ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses from a political philosophical perspective the need and tactics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP's) exploitation of Confucianism and Legalism. It argues that in Mao's era traditional political philosophies were used as ammunition in the ideological battle-field, and that this pattern is being repeated by President Xi Jinping today. The revival of Confucianism under Xi therefore should be seen as a top-down, conscious and purposeful process of Sinicizing Marxism so as to buttress the party's cultural and ideological legitimacy. As political philosophies, Confucianism and Legalism both center on the problem of order but they propose very different architectures for maintaining order. Confucius and Confucianism have been enjoying increasing government-endorsed acknowledgment in the cultural, educational and political arenas in the Post-Mao era. The turn toward Confucianism is a carefully crafted project to establish cultural and ideological legitimacy of the CCP; the key approach, in Xi's own words, is to "Sinicize Marxism" through Confucianism.
