Confucianism

Confucianism, also known as Ru'ism, is a political philosophy (and, to an extent, religion, although some argue that it is more of an organized form of Chinese folk religion) that first set a standard of Chinese culture, as well as East Asian culture as a whole.

Theory
Confucianism revolves around the pursuit of the unity of the individual self and the God of Heaven (Tiān 天), or, otherwise said, around the relationship between humanity and Heaven.The principle of Heaven (Lǐ 理 or Dào 道), is the order of the creation and the source of divine authority, monistic in its structure.Individuals may realise their humanity and become one with Heaven through the contemplation of such order.This transformation of the self may be extended to the family and society to create a harmonious fiduciary community.Joël Thoraval studied Confucianism as a diffused civil religion in contemporary China, finding that it expresses itself in the widespread worship of five cosmological entities: Heaven and Earth (Di 地), the sovereign or the government (jūn 君), ancestors (qīn 親) and masters (shī 師).

Tiān and the gods
Tiān (天), a key concept in Chinese thought, refers to the God of Heaven, the northern culmen of the skies and its spinning stars,earthly nature and its laws which come from Heaven, to "Heaven and Earth" (that is, "all things"), and to the awe-inspiring forces beyond human control.There are such a number of uses in Chinese thought that it is not possible to give one translation into English.

Confucius used the term in a mystical way.He wrote in the Analects (7.23) that Tian gave him life, and that Tian watched and judged (6.28; 9.12). In 9.5 Confucius says that a person may know the movements of the Tian, and this provides with the sense of having a special place in the universe. In 17.19 Confucius says that Tian spoke to him, though not in words. The scholar Ronnie Littlejohn warns that Tian was not to be interpreted as a personal God comparable to that of the Abrahamic faiths, in the sense of an otherworldly or transcendent creator.Rather it is similar to what Taoists meant by Dao: "the way things are" or "the regularities of the world",which Stephan Feuchtwang equates with the ancient Greek concept of physis, "nature" as the generation and regenerations of things and of the moral order.Tian may also be compared to the Brahman of Hindu and Vedic traditions.The scholar Promise Hsu, in the wake of Robert B. Louden, explained 17:19 ("What does Tian ever say? Yet there are four seasons going round and there are the hundred things coming into being. What does Tian say?") as implying that even though Tian is not a "speaking person", it constantly "does" through the rhythms of nature, and communicates "how human beings ought to live and act", at least to those who have learnt to carefully listen to it.

Social morality and ethics
Confucian ethical codes are described as humanistic even if it's de-facto the core of the Chinese patriarchy .They may be practiced by all the members of a society. Confucian ethics is characterised by the promotion of virtues, encompassed by the Five Constants, Wǔcháng (五常) in Chinese, elaborated by Confucian scholars out of the inherited tradition during the Han dynasty.The Five Constants are:
 * 義 (Yi) - Righteousness and Justice. for the landlords
 * 信 (Xin) - Honesty and Trustworthiness.
 * 忠 (Chung) - Loyalty to the state, etc.
 * 禮 (Li) - includes ritual, propriety, etiquette, etc.
 * 孝 (Hsiao) - love within the family, love of parents for their children, and love of children for their parents literally patriarchy

Social harmony results in part from every individual knowing his or her place in the natural order, and playing his or her part well. Reciprocity or responsibility (renqing) extends beyond filial piety and involves the entire network of social relations, even the respect for rulers.This is shown in the story where Duke Jing of Qi asks Confucius about government, by which he meant proper administration so as to bring social harmony.

齊景公問政於孔子. 孔子對曰：君君，臣臣，父父，子子. The duke Jing, of Qi, asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, "There is government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is father, and the son is son."

— Analects 12.11 (Legge translation). Particular duties arise from one's particular situation in relation to others. The individual stands simultaneously in several different relationships with different people: as a junior in relation to parents and elders, and as a senior in relation to younger siblings, students, and others. While juniors are considered in Confucianism to owe their seniors reverence, seniors also have duties of benevolence and concern toward juniors. The same is true with the husband and wife relationship where the husband needs to show benevolence towards his wife and the wife needs to respect the husband in return. This theme of mutuality still exists in East Asian cultures even to this day.

