China is a country with a vast cultural and historical background. It is a country with four billon people with extreme cultural diversity, which is nourished by different philosophies of its own. These philosophies are the beginning ideas of Chinese morality and spiritual belief, which were enriched by different intellectual heroes like Confucius.
Confucius was born in 551 B.C at the end of the Chou dynasty as a descendent of dispossessed noble family. “His ancestors were of lesser aristocracy who had, however sunk to the position of poverty and insignificance by the time of his birth” (De Bary, Chan and Watson 15). His father died when he was really young, and he was educated there was not any stability in China. It was divided into small states, which were constantly making war upon each other. Therefore, there was no peace in the country during that time. The political and the social situation during that time greatly influenced Confucius and his philosophies. During his time Confucius walked from one state to another looking for an emperor to employ him because of his strong political mission and also his self-confidence to accomplish everything in three years. However, most of the time he was unsuccessful in that field. He is recognized as the first professional teacher in China rather than a politician or a philosopher. His teachings later gave rise to the new school of thought known as Confucianism (Liu).
Confucianism is one of the major schools of thought in China. It developed from the teaching of Confucius. The principle of Confucianism is contained in nine ancient Chinese works handed down by Confucius and his followers. Later those works were divided into two groups as Th...
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...ina. However, the influence of Confucianism is still deep in Chinese soil even though it is not a dominant one. With the foundation of Neo-Confucianism, which “was the emergence of a new Confucian metaphysics that was influenced by Buddhism and that borrowed freely from Taoist terminology while rejecting both religions” (China), Confucius is still revered as China’s greatest teacher.
Works cited
“The rise of Neo Confucianism”. Encyclopedia Britannica. 1999-2000.
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/8/0,5716,127718+12+117321,00.html
De Bery, Wm, Chan, Wing-Tsit, Watson, Burton. Sources of Chinese tradition. New
York: Columbia UP, 1960 15-27.
Liu Wu-Chi. Confucianism. Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000
www.encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=008A5000
This essay will attempt to assess the impact of the 1942 Beveridge Report on the post 1945 UK welfare state. A welfare state is essentially ‘policy intervention through the state [to provide] forms of support and protection’ for all its citizens. (Alcock: 1998: 4) This means that the state will fund or provide provisions for services which are of need to its citizens. This is funded through citizens who pay taxes or National Insurance when they have active work, which in turn helps out the vulnerable members within a society. This concept is in essence designed to maintain the welfare of citizens from birth to the grave.
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For many centuries, Confucianism has been widely revered by the Chinese for its emphasis on morality. Confucius, who lived from 551 to 479 BCE, is different to most philosophers in that he showed no interest questioning his existence, the possibility of a God, or the reality that he seemed to live in; instead he focused on the human relations side of philosophy as it was his belief that people should “give (themselves) earnestly to the duties due to men … (and) keep aloof from (spiritual beings)” (Confucius 195). By negating the metaphysical side of philosophy, he was able to devote himself to mold his disciples into ideal gentleman who were morally righteous, and were able to benefit society. He believed in the importance of individuals who knew their roles in an well-structured society, that was a feudal system. In his opinion, the ideal gentleman should be obedient to his elders, have humanness and be morally righteous. Through his teachings, he was able to reform an entire country; the Chinese found Confucianism to embody practices of humaneness that they could apply in their daily lives through his religion.