to build their economy into the powerhouse we see today.

Feffer points out two things in particular that China has done right:

It learned from its Eastern neighbors' experience and began making wise investiment decisions beginning in the 1980s.
That a strong central government that controls the direction of its ward, the nation, can be a good thing. China directly invested its resources into things that really matter: education and a better educated work force; technology for clean, renewable energy including wind turbines, solar panels and hydroelectric dams.

Feffer's analysis is accurate and makes perfect sense: China's economic growth is due to their economic policies as an extension of their current financial sectors and communist government. His emphasis on "a strong central government" is interesting. In varying degrees, Western governments hide their despotic ruling class behind claims of having democratic systems. For example, today's "wars on terror" are being executed on the pretext of spreading democracy while overriding the will of their own people in the west. China makes no such "democratic" claims and achieves economic, environmental and social success by openly and directly ordering the direction and conduct of the nation from it's highest level of government in Beijing. It's not to question of whether central governments are making decisions; rather it's to question the decisions themselves. Feffer emphasizes this point:

"Even President Obama made a nod in China's direction in last week's State of the Union address. 'We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century,' he said. 'And yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient'."

China's Tap Root for Governance

Here, we suggest that the Chinese govern from a place, much deeper and far less obvious than recent Western inventions of "free market capitalism" and globalization. It's political philosophy even predates the communist revolution when Mao founded the People's Republic of China in 1949. Remember Feffer's notation, "By one estimate, China has been at the top of the global economy for 18 out of the last 20 centuries." The reasons for China's 18 century-long economic success lies in a consciousness that reaches far beyond recent economic models of capitalism and communism. It is embedded in a relationship China has with nature and human intercourse that is incomprehensible within the paradigms of Western rationalism.

In his renown book, Introduction to Zen Buddhism, D.T. Suzuki wrote,

"Zen is decidedly not a system founded upon logic and analysis. If anything, it is antipode to logic, by which I mean the dualistic mode of thinking.

"The reason why Zen is so vehement in its attack on logic, and why this present work treats first the illogical aspects of Zen is that logic has so pervasively entered into life as to make most of us conclude that logic is life and without it life has no significance."³

Feffer postulates causation with an "either-or", or "both" analysis, i.e. Suzuki's "dualistic mode of thinking". From the Chinese insight penetration into pure nature, including all things human, springs decision-making processes, social, economic and political, that come from different region that lies at the core of the human mind. This is not to say that President Hú Jintāo or his economic advisors go to meditate in a Buddhist temple to await insight for making decisions, although some of them may do so. It is to say that a wisdom derived from China's indigenous heritage, Taoism, and from Confucianism and Buddhism, imported from India, shapes or at least influences practical, everyday decisions in governmental and economic policy. A rebuttal, arguing that communists are atheists, rejecting religion altogether, misunderstands these 3 faiths which at their highest levels are not "religions" at all. Rather they are ways of "knowing". D.T. Suzuki, who is one of the world's leading authorities on Zen Buddhism, explains,

"Is Zen a religion? It is not a religion in the sense that the term is popularly understood; for Zen has no God to worship, no ceremonial rites to observe, no future abode to which the dead are destined, and last of all, Zen has no soul whose welfare is to be looked after by somebody else and whose immortality is a matter of intense concern with some people. Zen is free from all these dogmatic and "religious" encumbrances. When I say there is no God in Zen, the reader may be shocked, but this does not mean that Zen denies the existance of God; neither denial nor affirmation concerns Zen. When a thing is denied, the very denial involves something not to be denied. The same can be said of affirmation. This is the inevitable in logic. Zen wants to rise above logic, Zen wants to find a higher affirmation where there are no antitheses. Therefore, in Zen, God is neither denied nor insisted upon; only there is in Zen no such God as has been conceived by Jewish and Christian minds. For the same reason that Zen is not a philosophy, Zen is not a religion"³

Likewise, this reaction is uninformed about President Hu Jintao himself. During the 1960's Hu was a strong follower of Buddhism and even preached the Buddhist principle in Tibet for 3 years.⁴ In March, 2006, he released the "core Socialist moral system" entitled the "Eight Honors and Eight Shames" as a set of moral codes to be followed by the Chinese people, and emphasized the need to spread the message to youth. The codes contained eight poetic lines which summarized what a good citizen should consider to be honorable and shameful and their virtues can easily be sourced to the teachings of Buddha. The Xinhua News Agency⁵ translated the code into English:

Love the country; do it no harm
Serve the people; never betray them
Follow science; discard superstition
Be diligent; not indolent
Be united, help each other; make no gains at other's expense
Be honest and trustworthy; do not sacrifice ethics for profit
Be disciplined and law-abiding; not chaotic and lawless
Live plainly, work hard; do not wallow in luxuries and pleasures.

