Every time I hear you say "Ruism", the blood pressure I accumulated from having to hear "confusion-ism" year after year lowers a little. My health thanks you.
LOL SO TRUE speaking as a Korean This channel is like taking a blood pressure medication for all East Asians living in the West reading/listening to all kinds of stupid sh*t Westerners put out
Almost every restaurant and hotel I've been to in Vietnam has an altar for ancestor worship (key component of Confucianism). I always find it so touching because I would go into a business just to get some food or to get a room and there's an altar there. The altar shows the humanity of the business owners. Its especially touching considering all the difficult times Vietnamese people had to endure after the Vietnam war.
@@limitlesssky3050 more connected to zen buddhism. do not care about the past, do not care about the future, just burn brightly and give the best while u are at it.
@@Porfirio_Rubirosa we are at it while hoping to move towards the future. bushido doesnt care about that. thats one reason why they have suicidal tendencies.
A nice wide look into the many aspects and organizations that make up the Rujia. You touched on basically every important element and provided some interesting theories and ideas from the Western perspective as well. You are a treasure to this site, CJ.
Thank you very much. I have been eagerly awaiting this and I was not disappointed! I'll be using this in social media to spark discussions among my friends, and I hope others will as well. Maybe we can discuss where it went here? Thank you again!
Joseon Kingdom is so heavily influenced by Ruism that even Korean Banknotes contain pictures of Korean Ruism scholars like Yi Hwang, Yi I and Sin Sa Im Dang (Mother of Yi I)
So true. While Ruism in its bornplace China is pretty much devastated by the Cultural Revolution and CCP policies, Korea still manages to preserve this old dynasty's legacy even in this modern century. (Note: Only true in southern half of Korea. The North is all Jucheism cults now.)
Hi there, about the 2:16 "small movement that wants to make Confucianism a Religion in Indonesia" - it's not actually a religious movement, and not the same as the ones in US. It was actually a political move, when our 4th President Abdurrahman Wahid "recognized Confucianism as one of Indonesia's registered religions" back in 2000. But why? 1. Under the dictatorship of our 2nd President, Soeharto (1967-1998), the Chinese Indonesian minority was suppressed culturally. Up to the point they need to change their legal registered names into more "Indonesian-sounding names". This was a political move to give a sign that the era of the old dictatorship is over. The recognition of Confucianism was also given through the same Presidential Decree that sanctioned Chinese Lunar New Year as an annual national holiday. So you can see the political symbolism there too. 2. Throughout the 32 years of dictatorship of Soeharto, there was the requirement to register one's religion in their KTP (national identity card). Why? This was part of the anti-communism scare, since Soeharto was pro-US, and reminding people that people who don't register any religion in their card is an atheist, and as always in those cold war years, "atheist = communist". So many Chinese Indonesians were then forced to register as mostly Buddhists, or sometimes Christians / Catholics. So this recognition is also another signifier that the Chinese Indonesian minority don't need to falsify their registered belief any more. And despite these moves, just like most other countries in SE Asia, talking about Chinese-descendant minorities is still a sensitive, sometimes controversial issue even now, 23 years after the end of the dictatorship...
Indonesia is the only country in the world that recognize confucianism as religion. Even in China , they only recognize 5 religions Buddhism,daoism,islam,catholic and christianity.
@@felixchrist667 In China everyone is probably just assumed to be Confucian in some way, shape, or form there is no need to make it distinct when everyone is basically already a Confucian to some degree. Confucianism is so ingrained into Chinese culture that to make it a legally recognized religion would make it more exclusive rather than inclusive.
Tbh in my experience living in Java almost my whole life, I saw that Taoist temples were more popular compared to Confucian institute. The move of 'acknowledging' Confucianism is probably came from the general ignorance of Indonesian society on Chinese origin religion and philosophy.
The American founding fathers such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, and John Adams all were familiar with Confucius and many thought his teachings, to be extremely important and valuable for the new American republic. James Madison even hung a portrait of Confucius in the White House.
many countries have their own ultra-nationalists. In Korea, this kind of people are called "Hwanppa(환빠)", and often considered as follwers of cult or idiots by many ordinary Korean people. it is true that some ultra-nationalists saying "Confucius is a Korean" exist. But please, Do not think that their statement as the official opinion of all Korean.
