Confucianism - The Thinking of Confucius

Confucius > A Quick Overview of Confucianism or the Teachings of Confucius

Confucius, Kongzi, or Master Kung lived from 551-479 B.C. Today he is known in the West as the middle-aged, heavy-set, vocalizer of fortune-cookie-type platitudes in old black and white movies. Confucius was a reformer, an itinerant adviser, a social philosopher, and the "Ultimate Sage to the Han dynasty" [Nylan and Wilson]. His values became dominant in China after he died, but even in the centuries following his death, he was ridiculed by many.

His philosophy can be summarized as "sageliness within and kingliness without."* He stressed integrity and civility, and founded a tradition of erudition in areas of art, literature, music, history, and more. Ethical followers of Confucius' Way are counted as Confucians.

Confucianism is a system of social and political morality. Whether it is a religion depends on what religion means to you. Confucianism stressed honoring one's ancestors (like ancient Roman religions) and it advocated a form of the Golden Rule.

Kongzi's first formal biography was written by the Grand Historian Sima Qian, author of a history telling about the Qin Dynasty period of the First Emperor (the monarch reknowned for destroying Confucian scholars) in about 100 B.C. In it, Kongzi is portrayed as arrogant and resentful until late in life he became a sage. Michael Nylan and Thomas Wilson speculate that Sima Qian may have felt a certain kinship with Confucius since they both wrote histories and faced obstacles during life, although the later historian's were physical as well as social. Qian was castrated for defending an underdog.

*"Separation of Politics and Morality: A Commentary on 'Analects of Confucius'," by Shuo Dongfang, Hongcheng Lin and Deyuan Huang; Frontiers of Philosophy in China, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Sep., 2006), pp. 401-417

Confucius was not successful during his lifetime, perhaps because of his personality or his lack of status. Following his death, there were lots of detractors, so Confucianism took a while to take hold. Find out more about when Confucianism started. For more on the personality of Confucius and his delayed path to prominence, read Lives of Confucius, by Michael Nylan and Thomas Wilson. (Requires prior knowledge of Chinese history. See Sima Qian's Records of the Historian [Shiji], which includes the first biography of the Master.)

• Analects (Lun Yu),
• The Great Learning (Da Xue),
• The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhong Yong),
• Mencius (Meng Zi),
• The Book of Changes (Yi Jing or I Ching),
• Book of Poetry (Shi Jing),
• Classic of History (Shu Jing),
• The Rites (Li Ji or Li Chi),
• Spring and Autumn Annals,
• Book of Filial Piety (Xiao Jing), and
• Book of Music (Yue Jing).

1. Humanity: to love man
2. To return to li (decorum, propriety, rites, rituals, manners, ceremony).

Jiyuan Yu says that for Confucius ren is sometimes the comprehensive virtue, but sometimes it is listed along with other virtues ("being clever, trustworthy, forthright, courageous, unbending...). Chenyang Li, who considers ren a state of mind existing independently of li, says "persons of ren manifest their human excellence through the practice of li."

References

• _{"Virtue: Confucius and Aristotle"
  Jiyuan Yu
  Philosophy East and West, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Apr., 1998), pp. 323-347.}
• _{"Li as Cultural Grammar: On the Relation between Li and Ren in Confucius' 'Analects'"
  Chenyang Li
  Philosophy East and West, Vol. 57, No. 3,(Jul., 2007), pp. 311-329}