If a Western president issued a similar code of ethics, we would read prattle from the corporate media, criticizing him or her for intruding into the personal lives of citizens. That thinking is traceable to relativism which denies absolute truth and preaches the illusory "freedom" of individuals, breaking down social mores of conviviality and order. Those "freedoms" are melted down from this relativism which is a bastard child of rationalism. We see similar attacks for example, against Venezuela's President Chavez who has the courage to enforce principles of morality on a rogue media that imposes its anti-values on youth and adults alike. This enforcement of the media can be found in Venezuela's "Law of Social Responsibility in Radio and Television" (LSR).⁶ When the LSR, was recently extended to cover cable television, the western, corporate media immediately launched a massive campaign, condemning the LSR as "dictatorial" and "crushing free speech", in an attempt to defend their own lucrative sewage.

In the west, legal experts would argue that value systems undergird a nation's constitutional law and thus provide a moral compass for governance. Legislators, corrupted by corporations and lobbies, have destroyed that argument. Their laws and the courts that interpret them are used to defend violations of civil liberties and human rights, torture, corporate theft, bank bailouts, racism, crimes against humanity and the earth itself ... and war.

The Rational, Irrational and Non-Rational

Western governments make decisions, strictly from paradigms drawn from capitalism and materialism which can easily be traced directly to western rationalism. Rationalism has become the religion of the west and its "theology" judges all things either rational or irrational. In turn, it claims sovereign lordship over pure science, turning it into a "scientism". This reductionist view assumes that all ultimate questions about life on this planet can be only understood by utilizing the rules of the scientific method. It follows that Christianity today is at bottom, a rationalist religion in denial of its mystical roots. In contrast, decisions Chinese, do not necessarily stem from either, rational nor irrational perspectives. Rather, the Chinese consciousness springs from a non-rational epistemology (way of knowing). Make no mistake - the non-rational mind does not exclude the use of rational, logical or scientific principles in micro-solving specific problems, when appropriate. The "non-rational" use of logic can be understood by imagining that you are tasked to turn a screw into a piece of wood, having a variety of tools from which to choose. The logical choice is the screwdriver and not the hammer, wrench or pliers. The non-rational mind would apply logic, choosing the proper tool for the task. When solving a mathematical problem, logic and rational thinking are tools of choice. But the Eastern mind distrusts these tools for answering questions about who we are and how we should conduct our lives as individuals or nations. Contrary to what we've been taught in Western schools from elementary school to university, some questions simply do not lend themselves to scientific analysis and resolution.

It is commonly thought that women are particularly gifted with non-rational abilities. In the vice-like, male dominated, rational mind, this "non-rational" thinking is often sidelined as "women's intuition" which neither honors women nor manifests any credulity in non-rational knowing, scoffing at all things that cannot be explained scientifically. Thus, women and their sometimes non-rational solutions are stereotyped in images of the fortune teller or palm reader behind a beaded curtain or even to witchcraft for which women were once burned.

The Western mind on the other hand, assumes that all questions are subject to empirical analysis and can be answered scientifically. Dualistic, rational solutions are the only tools in their box and their application to the "big questions" are found wanting to say the least, often resulting in environmental insult, lust, greed, prostitution, theft, violence, corruption and even in making war on other nations. After all, the scientific creation of nuclear weapons or nuclear energy avoids the moral questions altogether - or simply rationalizes regrettable decisions made.

Summary

Students of Chinese history and culture know that this giant is steeped in a view of the universe that few westerners can understand. Beneath their long history of dynastic rule, swelled a spiritual sea that was pervasive throughout the population and leadership for thousands of years. It permeated the "mind" of China and became woven into it's language, culture and political life. From Qin Shi Huang (221 BC) who formed the first unified Chinese state to leaders of the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms and the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties - all were steeped in Taoism, China's indigenous faith, Confucianism and Buddhism, frequently seeking practical advice and guidance from their spiritual teachers. Under the influence of these teachings, the Chinese gained deep respect for the earth and learned strategies and tactics for economic development, social structures, foreign policy, national defense and strategic warfare.

Chinese history for millenia is replete with stories of heads of state, appealing to spiritual teachers for guidance and advice. One of these is the 4 volume, 100 chapter epic, The Journey to the West. This popular story has been passed on orally and in writing since the 7th century. It's effectiveness in penetrating Chinese culture is due to the wisdom revealed to those who approach it for guidance - and alternatively, to those who read it simply as a wonderful story filled with humor and drama. It's about the second emperor of the Tang dynasty (627-649) who sends Hsuan-tsang, an orphaned monk, to India (referred to as "the west") to obtain the scriptures from Buddha and Hsuan-tsang's long and complicated pilgrimage that often reflects our struggles in daily life. The emperor's decision to seek the scriptures and his choice of the monk are described:

"The hallowed clouds of the Bodhisattva gradually drifted away, and in a little while the golden light disappeared. From midair came floating down a slip of paper on which were plainly written several lines in the style of the sung.

