The reason why the slogan hexie shehui intrigues me so much is that it is rather redolent of China’s one-time official ideology of Confucianism, based on the teachings of the philosopher Confucius (Kongzi) (551-479 B.C.). Confucius and his followers generally stressed the need for social harmony and for people to accept their position in society, with the younger submitting to the older, the wife submitting to her husband, the people submitting to the ruler, etc. At the same time, those in positions of authority were expected to behave in a morally exemplary manner. Confucianism dominated Chinese political and social thought for centuries, and really only ceased to be the state ideology when the imperial system of government ended in the early 20th century.
What is especially interesting to me is that the notion of hexie shehui is being promoted by a Communist regime. This is because originally the Chinese Communists were strongly opposed to Confucius and Confucianism, seeing the ancient philosopher and the philosophy he inspired as having provided the ideological justification for what they viewed as the oppressive, hierarchical society that they were seeking to destroy and replace with an egalitarian utopia. He was especially vilified during the early 1970s in the later stages of the Cultural Revolution, during which Mao Zedong was calling for “permanent revolution” and the doing away of all aspects of traditional Chinese culture.
Nevertheless, in the post-Mao era of the past few decades, Confucius has made something of a come-back. Perhaps due to the collapse of traditional notions of morality that occurred most noticeably during the Cultural Revolution, leading to various social problems, the Chinese government saw the need to promote some sort of public morality. Confucianism, at least in a modified form (and perhaps not labeled “Confucianism”), seemed to fit the bill. After all, it provided a system of social ethics solidly rooted in Chinese culture. Thus, rather Confucian notions like “tolerance” and “virtue” are promoted under the auspices of a Communist state. Moreover, the need for a “harmonious society” is stressed, not the need for “permanent revolution.” Perhaps this is not surprising given purely practical considerations—it’s difficult to create a developed society (“scientific” or otherwise) if it is experiencing “permanent revolution.” Furthermore, most human beings can only endure “permanent revolution” for so long.
Finally, to me, the revival of Confucianism in China illustrates the fact that some moral framework is absolutely essential for a society to function. Otherwise, there will be chaos, as China experienced during the Cultural Revolution. I would suggest further that it also shows that human beings do not function well without guiding moral principles because they are moral beings by nature. However, I would also argue that the Chinese people, like the people of every other nation, need something more than what a merely human system of ethics like Confucianism offers—they need to know personally the one who planted the moral law in human hearts.