Mandate Of Heaven Ming Dynasty Essay - 1,398 words

It seems hard to believe that a philosophy that began 2500 years ago is still the dominant influence on a major modern power. Nevertheless, that is the role that Confucianism has played in China. Confucianism affects individual morality, the roles of family members, the roles of individual in society, as well as the manner in which government must act. In short, this ancient teaching dominates almost every aspect of daily Chinese life. Confucius was born in 551 BC, during the Zhou dynasty.


His family could be traced to noble descendants but was poor because his father died, leaving only his mother to raise him. His state, Lu, was the cultural center of China. He grew up while Lu was in a period of peace. The affairs in his state greatly influenced him and his teachings.


Before beginning to teach, Confucius had many governmental roles. In 528 BC, his mother died. Following her death, he observed a three-year period of mourning, which is customary in China. During the period in which he was mourning, he began to study ancient history and literature. After this time, he began to teach and gained many followers.


Confucius would teach only those who were eager to learn and who could learn from their own thoughts. He chose students who were known for their virtue, who were gifted in art or speech, who were distinguished in government, or those who were eminent in literature. Confucius ultimately achieved high rank in government. He became Chief Magistrate of a town and was quickly promoted to Minister of Justice. At the age of 56, he left the state of Lu, expressing his concern over the rulers' lack of seriousness and their lack of concern for doing the right thing for the people they ruled. Before Confucius, China had had some philosophical literature; but Confucius took the best points of what existed and incorporated his own ideas to create the basis for his philosophy, Confucianism.


In his time, books were not written on a private level; and there is no proof that Confucius himself wrote anything. The main record of his philosophy was in the Analects, which are believed to have been written by disciples of his disciples who accompanied him during his thirteen-year period of wandering. Analects include a variety of Confucius's aging. Twenty-two of his approximately seventy disciples are mentioned in the Analects. Another sets of writings, the Six Classics, are commonly mistaken as Confucian writings.


However, it is now believed that Confucius just made these works prominent through the teaching of them. Confucianism is not a religion. This is reflected in the fact that Confucius did not comment on god or religion. Instead, the principle points of his philosophy centered on striving for perfection individually, within the family, within the larger society, and in government. These were so called moral values relating to the state of man. When Confucius was still under the age of 50, he was conscious of ordinary moral values.


It was not until he was 50 or 60 that he even became aware of super-moral values, those that deal with the ideas of heaven and spirituality outside of what one experiences on earth. In order to achieve these moral values - this perfection of human kindness - Confucius offered one main teaching, jen. Jen symbolizes love and is the virtue to make things improve by doing what one ought to. "Jen expresses the Confucian ideal of cultivating humanity, developing human faculties, sublimating one's personality, and upholding human rights. " Confucius believed, however, that individual efforts alone were insufficient and devised roles and duties within the Chinese family, as well as in larger society. The roles were known as the five relationships and consisted of: father - son, elder brother - younger brother, husband - wife, elder - junior, and ruler - subjects. In all of these relationships, the first mentioned is to take his special role and perform his helpful and encouraging duties to help the latter mentioned. Confucius divided society into four classes based on their importance in his teaching.


The first class was the scholar-official class. They were the most important because they were in charge of running the government, whi ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: mandate of heaven, han dynasty, neo confucianism, ming dynasty, moral values

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