A Passage to China (走近中国) - The History of Confucianism

Confucianism did not constitute the great Chinese tradition from its very beginning. As to its history, we can feel the pulse of its development in the following steps.

The Periods of Spring and Autumn and Warring States

The two periods were marked by disunity and civil strife and many small states were fighting each other for power. But it brought the “golden age” of the Chinese cultural prosperity and it also promoted the first ideological movement in Chinese history. The atmosphere of reform and new ideas was attributed to the struggle for survival among warring regional lords who competed in building strong and loyal armies and increasing economic production to ensure a broader base for tax collection. To influence these economic, military, and cultural development, the regional lords needed ever-increasing numbers of skilled, literate officials and teachers. So many different philosophies developed during the late Spring and Autumn and early Warring States Periods that the era is often known as that of the Hundred Schools of Thought. The legendary figure Lao Zi(Old Master), author of Dao De Jing, was said to predate Confucius; Zhaung Zi(369BC?-286BC?) was a Taoist; Han Fei Zi(280BC?-233BC?) and Li Si(?-208BC) were Legalists, representatives of School of Law; Mo Zi(468BC?-376BC), Mohist, belonged to the school of pacificism; Yin-yang and the five element were another strain of thought. Confucian School, founded by Kong Zi, was one of them. When Confucius died in 479 BC, his teaching had not received widespread recognition and support, nor did the ruler of China open their doors to his immediate disciples, But with the effort of Mencius(372BC-289BC) and Xun Zi(298BC-237BC),the body of thought had the most enduring effect on subsequent Chinese life.

Mencius was born approximately 100 year after the death of Confucius and was said to be a disciple of Zi Si(483BC-402BC), the grandson of Confucius. Mencius made major contributions to the humanism of Confucianist thought. He declared that man was by nature good. His idea that a ruler could not govern without the people’s tacit consent and that the penalty for unpopular, despotic rule was the loss of “tianming”(mandate of haven) made the emperor of the Qin Dynasty very angry. In the Ming Dynasty, this offensive part was deleted from Book of Mencius by the emperor.

Xun Zi lived in the generation after Mencius, and he was even more like Confucius himself. Xun Zi believed in the worth of rites(li) as devices to bring people together and educate them. Unlike Mencius, he assumed that man was basically evil by nature. To be civilized, according to Xun Zi, people need to restrain their basic instincts and have their behavior modified by a system of ritual built into social institutions. Confucius and Mencius did not deny the existence of heavenly spirits but they suggested keeping them at a distance. Xun Zi believed that the spirits of heaven were basically impersonal forces. For this reason, Xun Zi appears as the most nonreligious of all among the early Confucian scholars.

The Period of Han(Western Han and Eastern Han) Dynasty

The rise of the Han Dynasty marked a new era in Chinese history. When the Han rulers came to power, they needed a great number of new administrators and advisers. Dong Zhongshu(179BC-104BC) was instrumental in promoting Confucian ideas and books in official circles. Dong mixed ideas of many other schools and put them into the framework of Confucius. He was recognized by the government as the leading spokesman for the scholarly elite. He used the concepts of Yin and Yang to explain how changes followed a knowable pattern, and he elaborated on the role of the ruler as one who connected the realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humans. He believed in a close correspondence between human beings and nature; thus a person’s needs, especially those of the sovereign, are often responsible for unusual phenomena in nature. Because of the sovereign’s authority, he or she is to blame for such phenomena as fire, flood, earthquake, and eclipse. Because these ill omens can descend on earth as warning to humanity that all is not well in this world, the fear of heavenly punishment proves useful as a curb to the monarch’s absolute power. It was only with the founding of Western Han Dynasty, however, that Confucianism became Confucianism and that the ideas associated with Kong Qiu’s name received state support and were disseminated extensively throughout upper-class society. Confucius’ works, copies of which had been destroyed in the preceding period, were restored to favor, canonized, and taught by learned scholars in national academies. Dong’s theories proved determinative for the political culture of Confucianism during Han and later dynasties. Confucius’ position was further strengthened when in 136 BC those scholars were placed in charge of education of Chinese youth, particularly those youths who would eventually of Chinese youth, particularly those youths who would eventually govern. The civil service examinations were based on the teachings of Confucius. From that date until 1905, the Chinese education included a study of the teaching of Confucius.

