
Chinese culture is influenced by the philosophical traditions of Confucianism. A religion or an ethic based on Confucians social teachings. He was a great teacher whose teachings have profoundly affected many people in the world. “In 130 BC the Confucian text became the basic discipline for the training of government officials, a pattern that continued until the Empire collapsed in 1905” (Smith 119).
The tradition of Confucianism started in China and spread to Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and to communities of South Asian immigrants worldwide with Chinese cultural and political dominant. Moore wrote in his book:
The Confucian tradition actually began well before Confucians (The Latinate form of Kong Fuzi, “master kong’) and is known in Chinese as ruijia or the school of the RU vu meaning weak or yielding. Ru also referred to the learning to the learned aristocracy of the defeated sharing dynasty (ca. 1776-1050 BCE) who nevertheless continued to share on specialist in li( ritual and protocol) that is in determining appropriate behavior and techniques of government . (Moore 6)
The first teacher whose principle focuses on creating harmony in human society had a modest life. He lost his father in his early childhood and grew up learning many things including his family’s problems. When he started working as a government officer, his principles, and norms and values helped him to spread his reputation. He spends more than a decade visiting states to states, proffering unsolicited advice to administrators. For his teachings Smith wrote,” Confucians was undoubtedly one of the worlds greatest teachers prepared to instruct virtually all the disciplines of his day, he was a one-man university” (Smith101).
“The meaning of self-cultivation and social political reform: Confucians believed that political order must be established on social order, and social order must come from individual cultivation “(Tsai 1). It basically explains the interrelation between politics and society. If every individual will be rectified then the whole nation will be governed and peaceful. Therefore, Confucians said “Their hearts being rectified, their persons were cultivated. Their persons being cultivated their families regulated. Their families being regulated their states were rightly governed. Their states being rightly governed the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy (Tsai, 1).
Confucians stresses filial piety and family values through articulating the five basic human relationships. These relationships are the relation between ruler and minister, between father and son, between husband and wife, elder and younger brother, and between friends .For this he remarked “The life of the moral person is an exemplification the universal moral order…the life of the vulgar person, on the other hand is a contradiction of the universal moral order” (Novak 119).
Although Confucianism is a similar to Buddhism, Coniferous was a different personality than the common religions or spiritual leader. Philip Novak describes his different personality as follows:
Confucius is different kind of sage, unlike the great spiritual personages of the Western traditions; he is not a prophet out in the wilderness, proclaiming the revelation of God and railing against human indifference. Nor does Confucius fit the profile of the classis spiritual hero of India, the yogi, who through ascetic withdrawal from the world and sustained psychophysical discipline taps superhuman reservoirs of wisdom. Rather, Confucius is, unabashedly, an educator. He is a learner and a teacher, a person-in-community who encourages nothing less than the full moral maturity of the entire body politic. (Novak 119)
At the time when Confucius was born, the Chinese society was facing many social problems. Disintegration of the feudal system was one of the major social problems and many individuals and families were suffering from that social turmoil. When he started working on that issue, his principle was to create a perfect society by creating by perfect individual leaders. He thought that excellent individuals created excellent societies and in a similar manner, excellent societies would nurture excellent individuals. For this Molloy in his book stated:
According to Confucius, excellence comes partly from the cultivation of an individual’s virtues and intellect. Thus, education is essential. We should recognize, thought, that for Confucius education meant more than knowledge; it also involved the development of skills in poetry, music, artistic appreciation, manners, and religious ritual. Confucius valued education because it transmitted the lessons of the past into the present. He believed that much of the wisdom required producing excellent human beings is already expressed in the teachings of the great leaders of the past. Convinced that the past provides fine models for the present, Confucius thought that education could show the way to wise and happy living. (Molloy 239)
In China the three main religions Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism are compared to the sun, the moon, and the planets as the necessary past of a complete universe. As a common tradition people started unifying the pictures and statues of the Buddha side by side in friendly poses. This is a great example of religious tolerance in China.
Confucianism has played a prominent role in shaping the social norms and expectations of Chinese society. Here Confucianism serves more as a cultural institution rather than a specific religion. That’s why Moore wrote, “Confucianism has remained the dominant influence in the realms of the socialization, social structure, and ideals and practice of government” (Moore 98). Confucianism’s impact on Chinese society could be seen easily in the realm of the Chinese government. In China, emperors were called “Son of Heaven” and they were assisted by cultured, educated bureaucrats steeped in Confucian ethics.
Confucius is revered as the first teacher, and his followers throughout the centuries have made education a high priority. In China, even the poorest people strove to educate their sons in the hope that at least one would pass the civil service examination, bringing prestige and influence to their family. This proves him as the best teacher whose teachings are still popular among the worlds largest population. In a show of respect of Confucius, people celebrate his birthday on September 28th as Teacher’s Day every year.
Although the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and MaoTse-Tung’s anti-Confucian ideals were particularly destructive to the Confucianism theory, it is often actively promoted in countries like Taiwan, Singapore, and Korea. However, the Communist Party still promotes Confucianism due to its historical and tourism value. The economist (US) wrote, “On topics ranging from political philosophy to personal ethics, old Confucian ideas are gaining new currency”( Confucius makes ).