Confucianism Research Paper

During the Warring Sates Period there were three main philosophies in china, that influenced their actions and way of thinking. The three perspectives were Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism. For each there was a social thoughts, political thoughts, ethical teachings, and a way of public life. These three philosophies where created because of the political fragmentation. (McKay,Pg.70)

In China during 406-221 BCE, the battling states between the Zhou and the Han Dynasties? were in a state of governmental disorder. Although the era was in a disruptive state, it ushered in a cultural opening that left a long lasting imprint on the Chinese history. As a result, three major belief systems surfaced Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism in an attempt to achieve a sense of political order in a disorder period. There are distinctions in the way each of the belief systems approached the many problems that plagued the Chinese society. First, all of the founders were contemporaries in China. As well as considered philosophies, who studied the future, and sat out to focus on the present rather than the past. In contrast, Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism established various paths in search of an optimistic future for the success of China. Second, both Legalism and Confucianism developed a social belief system, but are considered a religion. However, both Legalism and Confucianism purpose was to create an orderly society in the hopes of prosperity. In contrast, Daoism does

“…The influence of a scholar who died nearly 3,000 years ago is still felt in the boardrooms, bedrooms, and classrooms of nearly a quarter of humanity” (Worrall, “Why is Confucius Still Relevant Today?”). Today, Confucianism is seen as a world famous East Asian philosophical system; an intricate moral, political, social, and some might also say a religious system that has a monumental influence on the history of the Chinese culture. However, being the founder of a school of philosophy was not Confucius’ original intention. It all began in the sixth century B.C. when the established system of the Zhou Court could no longer meet the society’s demands. The tension between the political center and the regional lords caused the authority of the

Amidst the chaos of political instability and constant warring of the Zhou era, arose many intellectual thinkers that brought such a profound impact in the fields of politics, religion, and philosophy. Even to this day, their influence can be seen on the many matters of China. Confucianism became the paramount school of thinking and later significant philosophies such as Daoism and Legalism gained immense recognition as well. Each party had their own proposals for creating an idealistic political society where the many problems they faced in their everyday lives could be eliminated. All three approaches were very distinct but at the same time, they contained similarities as well. In my reasoning, I find that Confucianism and Daoism

The term “Confucianism” is often regarded as a complex mechanism of social, political, moral as well as religious beliefs that have considerable influence especially upon the civilizations belonging to the East Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea along with Singapore and Vietnam. With reference to the observation made by Reid (1999), it can be viewed that a clear depiction about different principles and beliefs exists within the sphere of “Confucianism”. Therefore, the major purpose of this report is to briefly review of T. R. Reid’s book “Confucius Lives Next Door: What Leaving In The East Teaches Us About Living In the West” through concisely unfolding the experience of

The question of whether or not Confucianism is a religion has been explored by many writers. Its religious status has been controversial in intellectual circles since the controversy of the Chinese rites of 17th century. There have been several attempts to define the religious character of Confucianism. The arguments by Matteo Ricci that the church should accommodate ancestor worship by Christians of Chinese origin because he considered it veneration and not a true worship was the beginning of Confucianism as a religious model (Tucker, 1998).

Confucianism, often mistaken as a religion, is a philosophical system that helped shaped society during Ancient China from 551-479 B.C. A Chinese philosopher named Confucius developed the idea in hopes of eliminating China’s problem of disorder in society. The ideology of Confucianism helped Ancient China build a foundation to establish institution and social order. Confucius intent was to create social harmony in society, and in order achieve social harmony; individuals must live by moral examples of superiority. This entailed unequal relationship in human society: the father has power over his son, the husband has power of his wife, the older brother has power over his younger brother, the eldest son has power over his mother, and of course, leaders had power of individuals. With this idea, Confucius believed that this would create equal balance between the importance of families and the importance of state and nation. Juggling between these the importance of families and state had people question whether or not individuals were able to maintain serving the nation and state while fulfilling their family’s obligations. In this paper, I will be researching whether or not Confucianism benefited Ancient China’s society as a whole, or if the idea of Confucianism leads to social destruction rather than social harmony with the help of two articles. In Cui Dahua “A Weakness in Confucianism: Private and Public moral,” and Wellington Koo

