Confucianism In Ancient Chinese Religions

Han China (206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.), and Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E. – 476 C.E.), were powerful and influential civilizations whose fall had an everlasting impact on society. The inability to protect borders and corrupt officials led to the fall of Han China and Imperial Rome. Unlike the Han, Christianity tore Rome apart while Confucianism united China.

From the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations to the Muslim world, antiquity has always been filled with religions of all sorts. These religions helped guide how ancient peoples lived life and came about doing even the most common tasks that people like us do today. Religion impacted the civilizations of the ancient world by greatly influencing how peoples of ancient civilizations acted, how they thought about the world around them, how civilizations were organized and maintained, and how they interacted with civilizations of another religion.

Hagen. (1998, December 29). Buddhism Plain and Simple: The Practice of Being Aware. Retrieved December 4, 2016.

The Chinese traded with many countries in the eastern world. They traded all over the eastern part of the world and traded jewelry, rice, silk, but the most important trading supply was knowledge. Word came from India about Buddhism. And since then, buddhism has developed into one of the most fascinating and popular religions in China. A Buddhists temple is called a stupa. The Chinese made another version called a Pagoda, The pagoda is a towerlike temple, and it was usually made with stone, brick, or wood. The silk road had many roads intertwining. It was called the silk road because Chinese used silk as a trading supply, and many traders thought it was a wonderful material. During a battle, the Romans were so surprised when they saw silk,

Christianity and Confucianism are important religions today at least according to the Chinese. As a result, the rising influence brought about by Confucianism in China tends to trigger conflicts between the two religions. The Chinese society is greatly influenced by Confucianism, which has a considerable impact on Christianity as a religion in China. The modes of thinking associated with Confucianism are evident in the Chinese Christianity, but Confucianism ideas are deeply rooted in the lives of the Chinese. There is an increased rivalry and tension between these major belief systems as a result of the religion revival and the growth associated with Confucianism and Christianity in China (Lee & Ruhe, 1999). Confucianism has been manipulated in China by the Communist Party to its own benefits. This is evident through the perception of Christianity as a Western scheme and a threat to take over the cultural identity of China. As a result, the interactions between Christians and Confucianism are characterized by hostility and distrust. The challenge facing China at the moment is their ability to witness effectively in the emerging pluralistic society.

Buddhism, grown from Hindu ideas in fifth century BCE India, was rejected as barbaric thought when brought to strictly Confucianist China with exception in scholars that approved. That was in the first century CE, and in the limbo period between the fall of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the beginning of the Tang (570 CE), some reevaluation of traditional thought occurred with scholars considering Buddha as perfect as Confucius, and an emperor of the ninth century condemning it as an evil to society.

Confucianism and Buddhism were most likely introduced from China to Japan. Prince Shotoku, one of the first leaders to introduce Confucianism and Buddhism in Japan, issued the Seventeen-Article Constitution that has several influences from both religions. It focuses on Confucianism values, such as hard work, and obedience to your superior. Confucianism in China has five different relationships that are addressed specifically. These include father to son, husband and wife, elder and younger siblings, ruler to subject, and friend to friend. In each single relationship, both groups have obligations. For instance, the fathers should be kind, give security, and provide education. The sons should be respectful to others, be obedient, and provide

This introduces the topic of family devotion in the text. Confucius meant that the rituals that should never be disobeyed. It is unlikely that Confucius would instruct anyone to obey their parents without concern for what is wrong or right. Even if instructed to do something by a parent, if the task was ethically or morally wrong, Confucius would tell anyone to always remain true to the principles of jen, te, and the

Confucianism has been around for more than two millennia and has continued to thrive on its values, expand its following, and inscribe itself into our history and beliefs. While Confucianism can be broad, it can also be intricate in the sense where there are five major concepts within this way of life. With this being said, the five concepts were named “The Five Regulations” where it contained the five Confucian virtues. These social and ethical philosophies around the way of life rooted from Confucius and the Chinese heritage where respect and education were highly emphasized to where “the Confucian concept of learning has played an important role in everyday school culture of the East Asian countries since Confucius placed learning at the very center of his teaching” (Kwak, Kato, Hung). While learning and education played a major role in Confucianism, there are also five major Confucian East Asian concepts that the Chinese lived by which included “humaneness” also known as “ren,” “righteousness” also known as “yi,” “ritual and propriety” also known as “li,” “wisdom” also known as “zhi,” and “faithfulness” also known as “xin.” Even though the “Five Regulations” stand as the main Confucian concepts, in Confucianism there are also beliefs called the “Five Bonds,” that exist. To this it states that a, “ruler to ruled, father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger brother, friend to friend” are the relationships were the concepts should fall into.

for political ethics and civil order. What exactly is Confucianism? It is the system of ethics, education,

For ages, Confucianism, as the ritual standard throughout the history of Ancient China, has an enormous impact on the development of Chinese cultural and Chinese society in numerous ways. Admittedly, the philosophy of Confucian was adopted by many emperors and helped them to create a stable and structured society. However, Confucian studiers kept women subservient to men, which they claimed that women were a part of their male’s counterparts or asset rather than an individual. Confucian’s doctrines contributed a lot to the moral codes that should be complied by women, especially in Song dynasty, which the introduce of Neo-Confucianism brought some changes to women’s position in this specific dynasty. The marriage of women and their

As a believer of God, some of the spiritual and cultural values have played part of my goals and future. Like Jesus and his disciples, we should seek out to other people, spread knowledge of the culture and take that knowledge and integrate those values/ideas to our own lives. In other words, being open to different values and visions by learning about other faiths. Studying at a religiously affiliated institution will help keep me focused by allowing me to learn about other faiths, while helping me solidify my own beliefs and morals. I want to integrate both Confucian and Christian ideas and apply them to my knowledge. Also, I can create new relationships and interact with people who have similar and/or different faiths. It is comforting to

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 always been a great part of Chinese society. Confucius ideologies stand for education and becoming superior through learning, they also see women as a weakness and should therefore be no more than used as household keepers and child bearers. This way of thought is seen throughout Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in which both Lily and Snow Flower spent a lifetime hearing from everyone around them that they were worthless and weak. They were made believe that their sole purpose in life was to obey their families, and once they get married to obey their husbands and their husband’s family.

Religion had always been an important object in people’s lives for decades. Each religion had its own beliefs, rituals, and gods. In Ancient Egypt, there were multiple gods who control different places. Their religion also includes magic, mythology, and science. The people in Egypt believed life on Earth is only part of the eternal journey. They needed to live an earnest life on Earth and continue their journey in the afterlife. People in Egypt hinge on each other to complete their task and produce pleasure as it was the will of the gods. The Egyptians worship every single god and earn good deeds while they were alive, because they wanted to continue their journey after they die. Each Egyptian god performed on different tasks, because there were too many tasks for just one god to handle and each god had their own abilities. Nevertheless, it made Egypt better by performing the tasks efficiently.