Attenuation, Appropriation, and Adaptation: The Confucian Revival Among the Urban Middle Class and the Chinese State’s Responses

Abstract

This chapter investigates the Chinese state’s involvement in the rise of Confucian education among the urban middle class. The urban middle class is a rapidly burgeoning social stratum and it is expected that by 2025 almost half of the Chinese population would be urban middle class (McKinsey Global Institute, From “made in China” to “sold in China”: the rise of the Chinese urban consumer, 2006). This social group, together with their growing economic power and political participation, has become increasingly influential in shaping China’s political future. Given the importance of ideology for the CCP’s legitimacy, whether the CCP could keep at least some ideological hold over the urban middle class is significant for its rule.