Guozijian

Guozijian was an imperial college founded in 1306 that remained the most important education institute in China until 1898 when it was replaced by Peking University.  We were impressed by the diversity of thought expressed in the exhibits.  Such things are always done purposefully in China.  In particular, we were surprised to see Voltaire featured prominently.  Even though it is a Confucius school, and exhibits are focused on Confucius, we found it striking to find this on the display.

Confucius believes that the common people have the right to evaluate the performance of the government.  Later, Mencius developed his theory and claimed that if the king behaves immorally, his subjects are entitled to overthrow and replace him.  This reveals the democratic spirit of Confucianism.

Jefferson could have used that in the Declaration of Independence.

While we were at Guozijian, four local honor students approached us for a picture and to practice their English.  We found that they were eager to meet us, and we always enjoy the snapshots you get of real life in such encounters.  These children, while not disloyal to the Communist Party, were knowledgeable about the real history of China and had clear ideas about what freedom is like in the United States.