Sami Qian: The Grand Historian “If it may be handed down to men who will appreciate it and penetrate to the villages and great cities, then, though I should suffer a thousand mutilations, what regret would I have?” (Letter to Ren An) The last excerpt from Sami Qian’s letter to Ren An, explaining his reasoning for choosing castration instead of death. Sami Qian was son of Sima Tan. Tan held the position of Court Astrologer who worked under the Han Dynasty. After his father’s death, Qian upheld his father’s role with an additional task. This task entailed recording the history of the known world, mostly about China. While serving under the Han Dynasty, Sami Qian gave support to a general who had surrendered. The Emperor did not enjoy …show more content…
This philosophy became the basis for Chinese government, education, and most other aspects of the culture. Confucius lived from 551 BCE until 479 BCE. In his time he was known for his teachings, which are conserved in the Analects. (Confucian teachings) His teachings are vast; being the foundation for many of the dynasties we know of today, such as: Han, Tang, and Song. These teachings include ethics, humanism, altruism, the disposition to do well, and more. (Confucian teachings) There are three major principles of Confucianism; these three include Ren, Yi, and Li. (Confucius, Analects) All three relate to each other but they also have their own individual concepts. Ren is the commitment to altruism. Altruism is the belief of selflessness; in which doing something that might benefit another at the expense of himself is a strong conviction. The responsibility to have a moral character to do well unto others is the concept of Yi. (Confucius, Analects) Now Li is the expression of these Confucian ideologies, the outward practice of it towards others in your community. Relationships are a pivotal part of Confucius philosophy, especially the relationship between a father and his son. In this philosophy, this relationship is known as filial piety; which is the virtue of respect between father and son along with other …show more content…
There are always two sides of an argument, but the side argued in this essay is that Sami Qian was a Confucian. The largest support for this side is found in Qian’s letter to his friend Jen An, when reading this letter it is clear of his support for Confucius ideologies. Although not explicitly expressed, one can see Sami Qian’s virtues and beliefs in his reasoning for the decision he made. He decided to live a life of shame to complete his father’s work, and this shows selflessness and the support of the Confucius belief of filial piety. When looking at Sami Qian’s actions and writings, it is clear that he supports the three main concepts of Confucianism: Ren, Yi, and
Confucianism was founded by Confucius in 551-479 Bce. Confucius believed that everyone should live by the Five Constant Relationships: parent and child, husband and wife, ruler and subject, older sibling and younger sibling, older friend and younger friend. Each person
Emperor of China; Self Portrait of K’ang-hsi should not be read as a textbook or as a completely true historical
The earliest Emperor of the Qin dynasty was Qin Shi Huang, who was born in 259BCE and ultimately came into power at the age of 21. Despite accomplishing many significant achievements, he attained this in a brutal and callous way. Arguments that will be clearly discussed and explained in this assignment to emphasize the negative aspects of Qin Shi Huang are: the severe punishments he enforced for criminals, his fierce and deceitful war strategies and the prohibiting and burning of Confucius teachings.
during the Zhou Dynasty, China was experiencing a great deal of political turmoil. A major part of this era was called the Period of the Warring States. It was a time when there were numerous wars that occurred due to the conflict that existed between seven states. (Watkins, 2013) These warring states were the Han, Wu, Zhao, Chu, Qi, Yan and Jin. According to Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler of the book Traditions and Encounters, “This period forced some people to reflect on the nature of society, and the roles of humans beings within society.” The authors continued saying that it forced others to “identify principles that would restore political and social order.” (Bentley & Ziegler, 2011) The principles of Confucianism were established and followed in order to help the citizens of China to live and govern their communities more efficiently. Through Confucianism, Confucius helped legitimize China’s rule and bring about order in the mist of turmoil. The effects of Confucius’ principles are still seen and felt today in many aspects of modern day Chinese society. Veritably, there were points throughout Chinese history where Confucianism affected almost every aspect of life in China. Confucius has impacted the development of Chinese thought and culture in various ways from education to politics, to familial relationships.
Qin Shi Huang was born in 259 BC and eventually ascended to the throne of the kingdom of Qin at the age of 21 creating a war and declaring himself China’s first emperor (Source 1). Although he did bring unification to China, Qin Shi Huang was a forbidding and brutal dictator who abused his power and dishonoured his people and country. This assignment will clearly highlight the negative aspects of Qin Shi Huang, including: the banning of Confucius, how he enforced of unnecessarily strict laws and how his arrogance and ignorance eventually took over.
Confucius created the doctrine that 300 years after his death became a permanent impulse of social life in China, established rules of behaviour not only in the state, but also the family as a social unit.1
The Qianlong Emperor is one of the most notable emperors in Chinese history due to the complexity of his reign. Qianlong was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty from 1735 to 1796. This is one of the longest in Chinese History. The first 40 years were some of his greatest achievements, however the last 20 years were met with fraud, corruption, and a declining popularity. In this essay, I will argue that despite having a major blemish to his reign, the Qianlong Emperor was a successful emperor. I am defining and measuring successfulness based on 1) the ability to grow the empire 2) whether or not they have good intentions for empire and 3) control and security over the empire. The Qianlong Emperor’s greatest successes shine through his militaristic campaigns, foreign relations, and his protection and his advocating for art. However, it is also stained by corruption and bad management.