The Five Bonds are: ruler to ruled, father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger brother, friend to friend. Specific duties were prescribed to each of the participants in these sets of relationships. Such duties are also extended to the dead, where the living stand as sons to their deceased family. The only relationship where respect for elders isn't stressed was the friend to friend relationship, where mutual equal respect is emphasised instead. All these duties take the practical form of prescribed rituals, for instance wedding and death rituals.

History
Confucianism was first conceived of by Confucius, taking heavy inspiration from Chinese folk culture, and made the Chinese people united under one and a love for the state. It was brought back with Neo-Confucianism to battle against Taoism and Buddhism. Currently, Confucianism still remains a strong influence in East Asia.

The May Fourth Movement
During the May Fourth Movement, when Chinese people began to pursue democracy, freedom and public morality, many students studying abroad brought back to China new ideas from abroad, and the spread of these new ideas almost always began by reflecting on and criticising the Confucian culture that had ruled China for some 2,000 years. During the May Fourth Movement, intellectuals who opposed Confucianism could be broadly divided into two factions:

Liberal Democrats
Their criticism of Confucianism was relatively mild, a democratic critique of the exclusive status of Confucianism. They did not want to outlaw Confucianism altogether, but rather wanted Confucianism as a political system to coexist with other political systems in a free game of pluralism. They offer the following critique of Confucianism:


 * Confucianism, with its emphasis on grand unification, makes it easy for Chinese to become ultra-nationalists and makes it more difficult for Chinese to accept foreign cultures and globalization.
 * Confucianism promoted the rule of man, which was at odds with the dominant liberal and democratic values of the international community at the time
 * Confucianism's emphasis on the importance of observing morality and encouraging the abandonment of basic human rights for the sake of inner morality is incompatible with the humanists' assertion that basic human rights are emphasized.

Communists
Communists were fierce in their criticism of Confucianism, which benefits from the fundamental opposition between communist ideals and Confucian ideas.

after the May Fourth Movement, the influence of confucianism in China waned significantly.
 * Communists aspire to a communist society in which everyone gets what they want, while Confucian supporters want a world of Great Harmony(大同社会 in Chinese) governed by a wise and virtuous ruler in which everyone observes morality.
 * Communists wanted to enter the ideal society through constant revolutions, while confucianists wanted to enter the ideal society through the middle way (a moderate, centrist reform).
 * Communist heavily despise the historic background of Confucianism being the backbone ideology of Chinese feudalism.

Xueheng School(学衡派)
The Xueheng School is an organization founded in Republic of China in 1920s. The school was impacted by the New Humanism of Irving Babbitt, amid the crisis of modernity debates after the First World War. Thus, the school went against full westernization of China, but rather promote careful, selective absorption of western culture. They advocated the fundamental spirit of Confucianism as the key to solving the problems of life in today's world. They see Confucius as the master of Chinese culture and consider Confucianism to be the quintessence of Chinese humanism, advocating humanism in an age of science.

The Cultural Revolution
During the Cultural Revolution, Confucianism was regarded as a reactionary ideology, and the demand to "break the Four Olds" led the rebels to actively destroy everything related to Confucius, and the impact on Confucian culture during this period was incalculable. However, subsequent Chinese history tells us that the cultural pluralism that the Cultural Revolution predicted would emerge after the overthrow of Confucianism did not take root in China, and the PRC continued to move towards the one-party dictatorship of the CPC. This situation illustrates the successful transformation of China's ideological and cultural values by the Confucian cultural tradition following the "dismissal of the hundred schools of thought and the exclusive reverence for Confucianism" of Dong Zhongshu and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty over the past 2,000 years.
 * The Sinful Life of Kung the second(孔老二罪恶的一生) - This little man's book portrays Kung the second as a reactionary who supports the doctrine of Confucius and tries to restore the imperial system, often performing many ludicrous acts. It shows the hatred of Confucius by prominent political figures of the time, and reflects the flourishing movement to criticise Confucius.

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