Confucian Values In Traditional Religion : Religion And Traditional Government

From 600 BCE to 600 CE, China experienced changes in its political system in terms of the dissimilar ruling styles of different leaders, the rule under Legalism, and the influence of philosophical thinking like Daoism. These changes, influenced by aspects of the world and its own region, shaped China into its Classical state. In contrast, the concept of the Mandate of Heaven, the civil service system, and the significance of unity through a strong central government remained constant throughout China’s Classical period. These continuities followed through, staying essentially the same as an important part of China’s identity.

The Han Dynasty of Ancient China was one of the most prominent and long lasting societies of the time. However, they were not untouched by the ravages of the world, and despite their Confucius roots, there was a war to be fought. The Salt and Iron debate is an example of how the Confucianism of the time affected the strategy of the war. Should the government stick to their principles, or protect their empire? When is the time to say “enough is enough”?

Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism, are three Chinese ideologies in Classic China that held influence on how society should be, how to achieve order and what made government strong. Anyone that was a practitioner of these three philosophies would have had no idea how the Roman Republic or Empire worked in those regards. It would not be surprising if a Confucian, a Daoist and a Legalist had praise and dislike for how Rome was ran.

Confucianism is a time enduring philosophy that has stood up to invading clans, war, resentment, enforcement and infringement of new philosophies, and eventually, revival. For almost 80 years, up until the late 1970’s, Confucianism and its ideas and values have been all but wiped away from China. Though effort was made to remove Confucianism for good from China by the Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1949, the ideas and values were so deeply embedded into peoples mind and the culture that even suppression could not keep it out of the culture and practices. The main factor that has brought Confucianism back into the limelight in China and other East Asian countries is the recent

Before Emperor Wu of Han decided “oust others doctrines, the overwhelming Confucianism”[ Baisha Yi，易白沙 Kongzi pingyi shang 孔子评议上[Kritische Beurteilung von Kongzi, Teil 1], Qingnian zazhi 青年杂志,1916a, 571-576], which means use Confucianism as the only religion in China, Taoism was one of the most popular religions in China. In the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, Taoism was the most important religion and philosophy, and it influenced political theory. What is Taoism? How had Taoism changed politics and activities of people who lived in Han dynasty? This essay seeks to answer these questions by examining the background and few important points of Wu-wei, one of the most famous Taoist thoughts.

The ancient Chinese introduced three major religious views—Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism—during the “hundred schools” era, but Confucianism was by far the most influential upon the Chinese population. The major belief of Confucianism was that an individual’s affairs would prosper if they acted in accordance with their Dao, which was unique to each person depending on their individual role in life. An individual’s Dao was centered around the concept of duty and the idea of humanity. It was thought that there was a responsibility of all humans to base their own aspirations and interests upon the broader need of their family and/or community. Therefore, each individual would not only prosper themselves, but also prosper the other individuals surrounding them as well, creating a more stable community. It was also thought that each individual should have compassion and empathy towards one another, promoting good behavior from all individuals and fostering tolerance among communities. The concept of duty and idea of humanity brought about by the Confucian beliefs had a powerful influence on not only individuals, but the community as a whole through individual actions, having a great impact upon Chinese society and stabilizing it as a whole.

In china there has been no central rule in China for 70 years until the Song Dynasty created in 960. Things started to change in China, for example, the government started to aid the poor a lot more than what they have in the past. They were getting this money from the newly introduced income tax. This made a lot of people happy and everyone started to have more patriotism and pride. This pride gave the government a feel of legitimacy. Some of the major things the government is paying for is the roads, food, and education. Pottery at this time helps out the economy in China, because the pottery is so advanced that it was being exported for good money and it also led more people to come to China. Even though China was number one in the world for many things like technology and a sophisticated culture they were weak military wise (Holcombe p.127).

The Mandate of Heaven Based on the Teachings of Confucius The Chinese concept of the "Mandate of Heaven," was based on the teachings of Confucius and further enhanced a century later by a man named Mencius. Mencius added to the Confucian teachings by addressing human nature and the right to govern. Previously, China had been ruled by two divergent schools of thought. One was "selfish" religion in how you could obtain happiness in an unsettled world by living a simple life in harmony with nature. Confucius taught that the improvement of society was the responsibility of the rules, and that the quality of government depended on the ruler's moral character.

Filial piety was an integral part of Chinese culture and therefore was embraced by three of China's main religions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Among the three, Confucianism, with its well documented social hierarchy, supported the ideals of filial piety the most. Buddhism and Daoism also supported filial piety in some of their texts, but had monastic systems that prevented monks and nuns from being filial children.

However, the Confucian culture is exclusive to the contemporary political culture. In contemporary China, although socialist political culture has been widely spread and the actually implemented with the aid of the power of the state apparatus, people are still unable to completely get rid of the influence and control of traditional Confucian culture. In Confucian culture, the unity political view had the most influence, and the divine right of authority and the benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith, combined with the Chinese characteristic of the small peasant consciousness, made socialist political system also exist some traces of traditional political culture inevitably, and a large amount of the residual traditional culture values affect the process of political development in a variety of ways (Bell, 2010). Today as you can see, the development of market economy makes profound changes taken place in people's social interest structure. Corresponding to it, while people's political consciousness is fundamentally unified under the banner of socialism and patriotism, but the concrete political tendencies such as political attitude, emotion and policy orientation appear differentiation, which

Confucianism has easily been influential in the development of the Chinese state through history. In fact, the core ideals of Confucianism have evolved. Despite the harsh repression of Confucianism by Marxist revolutionaries during the second half of the twentieth century, Confucian values continues to be influential in Chinese society and recently, Confucian political philosophy has resurfaced again. In addition, the political ideas and social ethics of Confucianism can provide the basis for a new, functional form of government in China. Confucianism can be a viable political philosophy for China in the twenty first century because many intellectuals have turned to Confucianism to make sense of such social

Mohist (Mozi philosophy) has the values and beliefs that align with mine the most. Mohist brought their focus to concerns with human and state selfless, they believed that humans only thought about themselves, their wealth, their state of being, how much power they had, and would not think their actions and the possible consequences (Hill Slide 2). Which is something that can still been seen today in our own society. People only care about their own beliefs, and are stubborn, don’t want change, and only care about themselves and what benefits them and their families. Mohist believed that in order to have a good government, “states need to consider the consequences of their actions, by considering the action contributing to the wealth of the

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.

Confucius was born in an impoverished family. Throughout his childhood he was very eager to learn so his mother fostered that. He had several small positions in government in his home state, Lu. He was the first ever teacher/educationalist in the history of China. His teachings found in the Analects, discusses ethical modules family, politics, economy, and more. In his teachings he promotes humanness (ren), ritual propriety (li), and the developing of exemplary persons (Junzi). (Li pg. 87)

Most ancient philosophical ideas developed in the ancient Chinese empires are believed to have their roots from Confucius. Confucianism was a simple way of life propagated by Confucius around the fifth and sixth century BC. Often perceived as a religion and other times as philosophy, it is conceivably best unspoken as a comprehensive humanism that neither slights nor denies heaven. The Chinese populaces have devotedly observed Confucianism for nearly two millennia. It has become an implicit part of their culture. However, there seem to be a cod division among its proponents holding contrasting perspectives and understanding with respect to it. The central focus of this presentation is to address the questions whether Confucianism is a religion or a philosophy or it encompasses both.