Confucianism And Religion

The first point in Confucius 's three main points is the importance of family. Confucius stressed that family is composed of many types of relationships within the family. These relationships are: parent and child, husband and wife, and elder brother and younger brother. The relationship between the elder brother and younger brother is a simple one, but it can easily be overlooked. The relationship between parent and child is one of the ones most emphasized by Confucius. Confucius uses the idea of Filial Piety, the respect of a child for his or her parents, to stress the importance of this relationship. Confucius is also known for the idea that “if the interests of one’s ruler and one’s parents conflicted, one’s support of the parent came first” this is according to the book, page 48. Confucius also has the belief that everyone is born into the world as good. Last but not least, is the relationship between husband and wife. In Lessons for Women by Ban Zhao, Ban Zhao lists many different maxims that led to a

One of the most influential people during classical China was Confucius and his belief system of Confucianism. There are many reasons why Confucianism rose among the other belief systems to become one of the superior and most widespread in classical China. First and most obviously, Confucianism made its success with the birth of Confucius in 551 BCE who is the author and creator of all the content in Confucianism. More seriously now, knowing the fact that Confucius and Confucianism was created during the Zhou dynasty the reasons for Confucianism at that time seemed mandatory. During the Zhou dynasty, the Chinese government was incredibly weak due to the numerous betrayals and the instability of the alliance system created by the Zhou leaders.

One of the first points to note is that extreme caution has to be used when relying on any specific quote or work attributed to Confucius (born 500 BC), because historical records are either poor or non-existent. Much of the life and professional history of Confucius is not recorded in any formal sense, but has been passed down as part of Chinese social traditions, though it would be extending it too far to call it a legend; there is no doubt that he did exist. For that reason, specific acts or events that he may be associated with can never be satisfactorily substantiated. Furthermore, one point that is known is that many of the famous quotes attributed to him were collected many years after his death, and may actually be aphorisms. Nonetheless,

Confucianism is a belief system of thoughts taught by Confucius in China during the 5th and 6th century BCE during the Zhou dynasty. During this time, China was dealing with serious political conflicts, moral chaos, and intellectual conflict and order were almost non-existent. During this political struggle, Confucius believed that going back to the “traditional ways” was the only path for society to get back on track and developed his thought into what is known as Confucianism. It has existed for over two millennia and has changed over time. Some people refer to Confucianism as philosophy while others view it as a religion. Confucianism is a belief system which can be incorporated into other religious beliefs and forms of religion. This belief system has heavily influenced politics and life in China and neighboring places.

A Yiddish Proverb states, ?Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough, but not baked in the same oven? and could easily be used to describe three religions of this world. The third, fourth, and eighth largest religions when ranked by membership numbers are Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism and their individual beliefs are different which will be explored; however, these same three religions rank one, two, and three in the nontheistic religions that do not focus on belief in gods?the one area that all three are the same.

Confucius also recognizes that filial piety should be expressed naturally. According to Confucius, being filial to our parents is the utmost expression of respect. This is an essential element in obtaining the title of Chun-Tzu, or noble person. However, filial piety is not a one-way street. Parents are also filial to their children and to their parents. Both parent and child have a natural position and responsibility within the family; therefore natural filial piety is reciprocal. It is through recognizing and practicing filial piety in the family that a person will know how to act outside of the family. For in the Confucian tradition, it is realized that filial piety also exists between all beings. This is evident in the Confucian Golden Rule: "Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you” (Book XV). As in Taoist thought, filial piety is something that naturally exists and is reciprocal in nature. To force filial piety into being or to intentionally practice reciprocal filial piety would be going against its true nature. Filial piety must be freely and naturally expressed for it to be truly realized.

Belief system is a religion or a philosophy that helps explains the answers to questions that can’t be answered. Religion is sometimes mistaken for philosophy because they resemble each other in many ways although they differ. A philosophy is defined as the study of knowledge, reality, and daily life. The study of Confucianism is strictly a philosophy and is commonly misinterpreted as a religion. The founder, Kongzi also known as Confucious, wanted to restore peace, harmony and social order. There were no books nor places to practice this objective; As this goal was no religion, but a philosophy. Confucious believed that the foremost way to achieve stratum would be through the knowledge and governing of the ruler. The way the government ran

Without a doubt, Confucius is regarded as one of the greatest sages of China history. Some people even refer to him as a deity. There have even been attempts to make Confucianism into a religion. However, present day people regard Confucius as an ethical teacher rather than a man of religious faith, and they refuse to believe that Confucianism is a religion. However, in order to determine whether Confucianism is a religion, the most important Confucian text, The Analects, must be analyzed to decide whether his teachings were rationally humanistic or based on religion and divinity.

