THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHIES

THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHIES. *CONFUCIANISM CONFUCIUS is a latinized form of the honorific title K'ung-fu-tzu (Master K'ung), given to a wandering scholar from the state of Lu in Shandong Province in northeastern China. Although little known in his lifetime, Confucius was revered as the greatest of sages throughout most of China's history. His teaching, Confucianism, was the state teaching from the beginning of the Han Dynasty in 202 BC to the end of the imperial period in 1911. Disturbed by constant warfare among the states, Confucius taught that most of the ills of society happened because people forgot their stations in life and rulers lost virtue. He advocated a return to the golden antiquity of the emperors Yao and Shun, when rulers were virtuous and people knew their places. Therefore, Confucius' primary concern lay in social relations, proper conduct, and social harmony. Confucius defined five cardinal relationships: between ruler and ruled, between husband and wife, between parents and children, between older and younger brothers, and between friends. Except for the last case, all of the defined relationships are between superiors and inferiors. He emphasized the complete obedience and loyalty of the inferior to the superior but also mentioned the benevolence of the superior to the inferior. The ideal Confucian family was an extended one of three or four generations, in which authority rested with the elderly male members. Filial piety (obedience to parents) was one of the most important virtues emphasized by later Confucians. Confucius reportedly spent his last years editing and completing some of the books that came to be known as Five Classics. These include the `Classic of Poetry', `Classic of History', `Spring and Autumn Annals', `Record of Rites', and `Classic of Changes', or `I Ching'. Memorized by scholars for generations in China, these books and four other works, including the `Analects', a compilation of Confucian teachings, were the subjects of civil service examinations for over 2,000 years. (See Confucius) Confucianism commanded a greater following some 200 years later, during the time of Mencius, or Meng-tzu (371-289 BC). He was second only to Confucius himself in shaping Confucianism. His three main tenets were the basic good nature of human beings, the notion of society with a distinct distribution of functions, and the ruler's obligation to the people. On the last point, Mencius elaborated on the concept of the mandate of heaven, which allows that rulers lose support of heaven when they cease to be virtuous. The concept served as the basis of revolts in China and the succession of new rulers. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/chinrelg.html nearly 500,000 people who belonged to Confucian groups (1 percent), Confucian religious groups are probably underrepresented in official status. Korean social norms are grounded in the Confucian value system and many religious practices stem from Confucianism. This is also the case with Shamanism, which is not in official tables, but which is promoted by the government and followed by many practitioners of other religions. Confucianism Although Confucianism was introduced to Korea before Buddhism, its ideological popularity grew later through the introduction of Neo-Confucianism during the late-Koryo and early-Choson periods. Chong To-jon (1342-1398), also known as Sambong, was a thinker who played a central role in overthrowing the Koryo Dynasty and establishing the new Choson Dynasty on the basis of NeoConfucianism. In his teachings, he elucidated Confucian orthodoxy, claiming that Buddhism and Taoism stood outside of the Confucian orthodoxy and were thereby heterodoxical. According to Chong, li (principle) was the basic concept of Confucianism, ki (material force) the basic concept of Taoism and mind was the basic concept of Buddhism. Since ki and mind only operated based on li, they could not be used as a basis for philosophy. Chong thus claimed that Taoism and Buddhism were one-sided and incomplete heterodoxies, which should be abolished and replaced with orthodox Confucianism. In works such as Choson kyonggukchon, Chong advocated a realignment of society in accord with the times. As a reformer, he advocated social change based on enlightened government and Confucian orthodoxy. Through his efforts, Neo-Confucianism was established as the ideology of the newly formed Choson Dynasty. Kwon Kun (1352-1409, also known as Yang-ch'on) was a scholar who, along with Chong To-jon, established the Confucian tradition of the Choson Dynasty. He translated the "Four Books and Three Classics" of the Confucian canon from the standpoint of Neo-Confucianism, bringing classical studies to a new height. In his diagram "Ch'oninshimsong habiljido," he clarified the concepts of heaven, man, mind and human nature, laying the foundation for Choson NeoConfucian thought. Through his research on the classics, he developed Confucian orthodoxy, and his theoretical studies and prepared the philosophical basis of Neo-Confucianism. In this sense, he served as a