Confucius, a child brought up in poverty, enjoyed setting up sacrificial vessels and imitating

“…The influence of a scholar who died nearly 3,000 years ago is still felt in the boardrooms, bedrooms, and classrooms of nearly a quarter of humanity” (Worrall, “Why is Confucius Still Relevant Today?”). Today, Confucianism is seen as a world famous East Asian philosophical system; an intricate moral, political, social, and some might also say a religious system that has a monumental influence on the history of the Chinese culture. However, being the founder of a school of philosophy was not Confucius’ original intention. It all began in the sixth century B.C. when the established system of the Zhou Court could no longer meet the society’s demands. The tension between the political center and the regional lords caused the authority of the

during the Zhou Dynasty, China was experiencing a great deal of political turmoil. A major part of this era was called the Period of the Warring States. It was a time when there were numerous wars that occurred due to the conflict that existed between seven states. (Watkins, 2013) These warring states were the Han, Wu, Zhao, Chu, Qi, Yan and Jin. According to Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler of the book Traditions and Encounters, “This period forced some people to reflect on the nature of society, and the roles of humans beings within society.” The authors continued saying that it forced others to “identify principles that would restore political and social order.” (Bentley & Ziegler, 2011) The principles of Confucianism were established and followed in order to help the citizens of China to live and govern their communities more efficiently. Through Confucianism, Confucius helped legitimize China’s rule and bring about order in the mist of turmoil. The effects of Confucius’ principles are still seen and felt today in many aspects of modern day Chinese society. Veritably, there were points throughout Chinese history where Confucianism affected almost every aspect of life in China. Confucius has impacted the development of Chinese thought and culture in various ways from education to politics, to familial relationships.

They want to emphasize individual virtuous behavior, both by the ruler and the ruled as well as highly recommending obedience and respect, “people should know their place, even under bad rulers.” Even the Han emperors decided to implement Confucius ideas after looking at their doctrine called The Analects. The book shows Confucian political value and social order which states that the aristocrats and the educated are of the highest degree, and then comes farmers, and finally, the merchants. Although both Confucianism and Legalism call for governmental hierarchy, Confucianism possessed an optimistic view of human potential while Legalists believe that a powerful government is necessary along with a carefully devised law rewarding for good deeds and punishing for bad

Mencius, as one of the most influential scholars of Confucian thought, shared many of the same views as Confucius and furthered many of his ideas. One example would be the emphasis on family and its connection to the government. Mencius, like Confucius, saw that the wellbeing of the family was crucial for prosperity of the state. He also emphasized filial piety and advocated for agriculture instead of fighting more wars. Furthermore, he took on the idea of the gentleman versus the ordinary person, someone who was distinguished, diligent, righteous, and respectful. But while the views of Mencius seem to more closely mirror those of Confucius, that was not entirely the case. For example, Confucius emphasized the importance of rulers as well as loyalty to authorities, stressing adherence to the social stratifications set in place by Chinese culture and society. However, Mencius said, referring to the noble ministers of the court, that “When the ruler makes a major error, they point it out. If he does not listen to their repeated remonstrations, then they put someone else on the throne.” He argued that subjects should be able to overthrow a ruler that is unjust, for it is only a ruler that is righteous and benevolent that should be supported by the people. Mencius also stressed the importance of a person’s motives, something not explicitly seen

Imagine yourself in Ancient China where you are told you can only do things a certain way. One must look very deeply into the Ancient Chinese governments to see that it is influenced greatly by the great scholar Confucius. Do we see these influences in today’s systems of governments? Confucius had many different areas of focus but we can whittle that down to three areas. The three main areas of Confucius are all seen in some way in the Ancient Chinese governments.

