Confucianism And Egalitarian Beliefs Of Buddhism In The Chinese Dynasties

The response to the spread of Buddhism in China differed according to one’s social position.

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”?

In the sixth century B.C.E., the religion of Buddhism was founded in India. Seven centuries later, the religion would find itself arriving in China in the midst of the Han Dynasty. In China, there were many different views of the religion as it arrived and spread throughout the country. There were two main responses to the religion. One response was that Buddhism could stand alongside other Chinese religions and philosophies such as Confucianism, as it could do a lot of good for China; while another view was that Buddhism had no place in China, as it came from foreign people and was barbaric, stealing from the Chinese.

Its ideas did not meet the requirement of Qin and could not deal with the situation in Qin, so Confucianism was not adopted by Qin. On the other hand, Qin tended to adopt an offensive grand strategy, and Legalism conformed to the situation in Qin, thereby, it was much favored by the Qin’s ruling class.

In these days, is very helpful that each person has a religion because it is more peace for the world. In the negative way religion is very controversial because there are many unbeliever cases that have been happen. Since the beginning of human’s life there are many belief and different religious in the world. Knowing about religion is very interesting because with this knowledge, people would respect other people beliefs. Obviously, if there are many religions, there are people from different religions. There are two religions that I am going to emphasis: Confucianism and Christianity. There are many factor to cover; the aspects about each religion, the similarities, and the differences between both. Each religion has a different way to

It is amazing that after many centuries, Confucius still holds a very influential position in society and that his teachings are still being practiced within a countries culture to the extent that it has adapted to the society. Confucius is an influential Chinese philosopher and his teachings have become a guideline for people in East Asia to live their life in a certain way. Confucius beliefs focus strongly on morality and ethics for one self, but his practices have proved to become universal and this can be seen in social and political situations in East Asian countries. These ideals hold great power in political thought and the government because the practices are oftentimes used to determine how to govern the country. He had disciples

For much of history, income levels were low, lives were short and there was little or no economic growth. With a higher investment into human capital, specifically higher education, an attempt to increase income levels and overall lifestyle is observed. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “Human Capital” refers to “the skills the labor force possesses and is regarded as a resource or asset.” Essentially, it identifies that there are investments made in people and these investments can positively affect an individual’s production.

Confucianism has been known to be the binding factor for much of China’s history. Though the founder of Confucianism has no official title or record, the inspiration of these teachings, Confucius, was the guiding factor for change in China set forth by his understanding of environment and needs of his country’s future. Due to the acceptance and immersion of Confucianism with in the Chinese culture, much of Confucius’ teachings has found themselves religiously embedded in its entirety, not only within day-to-day life, but with the political and holistic venues.

Confucianism, also known as Ruism, is described as a tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or simply a way of life. It was founded by Kung Futzhu or “Great Master Kung” Zhou Dynasty then was made the political ideology of the government during the Han Dynasty. Confucianism is viewed with particular emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony, rather than on worldly source of spiritual values as such that the core of Confucianism is humanistic. However, from the beginning there was a strong view that Confucianism was mainly a pragmatic, social and ethical philosophy that promoted social harmony and good morals and ethics. This more philosophical and social approach was critiqued by other religions.

Chinese society was patrilineal, patrilocal, and patriarchical. Confucianism, with its emphasis on traditional rituals, extended these ideas through all aspects of social and political life. Master Kongzi saw religious and social rituals as the basis for civilization, and believed that only through such a civilized society could there be a stable and enduring social order. For him, the family was the fundamental unit of society, and families were to be set up in a specific "natural" hierarchy. Fathers were to have authority over their sons; elder brothers had authority over younger brothers; and fathers, husbands, and grown sons all had authority over their female kin. A man’s duty was to have sons to perpetuate the family line, to properly bury him when the time came, and to venerate the male ancestors of the family. A women was honored within the family as the one who bore children and taught them their social place, but she did so only under the authority of her husband and his parents. She also cared for her in-laws, and might continue to do even if her husband died. Therefore, a woman’s standing within her family of marriage depended on her bearing male heirs, and a widow who had not produced sons was worthless to that family. At no time was a women an autonomous individual; rather, she owed respect and obedience at all times to her parents, her husband and in-laws, and eventually, to her grown sons.

Confucius’s philosophical teachings about government and society discussed in the Analects revolve around morality and how a ruler and his people should act in order to stabilize society. Confucius looked to the past to discuss the problems of the present by modeling his teachings from the former Zhou empire. Confucius sought to bring back the Zhou traditions in order to better society. By linking moral behaviors to social roles and hierarchies, he emphasized that the stability of the government and society was directly correlated to the relationship between the ruler and the people. With the title “Son of Heaven,” the ruler was expected to act morally towards his subjects and treat them with love and concern (“Introduction to Confucian Thought”, 2009). This idea is directly related to the concept of ren, which discusses the well-being of others as the moral drive of society. He extended this idea into social harmony, being first and foremost embedded in the family. Confucius believed that the virtue of filial piety was the foundation for not just family life but also had implication for the ruler-subject bond (“Mencius and his development of Confucian teachings”, n.d.). Similarly, Mencius centered his teachings on this idea by stressing that the well-being of the family directly corresponded to the well-being of the state. Most importantly however, Confucius also discussed the importance of the ruler ruling over the people with virtue, which was achieved through ritual

Confucianism, also known as "The School of the Scholars", is an ethical and philosophical institution in East Asia and developed from the teachings of the early Chinese sage Confucius (Wertz, 1998). Indeed, it is a complicated institution that including moral, social, political, and religious thoughts. Up to the 21st century, most of them had enormous impacts on the history of Chinese enlightenment.Confucianism is viewed as "state religion" of empire China (Wertz, 1998). The countries and various territories, where ethnic Chinese are the majority, are extremely influenced by Confucianism such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore .The thoughts from Confucianism has formulated the customs in those community and people comply with these.

There have been many debates among Chinese historians as to the cause of the fall of the Qin Dynasty. The Qin used force and strict rules to keep a short leash on the people of the kingdom. However, with the precautions taken by the government, they did not know it would ultimately be their demise. In order to contain rebellion and to keep the people of the empire ignorant, the combination of brutality, persecutions, antagonizing of the elites, and denying the Way, led to the short reign and ultimately the fall of the Qin Dynasty.

Confuscius was a man of hard work and calm demeanor. As a child he grew up in poverty and became disgusted with the way the rich lived their everyday lives. As he grew older and learned more of the world, his wisdom grew. His wisdom grew so much so that his students wrote down, through Analects, his words.

For many centuries, Confucianism has been widely revered by the Chinese for its emphasis on morality. Confucius, who lived from 551 to 479 BCE, is different to most philosophers in that he showed no interest questioning his existence, the possibility of a God, or the reality that he seemed to live in; instead he focused on the human relations side of philosophy as it was his belief that people should “give (themselves) earnestly to the duties due to men … (and) keep aloof from (spiritual beings)” (Confucius 195). By negating the metaphysical side of philosophy, he was able to devote himself to mold his disciples into ideal gentleman who were morally righteous, and were able to benefit society. He