Narrative

Confucianism acts as a way of life that promotes self-cultivation and virtue as the path to self-fulfillment and a harmonious society. To achieve these two goals, Confucianism emphasizes the importance of relational roles, propriety, education, and compassion. Confucianism says that in society, people have a role in five different relationships. If each person works to realize his or her potential within each of these relationships, the collective effort will lead to an overall improved, orderly, and peaceful community. An individual can best fulfill his or her role by developing propriety, that is, the wisdom and discipline to do the right thing at the right time. The keys to developing propriety are education and compassion. Through learning and compassion, an individual may understand and empathize with another human being, and align his or her actions to best serve others accordingly.

Confucianism has a long history dating back to the Chinese sages who lived thousands of years before the time of Confucius himself. It rose to prominence under the Han dynasty. Under the Hans, Confucianism became the basis for Chinese society and spread to other Eastern Asian countries as well. Confucianism continued to exert influence in Eastern Asia for thousands of years up until the 20^th century with the dawn of Communist China. Led by Mao Zedong, communists saw Confucianism as backwards and antiquated and blamed it for China’s lack of modernization as well as its victimization at the hands of Western superpowers. Subsequently, Confucianism fell under persecution, with the purge reaching its apex in the Cultural Revolution. With its fall from grace in Chinese society, Confucianism lost much of its long-held prominence.

Today, China has transformed into a modernized economic superpower. However, many scholars in the global intellectual community say that the Chinese people lack a vital moral and ideological grounding in this new economically competitive and westernized society. Leading Chinese figures have responded to this need with a revival of Confucianism. They believe that the humanism in Confucian principles would best complement their society’s extremes. This revival has hope for ultimately, the Confucian tradition remains in the Chinese cultural DNA and continues to quietly reflect itself in their everyday lives.

Symbols

Yin Yang 
The Yin Yang symbol is mostly associated with Taoism but is also related to Confucianism. It symbolizes balancing nature between opposing forces

Confucian Symbol
This symbol is used during wedding ceremonies in the Chinese culture. It is also used to represent Confucianism, and it means total righteousness and harmony within yourself and others.

Ideogram
Water is symbolized in this ideogram. It represents the source of life in Chinese philosophy.

Confucius Says: Excerpts from The Analects

Confucius Says | Asia Society



Selected excerpts and quotes of the famous Confucian work, "The Analects".

Audio commentary:

Top 4 Rules When Reading Confucian Poetry

Confucian poetry has been very prominent in the culture and religion since the very inception. Here are a few tips and tricks to keep in mind when reading some poems.

1. Xing is greater than Fu
These two terms, as well as bi, are paramount in Confucian poetry and describe three complementary approaches to reading poems.

Fu - basic level meaning of a word. Literal
      Ex. leave falling from blossom tree

Bi - situation referred to in a round-about way through the poetic image. Metaphor
      Ex. a friend whom you have lost. You are the tree. Your friend is the leaves.

Xing - affection and realization that is stirred when the fu sheds light on bi
      Ex. the unmentioned sadness of losing a friend

Generally, Fu is presented to help the reader understand the meaning, Bi is a little more interesting, and Xing is the overall goal of reading poetry by connecting Fu and Bi together.

2. The reader is greater than the author 

Confucian poetry began with a concern about the authorial intent. What was most important to the author was to work out what the author was trying to convey at the level of Xing.

Mencius, a significant figure in Confucianism wrote that, "When one reads the poems and writings of the ancients, can it be right not to know something about them as men? Hence one tries to understand the age in which they lived. This can be described as 'looking for friends in history'". In order to make sense of a piece of writing the reader had to previously understand the history of the author.

However, the scholar Wang Fuzhi, a neo-confucianist in the seventeenth century, turned this idea around and claimed that the author may have intended certain things, but what was important was for the reader to derive meaning according to how he/she felt.

3. The Scholar who can quote poetry is greater than the pleb who can't
The ability to recite and interpret poetry is highly praised in Confucianism. It marks one as a distinguished and learned person, therefore a knowledge of the Book of Odes, one of the five classics in Confucian literature, was essential in becoming part of that elite society.

"Draw inspiration from the Poems; steady your course with the ritual; find your fulfillment in music."
                                                                                                    - Confucius, The Analects
"Have you worked through the first and the second part of the Poems? Whoever goes into life without having worked through the first and second part of the Poems will remain stuck, as if facing a wall."
                                                                                                    - Confucius, The Analects

This ability involved more than just the reading of poetry. One had to also interpret and use poetry in conversation. This is because the solemn quoting of a poem can sometimes be enough to settle an argument or make a point. Great difference is then shown to scholars who can exert the Odes in such a knowledgable and authoritative manner. And on the other hand, regular people would feel a great uncertainty in putting forward their own views over against that of a learned scholar.

4. Interpretation 
Throughout history there has been a definite movement away from the text itself and an emphasis on the ability to interpret poems through techniques like Xing. This attention to interpretation over literal text shows the attention of the shift from the author to the reader. In Confucian tradition, it is not about what the author was trying to say, it is what the reader learns from it. In addition, it helps to separate the scholars from the common people who are not as capable of interpreting poems as the scholars who have studied this art for years.

Chinese New Year

New Year

Chinese culture has been greatly influenced by Confucian ideas and in Chinese tradition, the New Year is the most important holiday of the entire year. This festivity celebrates the beginning of spring and is the most celebrated day of the year. This holiday is based on the lunisolar calendar. The new year takes place on the day of the second blue moon after the winter solstice.

