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Confucianism was the official religion of China from 200 BCE until it was officially abolished when communist leadership discouraged religious practice in 1949. The religion was developed by “Confucius”, which is the name by which English speakers know Kong Qiu  孔丘,  born near a small ducal state on the Shandong Peninsula in 551 BCE.  His teaching encouraged personal and governmental morality and the importance of correct social and familial relationships. These ideals, if followed, would lead to a world of peace, justice, kindness and order.

We have open access materials from Robert Eno^[1] of the University of Indiana, made available for educators.

“Confucius’s father was a member of the low aristocracy of the medium sized state of Lu 魯. According to our best sources, he was an important aide to a major aristocratic, or “grandee” family. During his prime, this family had served the greatest power holders in Lu by controlling a domain assigned to them on Lu’s southern border, near a small, non-Zhou cultural area called Zou 鄹. Shortly before Confucius’s birth, the family’s domain was relocated to the north, but Confucius’s father, having by his primary wife and his concubines produced no healthy sons to carry on his line, and being now an older man, chose at this time to take as a concubine a woman of Zou. She soon gave birth to Confucius. Three years later, Confucius’s father died, and Confucius apparently grew up with his mother’s family in the border region between Lu and Zou. Reaching adulthood, he traveled to the feudal center of Lu to seek social position, based on his father’s standing and connections.

When Confucius sought his fortune in Lu, he probably appeared there as a semi-outsider, the son of a “mixed” union between a man of Lu, who had long resided in Zou, and a woman of that non-Zhou place. But Confucius made his reputation as a strong advocate of a puristic revival of Zhou traditions in court conduct, religious ceremony, and every aspect of ordinary life. He became expert in these traditions, and it was on the basis of this knowledge and the persuasiveness of his claim that the way to bring order back to “the world” was to recreate early Zhou society through its ritual forms, or “li,” that Confucius became known. The details of what Confucius saw as legitimate Zhou culture and why he thought its patterns were tools for building a new utopia are the principal subjects of the Analects.

His mastery of Zhou cultural forms allowed Confucius to become a teacher of young aristocrats seeking polish, and through their connections, he was able to gain some stature in Lu. Ultimately, he and some of his followers attempted to implement a grand restorationist plan in Lu that would have shifted power back to the ducal house. Shortly after 500 BCE, when Confucius was about fifty, the plan failed, and Confucius was forced to leave his home state. For about fifteen years, he traveled with a retinue of disciples from state to state in eastern China, looking for a ruler who would employ him and adopt the policies he advocated. The Analects pictures some key moments in these travels, which ultimately proved fruitless. A few years before his death, one of Confucius’s senior disciples, a man named Ran Qiu, arranged to have Confucius welcomed back to Lu, where he lived out his days as a teacher of young men, training them in the literary, ritual, and musical arts that he saw as central to the culture of the Zhou.

An extraordinary teacher, his lessons—which were about self-discipline, respect for authority and tradition, and jen (the kind treatment of every person)—were collected in a book called the Analects.”

Some religious scholars consider Confucianism more of a social system than a religion because it focuses on sharing wisdom about moral practices but doesn’t involve any type of specific worship; nor does it have formal objects.  In fact, its teachings were developed in context of problems of social anarchy and a near-complete deterioration of social cohesion. Dissatisfied with the social solutions put forth, Confucius developed his own model of  morality to help guide society.

Confucius  focused on human fulfillment in the social work–through relationships– for he believed that the way of life flowed through the human world just as it did in the rest of nature. Troubled by the political turmoil and what he perceived as a decline in civilization during his lifetime (you might want to read more about this, as China was in political turmoil at the time he lived), Confucius advocated installing a program of comprehensive education and the cultivation of special virtues in all people. He wanted to develop individuals who could be social leaders and who could create a harmonious society.  In Confucian thinking, to a great extent, human beings are who they are because of their relationships. Careful attention to the duties and obligations of a person’s different relationships with others was a central focus of his teaching. One must live up to the highest expectations or standards of various social roles one occupied, beginning with the family. (xaio)

So being a dutiful child, caring spouse, responsible parent, thoughtful friend–these are all the things that he emphasized in his teachings about how to achieve an ethical society.  His emphasis was always on the community, not the individual’s well-being.

The excellent or noble person (junzi) would have an inner integrity and a deep consideration for others (ren). This person would have mastered the social graces—all those countless rituals of propriety (li) that allow for smooth interaction between people. The noble person would avoid extremes in life, maintaining equilibrium and harmony. Additionally, the aesthetic self would be developed, demonstrated in a love for all the arts associated with civilization, such as poetry and literature, calligraphy, dance, painting, and music (wen). By automatically choosing to do what is right (after years of practice and study and by fulfilling one’s job duties and social obligations properly), one would be united with the force of the universe, and the ancestors.

Confucianism is one of the Three Teachings of China, its three most influential religious and philosophical systems. Confucianism became state-sponsored during the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). Buddhism and Daoism blended, in ritual and practice, with Confucianism and created a popular set of religious practices, some of which are still a part of Chinese practice.

A short timeline of Confucian impact on Chinese culture:

551 to 479 BCE  Life and teaching of Confucius

470-c.380 BCE  Arguments against Confucian teachings by Mozi

372-289 BCE   Confucian revival

221-202 BCE Confucianism is suppressed by the Qin Dynasty.

136 BCE The Han Dynasty introduces civil service examinations modelled on Confucian texts.

9th century CE Confucianism is reborn as Neo-Confucianism.