Hello everyone!
Delighted to welcome many new subscriptions logged in recent weeks…
Of the making of China books there is no end. But were I designing a PRC Politics 101 course today I’d be looking for an extra-special core text.1
I already know what it would be, in fact: John Fitzgerald’s Cadre Country. Beijing Baselines will be drawing heavily on it; not as a Politics 101 text, but as a powerful new platform under the whole topic of the contemporary PRC.
It is a trenchant stocktake of key issues, seeing off a legion of shibboleths. Fitzgerald’s exploration of the political and social gulf between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ in the PRC is just one key theme.
In this episode—incidentally, no. 26 as we come up to our first anniversary—I offer my translation of
Dou Kelin and He Yanhong, "Abandon refined egoism”, Zhongguo jijian jiancha, 11 June 2022
[窦克林、何焱红:“摒弃精致的利己主义”,中国纪检监察,2022年6月 11日 (in Chinese).]. The original text is included below the translaion
Dou and He are staff writers for the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the CPC’s ‘highest internal control agency, tasked with enforcing internal rules and regulations and combating corruption and malfeasance in the Party’.
Channelling the Beijing Baselines rubric of ‘new measures of rationality and sincerity in the PRC’, they describe cadre politics in terms of ‘superbly realistic acting skills’. A full expansion of their analysis would in our opinion sit well with Cadre Country’s frame of reference.
Condemning refined egoism (or selfishness), the authors find it in ancient dynasties but in the lockdowns in Shanghai as well.
Dou Kelin And He Yanhong
Abandon refined egoism
Refined egoism refers to making good use of superbly realistic acting skills and high-sounding rationales to subtly embroider and cover up one’s egoism and avarice. Professor Qian Liqun of Peking University’s Department of Chinese has portrayed the refined egoists:
…intelligent, worldly, excellent performers, good at cooperation and even better at achieving their own goals by using the system; once they have power, such people are more harmful than the run of corrupt officials.
Li Si 李思 was an outstanding case in point of refined egoism in the Qin Dynasty. He was, judging by his life trajectory, in avid pursuit of fame and fortune, and skilled at camouflage. When a minor official, he saw that mice in a rice pile were fat and white, roaming about at leisure, while those in the toilet were thin but in a constant state of fear. He thereupon opted to be a fat mouse in the granary. To persuade the King of Qin not to expel guest ministers, he wrote a Letter of Remonstrance against Expelling Guests; in order for the Qin state to avoid a brain drain - and more to the point, to preserve his fledgling career.
Emperor Qin Shihuang died violently in the sand dunes; to maintain his position, the prime ministers Li Si and Zhao Gao colluded in evil acts, forging an imperial decree to force his son Fu Su to die, and replacing him with Hu Hai... Li Si's greedy and selfish nature was concealed throughout his life by his remarkable political talent.
The transformation of the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline was intimately related to the refined egoist Li Linfu. Greedy for power, Li was passive-aggressive and cunning. Actively hobnobbing with palace eunuchs and concubines, he channelled Tang Dynasty Emperor Xuanzong’s actions; conforming to the Emperor’s intentions, he was deeply appreciated every time he performed on cue and was eventually appointed prime minister. On ascending the throne, forestalling a fall from power, he framed and smeared dissidents to eliminate them, and brought about demotion for Wei Jian 韦坚, Huangfu Weiming 皇甫惟明, Wang Zhongsi 王忠嗣 and other worthies. Li Shizhi 李适之, another prime minister, resigned in fear. This resort to axing opponents to win dictatorial power gave An Lushan 安禄山, Gao Xianzhi 高仙芝, Ge Shuhan 哥舒翰 and others opportunities to raise their own troops, concealing the hidden danger of the outbreak of the An-Shi Rebellion.
Failing to benefit others, you fail to benefit yourself. Life’s genuine value lies in creating value, in one’s obligations and contributions to society, for others and oneself: meeting the needs of society via one's own activities. Yet nowadays there are those in whose eyes only personal interests exist, and who are unwilling to give or contribute, or even tolerate the slightest loss of their personal interests. Arguing that only a single kind of green vegetable is distributed by the community, there are those who shred cabbages, tossing them into the trash in public; there are those who find doctors and volunteers in the quarantine amenities and demand 90-degree boiling water, just so they can brew filter coffee... With an epidemic raging, their individual selfishness is exposed in these refined pursuits.
Even more sadly, self-interest becomes the sole pursuit of some Party members and officials. Scheming, sophisticated, and adept at concealment, they can only end dismally. Rather than applying their advantages to start businesses, some leading cadres, assuming the halo of ‘scholarly’ officials, frantically pursue power and money. Graduating from prestigious schools, they are entrusted at a young age with heavy responsibilities, but always want to be bigwigs, make fortunes, and use power for personal gain... Since the 18th National Party Congress, some leading cadres have left sobering commentary on the harm of refined egoism that ends with their political fall.
