Confucianism is the way of life propagated by Confucius in the 6th-5th century BCE and followed by the Chinese people for more than two millennia. In 7.23 Confucius says that he has no doubt left that the Tin gave him life, and from it he had developed right virtue ( d). [63] During the Ming-Qing era, prominent Confucians such as Wang Yangming promoted individuality and independent thinking as a counterweight to subservience to authority. [122], Joseph Chan defends the compatibility of Confucianism with both liberalism and democracy. [86], The idea of a "Confucian Church" as the state religion of China has roots in the thought of Kang Youwei, an exponent of the early New Confucian search for a regeneration of the social relevance of Confucianism, at a time when it was de-institutionalised with the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the Chinese empire. Sometimes "exemplary person." [12], Confucian liturgy (called r, or sometimes simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: zhngtng, meaning 'orthopraxy') led by Confucian priests or "sages of rites" (; ; lshng) to worship the gods in public and ancestral Chinese temples is preferred on certain occasions, by Confucian religious groups and for civil religious rites, over Taoist or popular ritual.[13]. "[141] The gender roles prescribed in the Three Obediences and Four Virtues became a cornerstone of the family, and thus, societal stability. . When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. In so doing he attempted to redefine and revitalize the institutions that for centuries had been vital to political stability and social order: the family, the school, the local community, the state, and the kingdom. [126] Baogang He and Mark Warren add that "meritocracy" should be understood as a concept describing a regime's character rather than its type, which is determined by distribution of political poweron their view, democratic institutions can be built which are meritocratic insofar as they favour competence.[127]. These are accompanied by the classical Sz (), that singles out four virtues, one of which (Y) is included among the Five Constants: There are still many other elements, such as chng (; , honesty), sh (, kindness and forgiveness), lin (, honesty and cleanness), ch (; , shame, judge and sense of right and wrong), yng (, bravery), wn (; , kind and gentle), ling (, good, kindhearted), gng (, respectful, reverent), jin (; , frugal), rng (; , modestly, self-effacing). "[161] Attributes such as ancestor worship, ritual, and sacrifice were advocated by Confucius as necessary for social harmony; these attributes may be traced to the traditional Chinese folk religion. Li is variously translated as "rite" or "reason", "ratio" in the pure sense of Vedic ta ("right", "order") when referring to the cosmic law, but when referring to its realisation in the context of human social behaviour it has also been translated as "customs", "measures" and "rules", among other terms. The traditions of the ("Nine Fields") and of the Yijing flourished. What does Tian say?") Confucianism is concerned with finding "middle ways" between yin and yang at every new configuration of the world. [107], Bell and Wang propose two justifications for political hierarchies that do not depend on a "one person, one vote" system. In the past few decades, there have been talks of a "Confucian Revival" in the academic and the scholarly community,[18][19] and there has been a grassroots proliferation of various types of Confucian churches. "[57] Confucius also said, "rn is not far off; he who seeks it has already found it." Author of. [115] At the local level, as with Bell, Bai advocates Deweyan participatory democracy. Today, it has been credited for shaping East Asian societies and overseas Chinese communities, and to some extent, other parts of Asia. Tongdong Bai, for instance, argues that while Confucian political thought departs from the "one person, one vote" model, it can conserve many of the essential characteristics of liberalism, such as freedom of speech and individual rights. Baker calls respect for the family the only element common to almost all Chinese believers.[68]. [9] While Tin has some characteristics that overlap the category of godhead, it is primarily an impersonal absolute principle and not considered a true deity by most scholars[10] and practitioners, like the Do () or the Brahman,[further explanation needed] and gods worshiped by Confucians do not originate from orthodox Confucianism. The search process identified 833 publications matching the search criteria, and after the review . "Yin and yang are the invisible and visible, the receptive and the active, the unshaped and the shaped; they characterise the yearly cycle (winter and summer), the landscape (shady and bright), the sexes (female and male), and even sociopolitical history (disorder and order). [134] The New Life Movement in the early 20th century was also influenced by Confucianism. Zhougong was said to have helped consolidate, expand, and refine the feudal ritual system. [104], Confucian political meritocracy is not merely a historical phenomenon. The research was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, CINHAL, PsycINFO and Web of Science, without restrictions of language and year of publication. Confucianismincluding