Einstein exhibition off Shanghai museum's calendar

BEIJING (AP) — A plan to bring an Albert Einstein exhibition to Shanghai was shelved after the Chinese museum suggested merging it with one on Confucius, a Swiss museum director said Tuesday.

The odd coupling was the idea of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, part of a recent revival of interest in the Chinese philosopher, whose teachings were at the center of Chinese civilization for nearly two millennia but were widely denigrated in the 20th century.

It would have brought to Shanghai the Swiss government-financed "Albert Einstein (1879-1955)" exhibition, which is on display at the Hong Kong Science Museum until August and consists of more than 200 objects illustrating Einstein's life and times.

Jakob Messerli, director of the Historical Museum Bern, which owns the exhibition, said the Shanghai museum wanted to add a Confucius exhibition that was "at least as large as ours, which was just not as possible in such a short period of time."

"A traveling exhibition is quite a large endeavor which takes a lot of work. You can't just redo that again in order to have a different exhibition at one point," he said.

The Swiss museum was represented in discussions with Shanghai by Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Presence Switzerland, responsible for promoting Switzerland's image abroad.

A director at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum said Tuesday there had been discussions about hosting the exhibition, but "we are no longer talking to each other."

The director, who gave only his surname, Zhang, said: "We did have a tentative idea about merging the Albert Einstein exhibition with a Confucius exhibition. Those are two renowned figures from different fields. And we wanted to do something creative."

Confucius and his teachings were widely criticized by the founding father of Communist China, Mao Zedong, who railed against traditional culture and what he called "feudal thinking."

In the last few years, Confucius has made a comeback in books and films, on TV and in classrooms as China's government pushes his message of harmonious social order and deference to authority.

The sage's teachings emphasized duty to family, respect for learning and obedience of individuals to the state.

The Einstein exhibition has already been shown in Beijing and in Guangdong in southern China. Messerli said discussions concerning future locations were ongoing.

Teachings Of Confucius - News


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Essay Collection: Laws Versus People in Ancient China.

Of the three most popular schools of Ancient Chinese philosophy with respect to government, Confucianists valued a ruler that would lead by his own virtue, Daoists preferred a government as minimal as humanly possible, and the Legalists had confidence that good laws alone could hold a nation together well.

Although different teachers of Confucian thought differed greatly in what they taught, a very significant undercurrent of the school is best made by Confucius himself, who said that if a ruler will “lead them by means of virtue and regulate them thorugh rituals … they will have a sense of shame and moreover have standards.” laissez-faire the government is, the more the subordinates will coexist in harmony.

In conclusion, the three schools of thought can be arranged on a scale from emphasizing government to emphasizing the people. The Legalist school advocates for strong laws and regulations, not trusting the ruler to use his own judgement to lead the people and be able to sustain his state for long. Confucianism, in the middle, is a compromise between laws and people, lightening up on laws (Confucius barely talks about them) and trusting the people to take a virtuous ruler as a role model and follow in his path towards forging a better society. Daoism, though, is on the opposite extreme, willing to forego virtually all governmental functions, leaving the state to the people who will function in it just by going about their daily routine. These are the ways in which proponents of these three schools of thought views the role of government in society and the economy.


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Teachings Of Confucius - Bookshelf

The Teachings of Confucius - Special Edition

The Teachings of Confucius - Special Edition

As presented here, "The Teachings of Confucius - Special Edition" consists of The Analects, The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean, which represents ...

The teachings of Confucius, Portrait

The teachings of Confucius, Portrait


The Life and Teachings of Confucius, With Explanatory Notes

The Life and Teachings of Confucius, With Explanatory Notes

The authorship, or compilation rather, of all these works is loosely attributed to Confucius. But much of the Le Ke is from later hands. ...

The Essential Confucius

The Essential Confucius

Gathers selections from the Analects of Confucius grouped by subject following the order of the I Ching

Confucius and Confucianism, The Essentials

Confucius and Confucianism, The Essentials

"This is an excellent survey of the history of Confucianism, incorporating philosophical issues and development and the received histories of key figures in the ...

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Confucius - Wikipedia
Hyperlinked biography of the Chinese philosopher and sage. Includes notes on his life and teachings.

The Teachings of Confucius
Confucius was born about 551 BC. with the family name K'ung. The respect he gained for his teachings led to ... Subsequently he had two daughters, one of whom died when she was ...

Confucius (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
An entry for Confucius covering his life, social philosophy, political philosophy, and his views on education.

Teachings of Confucius
Translations of four texts attributed to Confucius are available from here

Confucius
Confucius was the greatest eastern philosopher of all time. His beliefs are considered from a Christian perspective, analyzing what Confucianism has ...