CHINESE POP PHILOSOPHER SPARKS CONFUCIAN SENSATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 003259

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2032
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KCUL CH
SUBJECT: CHINESE POP PHILOSOPHER SPARKS CONFUCIAN SENSATION
-- AND AMPLE GRIPING

Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton.
Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) The sudden spectacular popularity of Yu Dan, a
media professor whose televised lectures on
Confucianism have broken ratings records, has set
Beijing's chattering classes buzzing about ideology,
Yu's integrity and China's spiritual needs. Telegenic
and plainspoken, Yu has inspired comparisons to Oprah,
although she may be closer to a pop psychologist such
as Dr. Phil. Her simplified brand of Confucianism has
a self-help flavor, emphasizing respect for authority
and the importance of family. Critics charge that her
pronouncements oversimplify Confucius, paper over
social divisions and amount to little more than toeing
the official Government line. In fact, our contacts
speculated that Yu's messages of cohesion and
introspection likely please the propaganda guardians.
But while the "Yu Dan Phenomenon," as the Mainland
press calls it, may not signify a massive popular
embrace of Confucian ideals, it has struck a chord
with viewers hungry for guidance in handling the
growing complexity of everyday life in modern China.
Besides, as one contact put it, the critics are just
jealous of Yu's success. End Summary.

A Star Is Born
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2. (C) A diminutive, telegenic and unknown media
professor has become an overnight sensation here with
her homespun TV lectures featuring the teachings of
Confucius mixed with a healthy dose of pop-psychology
and folksy advice. Professor Yu Dan's presentations
on Confucianism first aired on the China Central
Television (CCTV) television show "Lecture Room,"
which invites guest scholars to discuss academic
topics, literature and the arts in front of a studio
audience. The shows were a spectacular hit last fall,
grabbing 20 times the number of viewers "Lecture Room"
usually draws, Chinese media reported. The network
has rebroadcast the series twice. Yu released a
companion book this spring, entitled "Insights on the
Analects," that has sold more than a million copies.
Her book signing events are pulling in crowds of
excited fans. Dozens of Mainland and Western media
outlets have featured profiles of Yu and she has
attracted thousands of participants in her web chats.


3. (C) Yu's main message is that Confucius' teachings
transcend the centuries and can be applied to the
complexities of everyday modern Chinese life. In her
lectures, Yu has stressed themes such as respect for
authority and not "blaming others" for social
injustices. She preaches introspection and love for
family while discounting individualism and blind
personal ambition.

The Propagandists Are Pleased
--------------


4. (C) That such messages seem to be resonating in
society is likely music to the ears of China's
leadership, our contacts said. For the Central
Government, Yu's brand of Confucianism constitutes a
reassuring alternative to more controversial belief
systems, said Li Qiang (protect),Dean of the School
of Sociology at Tsinghua University. The more people
buy into Confucianism, this thinking goes, the less
likely it will be that they turn to unsanctioned
religions or movements such as Falun Gong, which the
leadership sees as threats to Party authority. Li and
other scholars said they are unaware of Yu enjoying
the patronage of specific top leaders, but some
speculated that Propaganda guardians may be among Yu's
most active boosters. Noting the ubiquity of articles
and programs by or about Yu Dan, Xu Fangzhou
(protect),a professor at Communications University of
China (CUC) who knows Yu well, quipped that "the
Propaganda Department is probably arranging her
promotional schedule these days."

Desperately Seeking an Ideology
--------------


5. (C) The Pop Confucianism craze comes at a time
when Party theoreticians are desperately seeking
solutions to what Li of Tsinghua called China's

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ideological void. Communism and Marxism are
discredited as ideologies, Li said, speculating that
there is some hope in official circles that a form of
Confucianism can serve the purpose -- one that
bolsters the leadership and encourages social
stability and cohesion. In this vein, with its
emphasis on spiritual rather than material well-being,
Yu's message melds well with Government efforts to
manage rising expectations, said Victor Yuan
(protect),head of the Horizon public opinion polling
firm. Yuan surmised that officialdom likely welcomes
Yu's pronouncements because they do not advertise
lofty hopes for social equality or promote
unattainable dreams of affluence. In fact, Yu claimed
in a highly publicized web chat on Sina.com that the
Analects are compatible with President Hu Jintao's
"harmonious society" concept because they place value
on filial piety and respect for authority.

