Confucianism as an Engine of Economic Growth & Sustainable Development

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Confucianism as an Engine of Economic Growth and Sustainable Development
Introduction
Over the last three decades, China has witnessed unprecedented economic growth, and the country is presently the second-largest economy globally. Despite Asia's late 90s financial crisis, East Asia has made remarkable socio-economic progress. Larsen has found that over 50 years ago, the average richest East Asian earned a fraction of an American counterpart, and South Korea only had the wealth equivalent to that of Sudan, and Taiwan was ranked together with Zaire in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Later in 1993, the World Bank report showed that East Asia had made significant efforts in addressing poverty, promoting growth, and the overall quality of life among citizens. According to the report, per capita income in East Asia witnessed almost fourfold growth in only a quarter of a century, and poverty levels declined by over 60 percent. Comparatively, before 1955, Brazil topped Taiwan and South Korea in import substitution, but after three decades, the financial boom ended, followed by the 1980s "lost decade" in Latin America. Atinkut, Yan, and Zhang, et al. note that the wisdom drawn from the teachings of Confucianism and Taoism are deemed essential for economic growth and sustainability. Nevertheless, China's rapidly expanding economy has been characterized by increasing environmental pollution, with the country now ranking as the top emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs) globally. As Yang, Cai, Wang et al. identify, however, a significant share of these emissions are attributed to the final consumption of Chinese exports in other countries and regions, given the fact that exports comprise about a quarter of the Chinese GDP. The success of China has been attributed to the values taught by Confucius, a great teacher and philosopher who established the Chinese cultural foundations 500 years before Christ. Studies have constantly shown that there has been a rise in East Asian economies or Confucian states such as China, and this supports the thesis that Confucianism emboldens frugality and saving, highly values education, and emphasizes hard work, which are critical engines for rapid economic growth and sustainable development in China.[Xiumei, Guo., Sandra, Krempl., and Dora, Marinova. Economic prosperity and sustainability in China: Seeking wisdom from Confucianism and Taoism. In Lech W. Zacher. Technology, society, and sustainability: Selected concepts, issues, and cases (pp.263-274). Springer, 2017.] [Chris, Larsen. Culture matters: Confucianism virtues and economics. International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE), 6(2019)4, 34-42.] [Larsen, p.34] [Haimanot, Atinkut B., Tingwu, Yan,. Fengyi, Zhang,. et al. Cognition of agriculture waste and payments for a circular agriculture model in Central China. Science Reports 10(2020), 10826, 1-15.] [Yuantao, Yang., Shen Qu., Bofeng, Cai,., et al. Mapping global carbon footprint in China. Nature Communications, 11(2020), 2237. 1-8.] [Yang, Yuantao., Qu, Shen., Cai, Bofeng., et al.(p.2)] [Charles, Rarick, A. Confucius on management: Understanding Chinese cultural values and management practices. Journal of International Management Studies, 2(2008)2, 22-28.]
Historical Background
The past few decades have witnessed the resurgence of Confucianism in Chinese cultural, political, educational, and popular practices. According to Ambrogio, this reemergence might be seen as neither nostalgic backwardness nor a form of Chinese Neoclassicism, but an emblem of the New identity of China. Since the May Fourth Movement and during the reign of Maoism, Confucius and Confucianism were pugnaciously loathed as relics of feudalism. Today, Confucianism principles serve as a rich nirvana of Chinese socialism from the political and educational perspectives. President Xi Jinping has always praised the Chinese development during the last three decades that began with Deng Xiaoping, who supported the opening of the Chinese society and economy to the world. Xi and Deng and other Presidents who came after Deng, the opening of the economy was critical to achieving policy reforms, a better quality of life for the Chinese people, and robust economic growth. According to Xi, although the 1980s and 1990s pressing priorities were to open the free markets and promote financial and industrial growth, the new focus has been to shape a fair society by promoting values and culture in safeguarding the fight against corruption and long-term growth. The cultural focus has been to reincarnate the rejected traditions that were despised by the leaders of the May Fourth Movement and Chen Duxio, the founder of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1916, Duxio had contrasted Confucian values with the new ideology of independence (July zhuyi) and described Confucianism as repressive and outdated. Duxio's opinion was also shared by Mao who described Confucianism as feudalism (fengjian) or an enemy of the socialist project. China began its expansion with Deng Xiaoping, who created a socialist society with Chinese values that concentrated on economic growth and put the Chinese traditions, culture, wisdom, and literature first. These values are no longer now seen as feudalistic remnants but an engine for socio-economic prosperity.[Selusi, Ambrogio,. Moral education and ideology: The revival of Confucian values and the harmonies shaping of the New Chinese man. Asian Studies, V (2018) XXI, 2, 113-135.] [Ambrogio, p.115] [Ibid, p.116]
Frugality and saving
Confucianism emboldens frugality and the culture of saving, resulting in massive investments and economic security. Confucius is ascribed as the father of Confucianism and scholars have attempted to refer to his teachings in understanding how the cultural beliefs and practices in Confucianism have contributed to unprecedented economic growth in China (Larsen 34). One of the values that Confucius taught was frugality, the principle that an economy strives to create more social, economic, and ecological values whi...