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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 003259 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2032 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KCUL CH
SUBJECT: CHINESE POP PHILOSOPHER SPARKS CONFUCIAN SENSATION 
-- AND AMPLE GRIPING 
 
Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton. 
  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) The sudden spectacular popularity of Yu Dan, a 
media professor whose televised lectures on 
Confucianism have broken ratings records, has set 
Beijing's chattering classes buzzing about ideology, 
Yu's integrity and China's spiritual needs.  Telegenic 
and plainspoken, Yu has inspired comparisons to Oprah, 
although she may be closer to a pop psychologist such 
as Dr. Phil.  Her simplified brand of Confucianism has 
a self-help flavor, emphasizing respect for authority 
and the importance of family.  Critics charge that her 
pronouncements oversimplify Confucius, paper over 
social divisions and amount to little more than toeing 
the official Government line.  In fact, our contacts 
speculated that Yu's messages of cohesion and 
introspection likely please the propaganda guardians. 
But while the "Yu Dan Phenomenon," as the Mainland 
press calls it, may not signify a massive popular 
embrace of Confucian ideals, it has struck a chord 
with viewers hungry for guidance in handling the 
growing complexity of everyday life in modern China. 
Besides, as one contact put it, the critics are just 
jealous of Yu's success.  End Summary. 
 
A Star Is Born 
-------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) A diminutive, telegenic and unknown media 
professor has become an overnight sensation here with 
her homespun TV lectures featuring the teachings of 
Confucius mixed with a healthy dose of pop-psychology 
and folksy advice.  Professor Yu Dan's presentations 
on Confucianism first aired on the China Central 
Television (CCTV) television show "Lecture Room," 
which invites guest scholars to discuss academic 
topics, literature and the arts in front of a studio 
audience.  The shows were a spectacular hit last fall, 
grabbing 20 times the number of viewers "Lecture Room" 
usually draws, Chinese media reported.  The network 
has rebroadcast the series twice.  Yu released a 
companion book this spring, entitled "Insights on the 
Analects," that has sold more than a million copies. 
Her book signing events are pulling in crowds of 
excited fans.  Dozens of Mainland and Western media 
outlets have featured profiles of Yu and she has 
attracted thousands of participants in her web chats. 
 
¶3.  (C) Yu's main message is that Confucius' teachings 
transcend the centuries and can be applied to the 
complexities of everyday modern Chinese life.  In her 
lectures, Yu has stressed themes such as respect for 
authority and not "blaming others" for social 
injustices.  She preaches introspection and love for 
family while discounting individualism and blind 
personal ambition. 
 
The Propagandists Are Pleased 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) That such messages seem to be resonating in 
society is likely music to the ears of China's 
leadership, our contacts said.  For the Central 
Government, Yu's brand of Confucianism constitutes a 
reassuring alternative to more controversial belief 
systems, said Li Qiang (protect), Dean of the School 
of Sociology at Tsinghua University.  The more people 
buy into Confucianism, this thinking goes, the less 
likely it will be that they turn to unsanctioned 
religions or movements such as Falun Gong, which the 
leadership sees as threats to Party authority.  Li and 
other scholars said they are unaware of Yu enjoying 
the patronage of specific top leaders, but some 
speculated that Propaganda guardians may be among Yu's 
most active boosters.  Noting the ubiquity of articles 
and programs by or about Yu Dan, Xu Fangzhou 
(protect), a professor at Communications University of 
China (CUC) who knows Yu well, quipped that "the 
Propaganda Department is probably arranging her 
promotional schedule these days." 
 
Desperately Seeking an Ideology 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) The Pop Confucianism craze comes at a time 
when Party theoreticians are desperately seeking 
solutions to what Li of Tsinghua called China's 
 
BEIJING 00003259  002 OF 003 
 
 
ideological void.  Communism and Marxism are 
discredited as ideologies, Li said, speculating that 
there is some hope in official circles that a form of 
Confucianism can serve the purpose -- one that 
bolsters the leadership and encourages social 
stability and cohesion.  In this vein, with its 
emphasis on spiritual rather than material well-being, 
Yu's message melds well with Government efforts to 
manage rising expectations, said Victor Yuan 
(protect), head of the Horizon public opinion polling 
firm.  Yuan surmised that officialdom likely welcomes 
Yu's pronouncements because they do not advertise 
lofty hopes for social equality or promote 
unattainable dreams of affluence.  In fact, Yu claimed 
in a highly publicized web chat on Sina.com that the 
Analects are compatible with President Hu Jintao's 
"harmonious society" concept because they place value 
on filial piety and respect for authority. 
 