prominent leader of Confucian studies. Yi Hwang (1501-1570), also known as T'oegye, is the scholar who brought Choson NeoConfucianism into full bloom. In Songhak Shipto (Ten Diagrams of Sagely Learning) and numerous other writings, he propounded his doctrine that li and ki arise in mutual correspondence. This theory touched off a vigorous debate among Choson Neo-Confucian scholars, which led to extraordinary developments in the school's doctrines. In terms of theory, T'oegye held the view that li was dominant. However, instead of stopping at mere theory, he developed a practical teaching method aimed at personal cultivation. Neo-Confucianism is often called, simply, the "Study of the Way." With a teaching that encompassed both theoretical reflections as well as practical cultivation, T'oegye can be said to have perfected this teaching. His Neo-Confucian thought gathers the brilliant practical ideals lying within each theory and puts them together to form a whole. In a sense, his theoretical doctrines form the starting point of the "Study of the Way," while his doctrine of practical cultivation represents its culmination. Thus, T'oegye was neither a fundamentalist nor a dogmatist, but was rather an intelligent advocate of piety who devoutly sought the practical realization of his ideals. Yi I (1536-1584, also known as Yulgok), along with T'oegye, was one of the two great masters of Choson Confucianism. Although Yulgok praised T'oegye's philosophy, he criticized many of its theoretical aspects. His numerous written works, including "songhak chibyo" (Compilation of the Essentials of Sagely Learning), indicate diverse and extensive scholarly interests. In Yulgok's thought, that which manifests is ki and that by which it is manifested is li. He thus emphasized that li and ki were an inseparable entity. According to his theory, when ki becomes active, li ascends it so as to become a unity. The fact that Yulgok was able to apply this doctrine to the diverse aspects of his teaching while maintaining logical consistency demonstrates his brilliance as a thinker. His general theory is also related to his theory of government, in which he sets forth numerous programs for social reform. He is remembered as an outstanding intellectual who worked to realize an ideal Confucian society. Another important figure is Chong Yak-yong (1762-1836). Also known as Tasan, he is a representative Sirhak scholar of the late 19th century. Sirhak (Practical Learning) is an ideology that sought to reform the institutionalized Neo-Confucianism of the Choson period. Thus, it represents a liberal movement within the Confucian tradition. In order to put an end to the doctrinal disputes that had plagued Neo-Confucianism during the previous two centuries, Tasan felt that it was necessary to elucidate the central teaching of Confucianism. Thus, Tasan began a radical re-interpretation of the vast body of Confucian classics. Based on this work, Tasan penned an extensive collection of treatises on government, including his famous work "Mongmin shimso" (On Leading the People). His theory of government focuses on assuring the livelihood of the people and the nation's legal system. For this reason, his practical philosophy rejected the Neo-Confucian obsession with metaphysics. Instead, it sought to resolve issues affecting the livelihood of the people, while encouraging good government capable of helping people during times of crisis. In this sense, Tasan was a foresighted thinker who sought to reform tradition in response to the needs of the times. These five Confucian thinkers discussed monumental works that helped define the history of Korean Confucianism. As can be seen, Choson-era Confucian scholars placed great importance on a pious fidelity to their tradition. For this reason, they had an exclusive attitude toward other religions and, hence, appear to be self-righteous. However, instead of clinging to Neo-Confucian dogma, they sought to elucidate the ideals of Neo-Confucianism according to their historical circumstances and reform the societies in which they lived. Understood within this context, they must not be seen as exclusive dogmatists, but as creative intellectuals. In Korea, representative Buddhist and Confucian thinkers were not interested in theory for its own sake. Instead, they utilized their independent intellectual abilities to elucidate religious ideals within the context of their unique historical reality. This intellectual attitude has formed the basis of Korea's ancient classical culture. From the Three Kingdoms through the Choson period, countless Buddhist and Confucian thinkers have left their legacy of refined philosophical works, as well as beautiful, practical examples of their search for human ideals. For this reason, Korea, even more than China or Japan, has been able to preserve Confucianism and Buddhism in their classical forms. Source: http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/rel/confucianism.htm Confucian attitudes are still prevalent in the country, and certain features of the modern Korean social system can be attributed to this. The country's rapid industrialization and the emphasis on education