Search results
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, [1] is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy ( humanistic or rationalistic ), religion, theory of government, or way of life. [2] .
- Overview
- The thought of Confucius
- The historical context
Confucianism is the way of life propagated by Confucius in the 6th–5th century BCE and followed by the Chinese people for more than two millennia. It remains the social code of the Chinese and continues to influence other countries, particularly Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
Does Confucianism have a god?
There is no deity worshipped in Confucianism, though the worship of ancestors and of Confucius himself as a sage master and teacher are practiced.
Where does Confucianism come from?
Though Confucius is sometimes credited with founding Confucianism, he said that he was interpreting the philosophy of Zhougong, the duke of Zhou, rather than creating new doctrine. Zhougong was said to have helped consolidate, expand, and refine the “feudal” ritual system. This system depended on blood ties, marriage alliances, and old covenants as well as on newly negotiated contracts.
How did Confucianism spread?
The story of Confucianism does not begin with Confucius. Nor was Confucius the founder of Confucianism in the sense that the Buddha was the founder of Buddhism and Jesus Christ the founder of Christianity. Rather, Confucius considered himself a transmitter who consciously tried to reanimate the old in order to attain the new. He proposed revitalizing the meaning of the past by advocating a ritualized life. Confucius’s love of antiquity was motivated by his strong desire to understand why certain life forms and institutions, such as reverence for ancestors, human-centred religious practices, and mourning ceremonies, had survived for centuries. His journey into the past was a search for roots, which he perceived as grounded in humanity’s deepest needs for belonging and communicating. He had faith in the cumulative power of culture. The fact that traditional ways had lost vitality did not, for him, diminish their potential for regeneration in the future. In fact, Confucius’s sense of history was so strong that he saw himself as a conservationist responsible for the continuity of the cultural values and the social norms that had worked so well for the idealized civilization of the Western Zhou dynasty.
Britannica Quiz
The scholarly tradition envisioned by Confucius can be traced to the sage-kings of antiquity. Although the earliest dynasty confirmed by archaeology is the Shang dynasty (18th–12th century bce), the historical period that Confucius claimed as relevant was much earlier. Confucius may have initiated a cultural process known in the West as Confucianism, but he and those who followed him considered themselves part of a tradition, later identified by Chinese historians as the rujia, “scholarly tradition,” that had its origins two millennia previously, when the legendary sages Yao and Shun created a civilized world through moral persuasion.
Confucius’s hero was Zhougong, or the duke of Zhou (fl. 11th century bce), who was said to have helped consolidate, expand, and refine the “feudal” ritual system. This elaborate system of mutual dependence was based on blood ties, marriage alliances, and old covenants as well as on newly negotiated contracts. The appeal to cultural values and social norms for the maintenance of interstate as well as domestic order was predicated on a shared political vision, namely, that authority lies in universal kingship, heavily invested with ethical and religious power by the “mandate of heaven” (tianming), and that social solidarity is achieved not by legal constraint but by ritual observance. Its implementation enabled the Western Zhou dynasty to survive in relative peace and prosperity for more than five centuries.
Exclusive academic rate for students! Save 67% on Britannica Premium.
Learn More
Inspired by the statesmanship of Zhougong, Confucius harboured a lifelong dream to be in a position to emulate the duke by putting into practice the political ideas that he had learned from the ancient sages and worthies. Although Confucius never realized his political dream, his conception of politics as moral persuasion became more and more influential.
The concept of “heaven” (tian), unique in Zhou cosmology, was compatible with that of the Lord on High (Shangdi) in the Shang dynasty. Lord on High may have referred to the ancestral progenitor of the Shang royal lineage, but heaven to the Zhou kings, although also ancestral, was a more-generalized anthropomorphic god. The Zhou belief in the mandate of heaven (the functional equivalent of the will of the Lord on High) differed from the divine right of kings in that there was no guarantee that the descendants of the Zhou royal house would be entrusted with kingship, for, as written in the Shujing (“Classic of History”), “heaven sees as the people see [and] hears as the people hear”; thus, the virtues of the kings were essential for the maintenance of their power and authority. This emphasis on benevolent rulership, expressed in numerous bronze inscriptions, was both a reaction to the collapse of the Shang dynasty and an affirmation of a deep-rooted worldview.
Mar 31, 2020 · Confucius. At different times in Chinese history, Confucius (trad. 551–479 BCE) has been portrayed as a teacher, advisor, editor, philosopher, reformer, and prophet. The name Confucius, a Latinized combination of the surname Kong 孔 with an honorific suffix “Master” ( fuzi 夫子), has also come to be used as a global metonym for ...
In this perspective, Confucianism consists of several main ‘stages’, which together forge the links of a long chain; each link of the chain shares common features with, yet differs from, others, which enables us to appreciate the continuous evolution and development of the whole tradition. CONFUCIANISM AND THREE OPTIONS.
- Xinzhong Yao
- 2000
The Confucian theory of ethics as exemplified in lǐ (禮) is based on three important conceptual aspects of life: (a) ceremonies associated with sacrifice to ancestors and deities of various types, (b) social and political institutions, and (c) the etiquette of daily behavior.
Sep 13, 2020 · This chapter traces Confucianism’s evolution from its birth in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770–221 BCE) to its construction in the Imperial era (221 BCE to 1911 CE). It shows that China’s history had roughly equal parts of pacifism and aggression, and limited government and imperial despotism.
People also ask
How did Confucianism evolve?
Who was Confucius and what did he believe?
When did Confucianism become a state religion?
Is Confucianism a religion?
Mar 6, 2024 · philosopher. noun. person who studies knowledge and the way people use it. ritual. noun. series of customs or procedures for a ceremony, often religious. Confucianism is one of the most influential religious philosophies in the history of China, and it has existed for over 2,500 years. It is concerned with inner virtue, morality, and respect ...