On this special day in Chinese culture, families clean and decorate their houses to symbolize preparing for the new year’s good fortunes. Relatives and neighbors come together at night for a reunion where they fest on specialties like Peking duck and sticky cake. Meanwhile, parades, firework shows, and other forms of entertainment crowd the streets. The next day, children receive money wrapped in special red envelopes. They are red envelopes because they are thought to be the color of happiness. This color is so important in this holiday that it shades all aspects of the festivities, from the clothes to the firecrackers. This red envelope also allows the receiver to measure the strength of the social relationship between the children and parents, one of Confucius' five relationships he most stressed in his teachings. 

This tradition, however, does not only happen in China. Different moderations are made on this holiday all over the world in several different cultures like Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia,  and Mauritius. Many countries that have adopted Confucianism as well celebrate this festivity.

Reviving Confucius: How Yu Dan Made Confucianism Popular Again

Guess what’s the bestselling book in China? No, it’s not Harry Potter, another top seller with millions of copies already sold. Nor is it a self-help book holding the secrets to earning a fortune in the competitive Chinese economy. 

It’s Yu Dan’s Reflections on the Analects, with 10 million copies sold in less than a year and an estimated 6 million pirated copies.

That’s right. Confucianism is experiencing a surge of popularity all thanks to Yu Dan, a savvy, articulate woman with no nonsense short hair and a PhD in media studies. Her refreshing interpretation of The Analects has not only made Confucianism more applicable and appealing to modern Chinese society, but has also launched Dan into nationwide stardom.

The book, in fact, encompasses only a part of Yu Dan’s Confucian revival.  The book is actually based on a series of Yu Dan’s popular TV lectures, whose popularity matches American hits such as “Desperate Housewives” and “The Devil Wears Prada”.

Dan’s revival of Confucian teachings is no small achievement. Indeed, while Confucianism was deeply revered and sustained in Chinese society for thousands of years, it was rejected and deemed obsolete after the oppression of the Cultural Revolution and the agnosticism of China’s economically driven modern society.

Indeed, the popularity of Yu Dan’s book is comparable to St. Augustine’s Confessions topping the Da Vinci Code.

However, Dan’s work has had its fair share of criticism. Confucian scholars have dismissively dubbed her ideas, “fast-food Confucianism”, arguing her interpretation is watered-down and has little to do with real Confucianism. For this, though she has received fanfare among the masses, her work has had harsh reception in the academic realm.
"She distorted a lot of Confucius's principles...in order to serve a lot of purposes of hers." Professor He Zhao at the Confucius Institute in George Mason remarked. 
"She was very popular among the ordinary viewers programs, but once she was trying to deliver a speech in Peking University, one of the best universities of China, and she was driven off the stage, " Zhao laughs. "Because the audience and the students refused to listen to her."

In her defense however, Dan responds that her book gives an opinion, not facts and can be accepted or rejected accordingly. In reality, Dan’s ultimate goal is to clear the distorted image of Confucianism as too conservative or irrelevant.

“He teaches love and tolerance, for example, and don't force others to do what you would not want to do yourself, how to develop harmonious interpersonal relationships. Are these ideas really that out of date? Are these not useful to our lives today?”

Everything You Need to Know about Confucius

Confucius is no doubt, one of the most influential figures in all of Asian history. His words have survived to the modern era, amassing billions of followers along the way. His teachings have become the basis for great Chinese dynasties. His ideas are ingrained in powerful Eastern Asian modern-day societies.

Incredibly, this immensely influential figure comes from humble origins. In 551 CE, Confucius was born in the Qufu state of Lu during the fractious times with the decline of the Zhou dynasty. Though his parents were of decent standing, his father died when Confucius was three. With only his mother to support him, Confucius learned to fend for himself, acquiring a variety of skills from archery to poetry that he used for a number of odd jobs. In his free time, Confucius dedicated himself to studies confident knowledge would alleviate the suffering around him.

Confucius believed that the first step to change the chaotic world he lived in was through self-cultivation. Thus, he founded the Chinese school Ru  where he gathered groups of men to pass on practical skills to, but more importantly, to groom them into a generation of “gentlemen”. In teaching his students, Confucius’ ultimate goal was instilling character, and he hoped these reformed men could change society if they moved onto prominent government positions.

As Confucius spread his wisdom, he gained massive numbers of disciples. He has even been said to have had 3,000 students at a one point. With such a large network, Confucius began to have government connections and before long, he was made an adviser in the court of Lu. Now in government, the ambitious Confucius believed the time had finally come for nationwide change. Unfortunately, powerful officials benefitting from the bureaucratic inefficiency stonewalled his attempts for reform. Disillusioned by the lack of influence, Confucius left his home state with a small group of disciples. He spent the next twenty years wandering from state to state to appeal to other sovereign leaders in the hope that they would answer their call for reform. These rulers unfortunately, proved to be for the other team, and by age 67, Confucius gave up on his dream for change.

Confucius returned home where he settled down and wrote out his teachings.  Though he passed away five years later seeing himself a failure, his faithful students compiled his teachings into The Analects of Confucius a book many consider to be the most influential work in Chinese history. His words continued to have influence for the next millennia, bringing the harmonious society he had always hoped for.