Confucianism World History/Napp
“The Zhou Dynastylasted for atleast eight centuries, from approximately 1027 to 256 B.C. For the first 300 yearsof their long reign, the Zhou kings controlled a large empire, including both easternand western lands. Local rulers reported to the king, who had the ultimatepower. By the latter years of the Zhou Dynasty, the lords of dependent territoriesbegan to think of themselves as independent kings. Their almost constant conflict, which is known as ‘the warring states period,’ led to the decline of theZhou Dynasty.
Toward the end of the Zhou Dynasty, China moved away from its ancient valuesof social order, harmony, and respect for authority. Chinese scholars and philosophersdeveloped different solutions to restore these values.
China’s most influential scholar was Confucius. Born in 551 B.C., Confucius lived in a time when the ZhouDynasty was in decline. He led a scholarly life, studying and teaching history,music, and moral character.
Confucius was born at a time of crisis and violence in China. He had a deepdesire to restore the order and moral living of earlier times to his society. Confucius believed that social order, harmony, and good government could berestored in China if society were organized around five basic relationships. These were the relationships between:
1) Ruler and subject
2) Father and son
3) Husband and wife,
4) Older brother and younger brother
5) Friend andfriend
A code of proper conduct regulated each of these relationships. For example,rulers should practice kindness and virtuous living. In return, subjectsshould be loyal and law-abiding. Three of Confucius’s five relationships were based upon the family. Confuciusstressed that children should practice filial piety, or respect for their parents andancestors. Filial piety, according to Confucius, meant devoting oneself to one’sparents during their lifetime. It also required honoring their memory after deaththrough the performance of certain rituals.” ~ World History
Identify and explain the following terms:
Zhou Dynasty “Age of Warring States”
Confucius Five Relationships
Superiors and Inferiors Filial Piety
P R I M A RY S O U R C E
Ziyou [a disciple of Confucius] asked about filial piety. The Master said: ‘Nowadays people think they aredutiful sons when they feed their parents. Yet they alsofeed their dogs and horses. Unless there is respect, where is the difference?
~ CONFUCIUS, Analects 2.7
- What does the primary source reveal about the proper practice of filial piety?
Analects / Civil Service / Biography / Belief System- Confucius wanted to reform Chinese society by showing rulers how to govern wisely
- Impressed by
Confucius’s wisdom, the duke of Lu appointed him minister of justice
- According to legend, Confucius
so overwhelmed people by his kindness and courtesy that almost overnight, crime vanished from Lu
- When the duke’s ways changed,however, Confuciusbecame disillusioned and resigned
- Confucius spent the remainder of his life teaching
- His students later collected his words in a bookcalled the Analects
- A disciple named Mencius also spread Confucius’s ideas / - Confucius
said that education could transform a humbly born person into a gentleman
- In saying this, he laid the groundwork for the creation of a bureaucracy, a trained civil service, or those who run the government
- According to Confucius, a gentleman had
four virtues: “In his private conduct he was courteous, in serving his master he was punctilious [precise], in providing for the needs of the people he gave them even more than their due; in exacting service from the people, he was just.”
- Education became critically important to career advancement in the bureaucracy / - 551–479 B.C.
- Confucius was born to a poor family
- As an adult, he
earned his living as a teacher
- But he longed to
put his principles into action by advising political leaders
- Finally, at around
age 50, Confucius won a post as minister in his home state
- According to
legend, he set such a virtuous example that a purse lying in the middle of the street would be untouched for days
- After Confucius resigned his post as minister, he returned to teaching
- He considered himself a failure because he had never held high office
- Yet Confucius’s ideas have molded Chinese thought for centuries / - Confucianism was never a religion, but it was an ethical system, a system based on accepted principles of right and wrong
- It became the foundation for Chinese government and social order
- In addition,
the ideas of Confucius spread beyond China and influenced civilizations throughout East Asia
By his teachings, Confucius hoped to
A) Counter the influx of Buddhism into China.
B) Produce virtuous people and create a harmonious society.
C) Make a break with the past and focus China on the future.
D) Draw people closer to Tian (Heaven).
Which was not an additional virtue endorsed by Confucians?
A) loyalty
B) emotional control
C) thrift
D) pride
To a great extent in Confucianism, people are
A) Selfish and need strict guidelines.
B) Naturally good and best left alone.
C) Individuals first.
D) Their relationships.
For Confucius, a person who follows the way of heaven
A) Avoids extremes and remains in harmony with others.
B) Lives close to nature.
C) May be a great warrior.
D) Is aggressive and individualistic
Confucius thought the most important relationship was
A) ruler-subject.
B) husband-wife.
C) father-son.
D) friend-friend.
In traditional China, the “three religions” referred to
A) Judaism, Christianity, Islam
B) Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism
C) Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity
D) Confucianism, Daoism, Islam / According the teachings of Confucius, the key to the successful organization of society is that
A) the ruler should be chosen democratically
B) the evil in humans must be eliminated
C) ancestor worship should be discontinued
D) individuals should know and do what is expected of them
In traditional Chinese culture, which philosophy had the greatest influence on the development of social order and political organization?
A) Taoism
B) Shintoism
C) Confucianism
D) Marxism
The teachings of Confucius encouraged people to
A) put their own interests first
B) reject government authority
C) believe in reincarnation
D) follow a code of moral conduct
“Beginning with childhood, all of man’s study is centered on one aim alone — to emerge successfully from the three days’ examination — and all he has in his mind is what success can bring to him in terms of power, influence, and prestige.”
~ Ye Shib, Chinese scholar
This quotation refers to the Chinese
A) civil service system
B) social welfare system
C) contemplation of nature
D) religious practices
- Which aspect of Chinese lifewas most affected by thechaos created by the warringstates?
- How did Confucius believe thatsocial order, harmony, andgood government could berestored in China?
How would followers of the Confucian philosophical traditions in China react to the idea that“all men are created equal”?
The Primary Principles of Female Instruction in Traditional China
For more than a thousand years the ethics of the “three obediences and four virtues” found in ancient Chinese Confucianism classics, were used as the common rules to educate Chinese women:
The Three Obediences
Obey her father as a daughter
Obey her husband as a wife
Obey her son in widowhood
The Four Virtues
Morality (virtue)
Proper speech (carefully choosing one's words)
Appearance (keeping clean and tidy)
Diligent work (devotion to weaving and spinning)
~ The National Women’s History Museum