"Resist Yu Dan to the End"
--------------


6. (C) But Yu's rise, and her populist reading of the
Confucian canon, has unleashed a bitter reaction among
some journalists and academics. In March, a number of
classics professors from China's top universities
disseminated an open letter on the Internet entitled
"Resist Yu Dan to the End." The scholars charged that
her interpretation of Confucius is riddled with
inaccuracies and oversimplifications. They called on
the media to "cease its adulation of Yu Dan," on CCTV
to cease broadcasting her lecture series and on Yu
herself to "apologize to the entire nation." Yu has
also drawn the ire of journalists who see her as a
pawn of the Government. A recent opinion piece in the
progressive Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper ripped
Yu, implying that she is irresponsibly encouraging
uncritical support for the authorities and their
initiatives. The article asked rhetorically why
someone who appears to be a modern academic would
instead play the role of "a scholar-official from
feudal society."

A Second Rate Scholar
--------------


7. (C) Xu of CUC, who is a leading academic authorty
on broadcast media and an advocate for incrased
openness, described Yu as a "first-rate ommunicator
and second-rate scholar." Born n 1966, Yuescaped
the worst excesses of the Cultural Revolution and
graduated from the prestigious Beijing No. 4 Middle
School, Xu related. She became a media professor at
Beijing University in the 1990s and only earned her
much-publicized Ph.D. last year. One of her favorite
pastimes is reading kung fu novels. Yu's husband,
with whom she has a daughter (born in 2006),is an
entrepreneur. Xu said that in his view, Yu should be
viewed with skepticism for two reasons. The first is
that her encouragement of what he called "popular
obedience" risks stifling personal initiative and
public debate about important social and political
issues. The second is that because Yu herself "has
never known hardship," she has no business prescribing
self-help remedies for people facing real
difficulties, no matter what philosophy she espouses.


A Booming Self-Help Industry
--------------


8. (C) The self-help angle of Yu's lectures is
exactly what has made her so popular, said Yuan of
Horizon, citing informal research he has done
indicating that the self-help industry is booming in
China. If you look in any bookstore, the shelves are
bursting with titles offering guidance on everything
from creating a blissful family life to getting ahead
in business, Yuan remarked. Such products have
resonance because the number of complex influences on
-- and choices in -- Chinese people's lives has grown
dramatically during the past generation. Not long
ago, an individual could not even get a divorce
without approval from their work unit. Now people
switch jobs if they simply don't like their boss. As
part of this, Yuan maintained that some believe
Confucianism can offer a compass to help navigate such
issues. Yu's interpretations, simplified and
presented in an enticing package, pack a more
appealing punch than Classical Confucianism, which can
be dense and hard to grasp. People want to make sense

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of their lives, Yuan said, and they believe Yu can
help them.

Jealousy
--------------


9. (C) Xu of CUC acknowledged that jealousy motivates
much of the grousing emanating from academia about
Yu's stylized tele-Confucianism. "Professors just
want to be famous themselves," he said. Nonetheless,
he predicted that Yu's popularity would fade in due
course, and CCTV will have to tread carefully. When a
program becomes a big hit in China, one of two things
happens: either a) the show kills itself by adding
bells and whistles to attract an even bigger audience
that then overwhelm the show's original charms or b)
the Government starts paying attention and then
attempts to use the show as a propaganda tool.
"Viewers get wise to that," Xu said, "and then the
show is dead."
RANDT