No one would accuse writer/blogger/celebrity Han Han of being a Confucian.  That's why it was interesting to see some of the comments in this article from Xinhua.  For example, in discussing censorship in China, and the attention he has garnered in speaking out against it, this came up:

Although this sounds rather self-centered, it is notable that he frames media credibility (even his own) in terms of "virtue."  I have not found a Chinese version of this story (it may only have run in English), so I'm not sure what character he is using for "virtue."  But assuming we have a reasonable translation here, the statement has a Confucian ring to it.  I could almost hear Mencius, or Confucius himself, saying something like this in response to a question about modern media strategy.  They would want to argue that the virtuous will be persuasive and the venal will not.

I imagine that Han Han does not think much about Confucianism, which makes the resonance here all the more interesting.  Is there something about life in China, even for a self-styled cultural rebel like Han Han, that reproduces and transmits Confucian-like ideas?

Here is another example from the same article.  When blogging about an uproar over comments made by the American actress Sharon stone following the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, he had this to say:

The call for self-reflection would please Mencius, who tells us that when something bad happens, we should first look inside ourselves.

I do not mean to push this too far, but it is striking when and where Confucian-esque sentiments pop up.  Indeed, when we think of the implicit universalism of the central Confucian virtue of Humanity (ren), I think we could say this this comment by Han Han would also bring a smile to the lips of the Master:

"I don't think things can be called
easternized or westernized," he answered. "There is only one standard
— whether it's suitable for human beings."