Confucius, Confucianism and Christ, Christianity
Confucius: Latinized spelling
Chinese name: • Kong Fuzi 孔夫子 • (Master Kong) • 551-479 BC titles: The First Holy One, First Teacher, Teacher of the Ten
• Collective > Individual • Humans are good, but
we stray – Education and self-
discipline
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4/4/2020
Jamie Buehler
Confucianism as a religion
• Religion = community of people who share beliefs, cultural practices, worship a deity/deities
• “something done with great attention to detail”
– Confucian philosophy of self discipline
4/4/2020
Confucianism as a religion
• Confucius was not a god or a prophet
• He did not create these ideas, but merely restored them
“As to being a Divine Sage or even a Good Man, far be it from me to make any such claim.”
“I am not one of those who have innate knowledge. I am simply one who loves the past and who is diligent in investigating it”
Jamie Buehler
Confucianism as a system of ethics
• Moral conduct is the basis of social harmony • Emphasis on self discipline and education • Obligation to family
Basically… A person does all actions for the sake of Jen because the respect for humanity implies the right
human way to act.
Yi 义 （義 ）
• Righteousness, moral description to do good. • Acting in a way or doing what needs to be done
– Family as microcosm of the universe – Strict Father vs. Nurturing Parent model
4/4/2020
Jamie Buehler
Confucianism as a philosophy
• “Confucianism’s root metaphor was and is a concern for the world” Humanity, reciprocity, empathy
a religion
• Rituals for all occasions of life
– Veneration of ancestors – Meditation
• No initiation or membership • Heaven is a manifestation
simply because it ought to be done, not for personal gain or profit.
•A principle of mutuality, human- heartedness, and empathy. •The ability to empathize with another’s discomfort that would prevent the moral person to refrain from acting in ways that would cause discomfort. •Similar to Christianity’s Golden Rule
of God
– The words are interchangeable – Heaven means goodness. To
be good is to live in harmony with heaven – Mencius “Heaven does not speak”
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Ren 仁
“China was no longer one country but a dozen, each potentially the enemy of any other”
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Jamie Buehler
Is Confucianism a philosophy, a code of ethics, or a religion?
Thousand Generations • Never lived to see his
doctrines put into practice
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A Time of Turmoil
• Zhou Dynasty (1122-253 BC) • Golden Age -> The reign of Yu Wang (780 BC) • Feudal lords in power, Emperor is empty title