(L) “Portrait of the
Yongzheng Emperor in Court Dress,” by anonymous court artists, Yongzheng
period (1723—1735). (Public Domain-Art)
(R) Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Le Bourget, outside Paris, on Nov. 30,
2015. (Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images)
In the early 18th century, imperial China, then ruled by
Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, faced a dilemma: less than a
century after Manchurian invaders had broken through the Great Wall and
established their dominion over the Middle Kingdom, pervasive corruption
in the Qing bureaucracy threatened to bring it all to an inglorious
end.
It’s a familiar struggle, and one that the Chinese Communist
Party—more specifically, an official serving with its internal
disciplinary authority—recently brought out to buttress its own
long-term attempts at cleaning up such ills as embezzlement, bribery,
and nepotism.
An article published May 28 on an official WeChat social media
account belonging the overseas edition of the state-run People’s Daily
and distributed through multiple Chinese internet platforms, praised
Emperor Yongzheng, who ruled China from 1722 to 1735, for being both
strict and personable. The text credits him as an enlightened ruler who
breathed fresh life into the Qing administration and inspired his
subordinates, steeped in “the dregs of feudalism” and seeking endless
promotions and riches, to “smelt themselves into pure gold.”
The article, written by Xi Hua of the Central Commission for
Discipline Inspection (CCDI), as the Party’s anti-corruption agency is
called, seems to be a thinly-veiled analogical rally cry for Party
officials to accept and enthusiastically support the leadership and
directives of General Secretary Xi Jinping.
“The idea suddenly occurred to me,” Xi Hua mused, “If I were to
travel back in time 300 years to be one of Yongzheng’s subordinates,
what kind of choices would I make?”
0 comments:
Post a Comment