Dynasty | Text by Heather Ferguson | March 2011
China ranks as the highest populated country in the world with 1.3 billion people living within its borders. With a world population of roughly 6 billion, that means that 1 in every 5 people on the planet lives in China! Add to these statistics that China is the 4th largest country in the world by geographic area, and the task of introducing this country and its history becomes rather daunting.
Dynasty... For those of us who grew up in the 80’s, this term harkens visions of Joan Collins’ infamous character Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter; the harbinger of romance, war, revolution, lust and money. Visions, eerily similar, to those that may have driven the ancient dynasties of China. Each dynasty brought with it new emphasis, government, ideals, values and culture. Is it any wonder that China is a hotbed of industry, the lodestar for educational attainment, or a mecca of cultural diversity within its own borders?
But it is one man, Confucius, who seems to epitomize the very essence of Charlatan magazine, and their following of contemporary ladies and gentleman. Born in 551 BC to a famous warrior and his concubine, Confucius grew up in poverty. But with his mother’s encouragement, he pursued the gift of education and, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, developed a philosophy of ethics, policy, and religion that permeates Chinese culture. At its core, Confucianism promotes the idea that each individual should strive to be a “perfect” gentleman: one who combines the qualities of saint and scholar, and thus acts as a moral guide for the rest of society. He writes in the Analects, “To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue. These five things are gravity, sincerity, generosity of soul, earnestness and kindness.” Lest we forget, it is Confucius who first promulgated the Golden Rule: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
If there was ever a time for us to look within and strive for an ideal, it is now. National news and even our personal conversations are plagued by inequity, greed, injustice, and war. We are schooled to assign blame, though skilled at avoiding it. I, too, am guilty. But Confucius embraced the concept that in order to govern others, one must first govern oneself. In a dynasty, the Emperor’s personal virtue would spread and succeed across the kingdom and thus influence the virtues of others. This true, perhaps we start with one small personal change. For to know your faults and be able to change is the greatest virtue of all.
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