Confucianism: Ethics, Origins, and Modern Chinese Society
This paper examines Confucianism from its origins in ancient China through its application in modern Chinese society. It traces the life and teachings of Confucius (551–479 B.C.), exploring his core ethical concepts—humaneness, filial piety, moral self-cultivation, and the golden rule—and his vision for virtuous governance. The paper also considers how Confucius approached education, student training, and the role of the individual in society. A final section evaluates the relationship between Confucian ethics and youth suicide in China, particularly the documented harm caused by the modern tenet of female subordination. The paper argues that the original principles of Confucianism remain ethically valid for the 21st century, while rejecting the modern Chinese emphasis on women's subjugation as a distortion of Confucius's foundational ideals.
- What Is Confucianism?: Origins, biography, and core ethical concepts
- Confucius Did Not Try to Create a New Religion: Confucius reinterpreted tradition, not founded religion
- What Confucius Expected of His Students: Training virtuous civil servants for moral governance
- Confucianism and Youth Suicide in China: Female subordination linked to fatalistic suicide rates
- Conclusion: Original Confucian values endorsed; female subordination rejected
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper establishes a clear thesis early—affirming Confucianism's core values while rejecting the modern Chinese interpretation of female subordination—and returns to this position in the conclusion, giving the essay coherent argumentative framing.
- It draws on a range of credible sources, including a peer-reviewed journal, an encyclopedia of philosophy, scholarly biographies, and a book-length academic introduction to Confucianism, lending the argument textual authority.
- The inclusion of empirical data on suicide rates in China adds a real-world dimension that grounds the philosophical discussion in observable social consequences, strengthening the critique of modern Confucian practice.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses source synthesis—weaving together multiple scholarly perspectives (Berling, Yao, Zhang, and reference works) to build a layered portrait of Confucianism across time. Rather than summarizing one source at a time, it moves thematically, allowing each source to contribute to a running argument about what Confucianism is, what it was intended to be, and how it has been misapplied.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a definitional section covering Confucius's biography and the historical context of his thought. It then examines his relationship to religion and ritual. A dedicated section on pedagogy follows, covering how Confucius trained students for virtuous public service. The penultimate section pivots to a contemporary social issue—youth suicide—linking Confucian ethics empirically to modern harms. The brief conclusion restates the thesis, distinguishing acceptable original tenets from a rejected modern distortion.
What Is Confucianism?
This paper examines Confucianism, its origins, its founder, the moral and ethical aspects of its philosophy, and how it is used and interpreted in modern Chinese society. This paper takes the position that the central and original features of Confucianism are valid and should be applied to moral and ethical problems in the 21st century. The modern Chinese emphasis on the subordination of women—one of three key tenets in how Confucianism is interpreted and practiced today—is, however, not something this paper endorses.
Confucianism is a philosophy that was founded by Confucius. He lived from 551 to 479 B.C., and his Chinese name was "Kongzi" (or "Kong Qiu"). He was above all a reformer, and there was definitely a need for reform in his era because there was great "political, social, and spiritual crisis" in China, according to the Encyclopedia of Philosophy. That crisis was ruining the traditional way that people lived in China. At that time, China operated under a feudal system (Zhou) that had plunged into "decay," which opened the door to a "new social mobility" and helped create a new but small middle class (Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
This emerging middle class hired private teachers to educate the young. The trend at that time was to build up individuals through knowledge rather than simply have people continue the way of life their families and forebears had lived. Confucius was one such teacher. It is believed that he taught what were known as the "six arts": mathematics, music, charioteering, archery, writing, and "ritual propriety" (Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
What Confucius actually believed and taught was rooted in social morality, and he dedicated his life to the discussion of morality within the context of education. He believed that getting an education "transcends the social boundaries"—in other words, no matter what class one comes from, with an education a person becomes a gentleman (if male) and, regardless of gender, "a truly moral person in solidarity with the community and rooted in self-respect" (Encyclopedia of Philosophy). What Confucius wanted to do, essentially, was to change the world because he believed society had "lost the dao, the right way" and was in crisis (Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
In his "Collected Words" (called the Lunyu), Confucius emphasized that the ethical life is one in which the individual "internalizes" a sense of "self-reference"—meaning that one must constantly be aware of how important an ethical life should be in society (Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Every human being is perfectly capable of cultivating the moral side of life, and that belief set Confucius' philosophy apart from the Daoist view of a return to nature.
According to the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Confucius identified three concepts that a person must understand in order to become ethical. First, a "gentleman" who begins to distrust society turns away from it, showing that he no longer "trusts public reputation and the opinions of the majority"; he also understands that his motives and actions will not be understood or trusted by others. Second, that gentleman "turns into his inner self" in order to recover his self-respect; in seclusion he may neglect religion and ethics, which in Confucius' view represents "the ultimate reason for being moral."
Nevertheless, the person undergoes a process of "self-reflection and critical self-examination" in order to preserve the "purity" of his intentions. In the third step, the individual "overcomes himself" and returns to society. When he leaves his isolation, he accepts his responsibility as a moral authority, because more important than any individual action is the "common good" (Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
Within the return to society, there must be rules governing how people should live. The person returning to society accepts that without those rules in a hierarchical world there would be no moral standing and no humaneness. The Lunyu explains that the "most conspicuous variants" of humaneness involve love and the golden rule ("Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you"); that humaneness must be practiced throughout one's life; and that a person can keep the faith and remain humane without "surrendering to it" (Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
Works Cited
Berling, Judith A. "Confucianism." Focus on Asian Studies / Asian Religions, II.1, 5–7. 1996.
Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "Confucius." Retrieved December 13, 2014, from Biography in Context. Gale Group. 2003.
Historic World Leaders. "Confucius." Retrieved December 13, 2014, from Biography in Context. Gale Group. 2006.
Yao, Xinzhong. An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2000.
Zhang, Jie, and Liu, Eric Y. "Confucianism and Youth Suicide in Rural China." Review of Religious Research, Volume 53, 93–111.
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