Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace. (Confucius)
Thinking about the musings from DAY 24: The Validity Of Buddhism…
I would submit to you that once the students have been exposed to the first 3 belief systems that I teach in the first 3 weeks of school:
Day 18: The Basics Of Polytheism/Animism, and Day 19: The Validity Of Polytheism/Animism;
Day 20: The Basics Of Hinduism. and Day 22: The Validity Of Hinduism and;
Day 23: The Basics Of Buddhism, and Day 24: The Validity Of Buddhism,
I begin to notice an overall rising interest level in the content that I am presenting. I would submit to you that the students at this point are truly beginning to understand that there are belief systems that have been floating around humanity for thousands of years.
Ideas that help to solidify the concept that in fact…
Someone Upstairs Runs The Show.
In class we have now reached the halfway point with the 7 belief systems that began in the 8,000 BC to 600 AD time period.
The next, major belief system that we cover in class is Confucianism.
From 403 – 221 BC, China was descending into chaos as the Zhou Dynasty was on the way out and the Han Dynasty was on the way in. This was known as the Warring States Period.
With this chaos, three ideologies were created in order to try to restore order in China:
1) Confucianism, founded by Kung Fuzi, (Kongzi or Confucius);
2) Daoism, founded by Laozi, (Lao-Tzu or Lao-Tze) and;
3) Legalism, founded by 3 individuals, Shang Yang, Li Si and Hanfeizi.
Confucius concluded that the reason why China had fallen into chaos, was because the emperor had lost the will of the people, known in China as the ‘Mandate of Heaven’. In other words, the ancestors hanging out in heaven that were around during the Zhou Dynasty’s glory years, were trying to get the attention of their descendants living in the current Zhou Dynasty, that a change in government was necessary.
I would submit to you that in China, Confucianism, combined with its ‘Mandate of Heaven’ concept, helps to solidify the universal concept that Someone Upstairs Runs The Show.
Arguably, the greatest concern facing Confucius was how to restore order, real-time, to the citizens living in China during the Warring States Period.
Confucius believed that perhaps the greatest issue facing China’s decline was the fact that he believed that the citizens of China had culturally fallen apart. The social order was collapsing and it could be argued at the time, that it had already collapsed. He believed that China, starting with the Emperor, all the way down to its citizens, were immersed in corruption, dishonesty, and immorality.
Confucius believed that China lost its harmony, or lost its ‘proper attitudes’.
Confucius believed that once you address the building blocks of society, then China will get out of the Warring States Period. Confucius believed that the Five Social Relationships was the answer to save China:
1) Emperor and subject. The emperor was to be kind, benevolent and generous to his subjects. They in return were to be loyal, obedient, and dutiful to their emperor;
2) Father and son. At the family level, the father was to be kind, benevolent and generous to their son(s). They in return were to be loyal, obedient and dutiful to their fathers;
3) Older brother and younger brother. At the sibling level, the older brother was expected to be considerate to their younger brothers. In return, the younger siblings were to be respectful of the older siblings;
4) Husband and wife. The husband is supposed to be good to the wife. The wife is to be obedient to the husband. And the last social relationship is;
5) Friend and friend. On the surface, it appears that they are the most equal. In reality, Confucius would reply that you refer to the older/younger brother relationship and apply it here.
Another important component that was important in Confucianism was reverence for ones ancestors. The idea was simple, your ancestors are your family, both the ones that are alive, and the ones that are dead. To show your respect to your dead ancestors was to worship them in your home with altars and having special family occasions. Confucius believed that: “To serve those now dead as if they were living is the highest achievement of family devotion.”
The big takeaway that I try to teach my students is that Confucianism places a heavy emphasis on: respect, order and structure, which is evident in the first 4 of the 5 Social Relationships. It is also possible to conclude that Confucianism endorses inequality in the first 4 of the 5 Social Relationships, with the friend and friend relationship, at least on the surface, implying equality.
A second, big takeaway for Confucius was simple. The family is where the Mandate of Heaven needed to be restored. Once respect, order and structure were repaired at the family level, then the Mandate of Heaven would be restored with the families on both sides of you…and then throughout the entire neighborhood…and throughout the rural and urban areas…throughout all of China.
The Mandate of Heaven would once again return to China.
At that point, all of China would be a respectful, orderly, and structured society. A society that would live in harmony and thus rise above all of the corruption, dishonesty, and immorality currently hampering Chinese society during the Warring States Period.
And end the Warring States Period once and for all….
How do you apply Aristotle’s syllogism in order to come to a logical conclusion that the Confucian belief system makes sense when trying to figure out the universe and your role in it?
Well, that will be covered next time.
Do not feel discouraged if you are having a difficult time understanding the Confucianism belief system. Do not feel discouraged if you are still undecided as whether or not the Confucianism belief system is valid or not. Instead, embrace the idea that you, if reading these writings in order, now have 4 belief systems to work with, to compare and contrast. Embrace the idea that Knowledge Is Power and Reading Is Fundamental, and to never stop in either of these pursuits.
24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 25: The Basics Of Confucianism.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began: