The Confucian Ethics

Confucianism is a system of ethics and philosophy developed by Confucius and his disciples. For two millenniums, the Chinese people emphasized Confucian ethics as the superior source of inspiration for human interaction at all levels between individual, subject and ruler. His philosophy was predominant in the heart of Chinese education, governance and moral ethics. Confucianism established the moral standard and ethical ideals in East Asia by creating the fundamental structure of virtue. As a result, his philosophy on virtue was integrated with politics, religions, education and psychology to prevent political chaos and social disorder (Yao 34-35). Confucius was born in Ch’u-fu in 551 B.C., a small feudal state of Lu and lived in the Spring and Autumn period of the Zhou Dynasty. Confucius is referred as “Kung Fu-tzu” throughout Chinese history, but the modern term Confucius was coined in the eighteenth century Europe. Confucius’s ancestors were members of the old aristocracy who had become peasants by the time of his birth. In his teens, Confucius distinguished himself as an astute learner and a young scholar. Confucius believed that the primary function of education was to provide the proper way of training to become “chun-tzu”, a process that involved self improvement and continuous social interactions (Slote and De Vos 8-9). Confucius’s early career included a minor government posts managing stables and keeping books for granaries before he married a woman when he was nineteen. By the age of twenty, he named his newborn son “Carp” after the gift of the Lu king. Confucius was a member of ru, which specialists in the six arts. His mastery of the six arts which included ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and...

... middle of paper ...

...tance of virtue and emphasized the role of each individual in a family, community and society. In addition, it developed a new sense of morals in human life and encourages self transformation through moral cultivation and social engagement to become a moral person. After all, Confucius philosophy and wisdom brought long lasting order and peace to the world.

Works Cited

H., Walter, and George A. Confucianism and the family. New York: State University of New York Pr, 1998. Print.

S. Ellwood , and Barbara A. Mcgraw. Many peoples, many faiths: women and men in the world religions. 9th Edition. Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

Tammey, Joseph, and Linda Chiang. Modernization, Globalization, and confucianism in Chinese Societies. Praeger Publishers, 2002. Print.

Yao, Xinzhong. An introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge University Pr, 2000. Print.