"The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved.”
– Confucius --
Confucianism created the Chinese view of life. The Confucian view is based on the ancient Chinese tradition. It can be stated that the view of Confucius and that of the Chinese began in the same place ( Bush, 15). In subsequent centuries Confucius’ teachings exerted a powerful influence on the Chinese nation. Therefore, the history that surrounds both Confucius as well as Confucianism is relevant to how many eastern people live their life today.
Confucius was born in 551B.C., to the noble K’ung family. He was born in the state of Lu, which is present day the Shandong in the Shantung Province. Confucius’ real name was Ch’iu, which means a hill. This was because there was a noticeable bump on his head. His literary name however is Chung-ni. These names have been rarely used because of the Chinese practice of showing reverence by avoidance. K’ung Futzu which means the Great Master has been his most popular name (DeVous and Slote 9).
Confucius was born into an impoverished noble family. At the time of his birth, the imperial court of the Chou dynasty had lost its power and the empire virtually disintegrated into a number of feudal states. Confucius’ father who was the commander of a district in Lu died three years after Confucius was born. This left the family in poverty (DeVous and Slote 12). Nevertheless, Confucius received an upscale education. Even in his childhood, Confucius liked to play ceremonies, whi...
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Confucius’ impact on Chinese culture has withstood numerous generations and continues to be one of the most prominent philosophies found in Chinese culture. Firmly rooted in years of education, Confucius spent considerable time developing his set of values and principles. In his article entitled “Confucius and the Effortless Life of Virtue”, author Hagop Sarkissian adds to this by saying, “Confucius set his mind on a course of study or cultivation at the age of fifteen, and pursued such studies for a span of fifty-five years, and was thereby able to cultivate a state of being such that he could follow his immediate inclinations in all of life’s predicaments without transgressing social norms” (Sarkissian 1). Confucius’ extensive studies only added to the philosophy represented in the Analects. This includes the pas...
In China, the citizens' inclination of Buddhism varied from that of other states. There was a plethora of mental outlooks on how Buddhism was changing the Chinese society as it expanded from India, where it was founded in the sixth century BCE. The responses are organized depending on their acceptance, rejection, or encouragement of a combination of Buddhism with other religions. These categories are illustrated by the following documents; the acceptance by documents two and five, the rejection by documents four, six, and three, and last, the encouragement by documents two, five, and three. Additional documentations that would be helpful in classifying the reactions of the Chinese people would be a testimony or statement of a Chinese woman, or group of women, and of peasants. These would be helpful as we'd be able to examine exactly how the Chinese were affected by Buddhism's grasp. We would be able to see how Buddhism affected their daily lives and what they thought about the sudden religion.
Chinese people might find naming their religion challenging as it is a mixture of “traditional religion, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism” (Corduan, 2012, p.388). The Chinese Popular Religion continues to evolve and change as the world around it changes and outside influences enter the Chinese culture (Corduan, 2012). Investigation of the Chinese Popular Religion includes its key features, practices, and influences, along with tis role in contemporary China, and how Christians can enhance their interactions.
For those individuals that choose to look into the philosophy of Confucius, Confucianism recognizes that the quest for virtue is ordinary and providential. However, in this quest of moral aptness Confucius tried to offer other people the fervent self love that he had greatly embodied. To actually make oneself as perfect as possible was the central concern of life. Al...
Confucianism became popular during the Han Dynasty as it was the state religion and had a great impact on East Asia (Confucianism 1, pg. 7). Born in 551 BCE in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Confucius himself absorbed the teachings of Mahavira and the Buddha (Confucianism 1, pg. 2) He had a set of virtues that he believed a functioning society should stand by such as benevolence, love and rites. Confucius wanted China to return to the old days when people were loyal to their rulers and rulers were polite and caring towards their people. He believed rulers s...
Confucianism is not the easy part. Its function should neither be overcome. What is mainly critical here is to discharge the past growth of the tradition, with a number of concentration to the way in which the yin-yang hypothesis was interpreted, and which also resulted in the necessary of gender roles; the second thing is to differentiate among normative texts and real societal practice; and the third to take notice that it was just politicized Confucianism that turn out to be the follower of a cruelly patriarchal society. An inflexible societal hierarchy, of which the gender hierarchy was an element, was one way of preserving and maintaining an established society.
“The spread of Confucianism across East Asia was accomplished largely through voluntary and consensual means, rather than by conquest o...
Confucius, , and Arthur Waley. The Analects of Confucius. New York: Random House, 1938. Print.
Confucianism is a moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects, the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient writings, including that of Mencius. Confucius was born a mandarin under the name Kongzi. It was developed around 550 B.C. In its earliest form Confucianism was primarily a system of ethical concepts for the control of society. It saw man as a social creature that is bound to his fellow men by jen, or “humanity.” Jen is expressed through the five relationships—sovereign and subject, parent and child, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, and friend and friend. Of these, the filial relation is most important.
Confucianism is a philosophy and way of life formed in China by Confucius, an early Chinese philosopher. It began as a simple concept with ideals of personal virtue, simple filial piety, and basic gender distinctions and social inequalities. But, over time with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism it began to transform into a way of life that was degrading towards women with certain hostilities towards rivaling religions. In its early period, from around 500 B.C.E to the Common Era, Confucianism changed in that it became the leading belief system and a major part of Chinese tradition. From the transition into the Common Era to the end of the Classical time period, Confucianism was altered because of a loss of popularity following the collapse of the Han dynasty and the corruption in the governing political system. In its ending period, the post-classical era, Confucianism underwent perhaps its biggest adjustments with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism. The ideas and virtues presented in the “rebirth of Confucian philosophies” of intolerance of foreign religions and extreme filial piety...
Nivison, David S. The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy. Ed. Bryan W. Van Norden. Chicago and La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1996.
Feibleman, James K. Understanding Oriental Philosophy: A Popular Account for the Western World. New York: Horizon, 1976.
Confucius played a major role during the time of the Zhou dynasty. “Confucius was a thinker, a political figure, an educator” (“Confucius”). The Analects of Confucius contain information on how one should interact with others and conduct their daily lives, and how deeply people should participate in society and government. These ideas then spread to his students, and eventually to many regions of Asia. This
Littlejohn, Ronnie L. Confucianism [electronic resource]: An Introduction. London : I. B. Tauris & Company, Limited Dec. 2010.
Although Islam and Confucianism represent two totally different worldviews, they have similar characteristics, which provide a potential idea, that both can be from a common source. Mirza Tahir Ahmad, who was a Caliph in Ahmadiyya Muslim community, supported this idea in his book “Revelation, Nationality, Knowledge & Truth”. He supports his idea saying, “All humans are God’s creation; it stands to reason that God not only guided people in the Middle East through Abrahamic prophets. He also guided other people through prophets like Confucius, Buddha and Zoroaster.” His claim is based on the existence of common themes between Islamic and Confucian teachings. Another supporting evidence is that God in one of the verses of Quran in which He was talking to prophet Mohamed, He told him: “And certainly We sent messengers before you: there are some of them that We have mentioned to you and there are others whom We have not mentioned to you ...” (Al-Ghafir Verse-78). According to this verse, God gives Muslims a room to search for other prophets than the ones who are mentioned in Qur’an. In this paper I will compare between Islam and Confucianism in terms of similarities and differences to know whether Confucianism is a religion that came out from the same source of Islam, or it is a philosophical values and morals that was spreading in china to support the Chinese community from falling apart.