A Foreign Confucian Businessman in China

 Zhihe Wang

       Many city buses in Beijing carry advertisements. You might see one that is the cover of a book, Conscious Capitalism: Principles for Prosperity. The picture on the cover is of the author, Dr. David Schwerin, the president of DJ Investment Advisors and a leading proponent of Socially Responsible Business. It was this book that made it possible for Dr. Schwerin to realize a dream of coming to China. It is also the book that gave me the opportunity to know him.

       I became the translator of Conscious Capitalism quite by accident. After I came to the U.S. to pursue my Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Religion, some friends who worked with Chinese publishers asked me to help them find an American book that might be a bestseller when translated and published in China. While searching for such a book, I came across Conscious Capitalism. With the encouragement of Mr. Xie Shouguang, the Director of the Social Science Documentation Publishing House, and Mr. Lu Weijun, the editor, I decided to take the time from my studies to translate the book. I was especially moved by the author’s warm personality and strong character and by the truths expressed in his writing. I have been studying the postmodern movement for the last ten years and sensed a postmodern tone in Conscious Capitalism. I developed this connection in my preface to the Chinese translation of Conscious Capitalism, entitled “Another kind of Capitalism.” When the publication of the book was scheduled for the autumn of 2001, I helped Dr. Schwerin arrange a lecture tour in China and acted as interpreter and guide. He lectured at many places, including: the Central Higher Party School, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, Beijing Normal University, Nanjing University, Northwest University, Southwest Political and Law University and Southeast University. Dr. Schwerin was deeply impressed by the intelligence of Chinese students and the probing questions they asked. During the lecture tour, Dr. Schwerin generously donated many copies of the Chinese version of Conscious Capitalism to the people who came to hear him speak. Prof. Zhen Han, the Chair of the Philosophy Department at Beijing Normal University, told me with admiration that of all the famous scholars, politicians and businessmen, (Chinese and foreign) that have spoken at Beijing Normal University recently, Dr. Schwerin was the first to donate his book.

Dr. Schwerin's lectures in China were always enthusiastically received; two are especially memorable. At the Central Higher Party School the audience, mostly government officials, showed a great deal of interest in the subject and asked a number of questions about the role government could play in developing socially responsible business in China. At Southwest Political and Law University in Chongqing students and faculty occupied the lecture hall hours in advance to listen to Dr. Schwerin's lecture. All 400 seats were filled and students were hanging in the windows.

When Dr. Schwerin was preparing his lectures for his tour in China, I told him that he would have to lecture for the entire time as Chinese students are generally shy and would not ask many questions. I was so wrong; it was necessary to shorten the lectures to allow time for all the questions. Two themes stand out – the environment and the respective roles of government and the individual.

Many thoughtful Chinese students are concerned about the current environmental problems but fear that the emphasis on ecological responsibility by business will hinder the process of economic growth in developing countries like China. Responding to these concerns, Dr. Schwerin answered, “While I can understand the concern of the Chinese people, there are two misconceptions that must be addressed. The first is that ecological responsibility cannot be abandoned; it can only be postponed. If pollution is condoned and the environment continues to be degraded, everyone suffers from ill health and diminished quality of life. In addition, foreign investors refrain from investing because of higher legal, health care, and insurance costs. The second issue is the misunderstanding that there has to be a negative trade-off between the environment and economic growth. Rather than looking only at the immediate costs of environmental cleanup, attention needs to be focused on the positive affects that cleaning the environment have on competition and innovation. In the thirty plus years since the West began to raise its environmental standards, there has been no appreciable slowing in economic growth that can be attributed to the environmental movement.”[i]

Being accustomed to “the iron rice bowl” of a planned economy, the Chinese audiences questioned Dr. Schwerin’s emphasis on individual responsibility. They wondered if it isn’t the government’s job to solve social and ecological problems. Dr. Schwerin’s response touched me deeply. He said, “If we don’t like something, we can change it. In the U.S. the efforts of thousands of individuals improved the quality of life of minorities and women over the last few decades.”

Following the publication of the Chinese version of Conscious Capitalism by Social Science Documentation Publishing House in Beijing both of us were pleasantly surprised at the excellent response. More than two dozen newspapers and magazines all over China published book reviews and reports about Dr. Schwerin's lecture tour. A number of publications interviewed him directly. In addition, a paper reviewing Schwerin’s “conscious capitalist model of business” was presented at an international philosophy conference in Beijing in June 2002. A number of excerpts follow:

In an interview with Dr. Xiaohua Wang, Dr. Schwerin expresses his love for China. He said, "First, I would like to say how much my wife and I enjoyed visiting China and how appreciative we are for the friendships we made and the hospitality that was extended to us. China has a long, rich culture with many wonderful traditions. Looking at life holistically and taking a long-term perspective are two traditions that will serve China well as it modernizes and integrates its economy with the rest of the world.”[ii]

