Confucianism

A detailed Summary of Confucianism

Is man naturally good or is he evil? This question has not only been pondered by countless philosophers, but also by religious leaders around the world. Most often a single religious faith believes in either one or the other, and often these beliefs tend to create a certain world-view which dictates much of the faith. However, in some cases such as the one I will be discussing, two religious dignitaries do not agree and the repercussions of this can be found throughout the religion. The two men are Mencius, an early pupil of Confucius and Hsun Tzu, a later follower of the same faith. Mencius believed that each man, born of woman, would be naturally good and Hsun Tzu believed almost the complete opposite. Through Mencius and Hsun Tzu's differing beliefs on human nature a completely different world view was formed for each and it's effect on their ideas and more importantly a young religion were apparent.

Before venturing into the essay, however, I would like to consider where this religion originated, and the meanings for it's existence as to better equip us to understand it's views. Confucianism as a religion was founded by Confucius, a man. It involves no superior beings other th

After distinguishing between world views one must now consider where these world views take the religion. As Confucianism deals often with how governments should be run, and what steps should be taken to ensure a good ruling class, that is an excellent place to start. When discussing the class structure of China Hsun Tzu commented on a system which was loosely based on something we would now call an aristocracy, ruling by the best. While he didn't challenge too many King's outright he did, however, state that those who are seen to be good and have potential should be immediately be lifted up to their potential status and those that didn't should not have time wasted on them. While Mencius said, during a conversation with speaking to King Hsuan of Ch'i;

In Conclusion, the works of Mencius and Hsun Tzu drastically altered how many people though of the Confucian tradition and how governments of the time were run. By the end of their lives Confucianism was a strong and stable religion that has survived even up to now, and it's beliefs continue to grow as the world does. Influential speakers like this show various parallels to saints and profits in the Catholic faith and maybe even miniature representations of Gods in faiths like Hinduism. Their impact was at least as large as any of those. Footnotes

From this one must ask, how can a man become corrupted In Mencius' view and how can a man can become righteous in Hsun Tzu's view? Mencius discussed the story of Ox Mountain, at one point the mountain was full of trees and alive, but day in and day out animals from the area came and grazed and ate all the life that was there, eventually the Mountain was bare again. This Mencius connects to man's good nature. He says that man, while born good, is constantly picked at by humanity. Every day he is confronted with the easy path, the wrong path and will every day be effected by it. Mencius believes man must observe the ritual's and work at keeping his humanity sharp. Therefore creating the bad where there was good. Now on the other hand Hsun Tzu says "Goodness is the result of conscious activity" in essence that only if a man is consciously aware of his nature and fights it constantly can he possibly become good. By fighting his nature Hsun Tzu is saying man must be instructed by a teacher, learn the right path and observe the proper ritual's. Both here lead to the same end. Both Mencius and Hsun Tzu teach that the only way to preserve/achieve goodness in man is through teachers (sages, former Kings) or through ethical forms of behaviors.

He becomes a true King by bringing peace to the people..."

While Mencius and Hsun Tzu had largely differing ideas their effects on the growth and understanding of Confucianism were apparent. Mencius himself through his teachings greatly expanded on what his mentor, Confucian, had said. He stuck with the main ideas but allowed his information to travel and wrote work from Confucian and his own articles on many issues related to Confucian beliefs. Some may argue that Hsun Tzu's impact was equally important. Hsun Tzu, through his teac

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Approximate Word count = 2082
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

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