Berger 1

Gabriel J. Berger

Ms. Diane Nicoll

7th Grade History

October 27, 2017

Confucianism in Medieval - Modern China

Confucianism changed with time during the Sung and Mongol periods and had much influence.

There are many ways in which Confucianism changed during the Sung and Mongol

periods. According to Columbia University, “Confucianism had naturally changed over the

centuries since the time of Confucius which was around 500 BCE” (“The Song Confucian

Revival”). To compete with Buddhism, the leaders of Confucianism incorporated Buddhist

principles into their own religion. For example, to compete with Buddhist metaphysics, the Sung

mixed Buddhist principles within their own religion, it was called Neo-Confucianism, which is a

different type of Confucianism derived from the original teachings of Confucius. Along with

this, Confucianism blended with Taoism/Daoism and it was also called Neo-Confucianism. This

changed the original religion of Confucianism in multiple ways. These changes impacted the

Sung dynasty.

In many ways, Confucianism had influence on the Sung dynasty. According to

Study.com, “Under the Sung, Neo-Confucianism became the dominant philosophy that

influenced Chinese politics” (“Confucianism In Sung and Mongol Periods”). The rise of

Neo-Confucianism revived an ancient Chinese idea that had been largely ignored for a long

period of time. It was the idea that qualified people should run the government. The idea of

merit, earning something based on your qualifications, is very important to Confucianism. This is
 Berger 2

important because it made them consider deeply who they chose as government officials.

Theoretically, this allowed any peasant to study hard and earn a highly-respected position in the

government and move their family into the upper class. You couldn’t go receive a letter of

recommendation, you had to be heavily qualified. This was influential because if they considered

who was elected, they’d get a good leader and have their community do well. The Sung weren’t

the only ones to be impacted by Confucianism.

Most people don’t realize that Confucianism also had much influence on the Mongol

dynasty. Confucianism led people to think merchants were of the lowest class because they

willingly diluted their religion with stuff from foreign places. Since the leader Kublai Khan was

foreign, he did much stuff to convince the civilians that his leadership was legitimate. This was

important because it led him to build schools for Confucian scholars, sponsor Confucian

practices and more. As a result of all this, it allowed Confucianism to thrive and grow in

exponential ways. Confucianism dictated the lives of peasants and emperors and influenced the

government, culture, and economy. “​In fact, near the end of the dynasty, the Yuan rulers were

genuinely seeing themselves as more Chinese than Mongolian​” (“Confucianism In Sung and

Mongol Periods”). Kublai Khan used Confucianism to make himself more and more Chinese

because he was initially Mongolian. Confucianism did much for the Sung and Mongol periods

while changing much in the process.

All in all, Confucianism played a great influential role in the Sung and Mongol periods

and changed a lot in the process. Confucianism changed to compete with Buddhism and Taoism

by taking some of the Buddhist and Taoist principles and incorporating them into their own

religion. Along with this, people had to be qualified to be in the government and had to earn
 Berger 3

based upon their qualifications. Mongolian government leaders used Confucianism to sway

civilians toward the idea that they were good leaders and possessed good ideas. To summarize,

Confucianism changed a lot throughout China’s history and it had great influence on many

aspects of daily life.

 Berger 4

Works Cited

Berthrong, John. “Neo-Confucian Philosophy.” http://www.iep.utm.edu/neo-conf/.

“Confucianism in the Sung & Mongol Periods.” Study, February 20, 2015, Study.com,

https://study.com/academy/lesson/confucianism-in-the-sung-mongol-periods.html.

“The Song Confucian Revival.” Columbia, 2008,

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/sch/confuc.htm.