Confucianism And It

’s Implications In Modern China Essay, Research Paper

Confucianism is a time enduring philosophy that has stood up to invading clans, war, resentment, enforcement and infringement of new philosophies, and eventually, revival. For almost 80years, up until the late 1970’s, Confucianism and its ideas and values have been all but wiped away from China. Though effort was made to remove Confucianism for good from China by the Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1949, the ideas and values were so deeply embedded into peoples mind and the culture that even suppression could not keep it out of the culture and practices. The main factor that has brought Confucianism back into the limelight in China and other East Asian countries is the recent development of economic growth and the possibilities behind why that has occurred. This is a topic that has brought about much dispute among scholars, that is, whether or not Confucianism has played any role in the progress of these countries, especially that of China. It is through the adaptation and re-institution of Confucian ideas and philosophies to that of the modern era that will develop China and create a better society, government, and economy allowing it to grow and prosper.

This is not an attempt to reinstate Confucianism as it once was, but rather the idea of Confucianism going through a modernization process in which one includes those parts that are helpful to society while removing those that are harmful to society. It is not the purpose of bringing back Confucianism as the main and only philosophy as it once was in Imperial China; but rather, the process of incorporating it with modern ideas and into modern context where it will be deemed beneficial to society. This is a relatively new concept that has been present for only about 20years or so. Due to this, no definite theory has been developed to say whether this is plausible.

When looking at the ideas of Confucianism, one must look at the values that he expresses that are essential to human beings in order to become gentleman. Some of these values are present in every society and in every country. Ideas like jen and the Golden Rule are indispensable to life in almost every society on the globe.

In order to look at Confucianism and evaluate whether it has relevance in the modern era, one must look at the social, political/governmental, and economic aspects that it brings. When doing this, however, one has to be open and willing to account that the ideas of Confucius are present even when they do not seem as though they may be implemented or those persons do not feel that they possess them in a Confucian sense. In addition, you must approach this with the intent to merge ideas together. It is no surprise that philosophies adapt and develop overtime; therefore, one must admit that all societies correlate in some way to each other and to refute that this is true is to refute that both societies are erroneous.

Society is the biggest aspect of life in which Confucianism has tremendous impact on. Not only does Confucianism layout the way one should be, act, and present himself towards and to others; these are the qualities that any civilization basis its self on. A researcher can tell much about a nation by its social well-being or lack of well-being. History can tell a lot about a nation and its society; this can also allow them to see what causes the society to be weak and what causes it to be strong. This can allow one to see whether a certain philosophy does well in the nation or how its following affects the nation. “Neglect of Confucius’ teachings is often associated with social chaos and sufferings in China’s history.” In short, what this is saying is that China’s history has shown that Confucianism is the backbone of society and the state; when they are not followed the state is in chaos and when they are followed the state does well. The well-being of the state therefore depends on Confucianism and whether it is followed. This shows that Confucian teachings still have tremendous impact in China. Ideas like harmony, filial piety, and the Golden Mean all are big parts of China’s culture.

From the beginning of this century until 1977, Confucius had been criticized in mainland China and the Chinese people’s living standard had been under the bottom of the world. In contrast to China’s performance, Japan’s success in modernization has been mainly due to properly applying the Confucian principles.

It is not due to the Chinese people that the ideas of Confucius have been strongly criticized; rather, it is a result of Communism. This is due to Mao Zedong’s influence when he took over in 1949 and implemented Communist ideas. While doing this, he attempted to get rid of the Confucian idea. Mao’s reason, along with other Communist revolutionaries in China, for publicly attacking Confucianism was that it was felt as though the social and political ideas were considered authoritative and class-ridden. By bringing in Communism, it gave the Chinese people no room to improve unless the government allowed for it. Therefore, Communism causes the Chinese people to be class-ridden; the very thing they were trying to get rid of. When people look at China and see that it has not had much progress over the past century, it is evident that they do not look at the true reason behind this fact.

The secret of Japanese success is that it practiced th