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Core philosophy of Confucianism and influence on China
Confucianism and its influence upon Chinese society
Confucianism and its influence upon Chinese society
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In India, around the 6th century B.C., a man gave up his royal lifestyle to attain enlightenment, and began teaching others the path to enlightenment as well. This prince-turned-teacher became known as the Buddha. At the same time, in China, Confucius too was just initiating his teachings in social construction. Their teachings became important and are still influential in their home countries. For India, and later on in China too, Buddhism became a religion and in China, Confucianism became a social structure model. Throughout their teachings, three philosophies were covered by both teachers in their own way. These viewpoints were humanity without selfishness, education in the fundamentals of firmness of beliefs and keeping fresh minds, and …show more content…
Buddhism acknowledges in its teachings that it is not to physically run from the world, although living a pure life is important in understanding how to live in a society. It is written, “the one who lives a pure life in the village or town is definitely far superior to, and greater than, the one who lives in the forest.” This shows that seclusion is not needed to have a pure life. “Buddhism aims at creating a society where the ruinous struggle for power is renounced” The relationships are shown in Buddhism in the six cardinal points of the heaven. East: parents; South: teachers; West: wife and children and so on. In all the relationships; honor, devotion, respect, obedience, caring, faithfulness, high morals, integrity, and many more are embedded in both teachings. Confucius also had similar beliefs. “Min Tzu looked respectful and upright; Tzu-Lu looked unbending; Jan Yu and Tzu-kung looked affable. The Master was happy.” He believed that traits like respect, upright, unbending, sociability were important. Unlike Buddha, however, he believed “Let the ruler be a ruler, the subject a subject, the father a father, the son a son.” In these quotes, the difference in how Buddha wants to break the cycle of power while still in the cast system while Confucius expects and demands the limitation of your station to be harmonious is shown. Both teachers agreed that respect, obedience, benevolence, high morals led to a harmonious society where everyone can live in peace with one
Buddhism is a religion that teaches peace to all, so when King Asoka of the Mauryan Empire began practicing Buddhism, he ceased expanding the empire. Instead the government diverted its efforts towards creating a road system and building sculptures. Confucianism was based on the teachings of Confucius who preached the practice of “reverence [respect], generosity, truthfulness, diligence [industriousness], and kindness.” Because Wudi wanted his government employees to embody these qualities, Wudi set up schools that would teach these and had examinations for students for students based on these principles. This placed people of wealth
Buddhism was founded by one man, Siddhartha Guatama. He was born into royalty around 563 B.C.E. in a Kingdom near the border of India and Nepal. He was raised in wealth and luxury, and at the age of 16, he married a wealth woman and they had a child together. Around the age of 29, he began to realize that all humans were in a cycle of suffering, dying, and then being reincarnated only to suffer and die over and over again. It was then that he decided to leave his wife and child to find a way out of this repeating cycle of life and death. First he studied with teachers, but found he was coming to no conclusions, so he turned to more extreme things such as self-mortification, but he was still left unsatisfied.
Taoism and Confucianism are two major Chinese philosophies. I say that they are philosophies because religions tend to worship deities and Taoism and Confucianism don’t seems to worshiping anything. To some they appear to be different, even clashing but to me, they seem very much alike but they come at it from different points of view. Both philosophies strive to reach harmony but in to very different ways. I do believe the reason they can co-exist is because they see Tao from two different ways.
Regarding religion, Chinese culture saw the emergence of Confucianism and Buddhism as the major influence. Confucianism stressed filial piety which meant respecting elders and superiors, ruling righteously, and obeying commands and orders. Confucianism was introduced by the Chinese thinker Confucius. Buddhism was brought to China, but originated in India and was founded by Siddhartha Gautama. Followers of Buddhism worshipped Buddh...
