This is the day we remember the horrible killings that happened in Beijing in 1989.  While it is true that the greatest number of the killings happened on the night of June 3 in the neighborhoods and intersections to the West of Tiananmen Square, convention now refers to those terrible events as "June 4th," or "The Tiananmen Massacre."  Apologists for the illegitimate killing of hundreds of innocents will nit-pick, saying things like: "there was no massacre on Tiananmen Square."  But there was a massacre; it was cold-blooded and unnecessary, and justice will be served only when the PRC government chooses, finally, to face up to its own stained past.

    The current Confucian revival in China is a good place to start when reflecting on the meaning of June 4th.  The government, pushed forward by Deng Xiaoping and against the wishes of Zhao Ziyang, took the decision to kill unarmed, innocent people.  Here is a quote from Mencius that underlines the fundamental immorality of that decision:

Prince T’ien asked: "What is the task of a worthy official?"

"To cultivate the highest purposes, " replied Mencius.

"What do you mean by the highest purposes?"

"It’s simple: Duty and Humanity.  You defy Humanity if you cause the death of a single innocent person, and you defy Duty if you take what is not yours.  What is our dwelling place if not Humanity?  And what is our road if not Duty?  To dwell in Humanity and follow Duty – that is the perfection of a great person’s task." (13.33)

     Obviously, by these standards, the CCP defies Humanity – and they continue to defy it in their constant denials of the truth.  Did the Party also defy Duty?  Did they take something that was not theirs?  Yes.  They stole the dignity, as well as the lives, of the people they killed, and they continue to defy Duty by ignoring the pleas of the Tiananmen Mothers for a reversal of the historical verdict on June 4th.  They also stole the livelihood of many others, people who were not killed, but whose lives were turned upside down by the subsequent repression.

     From a Mencian perspective, thieves of Duty and Humanity are fundamentally illegitimate:

Emperor Hsuan of Ch’i asked: "Is it true that Emperor T’ang banished the tyrant Chieh and Emperor Wu overthrew the tyrant Chou?"

"Yes, according to the histories," replied Mencius.

"So is the murder of a sovereign acceptable?"

"A thief of Humanity is called a thief," replied Mencius.  "A thief of Duty is called a felon.  Someone who is both a thief and a felon is called a commoner.  I’ve heard of the commoner Chou’s punishment, but I’ve never heard of a sovereign’s murder." (2.8)

   This does not have to be taken as an endorsement of violence against the government – Mencius, as the first quote above suggests, is deeply wary of killing of any sort.  But it does strongly state that governments that defy Humanity and Duty through wanton brutality are illegitimate.

     I wonder if Party leaders fully realize how their own power and rule might be scrutinized by a Confucian revival….

    Remember June 4th.