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Confucianism: A Philosophy with Religious Traces

Confucianism is a philosophy that was proponed by Confucius popularly known as

Master kong who lived between 551-479 BCE. It is an admixture of many areas such as

metaphysics, politics, ethics, and epistemology. However, it was founded on the religious

background but its intended end was to address the social aspects rather than religious

values(Berling).

The social status and general ethical bar of Chinese society were declining and Conficuis

took upon himself to enlighten the masses on the importance of keeping the ideals. Therefore,

this philosophy can only be understood in light of a social-political perspective. Confucianism is

ranked as a major religion together with Buddhism (Tucker).

Confucius was interested in human enlightenment since his philosophy insisted on

intellectual and ethical perfection. The ethical ideals proposed in his philosophy are still being

practiced in China today. He sought to institute values that cut across the social and political

world. His ideals were transcendent and revolved around the well being of man in his struggle

for perfection (Berling).

Despite having left behind a strong philosophical foundation that is effective to date,

Confucius wrote his thoughts intending to salvage the Zhou dynasty (1027-256 BCE) that was

crumbling at the time (Tucker). The ideals that the Zhou dynasty held were admirable to
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Confucius and intended to re-introduce them to the masses. He was interested in the human race

to a point where he was convinced that it the humanity changes, the world will be different.

His philosophical thoughts of humanness hold the central point in his philosophy and he

is credited to have said that “humaneness consists of not treating others in a way that one would

not want to be treated”(Tucker). This became his platform to address the ethical and intellectual

importance of self-awareness. Conficiusianism served as a reform tool while it preserved the

orthodoxy in its teachings(Berling). Due to its indispensable position, many leaders feared its

revolutionary tone until the People’s Republic abandoned its public adherence.

Works Cited

Berling, Judith A. “Confucianism.” Asia Society, 2012,

https://asiasociety.org/education/confucianism#:~:text=Confucianism is often characterized

as, ideals of traditional Chinese society.

Tucker, John. “Japanese Confucian Philosophy.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008,

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-confucian/.