AET - Chinese Philosophy and Confucian Ethics

Confucianism

attributed to the teacher Kongqui (known as Confucius)

Confucianism

Believed that if people were able to internalize or take as their own the ways of the virtuous people then the state would be ordered because it would reflect the order of Heaven.

Confucianism

The way to bear the order of heaven in one’s conduct

Analects (Lunyu)

the compilations of his teachings; the main source of Confucian teachings

Analects (Lunyu)

Based primarily on the Master’s sayings, preserved in both oral and written transmissions, it captures the Confucian spirit in form and content

Confucius

considered himself a transmitter who consciously tried to reanimate the old in order to attain the new. He proposed revitalizing the meaning of the past by advocating a ritualized life

Daoist and Legalist Chinese Schools are also present

The philosophy is based on the belief that human beings are essentially good, that they engage in immoral behavior through lack of a strong moral standard, and that adherence to an ethical code, and rituals which encourage it, enabled one to live a productive and tranquil life of peace which would translate to a strong, ethical, and prosperous state

1. The Book of Rites (also given as The Book of Great Learning)

2. The Doctrine of the Mean

3. The Analects of Confucius

4. The Works of Mencius

5. The I-Ching

6. The Classics of Poetry

7. The Classics of Rites

8. The Classics of History

9. The Spring and Autumn Annal

Other books of Confucianism

Ren

Being a person who has the virtue of ___ , be a person who has internalized the way of Heaven

Way of Heaven

one basic aspiration of any Confucian

Heaven (Dao)

the source of order and balance, the way of life and nature, the way of justice and proper relationships

Ritual (Li)

The path to master the way of living according to the way of heaven is through ______

True

True or False:

The ancient ways are sacred because they bore the wisdom of the ancients who still understood the ways of Heaven

True

True or False:

The way to attunement is to focus on traditional ways

● Ren – benevolence

● Yi – righteousness

● Li – ritual

● Zhi – knowledge

● Xin – integrity

● Xiao – filial piety

● Zhong – loyalty

● Jie – contingency

● Yi – justice/righteousness

The Five Constants and Four Virtues

Filial piety

All of the five constants and four virtues were equally important, but they began with _________

True

True or False:

People were encouraged to honor and respect their parents and observe a hierarchy of authority where a son obeyed his father's wishes, a younger brother respected and deferred to his older brother, and women did the same with men

Filial piety

By embracing __________, one was taking the initial step toward the other constants and virtues because one was subjecting oneself to a policy of behavior that did not elevate the self.

True

True or False:

Filial piety (and the rest) was informed by Ren which means not only 'benevolence' but that which makes a human truly human, one's basic humanity, which understands right from wrong and instinctively leans toward what is right

True

True or False:

A person must cultivate themselves so that they would stand upright and lives according to the true order of all things.

A state needs good education and moral leadership

What does a state need to cultivate a greater realization of Ren?

Good education

an education of the heart and virtues

Moral education

This is important because people need exemplars to live life according to the way

Daoism

puts more emphasis on opening to the Dao that makes itself present in the natural order than in the ways of the state, the family and the rulers.

True

True or False:

Main concern is for the human being to reach human fullness by living in attunement with the Dao.

Wu Wei

Live in the way of meditation that leads to the full attunement with the Dao so that they can act in a way that is _____ (to act without effort)

● Ren

– benevolence

● Yi

– righteousness

● Li

– ritual

● Zhi

– knowledge

● Xin

– integrity

● Xiao

– filial piety

● Zhong

– loyalty

● Jie

– contingency

● Yi

– justice/righteousness