Ethical point
AS a student of 'rising east Asian' industrial civilisations, I found both the original article and Chris Hale's letter (South China Morning Post, March 23) interesting.
During the Cultural Revolution, Confucian teachings were blamed as the cause of China's socio-economic problems. The spirit of Confucius has been with east Asins for about 2000 years. During which, the original teachings have been modified.
In 1980, Robert Macfarquhar (of Harvard University) said Confucian ideals were conducive to industrialisation and development. It is now widely accepted that development in east Asia has been fuelled by the combinatin of ancient Confucian ethics and Western utilitarianism.
That the Japanese, the Koreans and the Chinese have merged these two different philosophies speaks well fot them.
We cannot identify Confucianism as a definite set of ethics of ideas, It has changed with the influence of various cultures. Ideals such as promotion of the group at the expense of the individual could never be accepted in the modern west.
However, there is no agreement that Confucian ethics are superior to western ideas. After all, industrialisation was born in the west but east Asian societies are still plagued by the same social, economic ills.
M. Kashayap, Clear Water Bay
