confucianism influence essays

confucianism influence essays Confucianism has influenced the Chinese attitude toward life, set the patterns of living and standards of social value, and provided the background for Chinese political theories and institutions. It has spread from China to Korea, from Korea to Japan where it was first brought to around the fifth century. Confucius had a great impact on the Chinese civilization. His teachings relating to ethics, honor, social responsibility, familial obligations, ancestor worship, and observation of rites and historical precedence provide the glue that gives the Chinese civilization continuity and durability. Although Confucianism was introduced in Korea before Buddhism, Korean people have their own way to follow and change its ideology of Confucianism. Management of accepting the ideology made unique Korean culture. Although Confucianism is often described as a religion, it is not in the formal sense. Confucius did not write about the gods except to indicate that he accepted the religious beliefs of his day. Neither he nor his followers challenged the existing beliefs in a pantheon of gods and the spirit world, which included the spirits of one's prominent ancestors. The cult of worshipping one's ancestors pre-dates Confucianism. This custom had been formalized under the Zhou dynasty. Princely families had the right to worship their ancestors from the founder of their family line to the present. Secondary families in theory were only supposed to be allowed to worship their last 4 generations of ancestors. The head of the family acted as the high priest of the cult and had the responsibility to see that the ancestors were properly worshipped. Powerful ancestors, like any other spirit, had to be placated because they could still have an impact on the natural world. This practice of worshipping one's ancestors partly explains the strength of the family in Chinese culture. From the earliest stages, Chinese civilization seemed to center around t...