Confucianism, the way of life propagated by Confucius in the 6th–5th century bce and followed by the Chinese people for more than two millennia. Although transformed over time, it is still the substance of learning, the source of values, and the social code of the Chinese.

Confucius

• Confucius is born in Qufu. 551 BCE.
• Confucius’ father died. 549 BCE.
• Confucius’ mother died. 535 BCE.
• Confucius got married. 533 BCE.
• Confucius’ son is born. 532 BCE.
• Confucius starts his own private school. 522 BCE.
• Confucius begins his teaching. 520 BCE.
• Legendary meeting between Confucius and Lao-Tzu (founder of Taoism)

Origin and Spread Confucianism is based on the teachings of Master Kong, later Latinized to Confucius, who lived in China from 551 BCE to 479 BCE. His teachings were based on the fundamental principles of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty which ruled over China at the time.

Confucianism, the teachings of Confucius during 500 BC, has played an important role in forming Chinese character, behavior and way of living. (Eliot 2001; Guo 1995) Its primary purpose is to achieve harmony, the most important social value.

Confucius is known as the first teacher in China who wanted to make education broadly available and who was instrumental in establishing the art of teaching as a vocation. He also established ethical, moral, and social standards that formed the basis of a way of life known as Confucianism.

The goal of Confucianism is to create a peaceful society through bettering the attitudes and behaviors of individual followers.

The twin concepts of jen and li are often said to constitute the basis of confucianism. Confucius himself is credited as saying that the two main principles of his philosophy were ren selflessness and yi righteousness the former in the confucian context is a state of moral refinement that few individuals possess.

In Confucianism man is the center of the universe: man cannot live alone, but with other human beings. For human beings, the ultimate goal is individual happiness. The necessary condition to achieve happiness is through peace.

Poverty influenced Confucius to teach people how to reject social hierarchy. Working in the government influenced Confucius to teach about order. The Tao Te Ching influenced Confucius to teach about the need for filial piety. Receiving an education influenced Confucius to teach about the importance of rebellion.

The worldly concern of Confucianism rests upon the belief that human beings are fundamentally good, and teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor, especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue in a morally organised world.

The Four Cardinal Principles are propriety (禮), righteousness (義), integrity (廉), and shame (恥). The Eight Virtues are loyalty (忠), filial piety (孝), benevolence (仁) love (愛), honesty (信) justice (義), harmony (和), and peace (平)….

His views of life and government. What kind of students did Confucius like to teach? Students who were eager to learn.

He was the first private teacher in China. Confucius taught anyone who was eager to learn. His ideas, called Confucianism, stressed the need to develop responsibility and moral character through rigid rules of behavior. He believed in good moral conduct.

To Confucius, the main objective of being an educator was to teach people to live with integrity. Through his teachings, he strove to resurrect the traditional values of benevolence, propriety and ritual in Chinese society.

The most important of these teachings include jen, or “humaneness;” i, or “righteousness;” li, or “propriety/ritual;” and hsing, or “human nature.” Hsiao, or “filial piety,” is also a vital concept, one that is central for young people growing up in the Confucian tradition.

The Five Virtues

• Jen – goodwill, empathy, generosity.
• Yi – rightness, duty as guardians of nature and humanity.
• Li – right conduct and propriety, demonstrating your inner attitude with your outward expressions.
• Chih – wisdom.
• Hsin – faithfulness and trustworthiness.

The main thrust of Confucius’ teachings was creating a moral and just society in this world. The foundation of this society, according to Confucius, should be mutual respect in all its forms: respect for one another, respect for culture and tradition, respect for institutions, etc.