in modern day Korea is also an outcome of the country's Confucian heritage. At the same time, traditional ideas like monarchy, subservience to China, anti-commercialism and antiChristianity that do not fit into the modern scheme of things have been rejected. Though Confucian values were used historically for political purposes, its widespread use began only after the introduction of neo-Confucianism in the late 13th century. Confucian social ethics were used by the Park, Chun and in later years, the Japanese in order to strengthen their control over the Korean people. http://asia.msu.edu/eastasia/SouthKorea/religion.html 22 sept 2006 Chinese religions:Confucianism The term "Confucianism" has become almost synonymous with any discussion of the government and family systems of China (and Korea, Japan, and Vietnam). But what exactly is this all pervading system that seems to cover everything from education, to family, to government, to interaction with spirits, to funerals, to problem solving? Why is it so important and what are its ideas? To answer these questions, we must look at a brief history of Confucianism and how it was applied. It begins with a man who was given the honorific name "Master Kong" (Kong Fuzi) in the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. This man lived during a tumultuous time, a time of constant war between states, each seeking to conquer and rule the others. In face of the misery, poverty and uncertainty caused by these constant wars and their accompanying unethical and violent ways of acting, many thinkers tried to come up with solutions to the problem of how to attain peace and security. These solutions ranged from better equipped armies, to better military tactics, to dictatorial governmental policies, etc. Master Kong, however, came up with a very different solution and one which seemed most impractical. He proposed that the petty kings select ministers who were trained in ethics and that they themselves adopt an ethical approach to solving problems, an approach which considered the welfare of the people as its greatest value. Needless to say, while his ideas were valued and he was considered to be a wise person, he was unable to find a king who would employ him or put these ideas into practice! Thus, he devoted his time to teaching and accumulated many disciples. Several hundred years after his death, his ideas, modified by those of several of his disciples, were finally adopted as official state policy. The man who adopted them, Han Wudi, (the military emperor of Han) was the most expansionistic and militaristic of the early Han emperors. Nevertheless, he felt that these seemingly impractical ideas of Master Kong and his disciples would help him to govern properly, would give him a core of loyal and well trained officials, would regulate the relations with the foreign states he was conquering, and would ensure a well ordered and prosperous society. Thus, from the beginning of the 1st Century B.C. and continuing until at least 1912 A.D. when the Imperial system was overthrown, Confucian ideas, in one permutation or another, formed that backbone of the Chinese state. These ideas were modified a number of times, including in the 12th , 14th and 16th Centuries, in a form that came to be known as "New' or "Neo" Confucianism. which sought to revitalize the philosophy/religion to meet modern situations. While Confucianism was officially debunked in the 20th Century in China, it was briefly revived by Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai Shek) in the 30's and in Taiwan after 1949. Despite several decades of anti-Confucian rhetoric in China, its ideas still permeate Chinese society today. What are the basic ideas of Confucianism? Essentially, Confucianism sees that a person is not an isolated individual responsible only to and for him or her self, but is enmeshed in a web of relationships from the moment he/she is born until after she/he dies. At birth a child joins a family, consisting not just of a mother, father and siblings, but of the generations gone before and those who will come after. During his/her lifetime, she/he becomes involved in more and more relationships: of friends, school-mates, colleagues, bosses, government members, neighbors, etc. A person plays many roles in his or her life; that of child, of parent, of sibling, of friend, of worker, of boss, of tax payer, of school mate, etc. Thus, the most important element in Confucian ideas is that everything in life is relational; one's success or failure in any situation depends upon one's relations to others. For example, success in a military campaign depends primarily on the Commander's relations with his soldiers; equipment and training are secondary. Likewise, success in a school depends upon one's relations to one's teachers and peers; innate intelligence is secondary. Since everything is seen as relational, there can be no absolutes in Confucian ideas. What is the proper way to act depends not on an objective situation (we have been attacked by terrorists), but upon one's relations to those involved (the victims, the perpetrators, their relatives, the governments, religious leaders, etc). In