During the long era of Chinese Dynasties, three School of Thoughts emerged as philosophers spread their knowledge across the empires. Although each of the three philosophers that founded these School of Thoughts were able to alter the ways of the people’s beliefs, one in particular had ideals that over time, were powerful enough to change the ways of the Chinese culture, and eventually the world. Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, focused on spreading his political and ethical views based on how “humans should act in harmony with the universe” ( World History 91), and the effect of this would allow their society to blossom. As word of the practice of Confucianism spread, the Chinese empires began to adapt to new changes that this school of thought taught, and overtime, the government, and lives of the Chinese began to revolve around the Confucian

Confucius has no formal writings himself, but his disciples kept some record for him. Being loyal to Confucius, it is unlikely that the disciples changed his words too much. Confucius is not biased, for he explains both sides of the spectrum. Confucius is critical to the other beliefs of government. The tone is a bit didactic, teaching the reader about Confucius’ teachings. Hearing from a Government official could have helped to fully understand the Government at the time this was written.

Secondly, Confucius viewed rules and laws as harmful. He argued that people led by laws and punishments will try to avoid punishment but lose the sense of shame. If they are led by virtue and guided by propriety, they will preserve their sense of shame and become good citizens5. He saw a country as an extended family and a ruler should take care of his citizens like a father would take care of his children. The ruler as the “father” would need to set a proper example for the right ethics to flow down5.

Proper order is one of the core theories of Confucianism. What proper order suggests is that at any level in society, from the family up to the state, there is a way of ordering human relationship that is proper and is “a precondition of human flourishing” (Managna, Lecture 9). The first step of proper order is about self-ordering. Properly ordering self is the first step toward properly ordering anything else, such as family or government. After self-ordering, we can create institutions and teach people to act in certain ways in order to achieve harmony. As Yao states in his book that Confucians believe “through order all things have a proper place” (Yao, 171), proper order is therefore put into practice as management. From governments’ perspective, Confucians assert that government should always emphasize on human needs and interests, which means that governments and states should “take people as a foundation”(Managna, Lecture 9) and take them as root of the policy. From Confucian point of view, we

Conficius grew up in a time where feudal lords where constantly fighting each other for control because the government was weak. As a result, Conficius never forgot his childhood misery caused by the horrendous atrocities committed by the rulers. Since his mom work was not enough to survive for both of them, he started working at a really young age, which provided him with the opportunity to understand the people’s lives. Instead of learning the art of fighting, Conficius read through many books seeking one solution that would bring peace and justice to his people. Conficius’ main goal was to end corruption and restore peace, but he needed a government position to implement his policies. He believed that the differences between classes would

This theory’s major belief was to put the needs of family and society first. For example parents owed children love and children owed their parents honor. Husband's owed their wives support and wives owed their husbands obedience. People who had skills for government were allowed to try to become part of government. Even though Confucius had not so many followers he won some every now and then. A solution to creating a peaceful society was Confucianism. (Spielvogel 288).

Confucius is one of the first Chinese thinkers who addressed the conflict of political and social order. he was a strong willed man who often did not get along with others. He never realized his ambition to become a powerful minister. Confucius attracted numerous disciples who aspired to political careers. His thought was fundamentally moral, ethical, and political in character. He had his disciples study works of poetry and history made during the Zhou dynasty. He examined the book of Songs, book of History, the Book of Rites, and other works with his students. Literary works of the Zhou dynasty became the core texts of the traditional Chinese education because of Confucius’s influence. There were specific Confucian values indluding ren, li, and xiao. Individuals with ren were courteous, respectful, loyal, and diligent. He said ren is much needed for government

Confucianism is regarded as one of the primary religions that have profoundly influenced Chinese beliefs and ideologies. While Kongzi, or Confucius, is the founder of Confucianism, he is not the only philosopher who has contributed to such a significant impact on China. Similarly, the Analects of Confucius is not the single text that represents Confucianism. In fact, during different time periods throughout the history, there are a number of eminent representatives of Confucian thoughts, such as Mengzi and Xunzi. Because Confucianism aims at eliminating chaos and maintaining order in a harmonious society , they all agree that the guidance and education of virtuous Confucian pioneers are of extreme importance to achieve this

Confucius’ main attribute for a model government was a model leader that the people could follow and try to mimic. This leader should be virtuous and a “gentleman” while studying history and ritual. He explains that one is virtuous “If he treats worthy persons as worthy and is

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