The Decline and Fall of Civilisations

by Kerry Bolton

  As Nanking fell (1853) to the Taiping rebels, Hsien’s primary concern was the selection of new concubines for his harem, while the decadent power of the eunuchs had become “a conspicuous factor” since the death of Ch’ien Lung.287 On one occasion, weakened by debauched excesses, the lord of the world was too weak to perform the sacrificial rites at the Temple of Heaven.288 What more perfect traditional symbolism that the Mandate of Heaven had been removed from the Emperor?

  The end of imperial China was overseen by a corrupt chief eunuch, Chang Yiian-fu, around the beginning of the 20th century. Chang arrogated semi-regal functions, lived in over-wrought opulence, spent the public purse lavishly, and was in effect the ruler of China. Chang epitomises the long-sliding decline and fall of the Manchus.289

  Chiang Kai-shek attempts a Resurgence

  General Chiang Kai-shek, the much-maligned leader of China during the war against both Japan and the Red Army, attempted a resurgence, realising the epoch of decay that China had entered over the past century was the finale of Chinese civilisation, and not just another cycle of dynastic decay. He wrote of this:

  “A survey of our long history of five thousand years reveals the alternate rise and fall of states and the survival and extinction of nations. Yet the national decay during the last hundred years reached a point unequalled in our history. The state and the nation became weakened and encountered inner crises in the political, economic, social, ethical, and psychological spheres, until the basis of rebirth and recovery was almost destroyed”.290

  Chiang ascribed the unprecedented humiliation of China by foreign-imposed treaties as a symptom of decay. The Manchus had defeated the Ming dynasty due to the latter’s moral decay. The Confucian system of scholarly excellence as the basis for state service declined. “Social corruption and academic degeneration became more pronounced each day”. The Manchus, far from working to harmonise China as a cultural totality, sought to keep the clans divided.291 China no longer possessed the health of an organism capable of withstanding foreign pathogens. The Han Chinese ideal was of the farmer-soldier, the peasant in traditional China being esteemed above the merchant in the social hierarchy. However, the Manchu soldiers came to abjure work. The Manchu,

  “did not recognize that when soldiers are not also farmers, they become loafers and hoodlums. Although every male Manchu was a soldier, the final result was that all the Manchus became parasitic loafers. By the time of the T’ai-p’ing Rebellion, the Banner Troops as well as the Green Battalions were degenerate and useless. It was then that the Hsiang [Hunan] Militia and the Hwai Militia [from northern Anhwei] earned fame as the beginning of local armed forces [i.e., farmer-soldiers]”.292

  General Chiang Kai-shek sought China's cultural resurgance.

  By the time that the foreign powers entered as conquerors through imposed treaties, China was rotting.

  “These domestic policies of the Manchu Government, destructive to others as well as to itself, were pursued throughout the reigns of Tao Kuang and T’ung Chih, until the spirit with which the dynasty was founded became lost, together with its traditional institutions. The result was political disintegration and the deterioration of national defense. A general situation of chaos and collapse developed”.293

  In a situation analogous to the present, while China received the technics and science of the West, it also received the corruption of a rotting corpse animated by money. Chiang vividly described the predicament when confronted with the foreigner:

  “China’s ancient philosophy of ethics is based on a careful and thorough study of the interrelations of human society. Although social organization is in a state of constant evolution, yet the principles of the relations between father and son, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, friend and friend, between higher and lower ranks, the honorable and the humble, men and women, old and young, down to the duty of neighbors to protect each other and care for the sick, have remained the unchangeable ethical rules of social life. During the past hundred years, with the spread of the wanton customs of the concessions, the people not only neglected these ethical principles, but discarded and scorned them. As a consequence, between father and son, husband and wife, brothers, friends, high and low, old and young, neighbors and communities, there was no thought of reciprocal love and reciprocal friendliness, and above all, the virtue of co-operation and sense of unity were lost. Everything was planned for material interest, with a total lack of self-discipline. Duty was shirked in the struggle for profits. The high and the low deceived each other, and the people cheated one another right and left. The old and the weak received no consideration or relief, and the sick received no help. The people treated their own blood relations as strangers, and regarded their fellow countrymen as enemies. And they failed to recognize the error of such unethical and abnormal behavior. They transformed China, a propriety-loving and virtue-respecting country, into a country without modesty or shame. Such was the evil effect of the unequal treaties. If this can be tolerated, then what cannot be tolerated?”294