Confucianism and Hinduism both were focus on people’s individuals. They both have same ideas on solving problem of social order in self-conscious way. Confucianism in China, which established by the first Chinese thinker, and educator, Confucius ( Kongzi), whom solved political, and social problem in non- violence ways. He emphasized three important values for every individuals to process, which are “Ren”, “Li”, “Xiao”. “Ren” means kindness, and generous; “Li” means polite, and respect to your roles and duties; “Xiao“ means respect, and obey elders. Compare to Hinduism, both of them had classes to organize their societies, and people had responsibilities to fulfill their roles duties. Hinduism accepted four main castes, brahmins ( priests ), kshatriyas( warriors and aristocrats ), vaishyas ( peasants and merchants ), and shudra ( serfs ). Everyone had heavy responsibilities on accomplishing their works, which similar to Confucianism concept “Li”. They both using
Elliott is a notable researcher of Qing 1644-1911 China who has some expertise in the historical backdrop of its Manchu originators, In Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World, Elliott has turned his extensive semantic and chronicled abilities to a life story of the enduring Hongli 1711-1799, who from 1735 until the point when 1795 ruled as Emperor Qianlong, managing a time of amazingly quick social, scholarly, statistic what's more, natural change, Qianlong's mind boggling identity and rule are analyzed once again in Elliott's investigation. There are numerous cases of this with tests of these sonnets by Qianlong himself all through the book and pictures of himself, generally in a purposeful publicity style however. The book gives an awesome short clarification of how Qianlong ruled the country and how he lived in his home life. It points of interest his spouses and the amount he loved them and what he did with them on their many voyages together over the Chinese farmland. It really expounds the amount Qianlong was influenced by the passing of his first spouse and how it may have had an effect on how he led from subsequently.
Wang Qing-ren’s goal was to correct what he thought were mistakes made by the ancient
According to Reid, a few of the major “Confucianism” ethos and practices involve ‘Ren’, ‘yi’ and ‘li’ which represents the concept of ‘altruism’ along with clear depiction of the humanness for other individuals (Reid 29-66).
The contrast in the motivation behind the creation of these two works is created through the attitudes and theories in play during the time in which the author’s lived in. Looking into Sima Qian’s motives which he attributes to the desire to “…have paid the debt of my shame, I will have no regret if I am killed ten thousand more times!” (Sima Qian, 93). The debt being the humility he has brought his family name after being castrated for speaking out of line to the emperor. The punishment and the reaction to this punishment reflect the two major schools of thought present during Sima Qian’s time. These two schools of thought were the ideas of Confucius and Legalism. The ideas of Confucius supported tradition and the respect for ancestry (McKay, 103) while
Confucius is one of the first Chinese thinkers who addressed the conflict of political and social order. he was a strong willed man who often did not get along with others. He never realized his ambition to become a powerful minister. Confucius attracted numerous disciples who aspired to political careers. His thought was fundamentally moral, ethical, and political in character. He had his disciples study works of poetry and history made during the Zhou dynasty. He examined the book of Songs, book of History, the Book of Rites, and other works with his students. Literary works of the Zhou dynasty became the core texts of the traditional Chinese education because of Confucius’s influence. There were specific Confucian values indluding ren, li, and xiao. Individuals with ren were courteous, respectful, loyal, and diligent. He said ren is much needed for government
The religion of Confucianism begins, of course, with Confucius whose Chinese name was Kong Qui and who lived from 551 B.C. to 479 B.C. Surprisingly Confucius was merely a low level government worker. He did not exactly view himself as the founder of a school of thought. Regardless, Confucianism is the most influential belief system in Chinese culture. It provides the rules which govern the social behavior of the individual. The basic teachings of Confucius are grounded in the Five Constant Virtues: humanity, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness. Confucius went on to define five basic human relations and
Confucianism is one of the main influential ideologies on the Chinese culture. The founder of this religion is Confucius; he was a Chinese teacher. He taught traditional disciplines at that time, and believed that he could change the order of the Chinese society. He has different principals in life. First, Li: “It is the medium within which to talk about the entire body of the mores, or more precisely, have the authentic tradition and reasonable conversations of society” . In other words, li is the social rituals between people and they are divided into different categorized relationships like father and son, filial piety, between brothers, husband and wife; Ruler and subjects, and between friends. The Second principal was Jen, which is humaneness; it describes the inner personality of a person and that people should practice respect to one another. Li and Jen are values that complete each other to create the superior man, according to the Confucius. Also, Confucius believed in the spirits but keeping them at a distance. There are Five Classics and the Four Books are regarded as a reference for Confucianism.