In modern times, Confucianism has gone on to influence many other ideologies but has also faced criticism. Indeed, the disciples he chose came from a variety of classes. One's heritage was not a basis for judgment in Confucius's eyes. In its basic sense, this is a system of governance wherein responsibilities are assigned to those based on their own merits, instead of by lineage as was the norm in Western states.
The Analects contains the core of its beliefs and teachings, including loyalty, goodness, filial piety, rituals, etiquette, and proper governance.Īlthough Confucius himself stated that he was not inventing anything new but rather simply transmitting what he had been taught, some Western thinkers, such as Voltaire, credit him with a then-revolutionary concept that came to be known as meritocracy. Instead, it stresses the self-cultivation of virtue and a maintenance of personal ethics and responsibilities. It remained so until the establishment of the Republic of China.Ĭonfucianism does not promote the worship of a group of deities or a monotheistic ideology. However, it was with the advent of the Qin (or Ch'in) Dynasty (221-207 BC) that Confucianism became the official ideology of the Chinese state.
During the Han Dynasty, Confucianism began to take on additional metaphysical and cosmological elements. It was during this time that Chou kings began to lose their grip on power, a fact that Confucius laments in the text. The Analects present many of the same themes found in Confucianism, including Jen/Ren, Hsiao/Xiao, Li, as well as the concept of the Chun-tzu/Junzi.Ĭonfucianism is believed to have developed during what is known as the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history (circa 771-476 BC), corresponding roughly with the first half of the Chou (or Zhou) Dynasty. Readers of the The Analects will see much of how its ideology makes up the tenets of Confucianism, an ethical and philosophical system that has influenced the cultures of many Asian nations, including China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
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