Confucianism

Confucianism

Confucianism is an East Asian philosophy built up by a Chinese philosopher, Confucius (K'ung Fu-tzu), in the 6th - 5th century BCE. It’s a philosophy based on human morals and relationships.

To really understand Confucianism, how it originated and what parts of history contributed towards its development, you have to look into: who is Confucius, the history of Confucianism and what happened to Confucianism after the death of Confucius?

Who is Confucius?

Confucius was of noble descent in the state of Lu (modern Shantung). No records show him attending school even though Confucius was a well educated man. He had to make his own living at an early age. He started a political career at a young age, rising in the ranks, but fell faster than what he rose. His main goal in politics was to restore humanity and to convince various nobles to follow a certain guideline, but after he was dismissed from government, he never returned to public life. By the age of 20, Confucius decided to become a teacher, to try to change the world through what he teachers. He had a pattern of thinking that inspired many people, no matter what religion they were, most of East Asia and their way of thinking had Confucian elements in them. His policy was "accept anyone as a disciple provided that the student is willing to learn." But the violent leaders at the time, paid no attention to any of his philosophies. Confucius was one of the first and few philosophers to leave a collection of writings behind as a source for all people (like the Bible for Catholics).

History of Confucianism

Confucius lived from 551BCE to 479BCE, during the Chou Dynasty, where in fact imperial rule was breaking down. High principled men originally founded then ran the Chou Dynasty, but by Confucius' time, China was going through a very difficult period where conflicts and attacks had controlled the dynasty, while usurpers took over land, this dynasty was corrupt. This period of political turmoil (770BCE-221BCE) started a new era of a "hundred schools" where teachers, such as Confucius, would move from state to state teaching their other people about their ideas and morals. This was also the time though, where prisoners were put to death in mass executions, soldiers were paid when they presented the severed heads of the enemy, whole populations that were captured were beheaded a...

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... as if his life was a disappointment and a failure, but this is proven to not be true because his disciples thought he was great enough to create the book Mencius which is like the Analects.

Neo-Confucianism

In the East Asian countries, Confucianism was in a competition with Buddhism and Taoism. After the death of Mencius, Confucianism reemerged into a new form now called Neo-Confucianism, which is an interpretation of Confucian thought (mainly that of Mencius) that also addressed the issues of Buddhism and Taoism. So until the early 20th Century, this new philosophical force in Chinese life remained.

Confucianism started off as a one man show, trying to make a difference in politics and in general, teaching people about morals and good human conduct. As history progressed, through changes of dynasties and different emperors, many new and different feelings about Confucianism emerged. But Confucius never changed what he believed in, no matter how many times his beliefs were rejected. He fought for what he new was right, and in the end didn’t achieve what he wanted to. But to everyone else, he was a brave man, a man who never gave up and a man whose legend is worth remembering.