Confucianism in East Asian Cultures
Confucianism is often characterized as a system that involves social and ethical philosophy as opposed to being purely a religion in the traditional definition of religion. As a matter of fact Confucianism is based on ancient religious foundations for the establishment of institutions, social values, and transcendent ideas of traditional societies. The paper is a critique of Confucian legacies in East Asian modernities, knowledge as well as pedagogies. Specific examples are drawn from China, Japan and Korea for the purpose of comparative analysis. These three countries in East Asia have all experienced historical repetitions of the disregarding followed by revival of the Confucian legacy at different times during their modernization. However, all of them have kept strong Confucian pedogic culture that frames ways in which knowledge is transmitted and applied for the definition of modernity in East Asia. Confucianism has a very immense continuity even though…...
This method of presentation attracted several immediate attacks from enemies within the church even before a reaction from the Chinese.
Sometime after 1610, one critic, Father Longobardo, said that even with all the references to that of a supreme deity, the Chinese had never differentiated the moral regularities of society and the physical regularities which were that of the material universe. The Chinese had also never understood or accepted any spiritual substance separate from matter. This criticism was increased by emphasizing on the lack of reference to that of the divine powers in Confucius and other thinkers of his school. The argument went on saying that whatever the most ancient Chinese had thought of and considered their classical tradition had been influenced through truly atheist lines. What is most interesting is that Confucian thought accepts the passivity of Heaven and searches for the problems on earth elsewhere especially in the…...
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References
Bownas, Geoffrey; Kaizuka, Shigeki. The MacMillan Company. Confucius. 1956.
Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism
Confucianism in Chinese Society
Ju Dou is one of the films that depict the culture of the Chinese society from ancient to modern times. A highly comprehensible film, Ju Dou is powerful in teaching the traditional values of the Chinese culture to international viewers. China, historically, is a nation of philosophy in which the teachings and values of Confucius is one of the conventional and adhered ideas in way of living, and this particularly are conveyed, in some way or another, by the characters in the story of the film Ju Dou.
Among the philosophers from the previous times, the most influential to the Chinese culture are the philosophies of Confucius. His teachings are usually represented in many Asian films. As in most of the Chinese films, Ju Dou attempts to re-define and portrays the Chinese culture based on various literatures and Chinese identity such as Confucianism. The influence of Confucianism…...
Confucianism
Describe the unique characteristics of Chinese worldviews and discuss the significance or the implications of these characteristics in relation to the worldviews of other traditions such as the Jewish, the Christian or the modern scientific worldviews.
In order to provide an explanation to worldview several authors define worldview in different terms. According to Fritj of Capra, a social Paradigm is a particular vision of a community and where values, perceptions, concepts and practices are being shared among the members of that particular community. The vision of the community is the foundation upon which the community would organize itself. (Capra, p.34). According to Bowers worldview was that which brought about a sense of legitimacy and coherence to society, the norms present in society, its institutions, and legitimacy to individual experience and the moral and concepts of individuals. (Bowers, p.52). He gives three examples: namely, sin which is original, thought which is rational…...
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References
Bowers, C.A. The Cultural Dimensions of Educational Computing - Understanding the Non-Neutrality of Technology, Teachers College Press. 1988.p.52
Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life - A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems, Anchor Books. 1996, p.34
Taylor, Rodney L.: The Religious Dimensions of Confucianism, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986. p.66
Reweaving the 'One Thread' of the Analects, Philosophy East and West 40:1 (January 1990), pp. 17-33.
Confucianism and Daoism are Chinese religious traditions. hile they are considered by some to be very different they are often actually woven together (Mou, 78). The teachings of one are often relatively consistent with the teachings of the other and because of this those who believe in one of these religious traditions do not discount the other one or feel that it is unworthy. Both of them indicate a reverence for Chinese ancestors and a striving for harmony with nature, although they often look at achieving this in slightly different ways (Mou, 85). These concepts of reverence for ancestors and striving for harmony with nature are important parts to both traditions, but they are also elevated to a higher level by the ideals and ethics that they embody (Mou, 96).
Both traditions have a peaceful coexistence, and this is true even within those who follow one tradition or the other. Daoism,…...
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Works Cited
Kohn, Livia. "The date and compilation of the Fengdao kejie: The first handbook of monastic Daoism." East Asian History (13/14) (1997): 91-118.
Mou, Bo. Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy. Antonio S. Cua, Ed. New York, Routledge: 2003.
Shun, Kwong-loi. "Mencius and Early Chinese Thought." Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997
Wei-ming, Tu. "Centrality and Commonality: An Essay on Confucian Religiousness." In Walter H. Slote and George A. De Vos, eds., Confucianism and the Family. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989.
