Chapter 1545: Chapter 1545: Setting the Tone
As soon as Feng Zhizhang heard about the Confucius Institute, he got excited. He was familiar with this, “The Confucius Institute is certainly not like missionaries, whose main purpose is to spread the gospel and win people over.”
“However, setting aside the factors of those adventurers, they have church support and financial resources, which is quite similar to the Confucius Institute, since it also receives financial support.”
Feng Jun felt quite helpless, “You’ve got the purpose of missionaries wrong; their ultimate goal in winning people’s hearts and spreading the gospel is to do what?”
Feng Zhizhang immediately understood; he wasn’t given a degree in philosophy for nothing, “Their goal is to occupy the land. In this respect, our Confucius Institute really isn’t about that; it’s about letting the world better understand Huaxia.”
At this point, he even laughed, “But that Confucius Institute, haha, I don’t know if you’ve participated, really… it’s about promoting traditional Chinese culture, teaching foreigners to sing Peking Opera and play the suona.”
Even though he’s older, he understands fashion elements, “The suona is at least a musical instrument, even if it’s a bit loud, but it’s friendlier than the vuvuzela from South Africa. But Peking Opera… what the heck is that?”
“Peking Opera is something that even young people seldom learn now. When your culture is in a strong output phase, deepening your own culture is fine…. Others will study you, learn from you. But now, exporting Peking Opera, I think it’s just symbolic.”
“In these aspects, what you said is not wrong,” Feng Jun also agreed with many of his points, “You’re exactly right that the purpose of establishing the Confucius Institute is to let the international community understand the real Huaxia and not to control land.”
However, he immediately shifted the topic, “Nonetheless, although both are cultural outputs with government or religious backing… to put it simply, someone is footing the bill, but what the Confucius Institute seeks is recognition, not control!”
Feng Zhizhang fell into silence for a while before speaking quietly, “I think I kind of get it; this is… a difference in civilizations, right?”
“Exactly, it’s a difference in civilizations,” Feng Jun responded leisurely, “The way Huaxia exports culture is through the Confucius Institute… Even if it has outdated elements, it doesn’t seek control or use coercion but takes pride in its civilization.”
“To put it simply, the West is a colonial system, and Huaxia is a tributary system. Our ancestors were too proud, proud to the extent that they disdained controlling those lands beyond civilization… Foreign races realized our strength and would automatically admire and attach themselves to us.”
“Is the Western colonial system definitely more advanced than the tributary system? I don’t think so… Civilized acceptance is the most crucial, and it’s the ultimate goal of cultural exporting.”
Feng Zhizhang held back for some time before finally saying, “Actually, whoever has the bigger fist gets to call the shots… The reason our Huaxia civilization didn’t spread is fundamentally because our fists weren’t big enough in modern times.”
“Aren’t you stating the obvious?” Feng Jun smiled wryly, “Is that the problem I’m discussing with you? The continuation of civilization doesn’t just rely on having a big fist; the core of civilization is the foundation of its continuation.”
He paused for a moment, then lightly coughed, “Ultimately, even when I shut the door to play by myself, it’s more advanced than you guys could ever be; there’s no need for conquest; you’d voluntarily kneel and call me daddy… That’s true national confidence.”
Feng Zhizhang remained silent for a moment, then lightly coughed, “Perhaps my Great Qing… did just that? And what was the result?”
“Haha,” Feng Jun laughed helplessly, “Shutting the door to play by myself doesn’t necessarily mean closing the country off. When good things appear outside, they must be observed and learned from. Confidence doesn’t mean arrogance. Like me, already having reached the Out of Dust Stage, still have to…”
He initially wanted to flaunt his research on Western “Holy Water,” but thinking about the security of mobile phone conversations, he abruptly stopped, “The Qing Dynasty can’t be an example; a minority ruling over the majority, their focus wasn’t on external introduction at all.”
After another pause, he continued, “Building Daoist Temples abroad and remotely respecting the central land is our cultural export, more subtle than the Confucius Institute. Believers may come; non-believers may go, but surely those who admire the Daoist sects should have a venue.”
Feng Zhizhang started to understand what he meant, “So this is what you mean by the cultural export under the tribute system?”
“Exactly,” Feng Jun answered straightforwardly, “This should have been done long ago, but we didn’t have the money back then. Now… while the per capita income is still low, the national power is strong, and the Daoist sects can consider being remotely respected.”
Feng Zhizhang smiled upon hearing this; he had enjoyed the chat today, so he was speaking less cautiously, “At the end of the day, it’s about enticing benefits. If it weren’t for the fact that you can cure cancer, the Daoist sects would still face significant challenges in expanding abroad.”
Feng Jun also smiled, “Utilizing people’s fear of death is one of the essences of religion. They can’t cure cancer, and they’re weak in that respect… The Daoist sects expanding by leveraging their survival instincts, how could that be wrong?”
