The Confucius Conundrum

            I chose to write about Confucius because I love philosophy. I like to see how people from all over the world, throughout time, saw life and the universe. Philosophers usually have a big hand in helping the progression of human knowledge. What I respect about Confucius is that he worked to make people better.

"Do not do to others, what you would not want them to do to you." Analects of Confucius: 5:11

Confucius was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher. He lived in Ancient China during the Zhou Dynasty. Confucius was a government official, and during his lifetime he saw growing disorder and chaos in the system. Because of the turmoil and injustices he saw, he set himself to develop a new moral code based on respect, honesty, education, kindness and strong family bonds. His teachings and practices became known as Confucianism. 

             Confucianism is not strictly a religion, but a set of moral beliefs. The principles of Confucianism center around the concepts of jen and li. Jen embodies the most important aspect of Confucianism, the compassion and sensitivity to others. Li is a combination of morality and etiquette, custom and ritual. A collection of his teachings, the Analects  , was put together by his followers.

            My partner from China, Zoey, explained about a chant conference that they do every year on Confucius’ Birthday. They sang quotes extracted from The Analects of Confucius. This year, Confucius is 2565 years old. In some areas of China, the people will have activities and celebrations on his birthday.  Though Confucius died long ago, many of his beliefs are still practiced and respected in this modern age.

Chinese chant conference

Sources:

"Religion." Asian American Reference Library. Ed. Helen Zia, et al. 2nd ed. Detroit: U*X*L, 2004. Discover Collection. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

"Confucius." Ancient Civilizations Reference Library. Ed. Judson Knight and Stacy A. McConnell. Detroit: UXL, 2000. Discover Collection. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
Zoey.Carissa Magnone.November10,2014.E-mail