Menu
MAIN PAGE
Religion Page
Alcoholism
Asatro
Atheism
Bahá'ism
Buddhism
Christianity
Confucianism
Darwinism
Digitalism
Hellenism
Hinduism
Incan Polytheism
Inuit Animism
Islamism
Jainism
Jucheism
Judaism
Kemetism
Korean Shamanism
Ludomanism
Materialism
Mayan Polytheistic
Marxism
Muisca Polytheistic
Neopaganism
Nihilism
Olmec Polytheistic
Roman Polytheism
Satanism
Sikhism
Stoicism
Taino Polytheism
Taoism
Voodoo
Yoruban
Monotheism
|
Confucianism, also known as Ruism
or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behaviour originating in ancient
China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory
of government, or way of life. It was founded by Confucius in the Hundred
Schools of Thought era around 500 BCE.
Confucianism integrates philosophy, ethics, and social governance, with a core
focus on virtue, social harmony, and familial responsibility.
Confucianism emphasizes virtue through self-cultivation and communal effort.
The key virtues include ren (benevolence), yi (righteousness),
li (propriety), zhi (wisdom), and xin (sincerity). These
values, deeply tied to the notion of tian (heaven), present a worldview
where human relationships and social order are manifestations of sacred moral
principles. While Confucianism does not emphasize an omnipotent deity, it
upholds tian as a transcendent moral order.
Confucius regarded himself as a
transmitter of cultural values from the preceding Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou
dynasties. Suppressed during the Legalist Qin dynasty, Confucianism flourished
under the Han dynasty, displacing the proto-Taoist Huang–Lao tradition to become
the dominant ideological framework, while blending with the pragmatic teachings
of Legalism. The Tang dynasty witnessed a response to the rising influence of
Buddhism and Taoism in the development of Neo-Confucianism, a reformulated
philosophical system that became central to the imperial examination system and
the scholar-official class of the Song dynasty.
My Icon: Confucius on his waterbuffalo. |