A Historical Inquiry into the CPC’s Century-Long Evaluation of Confucianism and Its Return to the “Great Unity” Cultural Tradition

Authors

• Ye Liu, Shanxi University & Boston UniversityFollow

Keywords

Communist Party of China (CPC), Confucianism, Great Unity, Chinese civilization, Sinicization of Marxism

Abstract

Since its founding, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has undergone a complex trajectory in its attitude toward Confucius and Confucianism — from fierce critique to rational inheritance, and then to confident promotion. This century-long evolution profoundly reflects shifts in the CPC’s revolutionary tasks and ideological orientations at different historical stages, and it also mirrors the continuity and transformation of the Chinese civilization’s “Great Unity” (大一统) cultural tradition within a modern political context. This evolution can be divided into four stages: the revolutionary period, the Mao Zedong period after the founding of the PRC, the reform and openingup period, and the new era under Xi Jinping. The historical turns and adjustments in the CPC’s attitude toward Confucianism were not only strategic choices made to meet the political needs of different eras, but also manifestations of the CPC’s gradual affirmation of its own positive traditional culture in the process of the Sinicization of Marxism. This study aims to conduct a systematic examination of the CPC’s view of Confucianism and its causes across these stages, with particular emphasis on analyzing the deep cultural-logic role played by the enduring “Great Unity” ideal of Chinese civilization, and on revealing it as the underlying thread running through the CPC’s century-long evolution in its view of Confucianism. At present, the CPC approaches the positive traditional Chinese culture represented by Confucius with a high degree of cultural confidence, regarding it as an important spiritual resource for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. A systematic inquiry into the historical evolution of the CPC’s view of Confucianism not only helps to deepen understanding of the interaction between tradition and modernity in contemporary Chinese political culture, but also, from a cross-civilizational comparative perspective, helps to reveal differences between Chinese and Western national discourse systems, thereby possessing significant theoretical significance and practical value.

Recommended Citation

Liu, Ye (2026) "A Historical Inquiry into the CPC’s Century-Long Evaluation of Confucianism and Its Return to the “Great Unity” Cultural Tradition," Comparative Civilizations Review: Vol. 95: No. 95, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ccr/vol95/iss95/7