Una confucianizzazione interrotta? Tendenze e contraddizioni nel recupero di Confucio al XX Congresso

The article outlines the main advancements in the Chinese Communist Party’s ideological work that occurred at the 20th National Congress and focuses on the tendencies and contradictions of Confucius’ comeback in the context of the country’s major political event. The contribution aims to shed light on the elements of continuity and discontinuity with the previous leaders’ approach to the Confucian tradition as well as the challenges to achieve a synthesis between Maoism, Marxism-Leninism and Confucianism. The comparative discourse analysis of the 20th and 19th Party Congress Reports shows the increasing struggle of reconciling the Confucian spirit with the centralization of power, which is inherent in the Legalist tradition rather than in Confucian thought. The need of combining Confucian and Socialist values with the nationalistic turn of the “new era” suggests that one Confucius is no longer enough to ensure the survival of Xi’s leadership.