Confucianism

Confucius.

Confucianism (Chinese: 儒家, pinyin: rújiào 'Confucian doctrine'), also known as ruism ( Rújiào, 'doctrine of scholars') and sometimes also called Confucianism, is a system of thought with religious, ritual and moral applications, preached by the disciples and followers of Confucius after his death.

The doctrines of Confucianism focus on human values such as family and social harmony, filial piety (孝, Xiao), ren (仁, “goodness” or “humanity”) and Lǐ (禮 / 礼), which is a system of ritual rules that determines how a person should act in order to be in harmony with the law of Heaven. Confucianism traditionally holds that these values are based on the transcendent principle known as Heaven (天, Tiān) and also includes belief in spirits or gods (shén). Confucianism could be understood as an ethic social and humanist, of a system centered on human beings and their relationships. In Confucianism emphasis is placed on formal rituals in all aspects of life, from almost religious ceremonies to strict courtesy and deference to one's elders, especially parents, and to the state in the form of the emperor.

The tradition developed around the teachings of Confucius (Kǒng Fūzǐ, «Master Kong», 551-479 BC) who considered himself a transmitter of values and the theology of the wise ancestors. Other influential classical Confucian philosophers include Mencius and Xun Zi, who disagreed over the innate moral nature of humans. Confucianism was a major ideology of the imperial state during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) and was revived as Neo-Confucianism during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). During later Chinese dynasties, such as the Song dynasty (960-1297) and the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), as well as the Korean Joseon dynasty (1392-1897) a Neo-Confucian revival led by thinkers such as Zhu Xi (1130- 1200) and Wang Yangming (1472-1529) became the dominant school of thought and was promoted by the imperial state. Beginning in the Song dynasty, the Confucian classics were the basis of imperial examinations and became the core philosophy of the scholarly official class. Confucianism suffered setbacks during the 20th century, but has recently experienced a resurgence, called New Confucianism.

Confucianism has had a major influence on China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao, as well as several predominantly Chinese-populated territories, such as Singapore. It was the official religion of China until 1912, when the Republic was proclaimed. The canon of Confucian philosophy is made up of the Four Books. His thinking was formed over a long period spanning the Spring and Autumn and Warring States eras (7th to 3rd centuries BC). When China was reunified by Qin Shi Huang (221 BC) it was already a perfectly formed and defined doctrine, with many followers and a large textual corpus. After the brief Qin dynasty, its fundamental core has remained intact, except for possible transmission errors and interpolations that only affect the accidental.

As for most of their contemporaries, Confucians see the cosmos as something harmonious that regulates the seasons, animal, plant and human life. If this harmony was disturbed, there would be serious consequences. A common example used by Confucianism is that of the bad ruler who leads his people to ruin through his conduct. Bad government contradicts the natural order and violates the Mandate of Heaven. The ruler who behaves like this loses his legitimacy and can be deposed by another who will receive this mandate.

The Five Classics (Wu Jing)

This is the oldest collection. During the Qin dynasty it would be affected by the burning of books in 213 BC. C. Due to this circumstance, the Yuejing (Book of Music) would disappear.

• I Ching or Yijing (Book of mutations)
• Shijing (Odas book)
• Shujing (Book of history)
• Li Chi (Book of rites)
• Chunqiu (Years of spring and fall)

The Four Books (Si Shu)

More linked to his own would be the later compilation that would be published for the first time as such in 1190. The first two works correspond to chapters 42 and 31 of Li Chi.

• Great Knowledge (in traditional Chinese, .in simplified Chinese, ##; pinyin, dà xué)
• Mediumship doctrine (in Chinese, 中 ; pinyin, zhōngyōng)
• Analectas (in traditional Chinese, in simplified Chinese, ・; pinyin, Lúnyѕ)
• Mencio (in Chinese, ; pinyin, mèng z)

Doctrine

Confucian Temple at Lotus Lake, Kaohsiung (Taiwan)

Worship of ancestors

The Confucians were practitioners of a cult that revolved around ancestor worship and powers among which Heaven was the clearest. The Lord on High (Shangdi), who is sometimes mentioned, was somewhat more archaic. When it appears in the texts of the Four Books, Heaven is a higher power, neither personalized nor so separate from the world. It is not something passive, since the commands and actions come from it, but it is not a god of the Judeo-Christian type. The Lord on High appears as a supreme divinity in the divinatory bones of the Zhou dynasty. Confucian texts, dating back to ancient times, sometimes mention it.

Ancestor worship is of great importance. It implies the belief that the souls of the deceased can benefit or punish their descendants. Its later evolution turned it into a symbolic civic rite. However, neither Confucius nor Mencius speak of this form of ancestor worship. Another important element in Confucianism is the king or emperor, also called the Son of Heaven. He would be the one who would mediate between Heaven and men. The Chinese ruler has the mandate and with him the authority to perform rites.

