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
Zoey.Carissa Magnone.November10,2014.E-mail
This is so interesting, as I always thought it was a religion but it was more of a life style. I can see this as a moral code of conduct that can be in the States, and I mean
ReplyDeletewe kind of need too.
I was always fascinated about Confucianism and his thinking. Confucius was a very smart man who saw life for what it was and thought of simple ways to make it better.
ReplyDeleteI love to learn about other people's beliefs. I enjoyed your blog post.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Brandon, I didn't now that this was more of a lifestyle than a religion, I wish people had some of the morals that they do.
ReplyDeleteI had thought that Confucianism was more along the lines of a religion, but it's cool to think of it as more of a lifestyle. Nice photo, and I really liked this post!
ReplyDeleteI am very interested in philosophy also. I am very excited to see the in depth perspective of Confucianism.
ReplyDelete