"We greet the great Ruler of T'ang with scripts most sublime of the West. The way: a hundred and eight thousand miles. Seek earnestly this Mahayana. These Books, when they reach your fair state, can redeem damned spirits from Hell. If someone is willing to go, he'll become a Buddha of gold.

"When T'ai-tsung saw the sung, he said to the various monks: 'Let's stop the mass. Wait until I have sent someone to bring back the scriptures of the Great Vehicle. We shall then renew our sincere effort to cultivate the fruits of virtue' ... Hardly had he finished speaking when the Master of the Law (Hsuan-tsang) stepped from the side and saluted him, saying, 'Though your poor monk has no talents, he is ready to perform the service of a dog and a horse. I shall seek these true scriptures on behalf of your majesty, that the empire of our king may be firm and everlasting.' The T'ang emperor was highly pleased. He went forward to raise up the monk with his royal hands, saying, 'If the Master is willing to express his loyalty in this way, undaunted by the great distance or by the journey over mountains and streams, we are willing to become bond brothers with you.' Hsuan-tsang touched his forehead to the ground to express his gratitude. Being indeed a righteous man, the T'ang emperor went at once before Buddha's image in the temple and bowed to Hsuan-tsang four times, addressing him as 'Our brother and holy monk'."⁷

"The rich T'ang ruler issued a decree. Deputing (authorizing) Hsuan-tsang to seek the source of Zen. He bent his mind to find the Dragon Den. Firmly resolved to climb the Vulture Peak. Through how many states did he roam beyond his own? Through clouds and hills he passed ten thousand times. He now leaves the Throne to go to the West; He'll keep the law and faith to reach the Great Void."⁸

During the long, long journey to India with his 3 brave (but very funny)disciples, the Tang Emperor's monk, Hsuan-tsang, encountered 4 Taoists, who before tempting him by presenting a beautiful lady friend, asked him to teach them "the rudiments of the Law of Zen". Hsuan-tsang gave to them - and us - this glimpse into the teachings of Buddha⁹:

To seek the truth you must perceive the mallet and tongs of Primal Origin;
To intuit the Real you must perceive the technique of Sakyamuni.
Make known the power of mindlessness;
Tread and shatter Nirvana.
By means of the awakening of awakening, you must
Comprehend the enlightenment of enlightenment.
One spark of spiritual light is the protector of all.
Let the fierce flame shine like a dancer's robe.
Dominating the dharma realm as the one object seen.
Pierce the dark and tenuous;
Fortify also the strong.
This mysterious pass, thus spoken of, who can go through?
Mine's the originally practiced Zen of great awakening,
Retained and known only by those having affinity and will.

Conclusion

Certainly China has experienced brutal rulers, foreign and civil wars, internal strife, has undergone broad social changes over the centuries. But through it all, the Chinese have always been undergirded with a profound reverence for nature, humanity and social propriety. That undergirding has been the centering point to which they have always returned and we see it manifest in China's domestic and foreign policies today. The Taoists refer to it as "the true self" or "the void" or "Tao". Given this history, China's economic success, as a product in part of communism, should not be surprising. The precepts and principles found in China's spiritual underpinnings are in accord with "the natural order of things" even when realized under dynastic rule and strong central governments. They stand in contrast with Western values and practices of individualism, arrogance, immediate gratification and blind aggression. No modern economic system is more congruent with the natural order of things than socialism.

The non-rational world view that has been developing in China for 2000 years, inclusive of logic and science as tools, is not one that can be superficially copied - a mistake often made in the West. It is one that must be lived by real people and real leaders - for millenia - to be understood and practiced as a nation.

References:

Anthony C. Yu, Translator, The Journey to the West, Introduction, p. 282
The Next Great Transformation, Instituted for Policy Studies, by John Feffer.
D.T. Suzuki, Introduction to Zen Buddhism, Grove Weidenfeld, NY 1964
Wikipedia Hu Jintao
Xinhua News, CPC promotes "core value system" to lay moral foundation for social harmony
Axis of Logic, Venezuela's New Cable TV Law, Arturo Rosales and Les Blough
Anthony C. Yu, Translator, The Journey to the West Introduction, Volume 1, p. 278
Ibid, p. 282
Anthony C. Yu, Translator, The Journey to the West Introduction, Volume 3, Chapter 64, p.227