Harmony with the cosmos

According to Confucianism, man must harmonize with the cosmos, that is, agree with what was ordered by Heaven. To do this, he must improve himself through introspection and study. If he achieves it, he will have knowledge of himself and of Heaven's desires, which will serve him to develop his Li, which means rites, ceremonies, rectitude and internalized good manners. The Li is useful for developing the Ren which could be translated as "good feelings towards other men". The practice of Ren involves the virtues Zhong and Shu, which roughly translate as 'loyalty' and 'forgiveness', or as 'fidelity' and 'compassion'. If the man has Ren , he can easily practice justice, good principles, called Yi .

In Confucianism, Yi is opposed to Li, the latter having a different tone and spelling than the aforementioned Li which means rites or ceremony. The Li opposite to Yi means benefit, profit, which means distance from the generosity that Ren demands.

The man who practices the previous virtues is a Junzi, a superior man. The term comes from the hierarchical classifications that denoted nobles and knights. He opposes Shunin, the commoners. However, in Confucianism the term highlights moral superiority, without relation to social origin. The Junzi would be polite and fair, (virtue) would be inherent in him and he would always be in the Golden Mean, which indicated the need for moderation in everything. In addition, the Junzi knows and respects the mandates of Heaven, and knows his own.

Confucianism holds that there are few superior men and that the majority are made up of Xiaoren, literally little men. They are vulgar men who do not rise to the best of humanity. Because of this, the superior man has the mission of holding public office in order to lead society. This point is important since the bureaucracy of later China became very identified with this idea, giving rise to a great spirit of service in good times. However, in the declining times, as Europeans could see in the 19th century century, it was mostly a dry and hypocritical doctrine., very far from the thoughts of Confucianism.

Funeral rites

The death of a person for Chinese culture does not mean at all the cessation of their participation in the common life of the family. There is a relationship between the living and the dead.

The ancestors, apart from giving protection to prosperity both at the level of happiness and with the social environment, also give it at the economic level of the family unit.

Apart from this, they give the family the quality of being a continuous line of descent instead of being a single family nucleus. Chinese funeral rites are part of the folkloric tradition, an oral tradition of dogmas and doctrines, with a strong clerical past. (Proof is the fact that shamans of early Chinese religions could still be found well into the 20th century).

Therefore, the Chinese religious system is an integration of several traditional religions, among which we can highlight Buddhism, Taoism or Confucianism.

Steps of a funeral rite with burial (remember that there is also the possibility of cremation):

Funeral rites before death

Since ancient times, traditional Chinese society has been marked by rites linked to the world of death and spirits. Due to this, there were numerous practices that were carried out before, during and after the physical death of a person. In the phase in which the individual in question was dying, there were three components to take into account:

• The pillow: it was believed that if man could see his feet in the agony moment, misfortune would accompany his offspring. For this reason, the pillow should be removed so that it sat horizontally and thus could die in peace. This is an uncomfortable position, since it makes breathing difficult, but it makes the vision of the limbs impossible. The pillow on which the deceased was supported could not be used again, as it had a bad influence. It was customary to throw it on the roof of the house so that it could go away over the years.
• Clothes: When death stalked the man closely, the family selected and prepared the garments of the deceased. There were various and complex superstitious customs in relation to clothing and choice of fabrics. For example, it was important to wear paper boots with flexible soles, since the hard sole is unbearable for the dead. It was sought that the dresses did not include a belt and that the buttons were unpacked. In this way, the children of the family would not be kidnapped. The copper buttons were too heavy for the soul to carry with them, so they should be avoided. If possible, the suit should be new and not composed of fur, since the reincarnation was feared in the body of an animal. With regard to women, the right thing was for her to wear a dress and a veil, in addition to the dress for regional custom.
• The bed: the subject was transported to a bed other than the relative in order to distance him from the evil spirits and to prevent the soul from being condemned to carry bricks forever. In this way, man would get rest in peace.

The reunion of the family nucleus

When the death of an elderly person approaches, the whole family must come together. They may travel long distances to gather around the old man's bed to await his death. When he dies, everyone cries their eyes out, all the ornaments in the house are removed and a white banner is placed over the door to notify that a death has occurred in that house.

When someone dies, the moment they do so, the body is washed. Then the deceased is dressed in the best clothes available to him, he is also perfumed and embalmed. The deceased is then seated in the highest quality chair obtainable. In that position, we proceed to make the wake.

