Elaine Cates
Dr. Craig White        
LITR 4333.01
19 November 2003  

Confucianism: Religion or System?

Introduction

The research journal I have chosen to present includes the history, beliefs, and influence of Confucianism.  Reflecting on the origin and existence, I will explore how a belief system not necessarily recognized as a religion has had such a tremendous impact on how the Chinese live their lives.  I will expand on the notion that Confucianism is a code of conduct with a great influence in Chinese government, education, and attitudes toward correct personal behavior and the individual duties to society.

            The journal will give the basis on which Confucianism was derived.  Introducing and reviewing the texts composed by Confucius will demonstrate how knowledge gained from this literature was reverenced. I also chose the journal to review the significant roles of women as daughters, wives, and mothers.  

            To begin research on Confucianism, I felt I needed to resort to religious encyclopedias and reference books.  I was impressed that most of these texts were published quite recently.  Also, the amount of information was excessive and engrossing.

            Next, I inquired for information on the Internet.  I found several impressive websites.  I was surprised when I visited web pages at the amount of sources listed for further reference. 

            I found journals discussing the texts that served as the nucleus of Confucianism. The articles in some of these journals expanded on sayings and interpretations given by Confucius.  Some of which reminded me of Biblical verses. They also detailed women and the roles they were expected to follow. 

            After gathering information, I attempted to compare what I had found to try to verify fact from fiction. This served as a starting point for my research. I found the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion to be insightful.   It also included an expansive list of sources. 

            Without further ado, let me beginning my presentation of information researched on Confucianism, its history, belief and influence.

In the Beginning

            Confucianism is a philosophy based on ideas of the Chinese philosopher Confucius.  The World Book Encyclopedia cites from the 100’s B.C. to the A.D. 1900’s, Confucianism was the most important single force in Chinese life (936). Confucianism, the major system of thought in China, developed from the teachings of Confucius and his disciples, and concerned with principles of good conduct, practical wisdom, and proper social relationships.  It has influenced the Chinese attitude toward life, set patterns of living and standards of social value, and provided the background for Chinese political theories and institutions.  Confucianism has spread from China to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Although Confucianism became the ideology of the Chinese people, it has never existed as an established religion. Confucianism has no clergy and does not teach the worship of a God or gods or the existence of a life after death.  Scholars honored Confucius as a great teacher and sage but did not worship him as a personal god. Nor did Confucius himself ever claim divinity (Luce, 70).  He felt his duty was to hand down the knowledge and methods of the ancients, not to create or innovate.

            Confucius was a native of the state of Lu, a part of the modern Shantung.  Shuh-Liang Heih, the father of Confucius, was commandant of the district of Tsow.  This man had been desperate for a son after his first wife presented him with nine daughters.  Still hoping for a son, at the age of 70, he married a peasant girl. During her pregnancy, she sought the blessing of Mount Ni, promising if her child were a male, she would name him Chung-ni.  The baby was born with a bump on his head that never went away. 

The child was named K’ung and his disciples named him K’ung Fu-tse or Master Kung, which the Jesuit missionaries Latinized into Confucius (Luce, 92).

History         

Confucius came at a critical time for China.  By 200 B.C., after the unification of the Chinese Empire, the teachings of Confucius became the basis of the educational system and the the Five Classics, the five books of Confucian thought, were the foundation of the education of all leaders in China (Meagher, 70).  To restore China to its Golden Age, Confucius gave the formula for restoring harmony to the family of man.  “My doctrine is that of an all-pervading unity,” maintained Confucius (Kupperman, 62).  He believed:

“The Great Learning teaches things have their root and their completion.  Affairs have their end and their beginning. To know what is first and what

is last will lead near to what is taught.  From the emperor down to the mass

of the people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of every thing besides,” (Fung, 42).

Tradition

            Since the time of the Han dynasty, 206 C.E., four life passages have been recognized and regulated by Confucian tradition.  They are birth, reaching maturity, marriage and death.  Birth, The T’aishen, which is the spirit of the fetus protects the expectant woman and deals harshly with anyone who harasses the mother to be.  A procedure is followed when the placenta is disposed of.  After delivery, the mother is given a special diet and is allowed rest for a month.  The mother’s family supplies all the items required by the baby on the first, fourth, and twelfth monthly anniversary of the birth. 

The second passage, reaching maturity, is no longer celebrated, except in traditional families.  It is a group meal in which the young adult is served chicken.