The public is eternal, the private temporary. 'Adhere to separating public and private, putting public first before private, and self-discipline and serving the public' is Article §1 of the Party's Code of Integrity and Self-discipline: all Party members and leading officials at all levels are required to grasp the boundary between public and private, overcoming selfish desires. They must strictly carry out the guidelines’ requirements, internalise a correct view of morality and interests, power, and career, clearly defining public and private, dedicating themselves to the public, and prioritising public above private. Only in this way can we lead a social and folk ethic that honours dedication; with a public, selfless Party and government style forsaking refined selfishness.
Source: China Discipline Inspection and Supervision 2022, Issue 11a.
精致的利己主义,是指善于利用高超逼真的演技、冠冕堂皇的理由,精心修饰、巧妙掩盖自私贪婪的本性。北大中文系钱理群教授曾给精致的利己主义者画像:拥有智慧、世俗老道、善于表演、懂得配合,更善于利用体制达到自己的目的,并进一步指出这种人一旦掌握权力,比一般的贪官污吏危害更大。
李斯就是这个词在秦朝的杰出代表。从李斯的人生轨迹来看,他是热衷于追名逐利又极其擅长包装的人。当小吏时,李斯看到米堆里的老鼠白白胖胖、悠哉游哉,厕所里的老鼠骨瘦嶙峋却时常胆战心惊,就立志做粮仓里的胖老鼠。写《谏逐客书》劝说秦王不要驱逐客卿,有为秦国避免人才流失的考虑,更是为保住刚起步的仕途;秦始皇于沙丘暴卒,为保住权位,身为宰相的李斯与赵高沆瀣一气,矫诏逼死公子扶苏、改立胡亥……纵观李斯的一生,卓越的政治才能掩盖的是贪婪自私的本性。
唐朝由盛转衰与李林甫这位精致利己主义者密不可分。李林甫贪恋权力,阴柔奸狡,被人们称为'口蜜腹剑'。他主动结交宫中宦官、妃嫔,掌握唐玄宗的举动,每逢奏对都能符合玄宗意旨,深得赏识,最终成为宰相。上位之后,为防止大权旁落,他通过诬陷、栽赃等手段排除异己,先后致使韦坚、皇甫惟明、王忠嗣等有识之士遭到贬官,使同为宰相的李适之忧惧请辞。这种为专权而剪除异己的做法,使安禄山、高仙芝、哥舒翰等人有机会拥兵自重,从而埋下了安史之乱爆发的隐患。
不利他,无以利己。人生的真正价值在于创造价值,在于对社会的责任和贡献,即通过自己的活动满足社会、他人以及自己的需要。然而,时下却有一些人眼里只有个人私利,不愿付出、不愿奉献,甚至容不得自身利益受到丁点损失。有的人认为社区发的青菜品种单一,当众把圆白菜撕碎扔进垃圾桶;有的人在方舱找医生和志愿者执意要90度的开水,只为可以冲泡滤纸咖啡……疫情肆虐之际,这些精致的追求暴露出的是个别人自私的面目。
更为可悲的是,一些党员干部把私利当作唯一追求,工于心计、圆滑世故、善于隐藏,到头来只能惨淡收场。有的领导干部顶着“学者型”官员的光环,不想着如何发挥所长、干事创业,却疯狂追求权力金钱;有的领导干部名校毕业,年纪轻轻被委以重任,却总想当大官、发大财,以权力谋取私利……十八大以来,一些领导干部以落马的结局为精致利己主义之害作出了令人警醒的注释。
公者千古,私者一时。《中国共产党廉洁自律准则》把'坚持公私分明、先公后私、克己奉公'放在第一条,要求全体党员和各级党员领导干部把握好公私界限,克服利己私欲。党员干部必须严格落实准则要求,树立正确的义利观、权力观、事业观,做到公私分明、一心为公、先公后私。如此,才能以公而忘私的党风政风,引领崇尚奉献的社风民风,从而摒弃精致的利己主义。
来源:《中国纪检监察》2022年第11期a
I’ve indeed done so a few times, first at the Australian Defence Force Academy, where I taught ‘Politics of China’ 1994-99, and Peking U.’s Institute of Sociology, teaching undergrads about ‘Society in Contemporary China’ in 2012-19. My choice at ADFA was Kenneth Lieberthal’s Governing China; my students at Peking U. were from widely differing social and educational backgrounds, so I chose a different sort of text, Barry Barne’s The Elements of Social Theory.