The Periods of Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties

In the political chaos that followed the fall of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was overshadowed by the rival philosophies of Taoism and Buddhism, and his philosophy suffered a temporary setback. Nevertheless, the Confucian Classics continued to be the chief source of learning for scholars, and with the restoration of peace and prosperity in the Tang Dynasty, the spread of Confucian was encouraged. While competing with Taoism and Buddhism, Confucianism developed its dynamic and open system. Based on a mixture of Buddhist and Taoist elements, the intellectual activities of the Song Dynasty gave-rise to a new system of Confucian thought. It was known as Now-Confucianism.

The foremost exponent of one school was Zhu Xi(1130-1200), an eminent thinker second only to Confucius and Menchius in prestige. He established a new philosophical foundation for the teaching of Confucianism by organizing scholarly opinion into a cohesive system. According to the Neo-Confucianism system, Zhu Xi presented that all objects in nature are composed of two inherent forces: li, an immaterial universal principle of law; and qi, the substance of which all material things are made. Qi may change and dissolve, and li remains constant. To be a sage, one must control qi to obtain purity by extending one’s knowledge of the li in each individual object. His school called lixue(study of the principle).

Opposed to the Li School is the Xin(mind) School of Neo-Confucianism, which is also called Xin Xue(study of the mind). The chief exponent of xinxue was Wang Yangming. His major proposition was that “apart from the mind, neither law nor object” exists. He asserted that all the laws of nature are embodied in the mind, and nothing exists without the mind. One’s supreme effort should be to develop” the intuitive knowledge” of the mind, not through the study of investigation of natural law, but through intense thought and calm meditation.

The Neo-Confucian movement developed metaphysical and ascetical dimensions essential to revitalizing the Confucian tradition. In its course, it also reshaped the classical cannon as attention was focused particularly on works which spoke to these new concerns. The Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean extricated from the voluminous Book of Rites, together with the Mencius and the Analects were referred to as “the Four Books” which became the new core of the Confucian canon. Intensively studied, analyzed, and debated, they furnished much of the substance and vocabulary of Neo-Confucian discourse.

The Period of Qing Dynasty

Qing scholars advocated a return to earlier and supposedly more authentic Confucianism of the Han Period, when it was still unadulterated by Buddhist based on scientific methodology, using philology, history, and archaeology to reinforce their scholarship. In addition, scholars such as Dai Zhen introduced an empirical point of view into Confucian philosophy. After the Opium War, Confucian scholars took an active interest in politics and formulated reform programs based on Confucian docrine.

Kang Youwei(1857-1927), a leader of the Confucian reform movement, made an attempt to exalt the philosophy as a national religion during the Qing Dynasty. Because of foreign threats to China and the urgent demand for drastic political measures, the Chinese revolution of 1911, Confucianism was branded as decadent and reactionary. With the collapse of Qing monarchy and the traditional family structure, from which monarchy and the traditional family structure, from which much of its strength and support was derived, Confucianism lost its vigor, and during this period of unprecedented social upheavals it lost its ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

The Period of the 20 th Century so far

Having experienced May 4 Movement in 1919 and the ”Cultural Revolution” in 1966, the Chinese Confucian intellectuals began to make critical thinking about Confucianism. Especially since the reform and the pursuit of the open-door policy to the outside world, new ideas and new thoughts have mushroomed in China with fast economic development. They carefully stuied ideas from India and the Western world and compared them with Confucianism. With the challenge of the market economy and the material pursuit, some people favor “Money makes the mare go”. It might have became one fashionable slogan, and may have affected the behavior of some people. With this present-day market economy, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness might have withdrawn to a degree on all fronts of Confucianism, the humanism of Confucius virtues, embodied for countless generations in the familiar sayings and common-sense wisdom of the Chinese people, would remain as the cornerstone of ethics. Some Confucian intellectuals have great confidence in the restoration of Confucianism in the new era of the 21st century. They believe that a new Confucianism with science and democracy can help China develop into a modernized state in the world. 2,000 years have gone by. we all admit that Confucius was no doubt a great thinker and educator in the history of the wisdom, goodness, behavior and so forth. Therefore, Confucianism has exerted a strong influence on many aspects of the Chinese culture, and undoubtedly, it will great contributions to the world’s civilizations.

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