The next passage, marriage is performed in six stages: proposal, engagement, dowry, procession, marriage and reception, and morning after.  During proposal, the couple exchanges the year, the month, day, and hour of each of their births.  If an unfavorable event occurs within the bride-to-be’s family during the next three days, then the woman is believed to have rejected the proposal.  Engagement begins after the wedding day is chosen.  The bride announces the wedding with invitations and a gift of cookies made in the shape of the moon.  Dowry is carried to the groom’s home in a solemn procession.  The bride price is then sent to the bride by the groom’s parents. Gifts by the groom to the bride, equal in value to the dowry, are sent to her. In procession, the groom visits the bride’s home and brings her back to his place.  Marriage and reception include the couple reciting their vows, toasting each other with wine, and then taking center stage at a banquet.  Morning- after, the bride serves breakfast to the groom’s parents, who then reciprocate.

The final passage is death. At death, the relatives cry out aloud to inform the neighbors.  The corpse is washed and placed in a coffin.  Mourners bring incense and money to offset the cost of the funeral.  Food and significant objects of the deceased are placed into the coffin.  Friends and family follow the coffin to the cemetery, along with a willow branch, which symbolizes the soul of the person who has died.  The branch is then carried back to the family altar where it is used to install the spirit of the deceased.  Liturgies are performed on the 7^th, 9^th, and 49^th day after the burial and on the first and third anniversaries of the death (Robinson).

Beliefs

            Confucianism has always been linked to a classical education, and education in traditional China, was the mark of elite cultural. “That is why she wants to leave home to go to college. So she can have a new beginning unrestricted by a past life,” writes Mai’s mother in her journal (Cao, 169).  To Confucius, “knowledge meant wisdom, particularly the kind of wisdom that would contribute to a better life for the individual and society” (Luce, 200).  Confucianism is based on the texts known as the “King” (Classics) and the “Shuh” (Books). 

            The first of these is the “Shao-king” (Book of History), a religious and moral work, tracing the hand of Providence in a series of great events of past history, and inculcating the lesson that the Heaven-god gives prosperity and length of days only to the virtuous ruler who has the true welfare of the people at heart.

            The second “King” is “She-king” (Book of Songs), often spoken of as the odes.  It contains 305 short lyric poems.

            The third “King” is “Y-king” (Book of Changes), shows the art of divining with stalks of a native plant, which after being thrown give different indications according as they conform to one or another. 

            “Li-ki” (Book of Rites) is the fourth “King”.  It gives rules of conduct down to the minute details for religious acts of worship, court functions, social and family relations and dress. Today, it remains the authoritative guide of correct conduct.  Mai thinks, “The code of conduct…had been laid down I books” (Cao, 220).

            The fifth “King” is the short historical “Ch’un-ts’ew (Spring and Autumn), said to have been written by Confucius himself.  To the five “Kings” belongs a sixth called “Hiao-king” (Book of Filial Piety). 

            “Sze-shuh” (Four Books) consists of “Lun-Yu” (Analects) which is made up of twenty short chapters, recording many of his striking sayings on moral and historical topics. “Shuh” (Book of Mencius) reflects sayings by the exponent of Confucian teaching, Mencius.  “Great Learning” and “Doctrine of the Mean” make up the third and fourth books.

            As a foundation for the life of perfect goodness, Confucius insisted on the virtues of sincerity, benevolence, filial piety, and propriety.  Sincerity  was with him a cardinal virtue.  To be truthful and straightforward in speech, faithful to one’s promises, conscientious in the discharge of one’s duties to others.  Benevolence, showing itself in a kindly regard for the welfare of others and in a readiness to help them in times of need, was also a fundamental element in Confucius’s teaching. Filial piety is the root of all virtue.  Another virtue of primary importance is propriety.

Women

            Women in traditional China were largely deprived of a public or political role.  The submissive roles of women in Confucian philosophy have left lasting marks on contemporary Asian societies. Traditionally, men and women were strictly segregated, both inside and outside the house.  Women spent most of their lives in the home.  From a young age, they were requested to learn the Confucian virtues of subordination and endurance to prepare for future roles as wives and mothers.  They were being denied any opportunity to participate in activities outside the home.  Their role was mainly limited to the management of large extended families and the production of male heirs, so that family lines are not broken. 

            Throughout life, women were to follow the Three Submissions, which are as follows: observing filial piety in childhood, submitting to one’s husband in marriage, and obeying one’s son in widowhood.

