The Ambition of Confucianism

China, a country that is bonded with 5000 years of histories, is crossed with different religions. Among all the religions, the greatest impact that has on people is Confucianism. Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system that was created by Confucius, a philosopher. It is sometimes seen as more of a philosophy than a religion. Yet, it is deeply respected by the people for its influences and teachings. One of the accomplishments is its well-known cultural impact; Confucianism before 1500 in China had a great impact on people’s traditional practices, such as foot binding for women, restricted behavior teaching as a guideline for people to follow, and ritualistic wedding ceremony and funeral, are universally practiced.

Foot binding was strictly enforced due to the definitely distinguishable differences between men’s and women’s status, also enhanced women’s eminence. Although foot binding was not started from the Confucianism culture, it was strictly implemented after Confucianism became popular. Women suffered tremendous agony in foot binding. According to Confucian beliefs, women have a lower status than men, thus foot binding was commonly used to define different status between men’s and women’s. Moreover, not just to show the statuses of men and women, but also the differences between the rich and the poor — foot binding was mostly applied to the rich doors’ girls. The poor families’ girl, however, for they had to work for living, could not bind their feet. As the consequence for foot binding, it limited the movements of women, which was effectual from stopping women to cheat on men, since they could not move far without help from others. Nevertheless, despite the distrust from men, foot binding was c...

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...to honor the dead and promote the social morality. After death, one’s spirit was still extant: Confucians promote ancestor worship by burning paper money and offering food to respect the lives of the dead on April fifth. Confucian rituals were through well thinking and therefore were widespread. It included the three stages everyone had to experience: birth, marriage, death, furthermore, ritual for after-death-live was prepared for the later generations to reevaluate the ancestors’ spirits.

Traditional practices in China were largely influenced by Confucianism. Before 1500 it revolutionized the society entirely: foot binding meant more than for women than ever; restricted moral teachings were modern. On the other hand, more rituals were added to people’s lives, and motivated people to learn and be moral. Confucianism had changed people’s living style commendably.