the most pro-authoritarian scholars such as Xunzihas always recognised the Right of revolution against tyranny. His journey into the past was a search for roots, which he perceived as grounded in humanitys deepest needs for belonging and communicating. To Confucius, the junzi sustained the functions of government and social stratification through his ethical values. the public should not know how officials are selected, since ordinary people are in no position to judge officials beyond the local level. Confucius believed that social disorder often stemmed from failure to perceive, understand, and deal with reality. This did not exclude martial arts culture. The same is true with the husband and wife relationship where the husband needs to show benevolence towards his wife and the wife needs to respect the husband in return. The Five Bonds are: ruler to ruled, father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger brother, friend to friend. As a conservative philosophy of life, Confucianism prioritized stability over productivity, forming tightly-knit clans with supportive norms to make intra-clan resource pooling and risk sharing credible. Ren is fundamental to become a junzi.[70]. Analects. Confucianism regards texts such as the Five Classics as examples that should be followed to increase the harmony of the family, social order as a whole, and the world. Chinese folk religious temples and kinship ancestral shrines may, on peculiar occasions, choose Confucian liturgy (called r or zhngtng, "orthopraxy") led by Confucian ritual masters ( lshng) to worship the gods, instead of Taoist or popular ritual. Although Confucius never realized his political dream, his conception of politics as moral persuasion became more and more influential. [3] Confucianism was suppressed during the Legalist and autocratic Qin dynasty (221206BCE), but survived. [112] This system aligns with what Harvard historian James Hankins calls "virtue politics", or the idea that institutions should be built to select the most competent and virtuous rulersas opposed to institutions concerned first and foremost with limiting the power of rulers.[113]. Some scholars also consider the reconstruction of lineage churches and their ancestral temples, as well as cults and temples of natural and national gods within broader Chinese traditional religion, as part of the renewal of Confucianism. 6.1 million followers There are approximately 6.1 million followers of Confucianism worldwide. Roger T. Ames and Henry Rosemont, Jr.. Confucius. [94] In 2009, Zhou Beichen founded another institution which inherits the idea of Kang Youwei's Confucian Church, the Holy Hall of Confucius ( Kngshngtng) in Shenzhen, affiliated with the Federation of Confucian Culture of Qufu City. By the 6th century BCE, the power of Tian and the symbols that represented it on earth (architecture of cities, temples, altars and ritual cauldrons, and the Zhou ritual system) became "diffuse" and claimed by different potentates in the Zhou states to legitimise economic, political, and military ambitions. By Confuciuss time, however, the feudal ritual system had been so fundamentally undermined that the political crises also precipitated a profound sense of moral decline: the centre of symbolic control could no longer hold the kingdom, which had devolved from centuries of civil war into 14 feudal states. However, she does present education and literary power as important for women. Zi-lu said, "The vassal of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government. Sometimes viewed as a philosophy and sometimes as a religion, Confucianism may be understood as an all-encompassing way of thinking and living that entails ancestor reverence and a profound human-centred religiousness. [162][163] But using a broader definition, such as Frederick Streng's characterisation of religion as "a means of ultimate transformation",[164] Confucianism could be described as a "sociopolitical doctrine having religious qualities. Similarly, Mencius also said that "when the prince regards his ministers as his hands and feet, his ministers regard their prince as their belly and heart; when he regards them as his dogs and horses, they regard him as another man; when he regards them as the ground or as grass, they regard him as a robber and an enemy. Should the ruler be surrounded by xiaoren as opposed to junzi, his governance and his people will suffer due to their small-mindness. Though in his own day, Confucius had rejected the practice of Martial Arts (with the exception of Archery), he did serve under rulers who used military power extensively to achieve their goals. This system allowed anyone who passed an examination to become a government officer, a position which would bring wealth and honour to the whole family. Also, the Hong Kong Confucian Academy, one of the direct heirs of Kang Youwei's Confucian Church, has expanded its activities to the mainland, with the construction of statues of Confucius, Confucian hospitals, restoration of temples and other activities. [25], Philosophers in the Warring States period, both "inside the square" (focused on state-endorsed ritual) and "outside the square" (non-aligned to state ritual) built upon Confucius's legacy, compiled in the Analects, and formulated the classical metaphysics that became the lash of Confucianism. 