“No, we don’t call this expansion; it’s the spontaneous behavior of those who convert… It’s spontaneous.”
Feng Zhizhang laughed and cried at his response, “You’re really… saying one thing and meaning another.”
“Not at all, it’s just as they say, ‘Your grandpa is your grandpa,'” Feng Jun responded seriously, “We don’t force anyone. By the way, Lao Feng, you should promote this action among other Daoist friends. Those willing to convert can be accepted, and it’s encouraged to build temples overseas.”
Feng Zhizhang responded with a laugh, “I can’t do that; this idea is mine. At the very least, I should recruit some wealthy foreign disciples before promoting it; otherwise, I’d feel at a loss.”
He was joking, but Feng Jun replied sternly, “Stop fooling around. Delaying by a few days doesn’t matter, but not more than that; it’s better to start early rather than late. Besides… if you hog the benefits, be careful others might resent you.”
“I’m joking; once the conversion is done, I can announce it publicly,” Feng Zhizhang smiled and then changed the topic, “If foreign disciples want to cultivate, what’s your stance?”
“I can’t say much about the matters of your Xuande Cave Heaven,” Feng Jun’s voice was somewhat indifferent, “but Luohua, in principle, will not teach foreigners cultivation. In future Dragon Gate Meetings, the prizes provided by Luohua will clearly demand no external transmission.”
Feng Zhizhang picked up on his stance and responded with a smile, “I’m just asking; there are many old conservative minds in the Daoist sects more discriminating than you. I was thinking, in case someone makes significant contributions, what should be done.”
“Special circumstances are dealt with specially,” Feng Jun replied offhandedly, “Let’s see how big of a contribution they can make.”
Their conversation ended, and soon after, a relevant official of the Confucius Institute received inquiries from higher leaders, “Do we have any focus on promoting the Daoist culture at the Confucius Institute?”
The staff could only offer a wry smile and explanation, stating that Daoism wasn’t promoted as a religion or belief but as a philosophical thought, with the most famous being the “Tao Te Ching.” However, the primary force promoting Tao Te Ching was overseas Chinese rather than the Confucius Institute.
Thus, the leader instructed considering strengthening the promotion of Daoist culture and noted that it could be viewed as metaphysics.
In the official government, such instructions were quite rare, only made under certain special circumstances when tactical decisions were directed, leaving the academy staff a bit stunned – our country promoting metaphysics overseas?
“A single flower doesn’t make a spring,” the leader expressed calmly, “Other religions taking root in Huaxia demonstrate the inclusivity of Huaxia civilization. So, why not expand our native metaphysics a bit?”
Thus, the matter began to progress in a strange direction. Initially, it was just a minor deity wanting to gather incense offerings, but now it had escalated into a layout for the Daoist sects’ overseas development.
Lin Heihu’s streaming room became increasingly popular, and finally, he advanced to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer during winter. According to his analysis, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should reach Qi Refining Seventh Layer by spring.
The number of outsiders finding Luohua Manor also increased, but Beauty Lin and the others had ways to handle this, setting up several guard posts on the outermost circle, with a line of banners overhead stating, “Sacred Guardian, No Trespassing.”
Three days after Lin Heihu’s advancement, Mount Taibai’s Xuande Cave Heaven recruited ten foreign converts at once.
It’s said that foreigners are believers, while Huaxia people are pragmatic. But it’s not that absolute. Setting aside other factors, just look at Sister Hua and those financial elites’ ways of doing things, you will know that where there’s interest, morality has no relevance.
There are indeed people with true faith, but if failing to burn a joss stick would put their lives at risk, most people would choose to “do as the locals do.”
The first foreigner to convert at Mount Taibai had already queued up at the center and was planning to build a Daoist Temple back in his home country.
This person was a Catholic, with relatively firm belief, but definitely not fanatic. When he came to burn incense at the Daoist Temple, he did so quite naturally — it was to save his own life, showing appropriate respect to local practices was normal, not intentionally deviating from the wishes of the Lord.
When burning incense, he certainly wanted to understand the situation of the Daoist sect.
Feng Zhizhang was quite persuasive; although not fluent in English, he still left the other party with a sense of mystique — in fact, mysticism has always had a market in the West.
This foreign individual wasn’t short of money. Two million US dollars wasn’t even a significant depletion for him; at most, it would cause temporary cash flow issues. However, since he could save 1.5 million US dollars, why not save it?
He inquired about “conversion” and learned that after conversion, adhering to some principles was all that’s needed. One, there’s no need for fixed worship services, and two, no exclusion of other beliefs, so he immediately said, “This is true benevolence; I agree to convert.”
After the conversion ceremony, he immediately approached Feng Zhizhang, claiming that since he had contributed and converted, his queue position should move up a bit… Surely, one should care for their own, right?