Confucianism

Overview

Scholars disagree over whether Confucianism is a religion or "only" a philosophy. It has rituals, ancestor veneration and temples to Confucius, but no personal god and no church hierarchy. Its core values:

• Ren: humaneness and kindness.
• Li: proper ritual and manners.
• Xiao: filial piety.
• Zhong: loyalty.
• Junzi: the ideal of the "superior person", who keeps improving himself.

Origins and History

Confucius (about 551–479 BCE) was a teacher and official in a time of political instability. He believed that returning to the morality and rituals of the ancients would restore social order. His students collected his sayings in the Analects. Mencius and Xunzi developed his teaching. Under the Han dynasty (from the 2nd century BCE) Confucianism became the official state ideology.

Development and Branches

• Civil service exams: from the 7th century (the Sui dynasty) until 1905, for about 1,300 years, the imperial civil service examinations were based on the Confucian classics.
• Neo-Confucianism of Zhu Xi (12th century) added metaphysical ideas influenced by Buddhism and Taoism.
• 20th-century criticism: in China Confucianism was attacked as a symbol of conservatism, in the May Fourth Movement and the Cultural Revolution.
• Rehabilitation: in recent decades it has been officially rehabilitated.

How It Spread and Grew

🗺️ Maps of how the five largest religions spread →

It spread mainly through state institutions: the education and examination system, and an administrative model adopted in Korea (the Joseon dynasty was markedly Confucian), Japan and Vietnam. It relied not on conversion but on the adoption of values and social structure.

Influence on the World

• Education: Confucianism gave education and learning supreme status in East Asian societies.
• Government: it laid the foundations for the idea of government by officials chosen by merit (meritocracy), which also influenced civil services in the West.
• Family values: it shaped family values and respect for elders.
• Economic growth: some scholars link it to East Asia's economic success. This claim is disputed.

What Draws Believers (Strengths)

• Emphasis on self-improvement, learning and personal ethics.
• Family and social stability, and respect between generations.
• The Confucian "golden rule": "Do not do to others what you would not want done to you."
• A practical approach to life focused on this world.

Criticism and Challenges

• Hierarchy: critics argue that the rigid hierarchy, between ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, justified authoritarianism and the oppression of women, for example the doctrine of the woman's "three obediences".
• Resistance to change: a conservatism that resisted change and innovation.
• Political use: authoritarian regimes use "Confucian values" to justify themselves.

Human Life, War and Peace – What It Teaches

• Ren (humaneness) is the highest value. A good ruler governs by moral example, not by intimidation.
• Mencius taught that every person is born with a heart that cannot bear the suffering of others.
• War is justified only to overthrow a tyrant and save the people (the "Mandate of Heaven").
• Emphasis on order and harmony in society.
• Compared with other religions: Sanctity of Life Across Religions

Religion, Power and Violence

Use of state power: Confucianism has no history of religious wars or of forcing belief. It preferred rule by moral example over force. Mencius even justified removing a tyrant who had lost the "Mandate of Heaven". However, as a state ideology it legitimised imperial rule, which used violence to suppress rebellions and to expand.

When believers were victims:

• According to tradition, the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, burned Confucian books and executed scholars (213–212 BCE). Scholars doubt the scale of these events, which are known mainly from later sources from the Han period.
• In China's Cultural Revolution, in 1966, Red Guards vandalised the Cemetery of Confucius and his descendants in Qufu. In 1973–1976 an official propaganda campaign ran under the name "Criticise Lin Biao, Criticise Confucius".

Frequently asked questions

Is Confucianism a religion?

There is no agreed answer. In Chinese it is usually called Rujia (儒家, "the school of the Ru", meaning the scholars), and there is also the term Rujiao (儒教), which can be translated "the teaching of the Ru" or "the religion of the Ru". Many scholars describe it as a moral and philosophical system. Others stress its religious aspects: belief in "Heaven" (tian), ancestor veneration, rituals and temples to Confucius.

Who was Confucius?

Confucius (about 551–479 BCE), born Kong Qiu, was born in the town of Zou in the state of Lu (today near Qufu in Shandong province). The Chinese call him Kongzi, "Master Kong". The name "Confucius" is a Latin form of the title Kong Fuzi. He was a teacher and official, and his students collected his sayings in the Analects.

What are the Four Books and Five Classics?

The Four Books are the Analects, the Mencius, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean. Zhu Xi selected them in the Song dynasty, and in the Ming and Qing dynasties they were the core of the curriculum for the civil service examinations. The Five Classics are the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the Book of Changes (I Ching) and the Spring and Autumn Annals.

What are the Five Relationships?

According to Mencius, social order rests on five relationships: ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, and friend and friend. Each relationship carries duties for both sides. Four of them are hierarchical; only the relationship between friends is equal.

What is the difference between Confucianism and Taoism?

Confucianism focuses on society: morality, family duties, ritual, education and proper government. Taoism focuses on harmony with the Dao (the "Way") and with nature, on simplicity and on non-forcing action (wu wei), and it often criticises ritual and social convention. In practice many Chinese did not choose between them but combined both, together with Buddhism (the "Three Teachings").