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Confucianism
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The word "Confucianism" is a sixteenth-century Jesuit conceit that purports to be a translation of a Chinese term. The most common Chinese term for what Westerners call Confucianism... is more felicitously rendered the "School of the Learned" (Ru jia). This educated Ru group may have emerged within lower echelons of the aristocracy as early as the Shang (1766-1027 B.C.), but it was apparently not understood as a distinctive school of thought until relatively late. The three most prominent figures of the early "School of the Learned" -- viz., Confucius (Kongzi), Mencius (Mengzi), and Xunzi -- did not use it to name their tradition. They tended to speak, instead, of the "Way of the Gentleman," not so much as a name for a philosophical tradition than as a paragon of one who embodied virute in his conduct. In one of the earliest histories of ancient Chinese philosophy, Sima Tan (d.
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Confucianism has been the chief cultural influence of China for centuries. The teachings of Confucius were never intended to be a religion. It has no revelatory sacred writings, no priesthood, no doctrine of an afterlife, and frowned on asceticism and monasticism. Later Confucius was deified and raised to the rank of Emperor and Co-assessor with the deities in Heaven and Earth. Official animal sacrifices were made at the tomb of Confucius for centuries. In 1982 Confucianism claims 156,070,100 adherents.
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Confucianism has a lot of similarities with socialism today. Both promote collective interests and community welfare. Both emphasize the educational or remolding process in serving the common good of the society. These concepts may be quite different from the West that every individual is a completely independent entity. Individual freedom is well above the social order and welfare.
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Confucius and his Confucianism had so great an impact on the Chinese civilization that you can't imagine how Chinese culture and history will be otherwise. In the whole 2,000 years, Confucianism has influenced the Chinese attitude toward life, set the patterns of living and standards of social value, established standards for training government officials, and provided the background for Chinese political theories and institutions. It is a unique religion.
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The principal concepts in Confucianism were primarily meant to apply to rulers, nobility and scholars. Confucianism doesn’t aim toward the general populace, as does Buddhism. The beginning of Confucianism is the idea that people must be virtuous, especially rulers. Self-virtue, expressed in modesty, truthfulness, loyalty, charity, and learning were essential requirements for all. The sum total of this social virtue is often referred to as the Jen. It was impossible to expect virtue in the people governed, if the governors (or emperors) did not display the highest virtues, and did not promote the education of others to obtain these virtues.
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Confucianism combines a political theory and a theory of human nature to yield a dao (tao) — a prescriptive doctrine or way. The political theory starts with a doctrine of political authority based on the mandate of heaven. The legitimate ruler derives authority from heaven's command. The ruler bears responsibility for the well-being of the people and therefore for peace and order in the empire. Confucian philosophy presupposes a view of human nature in which humans are essentially social animals whose mode of social interaction is shaped by li (convention or ritual), which establishes value distinctions and prescribes activities in response to those distinctions. Education in li, or social rituals, is based on the natural behavioral propensity to imitate models.
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Confucianism