Where did the religion Confucianism come from?

Answer 1

Answer 1: Confucianism started-out not as a religion, but as a Chinese set of ethical and philosophical beliefs, based on the work and writings of a Chinese philosopher named "Confucius," who lived from around 551 BC to around 479 BC.

Under the Han Dynasty, from 206BC to 220AD, Confucianism took on some both metaphysical and cosmological elements, and so became more at least akin to an actual religion; plus, Confucious, himself, was a believer in Chinese folk religion, which affected his writings. However, in its purest form, Confucianism is humanistic and non-theistic, and so involves no supernatural being or diety.

For many centuries, Confucianism (or it, mixed with Buddhism and/or Taoism) was the official ideology of the Chinese state; that is, until 1912 and the establishment of the Republic of China. At that point, it was replaced by the both Confucian- and religion-free "Three Principles of the People" ideology, which then continued into the period of "Maoist Communism" and the establishment of the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and 1960s. When Mao and his government fell out of favor in the late 1970s, Confucianism made a slight comeback, but not like in the past.

Down through the centuries, many controversies have surrounded Confucianism, ranging from governance, to Islam's influence on it, to how it thinks of and treats women, to how it should be classified, to how its texts should be translated, and more.

Today, few claim to be "Confucian," and Confucianism is largely the purview of academia... often viewed more as adjunct to other secular belief systems (democracy, capitalism, etc.), and non-secular religions (Buddhism, mostly; and some Taoism; but also Islam and even Christianity).

Answer 2

Confucianism originated in China from the teachings of Confucius (551-479 BCE), an influential Chinese philosopher and educator. It emphasizes moral and ethical behavior, social harmony, and proper governance based on the principles and values taught by Confucius.