The Influence of Confucianism

1、The Influence of Confucianism on Chinese Political CultureAbstractConfucianism is the dominate culture in ancient China. About two thousand years ago,it was firstly put forward. And in the long history of China, it had been developing and completing, and gradually had an great influence not only on

2、our countrys politics but also dominated the nations culture, affected the societys custome. Still, in todays China, Confucianism has a powerful influence. It had become embodied in Chinese political culture and had enabled the Chinese people to create such a splended culture and survive all the per

3、ils forever.Key Words:Confucianism; Political Culture; Chinese CultureConfucianism , a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of Confucius, who was the most influential and respected philosopher in Chinese history. His ideas are the strongest influences on Chinese soci

4、ety from past till nowadays,especially his politic thoughts. Confucian creative ideas produced deep influence on later political theories, activities, and culture.1 The brief introduction of Confucianism and Chinese Political Culture.1.1 ConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophica

5、l system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius ( "Master Kong", 551 478 BC.Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han Dynast

6、y. Following the abandonment of Legalism in China after the Qin Dynasty, Confucianism became the official state ideology of China, until it was replaced by the "Three Principles of the People" ideology with the establishment of the Republic of China, and then Maoist Communism.There are fiv

7、e main tenets of Confucianism :On humanityHumanity is the mainifestation of the genuine nature,acting in accordance with rite and based upon sympany for others.It is pressed both in positive and negative forms.In the positive aspest , " The man of humanity wishing to beestablished himself . see

8、k also to establish others ,wishing to be developed himself,he also to develop others" (Analect.In the negative aspect,the man of humanity should not do to others what he would not wish done to himself.On riteRite,in Chinese,it is “ li ” ,that it s “ politeness ” or “ courtesy ” ,the entire bod

9、y of usage and customs , political and institution.Rectification of names It meant that everything should be in its proper order,and every man should be true to his name and act rules of a son- to be filial to his parents,and a father should act according to rules of a father-to be benevolent to his

10、 children.Doctrine of the meanIt eans all things connected with man should strick the proper,and should not go beyond or fall short of it.For example ,courage is the due mean between cowardice and rashness;modesty is the due mean between impudence and bashfulness.On heaven and the spiritKong Zi was

11、deeply religious by nature ,and had a firm belief in the one suepreme, all ruling., and personal god whom called Heaven. 1.2 Politicical culturePoliticical culture is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but al

12、so applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.Important military and political figures in modern Chinese history attached to Confucianism, lik

13、e the Muslim warlord Ma Fuxiang. The New Life Movement relied heavily on Confucianism. Military and political classes on the Kuomintang's Three principles of the people were added. Textbooks, exams, degrees and educational instructors were all controlled by the state, as were all universities. N

14、umerous opinions and interpretations of Confucianism of which many are actually opposed by Confucianism were invented.2 The Influence on Chinese Political CultureConfucianism have influences on form of government, party system and foreign policy of China , I will prove through the contents and analy

15、ses of the major doctrine and historical fact.2.1 on form of governmentChina is one system of people's congresses,National Peoples Congress and local peoples congresses at all levels are formed through democratic election to the peopleand subject to the supervision of the people.From the doctrin

16、es of Confucianism, the emperor should rein with benevolence, and the people should who subject to him should respect his and overthrow the regime when the emperor lacks “ren”.2.2 On party systemChina only have a party system.The concept of the goodness of human nature helps to form the concentratio

17、n of political power. The principle of feudal moral conduct of Confucianism has effect on political centralization. The hierarchy system deduced from Confucianism also contributes to political centralization2.3 On socialist systemFrom the view of cultural history, the humanity of Confucianism has a

18、common side with the humanitarianism of Marxism. It was said by Lenin that the world will not satisfy people, it is people who determined to change the world, or we can say that substance could be transformed into spirit and vice versa. Because that Confucianism place self-cultivation before changin

19、g the world, while Marxism place the changing of the world before self-cultivation, as we can see that neither of them are wrong, and in that perspective, Confucianism and Marxism are complementary.2.4 On foreign policyChina is peaceful and friendly diplomatic policy.Confucianism emphasizes the harm

20、ony and coordination between human and human, human and nature and human and society. It stresses that people should comply with nature keep moderate degree of the Doctrine of Mean . People should behave on the basis of people, and practice courtesy when get along with others. And it pays more attention to the pursuit of spiritual life, less attention to the material things .3 ConclusionIn todays society, Confucianism emphasizes the individual is subordinate t