What is Confucianism ? Please answer

Confucianism is a doctrine of moral and ethical norms for human society .

In general, Confucianism is a doctrine of moral and ethical norms of human society. Its most basic theoretical foundation is the "theory of the goodness of nature". As the author pointed out in "Theory of Good and Evil in Human Nature", the first sentence in the Three Character Classic, a popular teaching song in ancient China, is "In the beginning of man, nature is good. Nature is close, and habits are far apart." In other words, man's nature (nature) is good and good. Moreover, this nature is the same and similar, with universal. It is only because of the changes in habits and environment that result in differences in behavior, leading to deviations from the "good" phenomenon. Confucianism is not wrong on this point. There is goodness in human nature, and it is the mainstream.

Based on the theory of goodness, the main idea of Chinese Confucian culture in governing the country is moral education. According to this idea, since people are good by nature, and vices are only infected later, the governance of the society should start from moral education to persuade people to give up their vices and return to their innate "goodness", and then the society will be peaceful. In ancient China, emphasis was placed on "educating the world", that is to say, educating and sensitizing the common people. Therefore, Confucianism emphasizes morality rather than the rule of law. Confucianism believes that if the people are taught with morality and propriety, it will make them love and respect themselves, and they will be happy and obedient.

The doctrine of benevolence and morality in Confucianism was very important. Instead of relying on force, Confucianism emphasizes that benevolence, righteousness and morality are the only way to fight for and manage the world. Over the past several thousand years, this idea has been proven correct countless times. Whoever can follow this law will succeed. Whoever violates this law is bound to fail. And this idea is not only useful for ruling a country, it can be useful for leaders at any level. It is perfectly applicable even in the modern world. It will also be applicable in the future. This is a crystallization of the accumulated wisdom of thousands of years of experience in human history. The Confucian theory of benevolence and virtue will never be outdated.

The core of Confucian ethical thinking is the word "propriety". Since all people are good by nature, those in power should let the people know how to exercise self-control and return to a polite and courteous society. It is the so-called "restrain yourself and return to propriety". This etiquette includes manners, etiquette, politeness, and rules and regulations. Therefore, the thinking of Confucianism requires people to know how to exercise self-control, restrain their desires, observe etiquette and eliminate violence, so as to achieve a peaceful social environment. It is this Confucian idea of "propriety" that has made China a state of etiquette recognized by the whole world. There is nothing wrong with the idea of etiquette. It just needs to be changed in the parts that are too rigid.

Confucianism thus laid down a number of specific etiquette for society, which are expressed in the "Three Principles and Five Constants". Mr. Li's concept of respect for the elderly is included in this ethical framework. The Three Principles and Five Principles have always been a target of criticism by anti-Confucianists. From the perspective of modern society, there are indeed many aspects of these social norms that do not fit in with modern values. However, these outlines are just some of the manifestations of Confucian moral thinking applied to social norms. One may say that these forms of expression are too stereotyped and not flexible enough; or that certain forms no longer meet the needs of modern society. This is all understandable. However, it is important to note the difference between form and content. An idea can affect many, many aspects, and there are countless forms of expression. The fact that one aspect is not applicable, or that one form is unreasonable, does not mean that the idea is not applicable and unreasonable in other contexts and in other forms.

Since there are so many aspects of Confucianism (the list in this article is not exhaustive), one cannot jump to the conclusion that Confucianism is outdated based on a certain event or aspect alone.