CONFUCIANISM, a misleading general term for the teach ings of the Chinese classics upon cosmology, the social order, government, morals and ethics. Confucius is not the founder of the system, but is the transmitter of the teachings of antiquity and the editor of some of the classics. Mencius (372-289 B.c.) interpreted the work of Confucius. Confucianism was formulated in the Han dynasty (206 B.C.—A.D. 221). In the first century of our era the system came into contact with Buddhism and under went certain changes which were interpreted by Chu Hsi (I 13o 1200) and by Wang Yang Ming (1472-1528). Though the gov ernment of the Manchu dynasty (1644-1912) made Chu Hsi's commentaries the standard, scholars attempted to restore the primitive teaching of Confucius and the ancients but were hin dered by the impact of the West upon Chinese culture.
In cosmology Confucianism starts out with an impersonal cosmic energy and principle which produced the yin and the yang, the negative and the positive principles, These by their interaction produced Heaven and Earth and all beings. The social order evolved from the universal order and models of gov ernment, social life and morals existed in the universal order as ideas or images. These were transmitted as symbols to the saints and the sages and interpreted and adapted by them to the needs of the people.
The government was modelled upon that of the patriarchal family, the country being regarded as a large family. The emperor was considered as appointed by Heaven to be the father and the mother of the people and ruled as a benevolent patriarch. The conception of the State as an abstract entity was never developed. The emperor was assisted by the officials recruited from the people on the basis of a civil examina tion in the classics. They were arranged in ranks, each possess ing certain rights and duties and were bound together and to the emperor by a rigid ceremonial. The emperor and officials united all the functions of government, being the priests, executives, the law-makers and the judges. The government was one of men rather than of laws.
The moral system started with the axiom that all men were by nature good, formulated by Mencius. A corollary to this was the dogma that goodness is developed by the study of the classics. Society was divided into five relations : ruler-subject, father-son, husband-wife, older brother-younger brother, friend-friend. The fundamental theory underlying these relations was that of reciprocity expressed by the words, "What you do not wish done to yourself do not do to the other man," essentially the principle of the Golden Rule.
The virtues were finally grouped under five : love, the root of all the others, corresponding to our word humanity in its old meaning; justice, which assigns to each one his place and his duties and rights in that status ; reverence, through which the rights are acknowledged and the duties performed ; wisdom, which discriminates between good and evil; sincerity, which im parts reality to all. The outstanding virtue was filial piety, which also includes loyalty and is the outgrowth of reverence.
Confucianism as an ethical system was a mixture of nature worship and ancestor worship. There were three classes of sacrifices under the last dynasty : the great sacrifices, namely, Heaven, Earth, the imperial ancestors and the gods of the grain and of the ground ; the middle sacrifices, to the sun, moon, certain cultural heroes including Confucius and nature gods ; the general sacrifices, performed entirely by the officials, including cultural heroes, nature gods and departmental deities. To the people were left their ancestors and gods approved by the State. The em peror as the high priest of the nation worshipped Heaven at the winter solstice and Earth at the summer solstice. The purpose of the worship was the conservation and the perpetuation of this system.
In China the establishment of the republic in 1912 brought with it far-reaching changes. The relation between Heaven and the emperor upon which the government was based was aban doned and the new idea that the people are the real rulers of China is being inculcated. Confucianism ceased to be a State system, though certain practices have survived. It has become a type of church and is slowly trying to collect and organize its heritage. The new cult is being established about Confucius. Religious toleration, however, is granted by the constitution and Confucianism after over 2,000 years as the dominant State sys tem is taking its place as one of the cults of China. See Cov
