From around the turn of the century, a revived Confucianism was all the rage. Mainland Chinese academia heavily promoted it. Beijing politicised it as compatible with communist ideology. For state propaganda departments, Confucianism was repackaged as a cultural product for foreign consumption.
That wave of interest subsequently died down, along with the closure of many Confucian Institutes around the world.
So why study Confucius today? Well, why read any great philosopher? But there is a more…
