Confucianism
By: Alisha, Mandy, Michael, and
Preshia
Place of Origin
• Confucianism was originated in East Asia
• extended from countries such as China,
Korea, Japan, and even Vietnam
• founded by man named Confucius
• Similar philosophies as Taoism.
• Confucius teaches the 'Way of Heaven"
• Gives moral/religious practice
• People misunderstand this religion
because of the combination of religion
and philosophy
• Confucianism has a practical nature
The Founder: Confucius
551 BCE- 479 BCE
• born in Lu, China
• good manners + virtue = control of
oneself
• taught society to take responsibility for
their actions
• Appointed magistrate of Chung-tu and
later became Minister of Justice of Lu
• 496 BCE- Confucius left office
• Taught his practices out of the borders
of Lu
Do not dwell on
gods, live in the
present
Mencius
• Followed and defended the
principles of Confucius
• believed good is in all people and
evil is only learned
Hsun Tzu
• brought Confucianism to life,
explaining the importance of virtue
• warned evil could easily corrupt
humans
Key Beliefs
• Golden Rule: "do not do to others
what you would not want to have
done to you.“
The 5 Relationships
• Father/son
• Ruler/citizen
• Husband/wife
• Older brother/younger
brother
• Friend/friend
6 Key Values
• Li: includes ritual, propriety,
etiquette, etc.
• Hsiao: love within the family:
• Yi: righteousness
• Xin: honesty and
trustworthiness
• Ren: benevolence,
humaneness towards others;
the highest Confucian virtue
• Chung: loyalty to the state,
etc.
Symbols
• A hexagram figure from I
China
• The I divinatory system of
the I Ching is made up of
trigrams representing the
ever changing elemental
forces of the universe
Rituals and Ceremonies
• Birth : The T'ai-shen (which
is the spirit of the fetus)
• Reaching maturity- young
adult is served chicken
• Marriage- proposal,
engagement, dowry,
procession, marriage and
reception, and morning after
• Death: corpse placed in
coffin and there is a funeral
Adherences in the World
• 6 million around the world
• Only 26,000 in North America
• Mostly located in China and
the rest of Asia
Influence in the 21st Century
• persevering, respecting
others, and the principles of
relationships
• today many follow Confucius'
advice
Religious Significance
• A rich tradition of scholarship
• sacred writings include: 5
Classics (Wu Jing) and the 4
books (Si Shu)
• practices have been severely
restricted even after the Mao
Zedong era
Interesting Facts
• Moral + social + political +
religious thought =
Confucianism
• the wife offers cups of tea to the
wedding guest
• "Confucius was completely free
from four things: he had no
forgone conclusions, no
dogmatism, no obstinacy, and no
egotism“
• Some debate on whether
Confucianism is a religion
GAME TIME!