Why the Communist Party Blames Corruption on Feng Shui

[rug]

By Cassie Ryan, Epoch Times | June 2, 2013

Feng shui is making a comeback in China, despite the regime’s attempts to wipe out traditional culture. In fact, ambitious officials are leading the fray, and being disciplined for corruption based on practices like geomancy and fortune-telling.

A 2007 survey by the Chinese Academy of Governance revealed that over half the county-level officials polled had consulted astrologers, face readers, dream interpreters, and the like; many even retained feng shui masters for advice.

State media have been pouncing on corrupt officials who believe in feng shui, and making an example of them to prove to the public that not everyone can get away with it, while simultaneously getting rid of non-atheist Party members.

A high-profile case dates back to 1995 when Hu Jianxue, a Party secretary in Shandong Province, was told by a diviner that he might soon be appointed vice-premier, but he apparently lacked a “bridge” in his life for this to come true. So Hu diverted a national highway over a reservoir, creating the need to build a bridge. But instead of promotion, he was given a suspended death sentence.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/86279-why-the-communist-party-blames-corruption-on-feng-shui/

Disclaimer: Epoch Times is connected with Falun Gong and has been engaged in a war of words with China's Government for nearly 13 years.

Here's the New York Times' take.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/world/asia/feng-shui-grows-in-china-as-officials-seek-success.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[dimbear]

1. It's like a looking glass world:

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He continued: “Another reason that the Communist Party is blaming feng shui and using it as a scapegoat for its inability to curtail corruption is that the Party is deeply in fear of anything at odds with its atheist doctrine, as people’s beliefs in higher level beings and supernormal principles will inevitably lead them to question and challenge the Party’s materialistic worldview, its legitimacy, and its grip on power.”

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[rug]

2. The Times has an interesting observation.

Last month, Wang Zuoan, the head of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, condemned superstition in a newspaper published by the Central Party School, the premier ideological training ground for government officials.

“For a ruling party which follows Marxism, we need to help people establish a correct world view and to scientifically deal with birth, aging, sickness and death, as well as fortune and misfortune,” he said.

How many of his fellow bureaucrats agree is unclear. According to a 2007 report by the Chinese Academy of Governance, 52 percent of the nation’s county-level civil servants admitted to believing in divination, face reading, astrology or dream interpretation.

Cheng Ping, a professor at the academy who oversaw the survey of more than 900 officials, said that such beliefs were the result of millennia-old traditions melded with the pressures of careers in which promotions are earned through mastering the dark arts of factions and favors, rather than hard work. Not surprisingly, she said, many practitioners are often shamelessly crooked, since they feel little accountability to the public. “Find a corrupt official and he’ll probably be superstitious,” she said.

[dimbear]

3. The only really useful superstition among the lot is the value of bright red underwear.

That should be encouraged. And I don't mean just to play Mah Jong.

China has a long way to go.