Confucianism
4 min readConfucianism has influenced the Chinese for thousands of years and is deeply rooted inChinese culture.Confucianism is an integration of intellectual，political，and religious tradition with the focus on the individual morality and ethics in daily life and the proper exercise of political power.
Confucius（551 B.C.-479 B.C.），founder of Confucianism，was not only a great philosopher and thinker but also a distinguished statesman and educator in Chinese history.Confucius laid down a pattern of thinking followed by all the Chinese people in the world.It is believed that no matter what religion，no matter what form of government，the Chinese culture，civilizations and the way of thinking can in some way be shown to have Confucian elements or influences.
The landmark of Confucianism is The Analects，which was written by his disciples after his death.It consists of sayings and answers to the questions raised by his students，usually serving as an introduction to Chinese philosophy and Confucianism.The Analects illustratesthe life of Confucius，his mission as a teacher and the main principles and concepts of his philosophy.The core of Confucius’philosophy are the concepts of ren（benevolence），li（ritual），and other concepts like xiao（filial piety）and zhong（loyalty）are also important elements of Confucius thought.
Ren is the fundamental virtue of Confucianism.Confucius defines it as“airen，”thatis，to love others.The Chinese character ren consists of“a person”on the left and“two” on the right indicating the relationship between people.Ren contains benevolence，sympathy, charity, humanity and kindness. Confucius often used the idea of ren to exhort the rulers to be benevolent to the people. He emphasizes that one should never do to others what one would not like to do. In Confucianism, ren is the summation of human virtues,a quality that every human should strive to achieve, and an endless aspiration for ethical perfection.
Confucianism strongly advocates reforming government which should be based on the virtue of ren and should work for the benefit of the people, and cultivating virtue especially in government officials.
Li refers to the rules of human conduct and moral norms such as politeness, courtesy, propriety, proper etiquette and good manners ranging from speech and behavior to the performance of rituals which are usually codified and treated as an all-embracing system of social norms. Liis intended to regulate men’s passions, cultivate their character, and form good habits. Confucius said:”A man who is not benevolent, what can he have to do with ritual?”In Confucius’s thought, li cannot be separated from ren and a man without ren is impossible to well exercise li.
Xiao refers to the filial piety, which was regarded as one of the greatest of virtues in Chinese tradition, denoting the respect and obedience that the children should show to their parents.
Confucius holds that xiao should start from the love and respect of the parents, and then extend it to the specific duties and veneration to all the elderly and the veteran people of the society. The concept of filial piety has contributed greatly to the stable construction of the family and society and has continued to exert considerable influence on present day Chinese culture.
Confucius also holds that zhong(loyalty) is a great virtue, which emphasizes the obligations and duties to the superior, to friends, family, and spouse. He asserts that cultivation of the self was a central point in a person’s life, and every one should try to become a noble person, exerting virtue to the society, having loyalty to the friends and filial piety to the elderly.
Mencius(372 B.C.-289 B.C.), entitled “second sage”in China, was one of the most important philosophers in the Confucian school. His idea that human nature is innately good is one of the basic tenets of Confucianism.
According to Mencius’thought，there are four innate”sprouts”（duan）of the four cardinalvirtues-“Compassion is the sprout of benevolence；being aware of shame is the sprout of rightness；paying deference to others is the sprout of ritual propriety；knowledge of good and evil is the sprout of wisdom.”
In order to preserve and extend human’s good nature，Mencius believes that man should cultivate the goodness inherent in our nature and serve humanity.The importance of internal concentration or reflection in cultivating an ethical sense is also emphasized and advocated.
The authoritative books of Confucianism are called”Four Books and Five Classics”，which refer to The Great Learning，The Doctrine of the Mean，The Analects and The Mencius（Four Books), Classic of Changes, Classic of Poetry, Classic of Rites, Classic of History and Spring and Autumn Annals(Five Classics).
These works cover widely in the fields of history, literature, philosophy, education, ethics, arts and so on. They have long been considered classic and compulsory textbooks especially in the imperial examination. They are believed to include the basic theories and teachings of self-cultivation and the way to govern the state.
The teachings of Confucius were never intended to be a religion or exercised as a religion, but its impact upon Chinese intellectual, social history and people’s conduct is immeasurable and still influential.
