harmony
History of Confucianism
The History of Confucianism begins with the story of the philosopher himself. K'ung Fu Tzu, or more commonly translated to English as Confucius, was born in a Chinese state known as Lu. He was born in 551 BC during the Chou dynasty. Was born into a family that had fallen from nobility. His father died when he was 3 years old and he was raised in poverty by his mother. He started a political career as a young man and eventually worked his way up to Justice Minister. He carried this position for some time, but when disagreements with his local Prince become too much he quit his post and began his journey.
On this journey Confucius traveled the countryside trying to convince various leaders of his moral and ethical philosophies, in a time known for lesser moral standards. This attempt ineveitably failed and forced Confucius to retire to teaching out of his home. In the last years of his life Confucius settled for instructing a grwoing amount of disciples, passing his own philosophies and the ancient wisdom of the Five Classics on to them.
Major Elements of Moral Teachings
"In the Analects, where one can find the most intimate descriptions of him, Confucius presents himself as a transmitter who invented nothing and his greatest emphasis may be on study, the Chinese character that opens the book. In this respect, he is seen by Chinese people as the Greatest Master. Far from trying to build a systematic theory of life and society, he wanted his disciples to think deeply for themselves and relentlessly study the outside world, mostly through the old scriptures relating past political events (like the Annals) or past feelings of common people (like the Book of Odes). In these times of division, chaos, and endless wars between feudal states, he wanted to restore the Mandate of Heaven that could unify the "world" (i.e., China) and bestow peace and prosperity on the people. Therefore, Confucius is often considered a great proponent of conservatism, but a closer look at what he proposes often shows that he used (and maybe twisted) past institutions and rites to push a new political agenda of his own: for example, he wanted rulers to be chosen on their merits, not their parentage. He wanted rulers who were devoted to their people. And he wanted the ruler to reach perfection himself, thus spreading his own virtues to the people instead of imposing proper behavior with laws and rules.
One of the deepest teachings of Confucius, and one of the hardest to understand from a Western point of view, may have been the superiority of exemplification over explicit rules of behavior. His ethics may be considered one of the greatest virtue ethics. This kind of "indirect" way to achieve a goal is used widely in his teachings, where allusions, innuendo, and even tautology are common ways of expressing himself. That is why his teachings need to be examined and put into context for access by Westerners."
-from Wikipedia
"One theme central to Confucianism is that of relationships, and the differing duties arising from the different status one held in relation to others. Individuals are held to simultaneously stand in different degrees of relationship with different people, namely, as a junior in relation to their parents and elders, and as a senior in relation to their children, younger siblings, students, and others. While juniors are considered in Confucianism to owe strong duties of reverence and service to their seniors, seniors also have duties of benevolence and concern toward juniors. This theme consistently manifests itself in many aspects of East Asian culture even to this day, with extensive filial duties on the part of children toward parents and elders, and great concern of parents toward their children."
-from Wikipedia
"Filial piety, filiality, or filial devotion is considered among the greatest of virtues and must be shown towards both the living and the dead. The term "filial", meaning "of a child", denotes the respect and obedience that a child, originally a son, should show to his parents, especially to his father. This relationship was extended by analogy to a series of five relationships or five cardinal relationships:
1. father and son,
2. ruler and subject,
3. husband and wife,
4. elder and younger brother,
5. between friends
Specific duties were prescribed to each of the participants in these sets of relationships. Such duties were also extended to the dead, where the living stood as sons to their deceased family. This led to the veneration of ancestors."
-from Wikipedia
"The term "Junzi" is a term crucial to classical Confucianism. Literally meaning "son of a ruler", "prince", or "noble", the ideal of a "gentleman," "proper man," or "perfect man" is that for which Confucianism exhorts all people to strive. A succinct description of the "perfect man" is one who "combine[s] the qualities of saint, scholar, and gentleman" (CE). (In modern times, the masculine bias in Confucianism may have weakened, but the same term is still used; the masculine translation in English is also traditional and still frequently used.) A hereditary elitism was bound up with the concept, and gentlemen were expected to act as moral guides to the rest of society. They were to:
* cultivate themselves morally;
* participate in the correct performance of ritual;
* show filial piety and loyalty where these are due;
* and cultivate humaneness.
The great exemplar of the perfect gentleman is Confucius himself. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of his life was that he was never awarded the high official position which he desired, from which he wished to demonstrate the general well-being that would ensue if humane persons ruled and administered the state.
The opposite of the Junzi was the Xiaoren , literally "small person" or "petty person." Like English "small", the word in this context in Chinese can mean petty in mind and heart, narrowly self-interested, greedy, superficial, and materialistic."
-from Wikipedia
Key Ethical Terms
"The "Jen": The essence of all his teachings may be summed up under this one word ‘Jen’. The nearest equivalent to this difficult word is "social virtue". All those virtues which help to maintain social harmony and peace like benevolence, charity, magnanimity, sincerity, respectfulness, altruism, diligence, loving kindness, goodness are included in Jen."
-from religion-cults.com
"Li:" The correct way of doing things. As based on past precedent, right etiquette.
"Te:" The power of leadership. What leaders lead with, what gives leaders the power to leave. What allows th epeople to be ruled by this leader.
"Chun tzu:" A complete person. One who is at peace with themselves and their surroundings.
Personal Ethical Virtues
"Hsiao -" Love beetween family members.
"Yi -" Righteousness.
"Xin -" Honesty and truthfulness.
"Chung -" Loyalty to country/state.
Compiled from:
religioustolerance.org
Athens/Forum/1699/Confucius
