Picture of the day: Come-and-go of Confucius A mammoth sculpture
of the ancient philosopher Confucius was unveiled in early
January off one side of highly symbolic Tiananmen Square. China
watchers and media home and abroad paid much attention to it as
it could signal that the authorities is preaching Confucianism.
However, Wednesday night, the sculpture was gone. The sudden
disappearance once again led to widespread speculation as to
what that means to the political prospect of the country. If you
are wondering why Chinese people make a fuss about the come-and-
go of a statue, you should know the core ideas of this ancient
philosopher. Confucianism stresses harmony of relationships that
are hierarchical yet provide benefits to both superior and
inferior, a thought deemed useful and advantageous to Chinese
authoritarian rulers of all times for its careful preservation
of the class system. However, after the Communist Party took
over China in 1949, Mao Zedong, who was then an advocate for
egalitarian values and