Confucianism Lecture Notes PDF

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Complete notes from lectures on Confucianism....

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Confucianism Confucius was born 9.28.551 BCE - Born in to an aristocratic family - Father died at age 3 - Confucius was born through concubine and was force to leave with his mother when father dies - Love information when he was a child, wanted to be a scholar at 15 - Began to draw disciples in his early 20s - He died thinking he was a failure, because he was trying for a high gov’t post, but never attained one. - One disciple mourned him for 3 years - Philosophy: Role of Knowledge - Education was for making you a better person, not for elevating your status Six Arts - educated his followers on these things 1. Changes (I) - Predicting the future 2. Poetry (Shih) - studying literature 3. History (Shu) - learning from the past 4. Pituals (Li) - paying back your ancestors 5. Music (Yueh) - influences many things 6. Spring & Autumn Annals [Ch’un Ch’iu] - civics or government God -

Some believe in God - Confucius did, and in an afterlife More importantly is thinking about the future instead of just the “here & now” - Focus more on working out your morality - God is not the subject of confucian teaching

Soteriology - “Confucian at work, Taoist on the weekend, Buddhist at death” - Not super strict soteriology - Purpose of life 0 bring about Peace and Harmony? - Propagate Peace and Harmony in the world - Realization of world peace is the goal - How? Better yourself and improve the world 5 Cardinal Virtues 1. Jen (ren/run) - Proper relationships (root) 2. Yi - sense of duty (trunk) 3. Li - proper social conduct (branches) a. Hsiao = Filial piety 4. Chih - Wisdom & Application Thereof (flower) 5. Hsin - Loyalty to your words (fruit)

Father to Son Elder Brother to Young Brother Husband to Wife Ruler to Subject Friend to Friend Scripture 9 Books - 5 classics - 4 books Symbolism - Shui (water) - it means the “source of life” Teachings - “What the superior man seeks in himself, the average man seeks in others.” - “Those who exhibit virtue are not left to stand alone, Indeed, they who practice it will always have neighbors.” Basic Beliefs - Authority - There isn’t much - no priesthood - Governments should teach principles instead of making laws to assert power - Should rule through teaching morality, ethics, character - Cheng Ming - Etiquette - (“Rectification of Names”) - You should act and speak of you are (if you’re a king, speak like a king etc.) Denominations - no traditional denominations - Ancient Confucianism - Precursor to secular humanism - about bettering yourself and bringing about world peace - Neo-confucianism (Modern Confucianism) - Try to live in harmony with the cosmic Tao - Borrowed from Buddhism/Taoism Confucianism is generally associated with China, but after communism, Korea is now the most confucian...