Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional customs - What is Confucianism?

What is Confucianism?

Confucianism, also known as Confucianism, is also considered a religion and called Confucianism, which initially referred to the ceremonies of crowns, marriages, funerals and sacrifices, and since the Han Dynasty has referred to the system of thought centered on the concept of benevolence, which was founded by Confucius (551 B.C.E.-479 B.C.E., a native of the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period) and later developed gradually.

Confucianism, abbreviated as Confucianism, was the dominant school of consciousness in ancient China, serving as the official ideology of China for most of its history since the Han Dynasty, and still serving as the dominant ideological foundation for the general Chinese population.

Confucianism has had a profound influence on China, East Asia, and the world. After the Qing Empire, the last dynasty to adopt Confucianism as its official school of thought, was replaced by the Republic of China, Confucianism was subjected to the maximum impact of new foreign cultures, but after many shocks, catastrophes and even attempts by the official regime to eradicate Confucianism altogether, Confucianism has remained a core value for the general population of the Chinese society, and has been used as a representative of Chinese culture and a mark of national tradition in the world.

Confucian Thought and Propositions: Confucian philosophy focuses on a person's self-cultivation and the need to establish a harmonious relationship with those around them. Treat elders with respect and courtesy. Friends are to be sincere and trustworthy, and "to be faithful to one's friends' words". Officials should be clean and love the people. Do people have self-knowledge, do their part, "the gentleman serves the original, the original standing and Tao Sheng." .

The ruler should be benevolent and love the people, "for the administration of virtue, such as the North Star, living in its place and the stars ****." . Treat other people to be fraternal, "young and young, and people of young. The old and my old, and the old of others." . Treat your superiors with loyalty\, "The king makes his ministers polite, and the ministers serve the king with loyalty." (Loyalty). Treat your parents and relatives with filial piety. "When your parents are here, don't travel far." "The filial piety of today is to be able to raise a family. As for dogs and horses, they can all be raised; if they are not honored, how can they be distinguished?" Respect for knowledge. Respect for knowledge. "If you learn the way, you can die in the evening." The good at absorbing the strengths of others, "Seeing the wise and thinking of Qi Yan, seeing the unwise and internal self-reflection also." Advocating people to reach the moral realm of warmth, goodness, respect, thrift, and letting go.

Characteristics and status of Confucianism: Confucianism is different from other religions. General religions often try to unify the universe and establish the problems of "Ran", "Learning" and "Man" and "Society" under one system. The problem of "nature" and "science" is built under one system, and human understanding of "nature" and "science" is growing day by day, so the setup theory of the past religions is constantly turning into a fallacy; on some basic problems that could not be comprehended at that time, religions have made up all kinds of fabrications.

Confucianism and Confucianism

Confucianism is not concerned with "nature" or "science," but with human beings and society, the eternal problems of mankind, on which Confucianism has established a value system of eternal value.

Confucianism refers to the Confucian school of thought, founded by the late Spring and Autumn thinker Confucius. Confucianism, founded by Confucius, is a complete system of thought formed on the basis of summarizing, outlining and inheriting the traditional culture of respect and kinship among the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. According to Lu, pro-Zhou, so Yin, transported three generations." Confucius, the founder of the Confucian school, said, "The narrative is not made, the letter and good old days" ("Analects - Shu而") is his own ideological nature.

History of Confucianism:Background of the emergence of Confucianism: During the Spring and Autumn Period in which Confucius lived, the deep crisis caused by irreconcilable contradictions within the society shook the authority of the traditional culture, and the spirit of skepticism and criticism of the traditional culture increased day by day, so even Confucius, who was the progenitor of Yao and Shun, and the charter of the civil and military authorities, could not help but infuse the spirit of the era into his own system of thought. even Confucius could not help but inject the spirit of the times he was living in into his own system of thought and make appropriate modifications to the traditional culture.

To establish a new harmonious order and psychological balance in social practice, this situation was particularly prominent in the Warring States period of great change, because people could vaguely see the dawn of a new era breaking through the old hierarchical boundaries of inferiority and superiority on the ruins of the collapsed old world. The question of what kind of social model the future would be became a major concern of the world, and gave rise to a great debate in the world of thought, in the style of a hundred schools of thought.

The hundred schools of thought, which represented the interests of all classes and strata of society at that time, put forward their own ideas one after another, and one of the main points of contention was how to deal with the issue of traditional culture. One of the main points of contention was how to treat traditional culture. The Confucian and French schools of thought were the most representative of the ideological exchanges that took place around this issue.

They are equal and opposite, and the English are all prominent. In addition, there are also schools of thought such as Mohism, Taoism and Yin-Yangism, which can be described as an array of schools of thought, and it is an enlightened era of scholarship and discourse in the history of China.

Formation of Confucianism: Before Confucianism, the aristocracy and the free people of the ancient society accepted the traditional six virtues (wisdom, faith, holiness, benevolence, righteousness, loyalty) and six behaviors (filial piety, friendliness, harmony, marriage, loyalty) through the "teachers" and "Confucians", Friendship, Harmony, Marriage, Ren, and Compassion), and the Six Arts (Rites, Music, Archery, Royalty, Calligraphy, and Mathematics) were socialized and educated.

From the point of view of the content of education, social education in ancient China was based entirely on the values, habits, practices, behavioral norms and guidelines, and other cultural elements that had been formed over a long period of time by the Huaxia people in their specific living environment. Confucianism absorbed these cultural elements wholesale and raised them to the level of systematic theory.

To cherish each other's encounters is the best reward for the encounter, the public number: "Let the past pass with the wind"?