"Resist Yu Dan to the End" 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) But Yu's rise, and her populist reading of the 
Confucian canon, has unleashed a bitter reaction among 
some journalists and academics.  In March, a number of 
classics professors from China's top universities 
disseminated an open letter on the Internet entitled 
"Resist Yu Dan to the End."  The scholars charged that 
her interpretation of Confucius is riddled with 
inaccuracies and oversimplifications.  They called on 
the media to "cease its adulation of Yu Dan," on CCTV 
to cease broadcasting her lecture series and on Yu 
herself to "apologize to the entire nation."  Yu has 
also drawn the ire of journalists who see her as a 
pawn of the Government.  A recent opinion piece in the 
progressive Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper ripped 
Yu, implying that she is irresponsibly encouraging 
uncritical support for the authorities and their 
initiatives.  The article asked rhetorically why 
someone who appears to be a modern academic would 
instead play the role of "a scholar-official from 
feudal society." 
 
A Second Rate Scholar 
--------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Xu of CUC, who is a leading academic authorty 
on broadcast media and an advocate for incrased 
openness, described Yu as a "first-rate ommunicator 
and second-rate scholar."   Born n 1966, Yuescaped 
the worst excesses of the Cultural Revolution and 
graduated from the prestigious Beijing No. 4 Middle 
School, Xu related.  She became a media professor at 
Beijing University in the 1990s and only earned her 
much-publicized Ph.D. last year.  One of her favorite 
pastimes is reading kung fu novels.  Yu's husband, 
with whom she has a daughter (born in 2006), is an 
entrepreneur.  Xu said that in his view, Yu should be 
viewed with skepticism for two reasons.  The first is 
that her encouragement of what he called "popular 
obedience" risks stifling personal initiative and 
public debate about important social and political 
issues.  The second is that because Yu herself "has 
never known hardship," she has no business prescribing 
self-help remedies for people facing real 
difficulties, no matter what philosophy she espouses. 
 
 
A Booming Self-Help Industry 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) The self-help angle of Yu's lectures is 
exactly what has made her so popular, said Yuan of 
Horizon, citing informal research he has done 
indicating that the self-help industry is booming in 
China.  If you look in any bookstore, the shelves are 
bursting with titles offering guidance on everything 
from creating a blissful family life to getting ahead 
in business, Yuan remarked.  Such products have 
resonance because the number of complex influences on 
-- and choices in -- Chinese people's lives has grown 
dramatically during the past generation.  Not long 
ago, an individual could not even get a divorce 
without approval from their work unit.  Now people 
switch jobs if they simply don't like their boss.  As 
part of this, Yuan maintained that some believe 
Confucianism can offer a compass to help navigate such 
issues.  Yu's interpretations, simplified and 
presented in an enticing package, pack a more 
appealing punch than Classical Confucianism, which can 
be dense and hard to grasp.  People want to make sense 
 
BEIJING 00003259  003 OF 003 
 
 
of their lives, Yuan said, and they believe Yu can 
help them. 
 
Jealousy 
-------- 
 
¶9.  (C) Xu of CUC acknowledged that jealousy motivates 
much of the grousing emanating from academia about 
Yu's stylized tele-Confucianism.  "Professors just 
want to be famous themselves," he said.  Nonetheless, 
he predicted that Yu's popularity would fade in due 
course, and CCTV will have to tread carefully.  When a 
program becomes a big hit in China, one of two things 
happens: either a) the show kills itself by adding 
bells and whistles to attract an even bigger audience 
that then overwhelm the show's original charms or b) 
the Government starts paying attention and then 
attempts to use the show as a propaganda tool. 
"Viewers get wise to that," Xu said, "and then the 
show is dead." 
RANDT