Confucianism Essay -- Religion Confucianism

Confucianism The religion of Confucianism is and interesting and unique religion. The discordant parts of this belief system deal more with humanity than with deities or supernatural occurrences. It is this fact that leads more to believe that Confucianism is more a doctrine or way of life than a religion. There are, however, various ceremonies and beliefs that those who ensue Confucianism observe. In short, Confucianism has had more impact on the lives of the Chinese than any separate single religion. Confucius was born in the province of Lu (now known as Shantung), in 551 BC, the youngest of eleven children, in the period of Chinas history when the nation was separate into feudal states. Confucius saw the time in which he lived as a low point in Chinas history so he bound out to teach his philosophy in an effort of improving his society. He was born into a noble class, but his family had been stripped of its nobility by the time he was born. By the age of 21 he had been so we ll educated that he already had disciples and by 22, he had loose a school. He became known later in life as Kung Fu Tzu (which was later Latinized in the west as Confucius), meaning Great eclipse Kung, for his teaching. It is known that he had a wife , a son, and a daughter, and that he held a few governmental offices. The teachings of Confucius were to lead people to achieve a status known as Chun Tzu, or superior man, to become Chun Tzu you mustiness reach a perfect balance and awareness in policy-making and social situations. In the time of Confucius, only the aristocracy was educated, which meant that the Chun Tzu was exclusively the wealthy, however, he devoted his life to teaching everyone regardless of their financial standing, provided they were intelligent eno... ...ained a large following, with Buddhism competing directly against Confucianism (Taoism, due to its similarities coexisted with Confucianism without much conflict). Eventually, Chinese political leaders cam e to believe that foreign religions (one of which was Buddhism) were eroding their traditional way of life, and this resulted in the persecution of many who followed these foreign religions, thus revitalizing Confucianism. In the past century, Confucianism has suffered greatly. due to industrial enterprise and science, it has been seen as outdated and as abridging personal freedoms. Today it has finally began another(prenominal) resurgence. The current ideals of society have turned toward more spirituality and jimmy for other religions has once again breathed new life into this of age(predicate) philosophy. Bibliography Aspects of Religion CD-rom, Interactive Learning Productions, 1994