Before we explore the interactions between Buddhism and Confucianism in China, it’s important to understand what each one is. Buddhism focuses on meditation and cutting off earthly ties so the cycle of death and reincarnation stops, and the soul acheives Nirvana. Confucianism is more focused on interactions between people and their place in society, and suggests ways for people to live harmoniously together. Although they both focus on respecting others and doing good deeds, conflict arose when Buddhism began to gain popularity in ancient China. In the early period of the Buddhist infiltration into Chinese culture, Buddhism caught Confucian scholars off-guard. Its appeal to the peasants culminated in Buddhist-influenced rule for some centuries, notably through China's only woman emperor, the Empress Wu.

When implemented in their society, there is no doubt that they grasped Confucian conservative beliefs into their moral standards and practices. In their education system, they were accustomed to the idea of dedication, obedience, and loyalty, due to behavioural control and motivation; in their economic system, the local and national economic system was transformed into a conservative capitalist society run by Confucianism; and finally, in their social system, they created social order and divisions among equals, while respecting elders; all conservative values and practices of originating from Confucianism. Morally, whether this standard of living is right or wrong, is dependent on the individual and his or her moral values, but what can be stated is that Confucianism and its ideologies have shaped China into a conservative

One of the key characteristics of the Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) was the focus on creating a “new socialist culture,” which included a change in consciousness and a forceful enlightenment. The ideology of the Chinese Communist Party first played an instrumental role in their triumphant victory in 1949. Prior to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, and indeed well afterwards, Confucianism reigned as the sole ideology in China. As an old, strongly conservative governing way of life, Confucianism valued hierarchy, emphasized a correct way of living (orthopraxy) instead of a correct way of thinking (orthodoxy), stripped youths of abilities to grow their influence, and placed an immense emphasis on the emperor (Liberthal 7-8). One can see the weakening of Confucianism with the Taiping Rebellion, the first movement not to invoke the Confucian argument that a ruling dynasty had lost the Mandate of Heaven (Bianco 30). Confucianism ultimately lost its power during the May Fourth Movement, a period of Chinese history that rejected “the subordination of subject to sovereign, of son to father, of wife to husband” and advocated the “limitless potential of human reason” (Bianco 39-40). The May Fourth Movement eventually grew into Marxist thought,

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

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.

It is vital that East Asian's have other options and do not necessarly have to choose between a democratic society and their strong Confucian heritage. The idea of “Confucian Democracy” for those who oppose it maybe considered an oxymoron, although for confucian societies it is a better alternative than democracy. Confucian democracy “modernizes Confucianism with democratic values and modifies democracy with Confucian concerns”1.Equality and freedom is a universal democratic value which all people are entitled to, many theorist have argued due to democracy societies can experience economical growth 2Zhengxu Wang argues “it does not matter whether there is a Confucian Asia or

In this essay, to make it easier to understand when I begin to address the main problem presented by the question I will first give a brief outline of what the Confucian ideas and practices are. I will then do as the question asks and evaluate the critique, I will do this by going on to decide how valid I believe the critique to be and proposing some responses to it to see how the critique really holds up, before going on to discuss some alternative critiques and whether I see them to be more valid.

Confucianism was orchestrated and created by Master Kong who was later named Confucius by missionaries from Jesuit when visiting China. Nevertheless, the basic principles of Confucianism preceded his birth during the Zhan Empire. During that time, the concepts of respect and the considerations for others flourished but there was as well emphasis given to spiritual concerns- specifically, the divine’s goodness and supremacy. Such concepts focused on uniting the people, establishing stability and monitoring rebellion against existing authorities.