Eastern philosophy: traditions and core concepts

Confucius was one of the greatest and well-known Eastern philosophers who lived in China. Most of his teachings have influenced all of East Asian countries. He traveled a lot in China and shares his ideas and thoughts soon he became involved in preaching disciples. Throughout his life, he was tries to restore peace and unity but then he failed. During the Han Dynasty, his philosophies were chosen as one of the doctrines because most of his teachings involved in morality, social relationships, justice and sincerity. Until such time, the philosophies of Confucius were known and have been developed known as Confucianism.

Confucianism as a doctrine was being taught by the majority of the Chinese and they followed it religiously. Sometimes they refer Confucianism as a religion but then there were disputes on his philosophy because some said it is not spiritual but rather more on theology. According to the online source, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius:

Confucius's principles gained wide acceptance primarily because of their basis in common Chinese opinion. He championed strong familial loyalty, ancestor worship, and respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives, and used the family as a basis for an ideal government. He expressed the well-known principle, "Do not to others what you do not want done to yourself" (the Golden Rule). He also looked nostalgically upon earlier days, and urged the Chinese, particularly the politicians, to model themselves on earlier examples -- although whether or not older rulers had governed by Confucian standards is dubious.

Confucius founded the Ru School of Chinese where he taught his philosophies in life. He had followers in his teachings, and among his greatest followers were Mencius and Xun Zi. "Lunyu" or "The Analects" was a compilation of his philosophies complied by his disciples because it was said the Confucius never wrote his philosophies but instead he just delivered it promptly. His teachings which can be found in the "Analects," served as their foundation in their Chinese education it states there some of the way of life of the people and how they can live a better life and interaction with daily living. "Compassion" or "Loving Others" known as the concept of "ren" was his philosophy in dealing with other people. Being compassionate is behaving right with other people and treating then with respect and love. They should avoid fights and arguments that are not good in the society.

Mencius was one of the students of Confucius. He traveled most of his life to continue the teachings of Confucius' philosophies of life. To the rulers of the world he said that their power was given by God and should not be abused but instead let the people be his inspiration to govern and progress their country. One of the greatest influenced of Confucius to Mencius was the thought that men were born without a sin and by nature a good man, it was only the desire that drives then into a world of sin.

Xunzi was also one of the greatest followers of Confucius who traveled and continued to teach the philosophies of Confucius but then his view are very much different from the teachings of Mencius. According to him, men were basically terrible and disorders within each other were possible of their nature to be bad. They need to learn so that their behavior will change and thus will know right from wrong.

The following selections from Confucius's Analects, or "Assorted Sayings," illustrate some of his core ideas: humanity, loyalty, reciprocity, and ritual (Bary, W. And et al. 1960):

"Learning without thinking is labor lost; thinking without learning is perilous." [II:15]

"Yu, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, say that you know it; when you do not know a thing, admit that you do not know it. That is knowledge." [II:17]

"A young man's duty is to be filial to his parents at home and respectful to his elders abroad, to be circumspect and truthful, and, while overflowing with love for all men, to associate himself with humanity (ren). If, when all that is done, he has any energy to spare, then let him study the polite arts." [I:6]

"Perhaps the word 'reciprocity': Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you." [XV:23]

"To be able to practice five virtues everywhere in the world constitutes humanity. Courtesy, magnanimity, good faith, diligence, and kindness. He who is courteous is not humiliated, he who is magnanimous wins the multitude, he who is of good faith is trusted by the people, he who is diligent attains his objective, and he who is kind can get service from the people." [XVII:6]

"Without humanity a man cannot long endure adversity, nor can he long enjoy prosperity. The humane rest in humanity; the wise find it beneficial." [IV:2]

"Only the humane man can love men and can hate men." [IV:3]

"Riches and honor are what every man desires, but if they can be obtained only by transgressing the right way, they must not be held. Poverty and lowliness are what every man detests, but if they can be avoided only by transgressing the right way, they must not be evaded. If a gentleman departs from humanity, how can he bear the name? Not even for the lapse of a single meal does a gentleman ignore humanity. In moments of haste he cleaves to it: in seasons of peril he cleaves to it." [IV:5]