  Chiang described the moral and ethical shift resulting physical deterioration:

  “The steady deterioration of the people’s virtue affected their physical condition, causing them to grow weaker day by day. The physical strength of the countless numbers of unemployed in the cities was, of course, completely exhausted, and as the merchants and ordinary people became accustomed to a life of luxury and dissipation, their health also deteriorated. The most serious danger was the threat to the health of the youth in the schools. Physical training could not include the entire student body, and ethical training had long been neglected by the principals and teachers. A life of luxury and dissipation outside the schools lured the youth and caused them to become physically weak and mentally decadent, while contagious diseases and syphilis from the cities further undermined their health. How could these physically and mentally weakened youths, after leaving school, promote scholarship, or reform the people’s way of life so that they could assume the responsibilities of the state and develop social enterprises? It was indeed impossible to predict when this degeneration of the state and decline of the nation would end”. 295

  The decay of China followed the same rhythm as other civilizations. After several thousand years of dynastic cycles, the entire civilisation, albeit the longest-enduring, succumbed. Wealth drained the stamina of some classes through luxurious decadence, while the great mass of the rest of society could not secure the basics of life, and deteriorated from that end. The youth of the leadership classes became too dissipated to assume their leadership responsibilities.

  The great achievements of Chinese civilisation had endured for millennia, while synthesising foreign influences on their own terms. The Chinese rejected foreign blandishments of commerce if this would infect the Chinese culture organism. The subordination of commerce enabled the Chinese to defend their civilisation longer than others. Chiang stated of this adaptation:

  “… The Chinese nation was still able to absorb and adopt foreign culture and learning for its further advancement. And because China could absorb other forms of civilization, her own civilization became even broader and greater. However, China’s culture and learning have their own ancient standards. China was able to absorb other forms of civilization and learning precisely because she had her own standards and her own system by which to judge these other forms of civilization. Thus, when foreign civilizations were transplanted to China, they became a part of China’s national economy and of the people’s livelihood, and thus could remain indefinitely as part of China’s civilization”.296 [Emphasis added].

  “Harmonising” Elements

  This cultural alchemy of absorbing foreign elements is a fine line between acquiring health or death for the culture organism, and China and Japan had mastered it as have few others. This cultural alchemy the Chinese referred to as “harmonising” elements. Analogically one might compare this process to the vaccination of the human organism with a small dose of virus
to accentuate the health of the organism; while an incorrect amount of the same virus results in illness and possibly death. China had however reached an epochal point of balance where foreign culture bodies could poison the culture organism rather than invigorate it. Chiang described this process, enabled by the humiliating imposition of foreign treaties that now subordinated China to commerce in a reversal of the traditional ethos. With this opening to foreign trade came foreign doctrines. In prior centuries when Jesuit and Protestant missionaries had entered China, the Chinese eschewed the adoption of Christianity while accepting the Western science that the Jesuits offered, and the only way the Jesuits could interact more successfully than other missionaries was to become Sinified in customs, manners and dress.297 China absorbed Western science without compromising its moral, ethical and spiritual foundations. The 19th century was a different matter. Chiang stated:

