Where is confucianism practiced in the world

In fact, Confucianism built on an ancient religious foundation to establish the social values, institutions, and transcendent ideals of traditional Chinese society. It was what sociologist Robert Bellah called a "civil religion," 1 the sense of religious identity and common moral understanding at the foundation of a society's central institutions. It is also what a Chinese sociologist called a "diffused religion"; 3 its institutions were not a separate church, but those of society, family, school, and state; its priests were not separate liturgical specialists, but parents, teachers, and officials.

Confucianism was part of the Chinese social fabric and way of life; to Confucians, everyday life was the arena of religion. The burning issue of the day was: If it is not the ancestral and nature spirits, what then is the basis of a stable, unified, and enduring social order?

The dominant view of the day, espoused by Realists and Legalists, was that strict law and statecraft were the bases of sound policy. Confucius, however, believed that the basis lay in Zhou religion, in its rituals li. He interpreted these not as sacrifices asking for the blessings of the gods, but as ceremonies performed by human agents and embodying the civilized and cultured patterns of behavior developed through generations of human wisdom.

They embodied, for him, the ethical core of Chinese society. Moreover, Confucius applied the term "ritual" to actions beyond the formal sacrifices and religious ceremonies to include social rituals: courtesies and accepted standards of behavior-- what we today call social mores. He saw these time-honored and traditional rituals as the basis of human civilization, and he felt that only a civilized society could have a stable, unified, and enduring social order.

Thus one side of Confucianism was the affirmation of accepted values and norms of behavior in primary social institutions and basic human relationships. Starting from individual and family, people acting rightly could reform and perfect the society. The blueprint of this process was described in "The Great Learning," a section of the Classic of Rituals:. Only when things are investigated is knowledge extended; only when knowledge is extended are thoughts sincere; only when thoughts are sincere are minds rectified; only when minds are rectified are the characters of persons cultivated; only when character is cultivated are our families regulated; only when families are regulated are states well governed; only when states are well governed is there peace in the world.

Confucius' ethical vision ran against the grain of the legalistic mind set of his day. Only under the Han Emperor Wu r. From that time on the imperial state promoted Confucian values to maintain law, order, and the status quo.

In late traditional China, emperors sought to establish village lectures on Confucian moral precepts and to give civic awards to filial sons and chaste wives.

The imperial family and other notables sponsored the publication of morality books that encouraged the practice of Confucian values: respect for parents,loyalty to government, and keeping to one's place in society—farmers should remain farmers, and practice the ethics of farming. This side of Confucianism was conservative, and served to bolster established institutions and long-standing social divisions. There was, however, another side to Confucianism. Confucius not only stressed social rituals li , but also humaneness ren.

Ren, sometimes translated love or kindness, is not any one virtue, but the source of all virtues. Reproduction, ; original, 12th century. Excellent overview of the origins, history,beliefs, practices, symbols, and more. Brief but helpful overview of the ethical tradition of Confucianism.

Overview and translated excerpts of the Analects. Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction C, during a break on his book tour, Michael Schuman , author of Confucius and the World He Created , teases out fact from fiction; explains why he had to take bowing lessons before his wedding; and tells us why the influence of a scholar who died nearly 3, years ago is still felt in the boardrooms, bedrooms, and classrooms of nearly a quarter of humanity.

The Communist Party has realized Confucius might be useful for them again. Beijing focuses on the imperial Confucius who was all about obedience to the emperor, hierarchy, and loyalty. Fast forward to today. The Communist Party has overseen an incredible surge of wealth in China in the past 35 years through old-fashioned capitalism. So they went scouring about for a new ideology to justify their government. Here is a political tradition that is uniquely Chinese and can support their type of authoritarian rule.

By reviving Confucius, they are making the case that China has its own political culture based on its own political and philosophical history. China therefore does not have to head toward democracy in the way that Western advocates would like to see happen.

It can have a political future based on what it sees as its philosophical past. In Confucian thinking, it means something very different. At the same time, ordinary people are returning to Confucian ideas in search of the spiritual nourishment they feel is missing in their lives. There are incredibly high levels of corruption, widespread fraud, and counterfeiting. There are incredible problems with pollution and environmental degradation.

The Confucius Institutes have been a tremendously successful program for China. What makes them controversial is that, when a Confucius Institute shows up at a university, the university is effectively outsourcing its Chinese studies to the Chinese government.

Confucius Institutes are funded by and to a certain extent overseen by an agency of the Chinese state. In academia, this is sometimes seen as an attempt by the Chinese government to control the discourse about China. The Chinese insist all they are doing is promoting Chinese language and Chinese culture. But because of the controversies these institutes have provoked, you have to wonder whether this is actually intensifying the distrust between the West and China?

Some very prominent universities in the United States, like the University of Chicago and Pennsylvania State University, have dropped their relationship with Confucius Institutes.

But for our wedding she wanted to add in a traditional Korean ceremony called a paebaek , when we would bow in front of her parents, and afterward they would give us their blessing and toss walnuts and dates into the skirt of her dress to encourage fertility. I found this a little uncomfortable.

So I decided to raise my concerns with my wife. The reason this was so important to her is that filial piety, respect for your parents, is one of the most basic Confucian virtues. So, on my wedding day, I had to get a bowing lesson from my brother-in-law. A few hours later, I found myself with my forehead pressed to the floor with all my friends looking on. It shows the continuing power of Confucian ideas. He still has a dramatic effect on the lives of nearly a quarter of humanity.

What we know is in bits and pieces scattered across various historical records of somewhat suspect quality. What we think we know is that he was born to a family of low-level officials. His father died when he was quite young, and he was raised by a single mother. But we know very little about his childhood.