Wake

For three, five or seven days, depending on the social importance of the deceased, the dead are kept in vigil. Family, friends, and servants if he had them are notified, and then in hierarchical order (first older brother, second older brother...), they say goodbye to her or him, with words of regret and sadness. Subsequently, the friends say goodbye in order of privacy, and later the servants.

Relatives and friends out of courtesy usually bring some kind of money for the burial, or some kind of material offering. It is necessary that during the entire period that this act lasts there is a close relative always next to the coffin to keep it.

Once this act is done, the deceased is placed in a coffin composed of an aromatic wood from the area, then it is arranged on some easels or on a table with lighted candles, bread, fruit and other delicacies. Then it is covered with a white cloth, in which the guest is painted in the most limited way possible. During the following 15 days, the coffin receives daily visits at night by religious or priests who make sacrifices and offer prayers, bring many wallpapers with drawings of goods that the dead person must (or wishes) to obtain in the afterlife, and they burn them. Beaded necklaces are hung as an offering on some ropes that are arranged for this in the room, then they shout to send the dead person to heaven.

There are five degrees of mourning. Different colored clothing is used depending on the relationship they had with the deceased: white, black, blue and green. The relatives are dressed in a white cloth composed of raw wool, if their position is high enough, or of the so-called raw canvas, composed of linen, jute or dyed cotton. The most distant friends and relatives should only carry it until the time of the burial, later it is their choice. You can not wear animal skin clothing, because the dead could be forced to reincarnate in that animal.

The Burial

Once the 15 days are over, they take the coffin and take it to the plain in a procession with musicians along with all the relatives, servants and friends who carry candles. The larger the procession, the more important the burial (in some funerals of very wealthy people, weeping men and women were hired). When they arrive at the site, the corpse is buried underground in a more elaborate coffin and instead of a tombstone, they plant a pine tree, of which the cemeteries are full, and they never touch it again if it dies because they take it for something sacred. They burn on the grave papers where they are painted, horses, silver, gold, slaves, etc., so that the deceased can dispose of them in the afterlife. Once buried, they make a great banquet and party, since they believe that with the joy that they celebrate, the deceased will be received in the afterlife. The ceremony must be closed by a teacher of Buddhism or Taoism. During a period of 49 days, every seven days, with respect to the date of the burial, the family has to come to offer the sacrifice of the painted papers. The meetings are always held every odd number of days because even numbers are considered joyful occasions.

Cremation

In recent years the popularity of cremation as a funeral rite has also increased. All the rituals except the point of cremation instead of burial are very similar, once all the necessary prayers have been made by the cleric designated for the occasion. After the body is cremated, family members pick up the bones with chopsticks and place them in a columbarium.

A new ancestor

No funeral rite is complete if the ritualized person is not placed in their new position post mortem as ancestor of the family.

The urn (in the latter case) with a photo, which is what would normally be included in the ancestral altar of the house.

Metaphysics

In the sayings of Confucius one finds at first sight an ethical and moral character that the author develops extensively; but deep in this doctrine is the metaphysical aspect. The concept li means ceremony that in its common meaning is understood as good manners; "an efficacy to transform human relations" (Angus, 1989). The ceremony is the rite that all citizens attend, and they do it to pay homage to their closest ancestors, vg. father or mother, grandparents, etc. On the one hand, this concept is made up of the ethical and political dimension; on the other, it is intended to "free" the individual from "problems" lodged in the psyche. Or complexes in the unconscious that the psychoanalyst Carl G. Jung calls spirits. These are related to psychogenic diseases, such as hysterical disorders, which are caused by psychological conflicts, mostly unconscious, which in turn are linked to subjective conflict, and these go back to childhood memories. «The psychological consequences that parents carry are so strong that in many towns a whole system has been created around the cult of the dead.» (Jung, 2004). The cult of the dead is articulated in these relationships, as it is the way to release or alleviate these unconscious complexes. It should be noted that just as the relief of complexes occurs in an individual, it also occurs in the social when the ceremony is the means by which relationships are effectively transformed.

In the analects there appears a constant figure that is interpreted as if it were a god, a divinity that dominates or orders in some way the social life and the individual life of each one under his will, some call him the God of heaven, others like Confucius just mint Heaven. Well, for him, Heaven is something that is above. “Heaven generated the power I have, what can Huan Tui do to me?” (7/23) The most common interpretation of this concept in the philosophy of Confucius refers to mistakenly thinking that heaven is a god; Let's remember that, in general, the East is atheist and thinks more in energies than in gods. That is to say, Confucius did not think of the sky as external to the individual, but rather that the sky is in himself. In other words, it denotes the upper part, the highest, what is above the man, his head (his brain). "The teacher said: 'There is no one who recognizes me, right?' Zigong said, “why doesn't anyone recognize him?” The teacher said: “I do not hold a grudge against heaven, nor do I blame man; by studying what is below, I have come to understand what is above. If someone recognized me, wouldn't it be heaven?» (14/35). The ancient oriental language is understood and presented symbolically. The sentence of Confucius "by studying what is below, I have come to understand what is above" is understood here as agnihotra; it is on the one hand a Hindu ritual by which a sacrifice is offered to fire; on the other hand, it is an internal fire (like energy) that through meditation is concentrated in the belly, and also through this same exercise it rises and reaches the highest part of the body. Within the schools, so to speak, of oriental thought is present this idea of a fire (or it can also be understood as dynamism) that extends throughout the body and that is related in some way to the harmony of man and the cosmos..

