Confucianism

Clarification of Terms

To understand the complex history and diverse meanings of Confucianism, we need to first clarify the different usages of the term Confucianism. Although the word Confucius, the Latinized name of Kong Fuzi, was first used by Jesuit missionaries in China in the late 16th century, the English word Confucianism did not come into existence until 1862, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The real use of the word as referring to a religion was in James Legge's pamphlet Confucianism in Relation to Christianity, published in Shanghai in 1877. Today Confucianism in English refers to both the philosophical teaching of Confucius (551–479 BCE) and the religion associated with Confucius.

In Chinese, however, it is difficult to find the exact equivalent of the English word Confucianism. Today, scholars use the following convention to distinguish several related yet different concepts: rujia (the school of Confucian thought) and ruxue (Confucian learning) usually refer to Confucianism as a philosophy or school of thought, whereas rujiao (the Confucian religion) refers to Confucianism as a religion.

The Master Said: Confucius and His Disciples

According to the archaeologist Lothar von Falkenhausen, the “Age of Confucius” started 500 years before Confucius's birth and lasted till the end of China's great Late Bronze Age (ca. 1000–250 BCE). This coincided with the existence of the Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1046–256 BCE), the longest reigning dynasty in Chinese history. The lifetime of Confucius (ca. 551–479 BCE) was a tumultuous period of constant warfare between patrimonial states; Confucius and his followers always looked back to the founders of the Zhou, the Sage Kings, as moral and political exemplars, particularly as the dynasty was reaching its final stage of disorder, eventually to be replaced by the Qin Dynasty when the First Emperor united China in 221 BCE.

Von Falkenhausen states that it was during this Age of Confucius that the foundation of what we today call Confucianism was established: The five classics were written during this period (the Odes, the Documents, the Rites, the Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals), which later became part of the Confucian canon, and the traditional rituals of China were instituted, which included the worship of ancestral spirits.

Confucius was born around 551 BCE in the state of Lu and was orphaned at a young age. D. C. Lau notes that little is known of Confucius's youth except that he was poor and fond of learning: “At fifteen I set my heart on learning” (Analects, 2.4). Confucius became known for his erudite mind, and at the age of 50 years, he was appointed to be the Minister of Crime of Lu. However, his advice was not followed, and he decided to leave the state of Lu in 497 BCE with some of his disciples. Confucius did not return to Lu for 13 years; during his exile he visited different states and offered advice to feudal rulers who cared to listen. He returned to Lu when he was 68 years old and devoted the remaining years of his life to teaching before dying at 72 years. According to the first century BCE text Records of the Grand Historian, Confucius had 3,000 disciples during his lifetime. Among the disciples, 12 are mentioned frequently in the Analects, which is a collection of sayings of Confucius as well as anecdotes about Confucius and some of his disciples, edited by his disciples and their students.

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