ASIAN 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Veneration Of The Dead, Filial Piety, The Good Feeling
ASIAN 101 - CONFUCIANISM
Confucianism and Daoism
• Confucius (559-479 BCE)
o Kong Qiu: his given name
o Kongzi: “master”
o Kong Fuzi: “grandmaster” / “great master”
o Came from a poorer family, not poorest
o Father died when he was young
o Tried to have a career in govt. (interested in politics and organization
of society)
o Revered as a master teacher, somewhere between 72-3,000 students
(in other words a lot of people were interested)
o Born towards the end of the Zhou Dynasty
▪ Saw the rulers as not doing the right thing
▪ Thought that they were not performing rituals properly
• Confucianism
o 2nd century: this became the official religion of China
o Ideas have taken root in east asia
o Desire of organized central government
o Emphasis on education and self-betterment
o Emphasis on morality
o Respect towards elders
• Zhou Dynasty (1100-221 BCE)
o Small territory compared to the current People’s Rep. of China
o “Golden period of feudalism”
o Mandate of Heaven: heaven had declared that they were the
designated rules; blessed
▪ Declared that the previous dynasty had the Mandate of Heaven,
but lost it because they were not pleasing in their rule
o Son of Heaven: title of the Zhou King
▪ Mediated between heaven and earth
▪ Agreed to provide good, moral government
▪ If he did not do this (^), then the mandate would be taken away
from him
▪ On the summer and winter solstices, would hold rituals
o Rituals
▪ Helped to maintain social order, reinforce the hierarchy
between the king and commoners/noblemen
▪ Altar to the God of Soil (West Gate)
▪ Altar to the Ancestors (East Gate)
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