Confucianism in Pre-Modern China: Philosophy and Legacy

Introduction: Confucianism and Pre-Modern China

Confucianism takes its name from the Chinese philosopher Confucius, who lived from the middle of the 6th century BC to the first part of the 5th century BC. He was a teacher of the values upheld by those who lived in the days of Chinese antiquity. For Confucius, the greatest years of the Zhou dynasty had come in the three centuries prior to his birth. The dynasty itself lasted for centuries following Confucius's life, though in a much different form from what came before. Confucius viewed the lessons of the early Zhou dynasty as containing valuable nuggets of wisdom.

Confucius's teachings carried on well after his own day, as did many other schools of thought in China, where philosophy and wisdom were highly prized and sought after by many Chinese leaders from Confucius's time until the end of the 3rd century BC. Philosophy was so highly regarded for so many years because China itself was plagued by disputes and wars, and leaders wanted to know how best to govern their realms and lead their people. For this reason, the Hundred Schools of Thought emerged in the years between Confucius's day and the end of the Zhou dynasty in the 3rd century BC. This paper discusses how Confucianism impacted China in the pre-modern age, from its first days during the Zhou dynasty through the subsequent centuries.

Confucius: Life, Education, and Legacy

Confucius wore many hats during his lifetime: he taught, wrote, edited, and even acted politically. He authored a history of China — but his greatest contribution was the philosophy he articulated, which became his enduring legacy.

The essence of the philosophy taught by Confucius was that morality should be the basis of conduct between persons, whether on a social or governmental level. The principles he asserted were not novel; he did not create them himself. Rather, they stemmed from traditional teachings that had for many years served as the bedrock of Chinese culture. Confucius supported these traditional concepts — such as devotion to family, respect for ancestors and elders, and what has been called the Golden Rule, namely that one should treat others the way one wishes to be treated.

Confucius himself was neither a commoner nor an aristocrat. His family occupied a station between the two, which afforded him the opportunity to observe how both classes lived. He developed an objective manner that enabled him to see things clearly and for what they were. He was educated in the Six Arts, which formed the basis of all education during the Zhou dynasty. These arts included music, archery, calligraphy, mathematics, rites, and horseback riding. Confucius taught these arts to his own disciples, according to the works of Chinese historians like Kong Zonghan and the artists who depicted Confucius with his 72 disciples who learned the Six Arts (Lagerwey and Marsone 815). From the beginning, therefore, Confucianism was about passing on the traditional elements of learning that Confucius himself received as a young man. The Six Arts were, in a sense, the cornerstones of the well-rounded person in China — and that is precisely what Confucius promoted.

Confucius became a governor around 500 BC, though this was just one of the many roles he played (Schuman 191). He also served as an advisor to leaders who sought his counsel. When it came time to retire, he set off for home at nearly 70 years of age — yet he continued teaching. According to the Analects — a body of work containing sayings and thoughts attributed to Confucius — the philosopher gave his 72 disciples the books that later became known as the Five Classics. These books include the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the Book of Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals (Nylan 4).

Essentially, Confucius worked to codify a system of beliefs already present in Chinese culture. He absorbed these beliefs, taught them to his students, and exemplified them in his own life. The logical basis upon which these beliefs rested served as the entry point for later generations who sought a teaching framework guided by moral and ethical principles. Over time, the philosophy attributed to Confucius grew as more ideas were added to the body of work that became known as Confucianism. This body of work resulted from the logical extrapolation of ideas from the foundation laid both by traditional Chinese culture during the Zhou dynasty and by Confucius himself, who emphasized and promoted the traditional education and philosophy he had received. The ideal that Confucius promoted — the exemplary figure toward which people should strive — was the junzi (Ames 39).

