Confucianism Flashcards
Who was the most important/influential person in Chinese history?
Master Kong/Kong Zi/Confucius (No one in China was ever named Confucius)
What was Confucius/Master Kong’s early life like?
Hard work and Education; He had a terrible childhood; After his father died, him and his mother lived in poverty - He wandered the streets and begged for food to support his mother
Irony: You would expect him to be very family oriented, but instead, he thinks that his family is terrible; He died thinking he was a failure; The Analects were written by Confucius’ students after he died
He also abandoned his wife and children to become a guru when he married
What did Confucius believe in?
If families treat each other better, the world would be a better place; Government should be able to make families unite
What is the goal of Confucianism?
A peaceful and orderly society; Achieve a peaceful, harmonies society through families (opposite from daoism; similar to Legalism)
What is Confucianism about?
How people need to become better;
“The superior person does…”
What did Confucianists believe about humans?
That they are dumb, selfish, and cruel; Give them a chance of education - through education, people can be perfects/improve
What is the major text of Confucianism?
The Analects: A collection of books that are constructed with many different thoughts from Confucius and summarize them into themes; Written by students of Confucius after he died; Contains information about the importance of ren, filial piety, norms and practices of social interactions
What was true about education in Confucianism?
Confucius believed that everyone should have access to free education regardless of their social class; That everyone has the potential to learn and become a good person - Education is the key to unlock this potential; Education has a critical function for order; Schools taught language and history but no math and science; Cares about art, literature, things that create social societies
How is Family related in Confucianism
Families is supposed to be teaching their children how to behave well in society; Sometimes families are good and sometimes bad; Look to the ancients who’s going to remind you about the proper way to behave
Filial Piety
Respect and obedience that children own to their parents(Sacred); Respect for the elders
Relationships
Most important relationship a person has is with their parents, meaning that your parents are your responsibility and that you have to be respectful
Ren
General rule about how you should treat other humans / don’t do things to others what you don’t want them to do to you; Christian golden rule; Follow examples/look up to from your moral superiors
Te
Power / Moral Power; Ability to do things by the inspiration of your behaviors; It’s the responsibility of the ruler to be moral role models; Family needs to behave in a orderly fashion in the same way; Children refer to the Elders
Soft Power
The influence and attractiveness a country or culture can wield through its values, culture, and moral authority rather than through military or economic might
Mandate of Heaven
The gods choose the rightful ruler - this is why dynasties rise and fall (dynasty cycle); After golden age, ppl forget their way and become corrupted - need a new ruling families; Gods will let us know when to change (natural disasters); The idea that there could be only one legitimate ruler of China at a time, and that this ruler had the blessing of the gods
