How Did Early Japanese De Axialize Confucianism

Classical China was a breeding ground for new ideas, inventions, and most importantly, religions. Although Classical China was littered with different religions and beliefs, Confucianism was the most prominent. Confucianism is based on the teachings of a philosophical

Confucianism’s major impacts on the bushido code have come from its ethical teachings, primarily those from the Five Relations. Historians suggest that Confucianism was introduced into Japan via merchants who travelled across the East China Sea from neighbouring Korea and China as early as the 4th century AD. If this view is accepted it would make Confucianism one of the earliest foreign religions introduced into Japan thus playing an imperative role in shaping Japanese ideology.

“It is often said that, aside from the impact of Marxism on twentieth-century China, the only other time when the Chinese looked beyond their own borders for intellectual sustenance was during the period when Buddhism was absorbed from India” (LaFleur 23). Why did this religion appeal to the Chinese when they disregarded so many other external influences? After all, being tied to the rest of the world by the Silk Road meant they were constantly inundated with novel concepts from far and wide. The answer must lie in how Buddhism interacted with the other faiths already established in the country, namely Confucianism and Daoism (sometimes spelled Taoism). While at first glance it may appear that Confucian China would be the last place

8. In what different ways did Japanese and Korean women experience the pressures of Confucian orthodoxy?

For the ancient dynasties of China and Japan that influenced by Confucianism, sages were often focusing on developing their thoughts and were not directly involved in politics. Although the government officials studied Confucianism when they were student, oftentimes they were not considered as sages probably because they did not possess the characteristics of the sages and did not develop their own Confucianism theories. The sages’ influence mainly came from their scholarly work and their teaching passed on by their

In relation to the observation made by Reid, the concept of “Confucianism” is often observed as one of the major Chinese religions alongside Taoism as well as Buddhism. The religion has been emerged in the Japanese culture during the period of 285 AD. A few of the major principles of this religion such as humanity, morality, trustworthiness along with the consideration of developing an individual have been widely witnessed to provide significant influence within the Japanese culture (Reid 67-90). The principles and beliefs within the facet of “Confucianism” had played an imperative part particularly for Japan which eventually strengthened its political philosophies as well as ethical code of conducts by a considerable level. In relation to the political phenomenon, the notion of “Confucianism” had played an essential role for the Japanese culture in terms of developing morality along with increasing individual potentials of achieving their desired goals and objectives. Moreover, the religion had also been widely observed to create significant loyalty among the Japanese communities through increasing the amount of

China and Japan are two unique civilizations that went through similar, yet vastly different changes throughout their histories. Their growth and response to other nations differed in many ways in government, lifestyle, and general well-being. One of the main causes for such difference between the countries is the way the West influenced each region, and the way China and Japan responded to this influence. China focused more on the idea of being a "status oriented" society, while Japan was more "goal oriented" based. In China, anyone had the ability to better themselves and change their status through civil examinations given by the government. Western impact however slowly changed this old age system. Japan's caste system viewed

Although Confucianism is not strictly speaking a religion, the impact it had on Japanese social and political structuring cannot be ignored. As mentioned before, Confucianism entered Japan around the same time as Buddhism and was incorporated into the multiple different Buddhist sects. One very strong principle of Confucianism was the idea of harmony, often illustrated as Yin and Yang (Hoobler and Hoobler, 63). In Japan, Neo-Confucianism began becoming popular, which combined Buddhist and Taoist thought with Confucianism

Confucianism was founded by the first Chinese thinker to address both the political and social order of things straightforwardly and self- consciously. Kong Fuzi, or Confucius in English, lived from 551-479 B.C.E., but his teachings did not reach their full potential during the his life of an educator and political advisor born into an aristocratic family. Confucius gathered many disciples to spread his beliefs that were rooted in moral, ethical, and political character. He didn’t address questions about religion because he believed they were above the human moral intelligence capacity, nor those regarding obscure, complicated philosophical questions because they would not help solve the problems of China. Confucius did not really even care about the state, but he did believe

More importantly, many cultural, political and/or religious structures were selectively borrowed from China (Japan’s closest axial centre) and Korea (Japan’s closest non-axial counterpart). For example, Perinola (2006: 131) states: “From AD 552 onwards, Yamato’s court adopted from China not only in Buddhism, but also their writing, techniques, arts and many lifestyles.” The borrowing of these certain structures, as illustrated by Perinola (2006), indicated Japan was highly receptive to external influences. Furthermore, being receptive to foreign influences occupies a major position in Japanese civilisation, for both premodern and modern developments, because it was being receptive that developed a distinct trajectory in Japan, but a problem

When Confucianism was imported, its influences were only found within the political sphere. Typically, Confucianism was practised by the Japanese aristocracy and intellectuals in order to be an ethical man in government. For instance, the Japanese practised: Confucian virtues such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety and knowledge; Confucian rites such as filial piety, loyalty and honour; and Confucian relationships such as those between ruler and subject, between father and son, and between friend and family (Collcutt, 1991; Hane, 1991; Piggott, 1997). The results of practising Confucianism was the formation of the ritsuryō state, a Confucian-Legalist state, in Japan between the seventh and eighth centuries (Eisenstadt, 1996). The above

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

Buddhism and Confucianism were two critical religious frameworks in China, but were taken by the Japanese. The Japanese then reshaped them to fit Japanese lifestyles, making them different types of similar religions. The same went for workmanship and design in light of the fact that the Japanese appreciated Chinese craftsmanship while including their own particular style. The Japanese also demonstrated their legal system after the Chinese style by utilizing their own Royal Court. Though both countries had an Imperial Court as a form government in the past, the Japanese Ruler embraced numerous parts of the Chinese style, including their versions of various titles, ranks and official functions. The first established form of their constitution was heavily influenced by the way the Chinese could handle such a brought together and composed government. It’s clear that Japan actually just lived in China’s shadow for the past few centuries or so.

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.

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