Ou Guizhi became the most controversial high school teacher in Taiwan when she spoke up against the further watering-down of the Chinese language curriculum to reduce the number of mandatory classical texts. The curriculum is a political battleground here in Taiwan. Conservatives who champion traditional values and a closer connection to the mainland wants to keep as many classic texts as possible. Pro-independence stakeholders, however, wanted to reduce the number of classical Chinese texts to make way for "diverse voices" and "civic education." Views of Ou in Taiwan is extreme. She's seen by some as the very paragon of a teacher. She's extremely engaging and beloved by her students. Supporter see her as a brave educator standing up not just for literature, but traditional Chinese moral values. To her detractors, Ou is a dangerous tool of Chinese propaganda. She's openly pro-unification (although she does not talk about politics in the classroom) and has been interviewed on the Chinese state broadcaster Xinhua. Critics of her teaching say memorizing old Chinese classical texts is archaic, out of step with modern education and an authoritarian approach to education. In the end, she "volunteered" to retire. And since then, she's been on a lot of talk shows to continue sharing her knowledge of traditional Chinese history, culture and morality with the world. As you might expect, I'm a big fan of Ou, and I think from time to time I'd translate some of her content for everybody. On a recent show, Ou explained how the "mandate of heaven" concept actually worked, starting with the Duke of Zhou 1042BC, who had "virtue" as the basis for his rule. "What is virtue (de 德)? It is the virtue of giving life—allowing the common people, allowing human beings, to survive. That virtue of giving life has continuously influenced all subsequent rulers." "Any system will end up becoming sclerotic with time. When the contradictions become untenable society will start to break down. We had the chaos of the Warring States period and Qin Shih Huang had to use tremendous violence to return the fragments to a whole." Qin Shih Huang abolished the feudal system and created the modern province-and-county system. Organizationally, Qin China went from being organized more like medieval Europe to being more like the PRC today. "Since then that has been the pattern. Every dynasty takes the best of the previous dynasty and add their own improvements and innovation. In time, when the dynasty ossifies again and you can't figure it out, the ordinary people will overthrow you. On the same foundation we constantly innovate. Elements of the new generation are constantly introduced." "The ultimate quest of the Chinese people is for all under heaven to be peaceful, to achieve "grand tranquility" (tai ping 太平)" Tai ping is not just peace as in the absence of war. It is much bigger and more profound. It is an era of prosperity, security and stability. In Daoism tai ping is the utopian ideal where humanity, nature and the government are in perfect harmony. "Every educated Chinese person seeks tian xia tai ping -grand tranquility under all of heaven. The west does not believe us because they don't have the same cultural background. Their historical process was one of competition, massacres and fixed heirarchies." "They have too many different nations, and they lacked what we have, an exalted political philosophy that attracts everyone to want to follow it. Actually, China was was a multi-ethnic nation too. How was it that all the groups were able to slowly meld?" "We have Rule by Moral Righteousness (王道 wang dao, literally the Kingly way). People are attracted by wang dao and they vote with their feet." The Kingly way finds its opposite in the Hegemon's way or ba dao (霸道). This is the rule of strict laws and coercion. According to Mencius who came up with the wang dao and ba dao concepts, the Hegemon's way can help you build an empire very quickly, but the people will secretly hate you and eventually push you over. Qin Shih Huang's dynasty was overthrown just years after his death. A leader practicing wang dao, however, gains the mandate of heaven which is nothing so divine but a highly conditional moral contract. If you break it, the rebellion to overthrow you will be legitimate.