While possessing similar goals, Confucianism and Daoism texts have conflicting information on how to achieve these goals. Confucianism and Daoism have some similarities such as the belief that “human fulfillment lay in harmonizing our thinking and behavior with the Way (dao)” and a refinement of the self to gain an objective (Adler, Chinese Religious Traditions, 15). Both traditions recognize that we can do better as humans. While there are similarities between these religious traditions, their written teachings have very different instruction on how to achieve the Dao. Confucianism encourages the notion of ru, which is “evoking a commitment to learning, refinement, cultural accomplishments, and the practice of rites and
Confucius believed each individual had a specific place in society and duties to uphold. With setting 5 basic principle relationships, this would allow people to know what was expected of them and behave correctly. Confucius avoided speaking of the afterlife, death, and religion unlike Sun Tzu and Bushido. Sun Tzu’s guidance is Taoism: each individual must be aware what may happen in order to overcome the enemy. Allowing the response to triumph the attacker without having to delay. Bushido like Confucius believed family is upper most importance which is noted in the Code of the Samurai. Rather avoiding death one must keep the thought of death in the forefront of their mind. A samurai will always sharpen their skills through peace and war times.
Confucius, a child brought up in poverty, enjoyed setting up sacrificial vessels and imitating gestures of rituals. When he reached the age of 33, he studied customs and traditions of Chou Empire. (The Famous People) Early in Confucius’ life, he has discovered something he is passionate about. He proved that his early interest in rituals as a child was carried on in his career and on what will be the center of his life.
Have you ever wondered about other religions and philosophies of the world? What it would be like to live in their world, state of mind, and culture. To experience life in their shoes with the drastic different believes and practices compared to your average day. In my compare and contrast I will be comparing two awesome philosophies called Buddhism & Confucianism. You most likely have heard of these but do you really know anything about them, most likely not. The definition of Confucianism by google definitions is “Confucianism, also known as Ruism, is an ethical and philosophical system, also described as a religion.” The definition of Buddhism by google definitions is “Buddhism is a nontheistic religion or a philosophy that encompasses
The basic beliefs and concepts of Confucianism are similar to Taoism in the sense that they want peace and good behavior. The Buddhists, on the other hand, strictly have the purpose to reach Nirvana and follow the four noble truths. The overall goal of Confucian is different than Buddhism and Taoism because the overall goal of the Confucius is to find their peaceful and harmonious place in life, while the two others have no overall goal. The goal of the individual believer is similar in Confucianism and Buddhism because they each follow a certain behavior and want to be in harmony with nature. The Tao just have to follow the life according to the Tao.
The main similarity between Socrates, Buddha and Confucius, is that they stressed the importance of honor and integrity. All three of them taught a form of the golden rule. The golden rule is “Do not do to others what you would not like them do to you” (Clarken, 2010). Socrates was a philosopher in Athens, and he encouraged people to reflect on ethics, morality and knowledge (Tignor et al. p.197). Morality and ethics are what people believe is right, and what people believe is wrong. Buddha also known as Siddhartha Gautama, believed in the ascetic life, and that life is full of faith to reach nirvana. Nirvana is enlightenment and the absent of pain (Tignor et al. p. 177). To be able to reach Nirvana, people have to follow Buddha’s teachings known as the four truths and emptiness. Confucius believed that humans behaved ethically because it is in their makeup to do so. He also highly believed in respect for the elders or
Philip J. Ivanhoe. Confucian moral self cultivation. New York : P. Lang, vol. 3, 1993.
In the Chinese culture there are several major religions, two of these include Confucianism and Taoism, which have dated back for thousands of years. According to. Experiencing the World 's Religions and The World’s Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World’s Religions, both Confucianism and Taoism originated in ancient China through the religions’ teachers: Confucius and Lao Tzu. “Taoism and Confucianism grew up together, entering Chinese history around the sixth century B.C.E.; Taoism’s beginnings are linked to the legendary figure of Lao Tzu, senior to Confucius by about fifty years. Even though Taoism and many other folk religions have shaped the Chinese mind, Confucianism remains, by any historical measure, its chief mentor” (Novak 113).
Of the three beliefs, Confucianism is the best and most impactful. It is a better option than Daoism and Buddhism because of the education and their policies.
Analects, a compilation of Confucius’ teachings, is greatly recognized as a work of utmost importance and influence in the Chinese culture. The book conveys Confucius’ beliefs on a wide variety of topics, including propriety, education, family relations, and government in efforts to enhance social order.
Confucianism is created by Confucius. Confucius was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. (1)