Philosophy Grace - China Religion

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Continued from previous page: Taoism added a touch of philosphy grace into Chinese religion, especially the Dao De Jing, beautiful in both thought and writing, gained a immortal position in China's heart.

Confucianism

Not long after Lao Tzu, a Chinese scholar called Confucius, or Kong Zi in Mandarin Chinese, created another philosophical system which was named Confucianism after him.

Confucianism teaches people to do their duties and follow or lead faithfully. It emphasizes social and family orders as well as the moral standards for each order.

For example, it states that the old should love the young and the young should respect the old and do their filial duties; an emperor should behave like an emperor, and a subject should behave like a subject, etc. It states that everyone should do what they are supposed to do in their positions. In this way, the world would be in harmony and peace.

One of the famous followers of Confucius, Meng Zi, further developed Confucianism. He was usually mentioned with Confucius as the representatives of Confucianism. The Chinese people called them Kong-Meng, and Confucianism is called "the ways of Kong-Meng."

Here are some Confucianism quotes. You can see Confucianism is very different from Taoism. Do you think which one is more with "philosophy grace"? The two great thinkers, Lao Tzu and Confucius had some interesting dialogues when they were alive. Confucius was younger than Lao Tzu and held a great respect for him. Lao Tzu basically thought that the great effort taken in Confucianism were not very necessary.

Confucianism has been regarded as the official moral system by emperors from later Dynasties. It helped them rule over their empires.

It's been debated if Confucianism is a religion in China; though some have tried to establish it as one through history, the others have disagreed because they think Confucianism is merely an earthly ideology system that concerns no afterlife or eternal life. However, Confucius has been sincerely worshipped by many.

If Taoism, reprented by Dao De Jing, has added a touch of philosophy grace to Chinese religions, then it's the religion that added a touch of grace to the relatively rigid philosophy of Confucianism.

An important notion:

These new philosophies in ancient China were very popular, and have entered Chinese people's thinking ever since. Yet people did not end the old religious practices. They accepted the philosophies while worshipping multiple gods, their ancestors and the Tian.

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