  “On the other hand, during the past hundred years, China’s civilization showed signs of great deterioration. This was because, under the oppression of the unequal treaties, the Chinese people reversed their attitude toward Western civilization from one of opposition to one of submission, and their attitude toward their own civilization changed from one of pride to one of self-abasement. Carried to extremes, this attitude of submission [to Western theories] became one of ardent conversion and they openly proclaimed themselves loyal disciples of this or that foreign theory. Similarly, the attitude of self-abasement was carried to such an extreme that they despised and mocked the heritage of their own civilization. We should bear in mind that from the Opium War down to the Revolution of 1911, the unanimous demand of the people was to avenge the national humiliation and make the country strong, and all efforts were concentrated on enriching the country and strengthening the army. In other words, it was our unwillingness to become slaves that first caused us to study Western civilization. It follows that we should also study Western civilization for the purpose of winning our independence and making China strong. Unfortunately, after the Revolution of 1911, the will to avenge our national humiliation and make the country strong perished with the failure of the Revolution, and the effects of the unequal treaties were further deepened after this failure. Unconsciously, the people developed the habit of ignoring their own traditions and cultivating foreign ways; of respecting foreign theories and despising their native teachings; of depending upon others and blindly following them. Thus, although the Chinese people originally studied Western civilization because of their unwillingness to become slaves, the result was that they unconsciously became the slaves of foreign theories because of their studies of Western civilization”.298

  Liberalism and Communism

  The cultural alchemy, the harmonisation of opposites, the Tao, that was the basis of Chinese strength succumbed to imbalance. Although Chiang places the cause of this on the imposition of foreign treaties, immunity to foreign toxins had long been deteriorating. Chiang cites the two primary examples: Communism and Liberalism:

  “…two types of thought individualistic, Liberalism and class-war Communism, were suddenly introduced among the educated classes and spread throughout the whole country. ... As a result, the educated classes and scholars generally adopted the superficial husks of Western culture and lost their own respect and self-confidence and lost their confidence in Chinese culture. Wherever the influence of these ideas prevailed, the people regarded everything foreign as good and everything Chinese as bad”.299

  Chiang saw Liberal ideology being as much a foreign and corrupting influence as Communism:

  “As for the struggle between Liberalism and Communism, it was merely a reflection of the opposition of Anglo-American theories to those of Soviet Russia. Not only were such political theories unsuited to the national economy and the people’s livelihood, and opposed to the spirit of China’s own civilization, but also the people that promoted them forgot that they were Chinese and that they should study and apply foreign theories for the benefit of China. As a result, their copying only caused the decay and ruin of Chinese civilization, and made it easy for the imperialists to carry on cultural aggression. China’s theoreticians and political leaders, either directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, adopted the theories and interests of the imperialists as their own, and forgot their own origin and the purpose of their study. They even maintained this attitude in social propaganda and education, thus causing the people to accept without question the unequal treaties and the aggression and exploitation of the imperialists. This is the greatest single danger of cultural aggression, and the greatest threat to the nation’s spirit. ...”300

  This Liberalism, now more often called “human rights” and “democracy”, remains the doctrine by which the USA infects a culture as the prelude to domination. What Chiang saw as cultural imperialism is now called “globalisation.” Chiang describes how far-reaching the process was, spreading out from the foreign concessions as entry points of infection:

  “When economic conditions in the interior were poor, the people migrated to the cities. But it was difficult to find employment and they were therefore forced to sell their sons and daughters, and fell into the evil habits of prostitution and kidnapping. Thus, during the past hundred years, beautiful and prosperous cities became hells of misery and chaos. As for gambling, its damage was not limited to the rich, but also spread to the poor. The rich lost their fortunes and went bankrupt, and the poor lost their livelihood and met disaster. Once tainted with the habit of gambling, the social order became completely lawless. The people’s minds were paralyzed and their morality destroyed. Moreover, the practice of gambling was not limited to the gambling dens, but extended from lotteries to speculative activities in the market activities that did not follow the laws of production and exchange, but depended solely on luck to obtain unmerited profits. The concessions became the concentration points for surplus capital, but there were no well-established industries to employ this capital. Consequently, many people, both rich and poor, engaged in gambling, spent money lavishly in houses of prostitution, and became paralyzed with drugs. After having gone bankrupt and broken up their families, they degenerated into thieves and bandits, using the concessions as their hideouts and engaging in all sorts of criminal activities. China’s five-thousand-year-old tradition of diligence, thrift, and simplicity, of cotton clothes and a simple diet, of women weaving and men farming, were completely undermined by the opium, gambling, prostitutes, and thugs of the concessions.”301

