First, as an introduction into Confucius’ life of cultivation we wish to contrast Confucianism and Daoism. It’s important the reader understands the fundamental facts of these two coexisting ideas/practices, which influenced Asia and to a lesser degree people throughout the world. It was best said by an unknown author: “Daoism and Confucianism are like night and day, two basic philosophies that have ruled over Chinese culture and mindset over thousands of years, giving its adherents, the largest population block in the world, a distinctive completeness. The differences lay in the attitude towards life, with one more structured and socially oriented and the other yielding and nature oriented. Confucianism is a secular religion that focuses on the conduct and practices
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She wrote that Confucianism, “although characterized as a system of social and ethical philosophy, is in reality a system built on an ancient religious foundation to establish social values, institutions, and transcendent ideals of traditional Chinese society,” that is, a system that modern scholars would call a “civil religion.”
The founder of Confucianism, Master Kung Fu-Tzu, known in western society as Confucius and named Chiu Chung-Ni by his parents, was born in the state of Ku, which is known today as Shandong province. He lived between 551 B.C. and 479 B.C. During his lifetime, Confucius was a teacher of history, a low and high-level public official and, in his later life, wandered for 12 years with a few of his disciples from place to place. Confucius described his own lifetime, as recorded in the Analects, 2:4:
“At fifteen I set my heart on learning. At thirty, I was firmly established. At forty, I had no more doubts. At fifty, I knew the will of heaven. At sixty, I was ready to listen to it. At seventy, I could follow my heart’s desire without transgressing what was
She wrote that Confucianism, “although characterized as a system of social and ethical philosophy, is in reality a system built on an ancient religious foundation to establish social values, institutions, and transcendent ideals of traditional Chinese society,” that is, a system that modern scholars would call a “civil religion.”
The founder of Confucianism, Master Kung Fu-Tzu, known in western society as Confucius and named Chiu Chung-Ni by his parents, was born in the state of Ku, which is known today as Shandong province. He lived between 551 B.C. and 479 B.C. During his lifetime, Confucius was a teacher of history, a low and high-level public official and, in his later life, wandered for 12 years with a few of his disciples from place to place. Confucius described his own lifetime, as recorded in the Analects, 2:4:
“At fifteen I set my heart on learning. At thirty, I was firmly established. At forty, I had no more doubts. At fifty, I knew the will of heaven. At sixty, I was ready to listen to it. At seventy, I could follow my heart’s desire without transgressing what was