Hastings residents will embark on a philosophical journey in Chinese culture at the next meeting of the Port Macquarie Philosophy Forum.
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The forum is diving deep into the revival of Confucianism in contemporary China at the Country Women's Association rooms at 11 Horton Street from 6pm to 7.30pm on Sunday, August 25.
"I'd always had a love of the Chinese philosophical traditions," says guest speaker and University of Sydney PhD and independent scholar, Dr Tony Swain.
"As I began teaching Chinese religion and I started to see that this (Confucianism) is a sleeping giant.
"It's really interesting and is having such a political revival at the moment.
"The moral virtues of hard work, dutiful, loyalty, trustworthiness and honesty are a perfect recipe for capitalism. In particular, the real sense of total loyalty to the people you work for."
Dr Swain will be drawing on personal reserves of thoughts collected while living in China, as well as a history of fierce anti-Confucianism campaigns by People's Republic of China chairman Mao Zedong.
"There was a huge campaign against it, but the reason you try to wipe something out is that you fear it will rise again," said Dr Swain.
"That's exactly what Mao Zedong was expecting and there are now moves to bring mainstream Confucianism back into politics in China.
"There are also about 300 Confucianism institutes worldwide set up mainly in universities across the world.
"The institutes are teaching Chinese language and culture. This way Confucius is the the brand name for exporting China to the world.
"It has a soft power appeal and in a marketing sense, you can't take offence from it."
Dr Swain will also be using his knowledge as a lecturer of Aboriginal Studies at the University of South Australia and his work as a senior lecturer in religious studies for two decades at the University of Sydney.
"We will look at the political history briefly and then we will look back at the ideas of Confucius and how they are relevant to the modern world," he said.
"I'd rate him as the most influential philosopher in human history, and I can back it up."
General entry to the event costs $10 or $5 for pensioners.
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