@@junainoakuma Ancient Korean scholars believed that Cofucius was one of Ancestors of Korean, which was right ! In Chinese old history-- 史记 , the original Chosen kingdom ( 古朝鲜) was founded by royal emigrant from Shang dynasty (商代遺民 ), uncle 箕子 of the last emperor --- 纣王, reluctant to be ruled under 周‘s soverignty, led part of defeated 商people, moving eastward to penisula, and form a new dynasty called Chosen --- 朝鲜, meaning --- first place to get the morning sunlight ! And this name is just one Chinese character different with the capital of 商~ 朝歌, meaning : singing in the morning! Apparently, 商people liked morning very much!? Confucius's grandpa was from 宋, ~ feudal country for 商descendents by 周 emperor! And his ancestor was also from商 royal family , So, nothing wrong to say Cofucius is one of ancestor, or at least, relative of Korean! After 1945 dependece of Korean pennisula, both north and south Korean political soverignties started to cut history ties with China, and denied nearly all history relation with China ! Orinally commonly recognized ancestor--- 箕子, was replaced by a nythical character--- 檀君! And ethnical source was claimed to be only one ---- Korean ! Like what Japanese claimed earlier!
@Johnson Chu Can you name so-called "Ancient Korean Scholars" who claimed that Confucius was a ancester of Korean? Yeah, Many Joseon scholars thought 箕子 is their ancesor and very proud of that because ancinet Zhou周 Kingdom's value was brought by him, which was the ideal of Ruism ideology. But 箕子's connection to ancient joseon is considered as a just myth by modern historians. Moreover, None of Ancient Koreans did not claim that Confucious was a national ancester of Korean because of 箕子.
In Indonesia, Confucianism (id: Konghucu) has been recognized as one of seven country's official religions since 2000 to accommodate the rites and traditions of Chinese Indonesian descent. The four books and five classics are akin to the bible. They have their own place of worship and recognize the Rui philosophers (starting from Fu Xi to Confucian) as their prophets. They have their own creed as well (Ba Cheng Chen Gui).
In Indonesia, I only met real Confucianist devotee once. Yes, they use joss sticks. And the weird thing about them from us, typical Buddhist / Taoist / Chines folkist religious follower is, they use different numbers of joss sticks instead of our usual "lucky numbers" of 1, 3, 7, 9, or your western calendar birthday. My friend uses 2 joss sticks or 4 (East Asian taboo) of them, which is quite unheard of. And of course, the way they perform prayer rituals is also pretty unique but generally the same. You held the offerring and place it, and do the follow up gestures (usually namaskara wave), but this Confucianist uses the kowtow hand form instead of the Indian / Indonesian / Tibetan hand gesture.
Indonesia is the only country in the world that recognize confucianism as religion. Even in China , they only recognize 5 religions Buddhism,daoism,islam,catholic and christianity.
Great video! The debate as to whether or not Ruism is a religion is very complicated. Ancestor worship itself precludes a belief in some type of afterlife, and during the Shang dynasty this extended to the point of implying the existence of a "God" aka Shangdi. Over the centuries, Ruists have always venerated the sages such as the Duke of Zhou to the extent that they are quasi-divine, and, even today, students will sometimes pay their respects to a statue of Confucius at a Ruist temple before taking the Gaokao examination. If you ask students why they do this, many will say that it is for good luck. This places the practice clearly within the purview of religion. It is possible to construct a "secular" Ruism in the same way that many in the West practice "secular" Buddhism. But doing this relies on taking principles outlined in a key text and removing them from the actual context from which they emerged. The fact that this is possible with both Ruism and Buddhism is somewhat connected to their status as inclusive religions as opposed to exclusive. Yet if you actually went to the past, the practice of Ruism on the ground would be inseparably tied to religious practices and assumptions about the afterlife and divinity. The existence of Ruist temples themselves illustrates this.