            The position of women was based upon two considerations.  First, there was the masculine prejudice, which insists that a woman’s place is in the home and their contribution in all respects is secondary to that of the male.  This is similar to Sara’s thoughts in Bread Givers, “It was heavy on my heart the worries for the house as if I was mother” (Yezierska, 1).  The second factor comes from the structure of a society that depend so much upon family and clan.  A woman married away from home and took up residence in her husband’s house, normally under the eye of her parents-in-law. Mai reads her mother’s journal, “That, and more, much more-my soul itself- was what your mother had to leave to become a daughter-in-law in another’s house” (Cao, 173).  The function of marriage was basically to maintain the lineage upon which the future depended, and a woman’s status depended considerably upon the sons she produced.  Should she fail this duty, a principal wife could find herself supplemented by a concubine (Shu, 25).

            Basically, the role of women was to respond to a man’s needs and pleasures at all times.  Females were looked at as a waste and were often faced with infanticide, since they would be unable to carry on the family name when they were to grow older.  Girls were usually married at an early age allowing them little time to grow up with their parents.  Mai’s mother wrote, “By the time I turned seventeen, I had already been married to her father for two years” (Cao, 169).  They would be given little or no formal education.  Since she would live with her husband’s parents, it was felt there was little need to develop her intellect and become educated.  Women were given no legal rights in society and often looked at as outsiders.  Suicide was not uncommon, with the causes often being the pressure of being a “slave” to her husband, the incapability of pleasing her mother-in-law, or just being in an unhappy marriage.  China was often looked at as being a man’s world.  According to the Book of Rites:

“When outside the door, the man follows and the woman obeys

the man;  that is the basis of the correct relationship between

men and women.  The woman obeys other people: in her childhood,

she obeys her father and brothers; after marriage, she obeys her

husband; and after her husband dies, she obeys her sons.  The husband

is the person in control and leads by virtue of his superior position”

(Yang, 20).

            The one role women are given that empowers them is that of mother-in-law.  While many of Confucius’ teachings were not aimed at suppressing women, the foundations that had already been laid in Chinese culture allowed for Confucian teachings and writings to be used to oppress women.

            By the end of 1997, women accounted for 46.5 percent of the national workforce, one of the highest labor participation ratios in the word.  Women are still inferior to men in education, employment, and political participation especially in rural areas (Jiling, 34). Despite the tremendous achievements throughout this past century, there is still much more that needs to be done.

Today

            The religious and spiritual dimension of Confucianism continues to infuse the life of East Asian people and has now moved to the Americas.  In its rigid insistence on rites and customs that tend to perpetuate the patriarchal system with its excessive seclusion of women, of an undue hampering of individual freedom, Confucianism stands in painful contrast with the progressive Christian culture (Fung, 21).

            There are approximately six million Confucians in the world (Smith, 71).  About 26,000 live in North America almost all of the remainder are found throughout China and the rest of Asia (Smith, 71).  The Confucian Way lives on in complicated modalities in the people of East Asia.  Only time will tell what will happen to this great living cultural artifice. 

Conclusion

            I was able to learn much about Confucianism and its beliefs.  Previously, I had thought Buddhism was the dominant religion of China.  Religion fascinates me. Though I am Catholic, I find it insightful to read and learn about other religions. As discussed in class, religion is usually the constant in people’s lives whether immigrants or natives. 

            I found this research engrossing. To continue expanding on this knowledge, I would review the books with emphasize to the Book of Rites and Great Learning.

Works Cited

Cao, Lan. Monkey Bridge.  New York: Penguin. 1997.

Fung, Yu-Lan.  A Short History of Chinese Philosophy.  Ed. Derek Bodde.  New York: Free Press, 1948.

Jiling, Lin. “Evolution of the Confucian Concept of Women’s Value in Recent Times,” Chinese Education & Society 33.6 (2000): 34.

Kupperman, Joel J.  “Confucius.” Classic Asian Philosophy: A Guide to the Essential Texts. New York: Oxford. 2001. 60-66.

Luce, Henry R., ed.  The World’s Great Religions.  Time: New York, 1957.

Meagher, Paul Kevin, ed. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion.  Corpus: Washington, D.C., 1979.

Robinson, B.A.  Confucianism: Founded by K’ng Fu Tzu.  New York: Oxford, 1988.

Shu, Yang.  “Language, Women, and Cultural Problems in China.”  Women and Language 24.1 (2000): 25.

Smith, Ninian, ed.  Atlas of the World’s Religions.  Oxford: New York, 1999.

Yang, C.K.  Religion in Chinese Society, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961, pp. 20-21.

Yezierska, Anzia.  Bread Givers. New York: Persea. 1925.