A common thread among these book reviews and reports is that Conscious Capitalism is both timely and practical. According to Prof. Qizhi Yu, director of the Philosophy Institute at Huanan Normal University, "This is a timely work," the book "aims at challenging traditional capitalism, moving corporate ethics to a new stage, showing us a brand new idea of  business - conscious capitalism." Prof. Qu assumes that the core of social responsibility in business that Dr. Schwerin promotes consists in combining the unity of economic benefit and social benefit.[iii]

Many Chinese scholars appreciate that, while Conscious Capitalism is about morality and spirituality, these concepts are not treated abstractly. Rather, they are concrete, practical and workable. Perhaps knowing that the Chinese are sick of "false, big and empty words" after their experience during the Cultural Revolution, Dr. Schwerin stated at the beginning of his lecture: “Many people believe that combining spiritual and business interests is like combining oil and water; they won’t mix. Business is concerned with rather mundane and practical considerations while spirituality focuses on higher more ephemeral matters. Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most inspirational leaders of the 20th century, disputes the idea that that they are incompatible. He said ‘if any action of mine claimed to be spiritual is proved to be unpractical it must be pronounced to be it a failure. I do believe that the most spiritual act is the most practical in the true sense of the term.’”

Dr. Schwerin is interested in helping the Chinese avoid some of the problems that affected Western capitalism and move toward a postmodern sustainable business model. As Prof. Quehou Qu, Tianjin Transportation College, pointed out in his book review, “China, in its process of modernization and economic reform, needs more ‘Confucian businessmen’ like Dr. Schwerin who have philosophical and economic wisdom and also needs a ‘conscious capitalism’ that moves beyond the weakness of both traditional capitalism and modernity. Perhaps this is the most important inspiration we have learned from the book."[iv]

Ms. Ye Guo, of China Youth Daily, published her interview with Dr. Schwerin. She was struck by the connection between the socially responsible business Schwerin advocates and Chinese tradition and wrote, “The idea of social responsibility in business has been buried in our memory . . . we have to let a foreign entrepreneur awaken our deeply hidden memory.”[v] When she asked Dr. Schwerin what he hoped to accomplish in China, he answered, “What I hope is to share this idea with the Chinese people. I would like to see China learn from the mistakes and successes of American business.”

Dr. Schwerin’s work also attracted attention from Chinese economists. After the Wall Street scandals, leading Chinese economists became interested in Dr. Schwerin’s concept of “conscious capitalism.” Some of the resulting articles were: “New Ethics of Economy and Capitalist Spirit” by Qiping Jiang, Editor in Chief of Internet Weekly, “The Crisis of American Style Capitalism indicated by Wall Street Scandal” by Fan He, vice-director of Center for Finance Studies at Chinese Academy of Social Science, “Wall Street Looks Forward to Conscious Capitalism” by Wei Zhong, director of Center for Finance Studies at Beijing Normal University.

I had the wonderful opportunity to deepen my respect and friendship with Dr. Schwerin during our time together in China. I remember when I accompanied Dr. Schwerin and his wife, Joan, to the Great Wall. Schwerin told me (and audiences all over China) how, while failing in its function as a barrier against foreign invaders, the Wall can now be thought of as a bridge of friendship among nations and peoples. The transition of the Great Wall from barrier to bridge becomes a symbol of China's progress. In June 2002, I traveled to Philadelphia to attend an international conference of Chinese scholars. When Dr. Schwerin learned that some scholars from Mainland China were attending the conference, he and his wife enthusiastically invited them to their home. I remembered that Prof. Chen Cunfu, Zhejiang University, Gao Guoxi, Fudan University, Lin Juren, Shandong University joined that gathering and were deeply impressed by the Schwerins’ hospitality.  Invitations to return to China resulted from that meeting. And, in November 2002, Dr. Schwerin delivered lectures to Huanan Normal University, Zhongshan University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Zhejiang University, and Fudan University. He also was interviewed by Ms. Lihua Yang, the editor-in-chief of Culture Landscape.

I am pleased to have played a part in Dr. Schwerin’s work coming to China and am certain that more and more Chinese will begin to study this new cultural and economical phenomenon – “conscious capitalism”. The final significance of Schwerin’s work for China remains to be seen. But when China finally produces a large number of socially responsible business people, socially responsible consumers and socially responsible shareholders, Dr. Schwerin -  “a foreign Confucian businessman” - will feel fulfilled.

* Zhihe Wang is a PhD candidate at Claremont Graduate University and is the director of the China Project in the Center for Process Studies, USA. Formerly, he was Associate Professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the vice-editor in chief of Social Science Abroad, a national journal.

He is the author of Postmodern Philosophical Movement (1993, 1996,1998) and Foucault (1999). He is the translator of On the Future of Art [Written by A.J. Toynbee and H. Marcuse et al (Beijing: Peking University Press, 1991)] and Conscious Capitalism

 [written by David Schwerin (Social Science Documentation Publishing House, 2001)]

The book, Postmodern Philosophical Movement was awarded first prize by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1995.

In 1999 he was elected in Dictionary of Excellent Young People in Contemporary China.

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