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Confucianism is a predominately eastern way of life that incorporates values, social codes, and the substance of learning. This system was “founded” by Master Kong aka Confucius and then later developed by Mencius around sixth to fifth century BCE. This way of thought is often grouped in with religions but is purely a world thought and philosophical. One can be Muslim or Christian and can still practice Confucianism. In this essay I will discuss major authors in the Confucian tradition, key teachings and how Confucianism has survived in modern China.
A main contributor to what we know about Confucianism is the Analects, which are a collections of conversation between Confucian and his students. Added later to the Analects were the works Mencius, Great Learning, and Mean.
Confucius has been dubbed the founder of Confucianism but his main goal was to restore the old religion of the Zhou Dynasty. One of Confuicus’ main thoughts was that “birth of all people are close to one another while through education they became far apart”.
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He came to the conclusion that there is a human nature but he never really defined what it was. Confucius believed that only a civilized society could be successful and have a unified social order. He also emphazied that moral harmony had a direct connection to harmony in the physical world (Cartwright, “Confucius.”) Confuicus’ main teachings were the virtues, the Way of Heaven, and the five relationships.
There are five virtues which are ren, yi, zhi, xin, and li. Ren is the virtue of humaneness.
Yi is the virtue of justice and righteousness. Li is the virtue of proper rite or the guide to human action. Zhi is the virtue of knowledge. Finally, Xin is the virtue of integrity. The Way of Heaven is what Confucias refers to as the Truth. The five relationships are based on the order and units of society. The five relationships consists of: Father and son, older and younger brother, husband and wife, older friend and younger friend, and ruler and subject. These foundational relationships each teach basic principles: loving and reverential, gentle and respectful, good and listening, considerate and deferential, benevolent and loyal (Topics: Informal Fallacies). These three teachings are the foundation of Eastern thought and Confucianism.
After Confucias, there were several other fundamental scholars and teachers who further develop what we know as Confucianism today. Another philosopher that has played a key role in Confucianism is Mencius. He though human nature was naturally good and that all humans had the beginnings of good. He defines human nature as “that which is uniquely and distinively human” He believed that people had to be taught or learned from experience in order to be morally good later in life. Mencius believed that the focus of Confucianism was xin because it denotes the organ of thought (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Mencius’ book is categorized into four main ideas: Theodicy, Government, Human Nature and Self Cultivation. In The Book of Mencius, Mencius has an argument with Kao Zi who states that there is no human nature. According to Kao Zi humans have no inherent nature but are directed by experiences and how life effects one’s choices.
In opposition to Mencius’ theory an eastern thinker, Xun Zi, believed that humans were naturally evil and defines human nature by what people possess. He believes that only through the threat of punishment and training that people become socially cooperative. Xun Zi’s basic theory was what if government was taken out of the picture and there was no social construct? People who are left without some authority would result in chaos. Xun Zi believed that rituals and music were an important part in governing people (Goldin, “XunZi”).
Dong Zhonshu theorized that human nature was both good and evil, a medium between Mencius and Xun Zi. He believes that human nature has the begginings of good like Mencius but that this good needs to cultivated by authority like Xun Zi. He sees these beginning s as not being good but having the potential to be either good or bad. Dong Zhonshu believed that “human nature must compete with a person’s innate tendices to greed and selfishness”. Dong Zhonshu theorizes that there is a balance between the good and evil and that there are parts of people that are both and are inate. Although Confucianism isn’t as prominent today it still has survived in modern China. During 960 through 1279, Confucianism melded with two other schools of thought: Buddhist and Taoist.
This melding of these three philosophies was termed Neo-Confucianism. This new rise of philosophical thinking took a different turn and interested itself into politics (Pecorino, “Confucianism”). In 1911, Confucianism lost its popularity due to the Chinese Revolution. According to Pecorino, Confucianism will not ever play a crucial role in Chinese life as it had once did (“Confucianism”). Although this may be true there are aspects of Confucianism that are ingrained into Chinese culture and tradition. Such aspects include filial piety, which is taking care of one’s elders and respecting them. Academics also plays a major role in China because some schools teach and emphasize moral education and some colleges even offer National Studies which is Confucianist literature (Peregrine, “Confucianism in Modern Society”). Confucianism has shaped the lives and people of China and other nations by creating a philosophical resource and social order to be good and respectful to others.
The Predominantly Oriental Lifestyle. (2022, May 23). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-predominantly-oriental-lifestyle-essay
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