Confucianism, the Western name for the Chinese religious practice of Ju-chia, or the religion of "K'ung the Master," is an extension of the teachings of Taoism and has long been a major influence in Eastern life and philosophy, especially in China. Developed in the sixth century, B.C. this philosophy encourages the living of a sincere, fair and wise life in all dealings with other people and allows anyone to practice such beliefs (McDowell & Brown, 2009, 10.1). For many centuries it was the official ideology of China and it is still maintains a wide influence throughout the Eastern world. There are several basic tenets of the religion to which anyone practicing must try to adhere.
Confucianism is fundamentally based upon the human aspects of its teachings and does not concern itself with the existence of gods or an afterlife. Instead of living one's life in the hopes of attaining an eternal…...
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References
McDowell, M. & Brown, M.R. (2009). World religions at your fingertips. New York, NY:
Penguin Group.
Yao, X. (2000). An introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Confucianism is a term used to describe a philosophical system of beliefs based on the teachings of Confucius, whose birth name is Kong Qiu but went by the title Master Kong, Kongzi (Jensen, 2007). Confucius was a Chinese thinker who between 551-479 BCE. While Confucius did have disciples, Confucianism as a system of beliefs was not created until the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C.E. before that era there was no organization in regards to his writing. According to Jensen (2007), Confucians were Chinese thinkers who admired and centered their lives on the Wujing, a collection of texts that originate from Western Zhou. It is believed that Confucius wrote those texts (Demerath, 2001).
Kongzi was a strong believer in rituals. One ritual is ancestor worship, which is the ceremonial communication and sacrifice to one's family member that passed away. It is a tradition that still observed to this day. The…...
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References:
Demerath, N.J. (2001). Crossing the gods: World religions and worldly politics.
New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press.
Fowler, J.D. (2005). An introduction to the philosophy and religion of Taoism: Pathways to immortality. Portland, Ore: Sussex Academic Press.
Jensen, L.M. (1997). Manufacturing Confucianism: Chinese traditions & universal civilization. Durham: Duke University Press.
The enormous expanse of land, resource and population that is and has been China, to varying size parameters, has by virtue of these outsized characteristics, been site to wild fluctuations in the areas of continuity of control. The onset of a historical trend which would become known as the dynastic cycle would be preceded though by a sustained period of Chinese social stability, distinguished in particular by the influence of Confucius (551-479 BC) and his refined code of ethics. As with such figures as Jesus and Mohammed thereafter, Confucius commanded a personal mythology in his passing which only grew. As Molloy tells, after the passage of full millennium since the death of this great teacher and scholar, the Ch'in Dynasty rose from a crowd of seven divided pre-Chinese kingdoms to bring the Confucian philosophy to central authority.
This would lead to a sustained enlightened period for the institution of meritocracy,…...
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Works Cited:
Molloy, M. (2010). Experiencing the Worlds Religions, tradition, challenge, and change. The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Confucianism in East Asia
Confucianism has frequently been regarded as a religion without a supernatural dimension, a set of ethical precepts wholly of this world: however I would argue that, given the fact of ancestor-worship in traditional Chinese religion, the Confucian teachings about filial piety may truly seem to have the force of otherworldly command. Confucius himself complains about the decline in standards for filial piety in the Analects (II.7), noting that most people in his lifetime thought their filial obligations had been met when their parents were fed: Confucius' complaint is that even dogs or horses can be merely fed, and what characterizes genuine filial piety is reverence. This is, of course, a complaint made by Confucius about the broad gap between ideals and actual practice, even within his own lifetime: we cannot expect the general trend in China to have been particularly better at any other point in history.…...
Confucianism's Impact Upon The Status Of omen In China
Confucianism was not an openly misogynistic or anti-woman system of thought. It did not post women as 'the devil's gateway' as did some philosophical strains of Early Christianity, for instance. However, Confucianism was a patriarchal system of ancestor worship that emphasized respect of one's past progenitors and how things used to be, rather than attempting to creatively change the future. Thus change was de-emphasized, minimizing the ability of women to institute change within pre-existing patriarchic family structures. Male control was reinforced by the system of thought, rather than creating ideological support for change.
Confucianism placed a strong stress upon the difference between the sexes. Crucial to Confucian ideology was the distinction between yin and yang, or the female and male principles inherent in the world. Thus, femaleness and maleness was not simply a matter of physicality, but of essential compositional essence to the…...
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Works Cited
Stearns, Peter. Gender in World History. Routledge, 2000
Speaking about the order of the universe we can shift the speech towards human nature and essence. In performing actions which support harmony, man is doing nothing more but manifesting his nature and realizing his essence. The tool that the individual uses in order to be able to manifest essence is reason. Therefore, the link between the universe and the beings is represented by the mind. When everything is in the right lace we have perfect order. therefore it is safe to state that perfect order, in the cosmos and in the human world, leads to harmony.
