I've just finished reading two articles about China on the BBC website and I can't help but be totally flabbergasted at the difference between them. It transpires that China, the world's oldest political entity (at approximately 2,000 years old), executes more people than the rest of the world put together [1]. According to the article, Amnesty International estimates 1,010 people were executed there in 2006, amounting to 60% of global executions for that year. China does not actually release official figures on the topic, so worse still it could be "just the tip of the iceberg".
In complete contrast, there has been a recent boom in people reading the works of Confucius, with new nursery schools entirely dedicated to his teachings and a recent publication of his main sayings reaching the best-sellers list [2]. His teachings "extol the virtues of harmony, humility and courtesy to others" [2] and he has been described as "one of the most humane thinkers of all time" [3]. The discrepancy between the morals of the government and morals of he people would appear to be as divergent as one would be inclined to expect from a communist society!
Sources
[1]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7169122.stm
[2]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7169814.stm
[3]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Analects-Classics-Confucius/dp/0140443487/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1X2T99HPQIZQ4&colid=2V0GOPK79A8NQ
In complete contrast, there has been a recent boom in people reading the works of Confucius, with new nursery schools entirely dedicated to his teachings and a recent publication of his main sayings reaching the best-sellers list [2]. His teachings "extol the virtues of harmony, humility and courtesy to others" [2] and he has been described as "one of the most humane thinkers of all time" [3]. The discrepancy between the morals of the government and morals of he people would appear to be as divergent as one would be inclined to expect from a communist society!
Sources
[1]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7169122.stm
[2]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7169814.stm
[3]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Analects-Classics-Confucius/dp/0140443487/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1X2T99HPQIZQ4&colid=2V0GOPK79A8NQ
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