TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

The PRC has inserted a large statue of Confucius in Tiananmen Square:

A mammoth sculpture of the ancient philosopher Confucius was unveiled this week off one side of the vast plaza. It’s a jarring juxtaposition for a square the ruling Communist Party treats as politically hallowed ground: a mausoleum holding revolutionary leader Mao Zedong’s body sits in the middle and his giant portrait hangs at one end.

Placing the statue at China’s political heart is the authoritarian government’s most visible endorsement yet of the 2,500-year-old sage and, selectively, his teachings.

That’s important. Mao attempted to destroy China’s connection to its past and Confucianism was a large target.

Due to China’s adoption of socialism and Maoism, the Cultural Revolution, and finally China’s breakneck economic growth (and requisite social upheaval), China has little historical legacy to inform itself of what it is and to guide its growth. The only idea the PRC has offered for what it means to be Chinese is to grow quickly.

This is an attempt by the CCP to fix that and to secure itself. The CCP is connecting its values to Confucianism’s, and thus to China’s long history. In other words, the CCP is, at least by appearances, trying to model itself not as a break from China’s past, but as merely a continuation of it.