In an attempt to define harmony furthermore, we may quote another famous passage which stares that, since order is the natural way of being of the world, all the things which exist will develop naturally and without harming each other notwithstanding the differences which exist between them. In addition, all the principles which are…...
In the above quotation Tucker has clearly stated that the concept of imminence and transcendence, which are considered as essential aspects of the estern definition of religion, are not easily discernable in the philosophy of Confucianism. On the other hand Tucker makes a valid point, in that there can be many different views of what religion is and how it is experienced by different cultures may differ as well. It is in this sense that Tucker goes on to substantiate her claim for the religious nature of Confucianism by stating that, "Thus, I am proposing instead the notion of cosmology and cultivation as a mutually interacting dialectic at the heart of the Confucian tradition. This dialectic occurs within the threefold relationship of heaven, earth, and human beings."
4. Confucianism as a Pragmatic Philosophy
Far less convulsed and complex is the more accepted view that Confucianism is rather a form of ethical…...
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Works Cited
"Confucianism." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 2009
Hall, David L., and Roger T. Ames. "Chapter 5 A Pragmatist Understanding of Confucian Democracy." Confucianism for the Modern World. Ed. Daniel A. Bell and Hahm Chaibong.( Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2003):124-160.
McMurrin, Sterling M. Religion, Reason, and Truth: Historical Essays in the Philosophy of Religion. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1982. Questia. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
Shu-hsien Liu, Berthrong John and Leonard Swidler. CONTEMPORARY
(Fetzer; Soper, 148)
The excesses of Western-style individualism and democracy can be moderated through application of a few of the Confucian values. For instance, filial piety and social/moral responsibilities towards an individual's role in the social hierarchy can bring about a greater awareness about an individual's obligations towards previous generations as well as look beyond the confines of self-interests to embrace the interests of the community as a whole. This can also act as a successful deterrent to some types of political liberalism which prioritize individual rights with absolutely no concern for the cultural and social context which are essential for the expression of those rights. (Fetzer; Soper, 148)
Confucianism calls for infusing an ethical fabric into the political realm and not the abuse of political might to enforce ethical life. Confucian hierarchy, at no point of time, deviates from the fundamental respect that humanity or human relations demand. According to…...
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References
Ackerly, Booke. A. Is Liberalism the only way toward democracy? Political Theory, vol. 33, no. 4, August 2005, pp: 547-576.
Fairbank, John King; Goldman, Merle. China: a new history. Harvard University
Press. 1998.
Fetzer, Joel S; Soper, J. Christopher. The Effect of Confucian Values on Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Taiwan. Taiwan Journal of Democracy, vol. 3, no.1, pp: 143-154.
Confucianism and Potential Problems With Modernity
Confucianism, the way of life taught by Confucius, may have a long history, but is one that still appears to have a place in modern society. Max Weber argued that capitalism was not compatible with capitalism due to incompatible values, but the success of many eastern nations has been attributed to the application of Confucian values to business development and interactions. In South Korea this has been referred to as Confusion democracy, but there is not universal agreement of the value and compatibly of Confucianism.
In the views of Shin Ch'aeho, Yun Ch'iho, and Yi Kwangsu there are many flaws with the new national visions of Confucianism. Shin Ch'aeho argued that the values Confucianism created a meek society in Korea, with slavishness becoming more dominant than the indigenous culture, which he argued lead to the loss of independence. Shin was a radical anti-imperialist during the years…...
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Reference
Duncan, J, (2006), "The Problematic Modernity of Confucianism," in Armstrong, C, (ed), Korean Society. Democracy, and the State, Routledge,
They do not realize that they are really driving a weapon, and in a split second, their car could kill them or someone else if they make just one tiny mistake. That is not living with the best course. I have to wonder how different our society would be if we lived our lives according to Confucianism how our lives would be different. I don't mean every part of the Confucian way of life, but I mean looking at ourselves and others more deeply, and looking at our "best course" as we go through life. I don't think a lot of people do that, and I think our lives would be better if we were a little bit more reflective about ourselves and others. I don't think our society is doomed, like some thinkers do, but I think that we could create a better society that is more caring…...
1. The changing role of women in East Asian societies: A comparison of traditional gender norms and modern feminist movements 2. The portrayal of East Asian women in Western media: Stereotypes and misrepresentations 3. The impact of Confucianism on women's rights and gender equality in East Asia 4. Beauty standards for women in East Asian cultures: The pressure to conform and the rise of the beauty industry 5. Intersectionality and the experiences of East Asian women: Examining how race, gender, and nationality intersect in shaping women's identities and experiences 6. The rise of feminist movements in East Asia: Challenges and successes in advocating for gender....
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