  The rot starts by the depopulation of the countryside and the migration of the peasantry into the cities to become a rootless proletariat. With this comes the breakdown of generational bonds to family, land, and village. Money thinking dominates in society, high and low. Morals loosen, along with concepts of honour. Capitalism based around speculation replaces craft. The intricate relationships that form a healthy social organism reached crisis point.

  Chiang, largely overlooked or ridiculed among Western academics and journalists, betrayed by the USA, which insisted that he accommodate the Communists, fought a heroic struggle. He was fighting a battle against the tides of the Age.

  Mao Tse-tung, behind the appearance of a humble peasant, was like the decadent officials, eunuchs and monarchs of the Ming and Manchu dynasties. Mao “led a life of royal self-indulgence, practised at tremendous cost to the country…. as soon as he conquered China”.302 Over his twenty-seven year rule fifty estates were created for him; many never used. They were set in sumptuous locations. His swimming pools were kept heated all year at tremendous cost and waste, should he decide to swim.303 For his meals the rice membrane between the husk and kernel had to be meticulously extracted, while Mao exhorted that the peasantry could survive on 140 kg of grain.304A notable feature of the Mao regime was the determination to destroy Tradition. In 1966 the Red Guards were unleashed in the “Cultural Revolution”. These fanatical youths looted jewellery, antiques and ancient books from private collections for Mao and his entourage.305 Public monuments to C
hina’s ancient past were destroyed, including 4,922 of Peking’s 6,843.306 Statues of Buddha were broken. The home of Confucius in Shandong, an impressive museum, was vandalised by Red Guards.307 The “Cultural Revolution” was aptly named: it was a revolt against millennia of tradition.

  The Chinese 'Cultural Revolution' 1966-76 resulted in the death of millions and the destruction of countless religious and cultural artifacts.

  Is China the Future?

  Affluence does not equate with spiritual, culture and moral health. As we have seen, to the contrary, affluence corresponds with cycles of decay. It is the opulence of the bloated billionaire prior to dying of a heart attack through excess or a “pop star” or “Hollywood celebrity” succumbing to drugs and alcohol. China’s economic power, like the USA’s, is illusionary. China sees itself, as it always has, as the central focus of world-power. However, China’s wealth exists as the reflection of western technics and money-thinking.

  As China’s economic power expands, so too will the internal market continue to open, not just to Western technics and sciences, but to the culture of decay that goes with it. As we have seen the Chinese emperors were stringent in rejecting any foreign influences that would undermine Chinese culture, including commerce. Chiang Kai-shek also wished to pursue this outlook. Mao’s answer in his pursuit of power was to import the foreign doctrine Marxism while pursuing a vigorous policy of destroying Chinese classical culture and Confucianism in particular.

  Amoury De Riencourt wrote of China that “what is now missing is a moral code”. He saw that moral code as being in a revival of Confucianism, which was “inevitable”, and cited Confucianist congresses being held, “pilgrims” that visit Confucius’ birthplace as a “national shrine”, and of the sage’s works being sold “everywhere in bookstores”. He considered Confucianism as “one of the most remarkable moral codes ever devised”. De Riencourt saw a revival of Confucianism as being “the only means of curbing inevitable corruption”.308 He concluded his updated edition of The Soul of China: “A revival of a new form of Confucianism should provide China, in the twenty-first century, with the all-embracing philosophy of life which it lost in the twentieth, when its traditional interpretation collapsed”.309