order to discover how to act one needs to access the situation in terms of the impact of one's actions on all the people involved, the probable outcomes in terms of continuing relationships of different types of action. How then, does one make a decision? To Confucians, one's past education and understanding of key values will guide this decision. There are certain key values that Confucians use in making all decisions and these values do not change but the ways they are applied change. The first value is compassion for all involved in a given situation. The second is righteousness and justice for everyone involved in a situation. The third is propriety, what is the proper way to act while maintaining the relationships in which one is involved. The fourth is loyalty: how to act in this situation while supporting all one's possible conflicting loyalties. The fifth is to act with filial piety, considering the welfare of one's parents, and by extension, one's family, and one's country, not one's own wishes. The sixth is honesty and truthfulness. Confucians stress that it is the nature of the person making the decision that is important; hence they stress education, transformative education, to mold persons in the values listed above so that they have the ethical tools for making decisions. Decisions then, are always ethical in nature, whether they are decisions about schooling for one's children, or response to terrorist acts. The same set of values applies to all actions and one derives the specifics from them. To understand Confucianism in action, let's look at a couple of examples. In the West, when one person kills another, we try that person, find him/her guilty and subject him/her to punishment (life imprisonment, execution, etc). We consider that that is justice. To a Confucian, this is not justice because it has not dealt with the consequences of the crime. The murdered man may have been the family breadwinner and his wife and children now have no one to provide the necessities of life for them. This is the responsibility of the man who killed their breadwinner, and, by extension, his family. Thus, the murderer might still be condemned to death, but his and his family's goods might be confiscated and part of them distributed to the widow and her children to provide for their needs. Operating on the value of compassion, a Confucian would try to undo the effects of a crime as much as possible, as well as punishing the criminal. Another example might involve relations between family members, for example a father and a son. The son has seen and fallen in love with a neighbor girl although he has yet to talk to her, given the separation of sexes in traditional China. He asks his father if the matchmaker could approach this girl's parents with a proposal of marriage. The father refuses, saying that he is arranging his son's marriage with the daughter of a wealthy businessman in a nearby city as this connection is vital to the family's business interests. While in the West, the son might refuse his father's rationale that the marriage is good for the family, in China, the good Confucian son would acquiesce as marriage, after all, is for the benefit of the family unit, not the individual. So far, Confucianism seems to fit the model of an ethical philosophy. However, when we look at its relation to death and the veneration of ancestors, the religious aspects are evident. When a member of the family dies, all members of the extended family go into mourning for a period consistent with the degree of closeness to the deceased. The closest relatives, the children, would observe the longest, (27 months) period of mourning. During this time, they would not work, not have sex, not eat nice food or wear nice clothes or engage in many enjoyable pursuits. The deceased would thus become an ancestor with a spirit plaque which is placed on the family altar. Each morning, offerings (fruit, rice, incense) would be made to the spirit plaque; all family events, such as a son's graduation or a daughter's marriage, would be reported to the ancestors. In addition, one of the most important holidays occurs in early spring, the Ching-Ming (Bright and Clear) festival. At this time, everyone tries to return home. The center of the festivities is visiting the graves of ancestors, to clean them (sweeping the graves), to talk over family business with their spirits, and to present offerings of food and drink for the spirit. Moreover, each city had a Confucian temple. In keeping with the Confucian concern for education, these temples often doubled as schools. The temples had statues of Confucius and statues or pictures (engravings) of his disciples. Parents and children came to pray, to present offerings at any time they wished, particularly before a new school term or before the exams for the government service. The magistrate of the city made periodic offerings at the Confucian temple on behalf of his community, just as the emperor made offerings to Heaven on behalf of the country. Confucianism thus served as a social glue that kept all aspects of society integrated http://asia.msu.edu/eastasia/China/religion.html#Confucianism