Five Great Relationships And The Role Of Confucianism: Ethical System
[Confucianism Paper]
[By; Kari L Sherwood]
[University of Phoenix]
Confucianism is also known as Ruism and is a very philosophical as well as ethical system. It was developed by a Chinese philosopher Confucius. Confucianism started as an ethical teaching during the Spring as well as the Autumn period, but later had cosmological and metaphysical elements in the Han Dynasty. After the abandonment of Legalism in China, Confucianism became the official ideology of the Han. There beliefs are that humans are good, teachable, perfectible and improvable by personal endeavors, mainly by self-cultivation and self-creation.
Five Great Relationships, actions and the role of Confucianism in Chinese culture.
The Five Great Relationships that are the main teachings are considered relationship and social roles. The first is kindness in the father and obedient devotion in the son. The second is gentility in the eldest brother and humility and respect in the younger. The third is righteous behavior in the husband and obedience in the wife. The fourth is humane consideration in elders and deference in juniors. And finally the fifth is benevolence in rulers and loyalty of ministers and subjects. The family is the most …show more content…
important of the relationships and is considered the basic unit of all humanity and that the family relationship is projected into life, community and the world. The father is the key figure in the family unit and must always be a good example. Confucius also taught that the government should always be for the people and that a great society could be achieved through education.
The ideal person, according to Confucianism, is to act with human heartedness, benevolence, goodness and act according to Jen and is the ultimate guide to human action.
Another principle they live by is called Li which is order, propriety, principle of gain and concrete guide to human actions. Realizing that every action affects someone else and that you shouldn’t be left to improvise your responses because you may be at a loss as to how to behave. Yi is righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. Overall the ideal man is called Chun-tzu and would be considered superior and a very gentle person in the most significant sense, he is intelligent enough to deal without fear, he is at the disposal of others and is kind, has wisdom and
sincerity.
The role of Confucianism in Chinese culture and society today is making a comeback. Although modern China has moved past some very narrowly defined roles, the Chinese today are still used to thinking in terms of hierarchy. They still tend to respect hierarchy and many differences in statuses much more than people in the Western world. In modern China today, the culture has a tendency to retain neutral public face still endures, especially in work enviroments when dealing with those in authority. The Chinese culture then and now still have a strong value around modesty and humility. His emphasis on harmonious societal relations is a good fit with the modern CCP leadership desire for stability as well as social harmony.
References
Xinzhong Yao (2000) An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fingarette, Herbert. Confucius: The Secular as Sacred ISBN 1-57766-010-2.
Littlejohn, Ronnie (2010), Confucianism: An Introduction, I. B. Tauris, ISBN 184885174X
Sinaiko, Herman L. (1998), Reclaiming the canon: essays on philosophy, poetry, and history, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-06529-9
Lin Yutang, The Wisdom of Confucius (New York: Random House, 1938), p.216.
[By; Kari L Sherwood]
[University of Phoenix]
Confucianism is also known as Ruism and is a very philosophical as well as ethical system. It was developed by a Chinese philosopher Confucius. Confucianism started as an ethical teaching during the Spring as well as the Autumn period, but later had cosmological and metaphysical elements in the Han Dynasty. After the abandonment of Legalism in China, Confucianism became the official ideology of the Han. There beliefs are that humans are good, teachable, perfectible and improvable by personal endeavors, mainly by self-cultivation and self-creation.
Five Great Relationships, actions and the role of Confucianism in Chinese culture.
The Five Great Relationships that are the main teachings are considered relationship and social roles. The first is kindness in the father and obedient devotion in the son. The second is gentility in the eldest brother and humility and respect in the younger. The third is righteous behavior in the husband and obedience in the wife. The fourth is humane consideration in elders and deference in juniors. And finally the fifth is benevolence in rulers and loyalty of ministers and subjects. The family is the most …show more content…
important of the relationships and is considered the basic unit of all humanity and that the family relationship is projected into life, community and the world. The father is the key figure in the family unit and must always be a good example. Confucius also taught that the government should always be for the people and that a great society could be achieved through education.
The ideal person, according to Confucianism, is to act with human heartedness, benevolence, goodness and act according to Jen and is the ultimate guide to human action.
Another principle they live by is called Li which is order, propriety, principle of gain and concrete guide to human actions. Realizing that every action affects someone else and that you shouldn’t be left to improvise your responses because you may be at a loss as to how to behave. Yi is righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. Overall the ideal man is called Chun-tzu and would be considered superior and a very gentle person in the most significant sense, he is intelligent enough to deal without fear, he is at the disposal of others and is kind, has wisdom and
sincerity.
The role of Confucianism in Chinese culture and society today is making a comeback. Although modern China has moved past some very narrowly defined roles, the Chinese today are still used to thinking in terms of hierarchy. They still tend to respect hierarchy and many differences in statuses much more than people in the Western world. In modern China today, the culture has a tendency to retain neutral public face still endures, especially in work enviroments when dealing with those in authority. The Chinese culture then and now still have a strong value around modesty and humility. His emphasis on harmonious societal relations is a good fit with the modern CCP leadership desire for stability as well as social harmony.
References
Xinzhong Yao (2000) An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fingarette, Herbert. Confucius: The Secular as Sacred ISBN 1-57766-010-2.
Littlejohn, Ronnie (2010), Confucianism: An Introduction, I. B. Tauris, ISBN 184885174X
Sinaiko, Herman L. (1998), Reclaiming the canon: essays on philosophy, poetry, and history, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-06529-9
Lin Yutang, The Wisdom of Confucius (New York: Random House, 1938), p.216.