radictory of the Confucian states both in terms of its economic development and the changing role that Confucianism has played in China. At the same time China is perhaps the best example of how Confucianism has been reinvented and used to serve the ends of its reigning leaders. As Chan points out; there has been a "periodic demand on the service of Confucianism in Chinese history".2 This can be seen in the governing practices from the Qing dynasty to Mao Zedong, and presently with Deng Xiaoping. Here we will begin with the contradictions of Communist rule in China. Lucian W. Pye in his examination of Confucianism in East Asian societies gives us the cultural dimensions of Chinese society, based on Confucianism which gives China its specific fixation with its leaders and how they "reign" rather than effectively rule or govern. China more so than any other of the Asian states has been unable to effectively adapt Confucianism to become utilitarian in achieving modernization and industrialization. The main reasons for this are firstly China's dilemma with power which historically can only be expressed in moralistic terms and secondly seeing relations always in hierarchical terms and attributing almost unlimited potential to those at the top.3 Power as ritual or status with the leader being the center of all and an end unto himself, embodying the whole collective has meant that China has had serious problems in moving toward modernization. With the advent of Communism in 1949, Confucianism was seemingly rejected as valueless as a social philosophy in favour of Mao-Zedong thought. However in reality it may be said that Mao himself became the New Emperor, receiving the mandate of heaven. Certainly his social policies of the "Great Leap Forward" and the "Cultural Revolution" indicate this. Mao sought what Lifton described as "revolutionary immortality". The Chinese people accepted the leader's vision of a bright tomorrow unquestioningly. The ...