The Philosophy of Confucianism

Confucianism is not a formalized creed, as one might find in a religion. Its tenets are essentially philosophical and broadly rooted in the traditional customs of ancient China. Some in China view it as a religion because Confucius did touch upon spiritual matters, such as the wisdom of following astrological signs that come from Heaven to guide men. Others view it as a basic philosophy that can serve as a foundation for forming one's character. As Hu Shih points out, "the Chinese people are the least religious among the civilized races… Chinese philosophy has been most free from the domination of religious influences" (Chou 81). This statement reflects the status of Confucianism in China most accurately. Religions that developed in the West stemmed from belief in divine revelation. In the East, such revelations were uncommon, and the vast majority of Chinese recognized in Confucianism a mode of thought that could guide them in their ordinary lives and move them toward a better place.

The Chinese people were, however, also capable of becoming intensely religious, as their history shows. Hu Shih again comments that "in certain periods of history, China became so fanatically religious that many monks and nuns would willingly burn themselves to death as the supreme form of sacrifice to some Buddhist deity" (Chou 81). The influence of religion throughout the centuries of Chinese history has indeed left its mark on the development of Chinese philosophy, including Confucianism. Shih would categorize Confucianism alongside the traditional religions of China, identifying it as the "state religion" and grouping it with Moism and Taoism under an umbrella he calls Siniticism. For Shih, writing from the perspective of the modern irreligious thinker, religion was a roadblock to real intellectual progress, and thus Confucianism was a backwards philosophy-religion that served as an obstacle to actual advancement. It was so ingrained in Chinese life that it was to China "what Hinduism has been to India" (Chou 82).

As Shih notes, the Sinitic Age — the age of traditional Chinese philosophy-religion — lasted roughly until the 4th century AD, when Buddhism became prominent in Chinese thought, displacing the more traditional Confucianism. The Buddhist Age lasted until around 1100 AD in China, when it was in turn displaced by the rise of Neo-Confucianism — the dawn of a Chinese Renaissance in which the value of the old ways of thinking were rediscovered and once again promoted (Chou 82).

The old ways of thinking were deemed important because they reflected practical and social aspects of Chinese culture valued on many levels: they taught familial respect, patriarchy, veneration for ancestors, duty, honor, and the virtues necessary for holding families together and paying homage to one's leaders and rulers. The hierarchy of authority was important in these pre-democratic times, and the values Confucius taught reflected what Chinese families, fathers, leaders, and educators all sought to embody. This is why it became the "state religion," as Shih notes — although it was never really a religion at all, but rather a philosophical outlook.

Confucianism also taught the value of human life over material things, representing the principle of the sacredness of life. This could be seen in the rule Confucius taught, similar to the Golden Rule: do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself (Hongladaroom 173). The main idea here was that fairness and even-handedness should guide all one's dealings. The Chinese were very responsive to this because it was a philosophical tenet that made logical sense. Without the kind of divine revelation that those in the West were using as the bedrock of religious belief and devotion, the Chinese — like the ancient Greeks — used reason and logic to formulate ideas and customs that would provide them with the best possible outcomes. Confucius simply passed on what had been given to him, acknowledging himself as a conduit of the past rather than a novel creator of something new.

Conclusion

Confucius laid the foundation for what became known as the state philosophy-religion of China — though Confucianism was not so much a religion as it was a philosophy. Under the Zhou dynasty, he absorbed the Six Arts as they were taught to him and educated his followers on the traditional customs that were part of Chinese culture. These customs and teachings served as the basis for what became known as Confucianism in China in later years. The philosophy was built on the works of Confucius as well as the interpretations of later followers like Mencius and Xun Zi, who debated the nature of man — whether he was innately good or innately inclined toward error. The philosophy of Confucianism was elevated during the Han dynasty to the level of official policy and was taught to all, whether young students or senior statesmen.

Confucianism served as the philosophical basis for the Chinese for many centuries because it put forward a system of ethics grounded in virtue and presented a vision of the ideal person. When the Jesuits entered China in later years, they brought their teaching of Christ, whom they held to be the true ideal man — and so the Confucian Chinese were very receptive to this idea, as it conformed with the virtue ethics system they had cultivated for many centuries.

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