Another concept is also articulated in reference to the ceremony, the concept Shu (resembling), since it crosses and unifies the morality of Confucius. Zigong asked: Is there a single word that can guide us all our lives? The Master replied: Wouldn't it be reciprocity? What you don't want them to do to you, don't do to others." (15.24). This last idea is characterized by being universal insofar as it encompasses the moral sphere, and in addition to unifying all morality, it has another dimension here understood from theoretical physics in the words of Eli de Gortari, where he points out that a single electron occupies all the space. “Each particle fills the entire system by itself and, therefore, has the property of being polytopic, that is, it has simultaneously a multitude of different spatial locations.” (Gortari, 1957) This property of the particle is also found in human subjectivity, where space and time are two pure intuitions of human understanding that are also subjective conditions necessary for the representation of external intuitions that constitute human knowledge., that is, just as the particle exhausts the space within its own system, consciousness encompasses both time and space in infinity as sensitive intuitions a priori for human understanding.

Society in Confucianism

Statue of Confucius in bronze

Confucianism sees man realized only as a social being who occupies a position and performs a function, not as an isolated being. In the Confucian idea of the utopian society, the hierarchy is not only social, but also moral. In ancient China, the family was not a small nucleus, but a large clan, many of its members lived under the same roof, recognized a common ancestor and maintained ties with other groups of the same origin.

A family like this was a prefiguration of the State. Thus, the family was seen as a small kingdom with hierarchies, protocols, and methods of government, and the State as a large family in which there must be affection, relationships, and moral obligations. In the family, members are ranked by a complex system. For Confucianism, the appreciation, love and relationships that existed between the members had to be graduated according to each person, her position, etc. Consequently, there were terms to signify love for parents or filial piety (Xiao), the love of parents for their children (Ci), etc.

The apprenticeship of the superior man began in the family and it will be difficult for a man to govern the State if he cannot govern his family first.

Despite what has been said above, for the Confucians all men are of basically the same nature, regardless of their position or place of birth. But they cannot stay the same as it would be detrimental to the proper functioning of society.

Methods of Confucianism

The means to achieve maximum excellence or Zhi shan were two: study and introspection, understood as looking within, that is, full knowledge of oneself.

The study of ancient texts, the lessons of the wise and nature is the basis of individual improvement. In addition, it serves as a support for introspection because man must see what is good within himself and develop it. The natural human goodness, capital in the teachings of Mencius, starts from the same principle that what is good is found within man and that it must be discovered using introspection. Thus, a superior man will be able to obtain Ren and Li.

Confucianism also attaches great importance to rites. Being a way of preserving the mythical past that was bequeathed, Confucianism supports their continued practice and gives them new values. They were seen by the Confucians as a symbol of hierarchy and power. In addition, they are a method of self-discipline and self-control, by making the individual must do something in a precise way.

The rites guarantee that society and the State function correctly, since the actions of the government must have order and hierarchy.

The rectification of names

For Confucianism, the rectification of names is the beginning and the consequence of many of its ideas. Its foundation is as follows: words have precise meanings and, therefore, if a thing is named with a signifier that does not correspond to it, a mistake is made.

This idea is developed until arriving at the topics that most interest Confucians. For example, if a usurper is called a king, a mistake is made, since he is not a true king. The same happens if a legitimate king does not behave like one. This idea is also valid for a father who does not behave like a father, a son who does not behave like a son, etc. Thus, the rectification of names becomes a tool to correct society and prevent it from being deceived.

Extension of Confucianism

Confucianism survived its suppression during the Qin dynasty thanks in part to the discovery of hidden classical works in the walls of a scholar's home. After the Qin, with the new Han dynasty, the study of the classical works of Confucianism became the basis of the government examination system and the educational plan. No serious attempt to replace it was made until the May Fourth Movement (May 4, 1919) in the 20th century.

After its reformulation as Zhu's Neo-Confucianism in the s. XI, with Wang Yangming and other Neo-Confucians, also became accepted as a state philosophy in Korea and Japan. Korea during the Joseon dynasty was called a "Confucianized state."