What are the basic beliefs of Confucius?

Answer 1

In the Chinese culture, Confucianism can be thought of as the main religion and within this religion The First Teacher was Kung Fu-Tzu. Confucius was born in 551 BC to a poor family in the Shantung province and was raised primarily by his mother. As he got older he tired to get into government positions because he had many good ideas he wished to put in place but instead never got the chance and ended up being a tutor. It wasn't till he was in his 50's that he traveled around to different states and tried to give his advice to rulers; who in turn disregarded his counsel. He eventually returned home but was now too old to get into office and a few years later in 479 BC he died. Although it seems as though he may not have made a difference he was one of the greatest teachers of his age and was like a "one-man university" according to Smith.

When Confucius died is when people began to glorify him, for he had many disciples while he was living and his popularity soon spread. One of the greatest problems that Confucius faced while trying to share his ideals and values with government was the anarchy. There was much political unrest in that time frame and many people just wanted to know how they could "keep from destroying" their selves. Before Confucianism, China had been ruled by tradition and within this tradition no laws were formulated that planned for education of the masses and the ways of their "group expectations" made children internalize traditions. It wasn't until Confucius had come and gone that his teachings began to look appealing and understandable to the masses.

When China realized they couldn't simply be ruled by tradition they had a problem on their hands; and that was: what will we be ruled by? This is when enlightenment began to make sense to them and when they began looking back on Confucius' teachings to see what his perspective was on things.

Here are some of the things that Confucianism taught. He taught that when societies operate under laws and are punished by authorities within these laws then people will generally conform to the laws, and often times do this without even understanding the rationale behind it. Confucius promoted another way: to internalize behaviors so that actions are controlled beforehand. That way people will behave properly because they wish to avoid shame instead of simply doing it because they were told to; hence it becomes personal and they wish to uphold morale law within themselves and society will most likely be a better society this way. So, in theory, the result is a reduction of the number of coercive laws required for smooth functioning within the society. Today in China, Confucius' teachings are still shared in the public school setting and children learn his ideals and ways of thinking.

Answer 2

filial piety, respect overall......

inner beauty.....

The great ultimate or Tao (generates Yon and Yang) and so on.......

-Te lol