Confucius, a Chinese thinker and philosopher, is responsible for having the greatest impact on Classical Chinese society, politics, and religion. Born on 551 B.C.E. to a poor, but noble family, Confucius grew to be a very educated man, whose intentions were to modify Chinese politics and society. Confucian philosophy and thinking is captured in a series of selected passages called The Analects, which emphasize certain ideals and ethics necessary to achieve a perfect society. The practice of Confucianism in classical Chinese society was the rebirth of forgotten terms whose value was lost throughout pre-classical Chinese culture. Through his teachings, Confucius sought to give value to meaningless words such as benevolence, ritual, morality, honesty, and integrity, as well as promote education.
The ethical values relating to family and society represented by Confucianism are based on the Five Constants of the True and the relationships each member must have with the rest of society. The Five Constants of the True: Rén, Li, Yi, Chi, and Hsin are terms that relate to goodness, decorum, morality, honesty, and integrity of every individual. These words were known to Chinese culture, but people did not understand the true meaning behind them. All of these words symbolize absolute ideals that every person has and knows about. Rén or good-heartedness is based on the idea that everyone is born as a good person and remains to be good deep inside, even if one has made wrong choices in his life. Rén is where the Dao, or path, of life starts, contrary to Christian doctrine that states that all men are born with sin. Li and Yi both refer to morals and a code of etiquette that people must follow depending on the situation. One who achieves to have and employ these five virtues properly becomes a chun-tzu (gentleman). Relationships between friends, father and son, emperor and official, man and wife, etc. cannot be considered true relationships if both members of a relationship do not follow Rén, Li, Yi Chi, and Hsin. Confucius argues that a friend is not a friend if he is not loyal or honest. This model of comparison is applied to every member of society from children in a poor family to the emperor himself. This type of morality causes for every member of society to know his or her place in the community. In this ideal structural hierarchical society, other concepts such as freedom and equality are not present and are not needed to achieve a perfect society. Since everyone knows their place, and everyone practices the Five Constants, each member of society is content.
The structure of political values according to Confucianism ideologies deal with the emperor’s divine right to rule, virtue, and a strong sense of paternalism toward his empire. The emperor resembles the father figure of a family, but on a much larger scale. As the parent of the empire, the emperor is bound to nourish, educate, and protect his empire and everyone within. The emperor must also follow the Five Constants to be considered a good emperor. His power to rule, the mandate of heaven, is the God-given right to be in charge of the population. If the emperor was overthrown then whoever led the coup had the God-given right over the emperor to rule. Confucius urges that leaders govern with righteousness, integrity, and honesty so that the masses follow the leader’s example as chun-tzu emperor. “Give them enough food, give them enough arms, and the common people will have trust in you.” Confucius believes it is better to win the people by being a virtuous leader than putting fear into them. Virtues lead to a harmonious relationship between the emperor and his officials. Often times when rulers are feared, officials take care of their duties not because they want, but because they are forced to. A law created by the emperor ceases to be a law when it is enforced because the law is not a law anymore, it is force. If a leader rules by force, his underlings will fear breaking the law because of the punishment as a consequence, as opposed to not breaking the law because one believes doing so is immoral.
A major advancement in the political system of elected officials was the implementation of civil service exams. In contrast with other societies, classical Chinese culture does not appoint officials based on social standing, race, or hereditary status, but rather by how much the individual knows and what he is capable of. This type of political system, a meritocracy, demanded a lot from its applicants since only the best would be considered for a government job. Young men who showed mental fortitude were tutored to take the civil service exam. The ones who did not have money to take on higher education were sponsored by the town in which they lived in. In return for the township’s help, the student once he becomes an elected official will act as the voice of his community. In the long run this benefits small communities, whose applicant is successful. Classical Chinese education differs from that of the Western world in the sense that western academia focuses on critical reasoning and not memorization. The three day long test was based on the memorization of classical Chinese works including Confucius’s The Analects. Education was flourishing tremendously since government jobs did not require one to be part of the nobility, but part of a more intellectual group of candidates.
Confucian philosophy is not explicit about religion, but rather focuses on the aspects of this life over the afterlife. Confucius is questioned about death to which he replies, “You do not even understand this life. How can you understand death?” Confucius believes that morality and ways of behaving are important in determining who one is in this life. One should care about becoming chun-tzu rather than worry about what is after this life. Since this life comes first it is logical to do one’s best in mastering the five constants and not be concerned about death: the great unknown. Religion is not as important as spirituality in Chinese culture. To be at peace with oneself and others while fulfilling the requirements of being a good person is a challenge that people take on, instead of worshiping what they do not know. However, one thing is certain: The heavens choose who the highest person in the sociopolitical ladder is. This relates to destiny in the sense that if one who opposes the emperor defeats him, he is then emperor and people do not question the overthrowing, but rather feel as though destiny or the heavens has given them a better emperor.
Classical Chinese culture was rectified immensely by Confucianism. Words that used to symbolize ideals were not taken seriously until the Confucian movement applied morality and absolutism into society. The result was a strong hierarchical culture where everyone knew their duties and complied with society’s demands. The political body was a ruling system based on morals and intellect, having the people who deserved to be part of it instead people who are chosen because of nepotism. Since this became a thriving culture, religion was not as important as being focused on the present situation of the empire. The Confucian system gave way to immense progress in Chinese culture, revolutionizing the concept of morality.

Bibliography

Confucius. The Analects. New York: Penguin Books, 1979

“The Chinese Civil Service Exam” in Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader Third Edition ed. Kevin Reilly. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007