When Western people think of Confucianism, they often think of it in a past sense- as something only relevant to ancient China that cannot be applied to modern day society. However, what these people fail to realize is that Confucianism’s roots have been so integrated into China’s society that the values have become a part of every day life. Without having to explicitly state that they are following specifics aspects of Confucianism, most Chinese people submit to them, often times unknowingly. However, Confucian values not only exist in the Chinese society, but also permeate into other areas of Chinese culture such as architecture and aspects of Feng-Shui.

Confucius was born in an impoverished family. Throughout his childhood he was very eager to learn so his mother fostered that. He had several small positions in government in his home state, Lu. He was the first ever teacher/educationalist in the history of China. His teachings found in the Analects, discusses ethical modules family, politics, economy, and more. In his teachings he promotes humanness (ren), ritual propriety (li), and the developing of exemplary persons (Junzi). (Li pg. 87)

Confucianism is a time enduring philosophy that has stood up to invading clans, war, resentment, enforcement and infringement of new philosophies, and eventually, revival. For almost 80 years, up until the late 1970’s, Confucianism and its ideas and values have been all but wiped away from China. Though effort was made to remove Confucianism for good from China by the Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1949, the ideas and values were so deeply embedded into peoples mind and the culture that even suppression could not keep it out of the culture and practices. The main factor that has brought Confucianism back into the limelight in China and other East Asian countries is the recent

Most ancient philosophical ideas developed in the ancient Chinese empires are believed to have their roots from Confucius. Confucianism was a simple way of life propagated by Confucius around the fifth and sixth century BC. Often perceived as a religion and other times as philosophy, it is conceivably best unspoken as a comprehensive humanism that neither slights nor denies heaven. The Chinese populaces have devotedly observed Confucianism for nearly two millennia. It has become an implicit part of their culture. However, there seem to be a cod division among its proponents holding contrasting perspectives and understanding with respect to it. The central focus of this presentation is to address the questions whether Confucianism is a religion or a philosophy or it encompasses both.

Confucianism, also known as Ruism, is described as a tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or simply a way of life. It was founded by Kung Futzhu or “Great Master Kung” Zhou Dynasty then was made the political ideology of the government during the Han Dynasty. Confucianism is viewed with particular emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony, rather than on worldly source of spiritual values as such that the core of Confucianism is humanistic. However, from the beginning there was a strong view that Confucianism was mainly a pragmatic, social and ethical philosophy that promoted social harmony and good morals and ethics. This more philosophical and social approach was critiqued by other religions.

Religion and traditional government were intertwined which meant that all State matters had a religious influence while at the same time politics had a considerable control over the religious practices. These religious practices that were based on Confucian values had an underlying belief that Heaven provided the political power and that the political decisions came from Heaven. Sacrifice to Heaven is one of the three that were directly related the Confucian values. The other two that will be discussed later include sacrifice to ancestors and sacrifice to Confucius. It is important to note that the three sacrifices were the pillars of the traditional government. Heaven formed an important aspect that determined the structure of the universe and all the people living in the universe. It was seen as an essential force that was responsible for the proper functioning of religious activities, political matters, the moral conduct of people and in general the daily their lives. In ancient China, heaven was used in a spiritual perspective and hence the reason for the great influence that religion exerted in political systems. Spiritual matters were viewed to be the driver of everything that happened in the universe and hence sacrifice to Heaven was taken very seriously by the people. The ceremony associated with the sacrifice to heaven was performed with great care according to the writings in the Confucian classics.

The concept of human nature is somewhat debated in Confucianism and its followers. In the absence of a personal or supernatural god in this belief system, the question of whether someone is inherently good or evil does not have the same importance as it does otherwise. For example, Christians believe that they are created with sin and must create a certain form of relationship with their god to live a moral life. However, without such a personal god, the focus is more on human behavior than and sort of dogmatic debate. In fact, Confucius hardly ever touches on this issue but noted that "by nature men are similar; by practice men are wide apart" (Confucius, N.d.).