11th century bce), who was said to have helped consolidate, expand, and refine the feudal ritual system. Although transformed over time, it is still the substance of learning, the source of values, and the social code of the Chinese. William Theodore De Bary, Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993), 91110. Robert Eno argues that the term has been "burdened with the ambiguities and irrelevant traditional associations". [141] During the Han dynasty period, the influential Confucian text Lessons for Women (Njie), was written by Ban Zhao (45114CE) to instruct her daughters how to be proper Confucian wives and mothers, that is, to be silent, hard-working, and compliant. It remains the social code of the Chinese and continues to influence other countries particularly Korea Japan and Vietnam. Women in the Teaching of Chinese Religions", "Women Existing for Men: Confucianism and Social Injustice against Women in China", http://yj.nuist.edu.cn/ch/reader/create_pdf.aspx?file_no=20130621&year_id=2013&quarter_id=6&falg=1, "Carrying the Confucian Torch to the Masses: The Challenge of Structuring the Confucian Revival in the People's Republic of China", "Confucius and the Mediums: Is There a "Popular Confucianism"? In later ages, however, emphasis was often placed more on the obligations of the ruled to the ruler, and less on the ruler's obligations to the ruled. [156], Ever since Europeans first encountered Confucianism, the issue of how Confucianism should be classified has been subject to debate. After the An Lushan rebellion, patronage for Buddhism and its institutions fell to a new southern gentry class, formed through the massive population shift southward as people fled the war-torn north. Some argue therefore that despite Confucius's disdain with martial culture, his teachings became of much relevance to it. According to China, its Confucius Institute is "a bridge reinforcing friendship" between it and the world. In more general terms, filial piety means to be good to one's parents; to take care of one's parents; to engage in good conduct not just towards parents but also outside the home so as to bring a good name to one's parents and ancestors; to perform the duties of one's job well so as to obtain the material means to support parents as well as carry out sacrifices to the ancestors; not be rebellious; show love, respect and support; the wife in filial piety must obey her husband absolutely and take care of the whole family wholeheartedly. [120], Another key question is whether Confucian political thought is compatible with liberalism. Many European and American admirers such as Voltaire and Herrlee G. Creel point to the revolutionary idea of replacing nobility of blood with nobility of virtue. He was a philosopher and political figure who lived during a time when traditional Chinese . On spirituality, Confucius said to Chi Lu, one of his students: "You are not yet able to serve men, how can you serve spirits? In 9.5 Confucius says that a person may know the movements of the tin, and this provides with the sense of having a special place in the universe. [114] Jiang's aim is to construct a legitimacy that will go beyond what he sees as the atomistic, individualist, and utilitarian ethos of modern democracies and ground authority in something sacred and traditional. [30] This transformation of the self may be extended to the family and society to create a harmonious fiduciary community. Inspired by the statesmanship of Zhougong, Confucius harboured a lifelong dream to be in a position to emulate the duke by putting into practice the political ideas that he had learned from the ancient sages and worthies. Confucianism is a philosophy developed in 6th-century BCE China, which is considered by some a secular-humanist belief system, by some a religion, and by others a social code. [44], Confucian ethical codes are described as humanistic. Later, Zhu Xi defined junzi as second only to the sage. What was happening in China when Confucius lived? The first spiritual leader of the church is the scholar Jiang Qing, the founder and manager of the Yangming Confucian Abode ( Yngmng jngsh), a Confucian academy in Guiyang, Guizhou. NAS counts a total of 108 Confucius Institutes that have closed or are in the process of closing, along with the stated reason for the closure. The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of Confucianism on health behaviors, health outcomes and medical decisions. It is the virtue-form of Heaven. "Can meritocracy replace democracy? The scholar Yao Xinzhong allows that there are good reasons to believe that Confucian classics took shape in the hands of Confucius, but that "nothing can be taken for granted in the matter of the early versions of the classics". [4], With particular emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony, rather than on an otherworldly source of spiritual values,[5] the core of Confucianism is humanistic. [30] Rn, translated as "humaneness" or the essence proper of a human being, is the character of compassionate mind; it is the virtue endowed by Heaven and at the same time the means by which man may achieve oneness with Heaven comprehending his own origin in Heaven and therefore divine essence. [157] The Jesuits, including Matteo Ricci, saw Chinese rituals as "civil rituals" that could co-exist alongside the spiritual rituals of Catholicism. [117], For those who, like Bell, defend a model in which performance at the local levels of government determines future promotion, an important question is how the system judges who "performs best". FOUNDED: c. 1050-256 b.c.e. Although the earliest dynasty confirmed by archaeology is the Shang dynasty (18th12th century bce), the historical period that Confucius claimed as relevant was much earlier. [25], Traditionally, Confucius was thought to be the author or editor of the Five Classics which were the basic texts of Confucianism. [108] As Bell puts it, he defends "democracy at the bottom, experimentation in the middle, and meritocracy at the top. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. Confucianism holds one in contempt, either passively or actively, for failure to uphold the cardinal moral values of rn and y. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Confucianism, ChinaKnowlwdge.de - Confucius and Confucianism, Asia Society - Center for Global Education - Confucianism, Ancient History Encyclopedia - Confucianism, United Religions Initiative - Confucianism. The intellectuals of the New Culture Movement of the early twentieth century blamed Confucianism for China's weaknesses. It is concerned with inner virtue, morality, and respect for the community and its values. He, Baogang & Warren, Mark (2020). Although often grouped with the major historical religions, Confucianism differs from them by not being an organized religion. "You are wide off the mark! [6] According to American philosopher Herbert Fingarette's conceptualisation of Confucianism as a philosophical system which regards "the secular as sacred",[7] Confucianism transcends the dichotomy between religion and humanism, considering the ordinary activities of human lifeand especially human relationshipsas a manifestation of the sacred,[8] because they are the expression of humanity's moral nature (xng ), which has a transcendent anchorage in Heaven (Tin ). In the late twentieth century, the Confucian work ethic has been credited with the rise of the East Asian economy. [24], According to Zhou Youguang, r originally referred to shamanic methods of holding rites and existed before Confucius's times, but with Confucius it came to mean devotion to propagating such teachings to bring civilisation to the people. [43] Rather it is similar to what Taoists meant by Dao: "the way things are" or "the regularities of the world",[40] which Stephan Feuchtwang equates with the ancient Greek concept of physis, "nature" as the generation and regenerations of things and of the moral order. Based primarily on the Master's sayings, preserved in both oral and written transmissions, it captures the Confucian spirit . More generally, Bai argues that his model marries the best of meritocracy and democracy. Lord on High may have referred to the ancestral progenitor of the Shang royal lineage, but heaven to the Zhou kings, although also ancestral, was a more-generalized anthropomorphic god. Confucius envisioned proper government being guided by the principles of li. Confucius (551479 BCE) appeared in this period of political decadence and spiritual questioning. Confucius conceived these qualities as the foundation needed to restore socio-political harmony. The Song dynasty Confucian Cheng Yi stated that: "To starve to death is a small matter, but to lose one's chastity is a great matter. Confucianism is a philosophy developed by Master Kong (known more commonly as Confucius) during China's Zhou Dynasty (1045 - 253 BC). Li also means religious rites which establish relations between humanity and the gods. [according to whom?]. Confucianism, a Western term that has no counterpart in Chinese, is a worldview, a social ethic, a political ideology, a scholarly tradition, and a way of life. [158] The Dominicans and Franciscans argued that Chinese ancestral worship was a form of idolatry that was contradictory to the tenets of Christianity. Rn is close to man and never leaves him. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect." . [citation needed], Other movements, such as Mohism which was later absorbed by Taoism, developed a more theistic idea of Heaven. In Japan, Confucianism stands, along with Buddhism, as a major religio-philosophical teaching introduced from the larger Asian cultural arena at the dawn of civilization in Japanese history, roughly the mid-sixth century. It is postulated that certain elements of Leibniz's philosophy, such as "simple substance" and "Pre-established harmony", were borrowed from his interactions with Confucianism. As a whole, this group is expected to grow from about 58 million in 2010 to more than 61 million in 2050. [25] Five Classics (, Wjng) and the Confucian vision At different times in Chinese history, Confucius (trad. At the cultural level, for instance, Confucianism, its institutions, and its rituals offer bulwarks against atomization and individualism. ), and one of representatives elected by the people. So, in light of Xi's call for Confucianism to benefit society in concrete ways, private . Omissions? [132] He praised Confucian ethics and politics, portraying the sociopolitical hierarchy of China as a model for Europe.[132].

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