I agree with you. Ruism arose out of the background of a religious society, and implies a set of objective morals meant to earn the favor a of higher power. The justification for why the ruler must rule justly under Confucian principles is precluded on the fact that he is answerable to a higher power. So while some pieces are interchangeable, it is not really possible to make Confucianism atheist or even deist since it implies that the higher power cares about what you do. However, you could use Confucian principles as a moral guide even if you are not religious, but that kind of ruins the reasoning as to why you were supposed to follow those principles in the first place.
Confuciunism is secular, but not an atheist philosophy. They believe in the mandate of heaven. They are secular because they discouraged for being overly reliance on Heaven, gods, the underworld and all others and just to live your life in accordance to Confucius teachings.
If the Pope have no problem accepting Latin American or Mexican version of rituals of ancestor veneration, he was unlikely object to the Chinese versions as well. I was struck how the Mexican day of the dead is similar to Qing Ming, except the Mexicans visit their graves and tombs at night while the Chinese does it in daytime.
Latin American don't worship their ancestors unlike Chinese They only pray for their ancestors safety unlike Chinese who ask their ancestors for guide Latin American ancestors ritual is more a kin to European counterparts who later incorporate native Rituals.
@@mimorisenpai8540 Not really. We already have folk gods for that. Ancestor worship in Asian societies is mainly about respect and the social pecking order - i.e. we respect senority and seniors. Asians don't expect the ancestors for anything like guidance. Maybe blessings like how you ask your grandfather or grandmother for blessing on something you undertake. You want to learn how to get rich, you worship and ask the God of Wealth for help, not your ancestors.
@@anikiace2253 Not really bro. The emperor has his own examination. The heaven will give him a low score by an earthquake or a famine . According to those 'scores', all people have their right to kill the emperor and choose a new one. The 'Legally-Revolution' is a major feature of Confucianism
@@TK-my7jg sorry bro, confucianists dont promote rebellions. they only do hindsight assessment after the previous leadership is overthrown. b4 that happens, they tend to be politically correct and support the current leadership. this is the main reason why confucianists were against reformation most of the time.
@21st Century Art that is a misinterpretation. were the powerful officials a legit thing? no. they were being criticised when they were alive, and even more so in historical records. in fact, the emperors who allowed this to happen, shared equally bad reputation in history. this is different from japan where such a system was more or less permanently established. u cant take the exceptions as the norm. in the confucianism structure (after han dynasty where confucianism is established), the govt is a centralised structure. it is different from european or japanese feudalism. this is the key difference. in europe or japan, it is a pyramid structure. the king/emperor at the top, the lords (dukes, counts, earls etc) in the middle, the peasants below. the peasants pay taxes to the lords, the lords in turn take a part of it and pay the king/emperor. if the king/emperor want to raise taxes, they have to go thru the lords, not directly at the peasants. the king's pocket money came from the lords, and they have no direct transaction with the peasants. therefore the lords esp the powerful ones, can officially influence or even manipulate the king. in ancient china, totally different. it is a hourglass structure. the emperor tax the ppl directly. the officials have no land or power, they are just in the tiny middle as subordinates of the emperor. the direct taxes belonged to the emperor, he is the boss. the officials are paid employees. they do not question the emperor, they are supposed to execute his orders dilligently. they can sometimes argue, but the final decision always lay in the emperor.'s hand if the emperor veto-ed them, there is nothing they cant do about it. it is the emperor's right. it's not like in europe/japan, where the powerful lords can confront and threaten the king/emperor with his men. the chinese official have no men and no fiefs of their own. this is one main reason why europe and japan can transform into parliament or constitutional monarchy, but the chinese struggled with that and eventually ended up with authoritarian govt, or worse, dictatorship. they have different traditions.
@21st Century Art what u said is itself an oversimplification. the difference btw tang taizong and emperor yongle is HUGE. taizong didnt went against a reigning emperor. it was a dispute with his brother, triggered by long-standing rivalry. he can argue that it happened on short notice and a matter of survival. yongle rebelled against a reigning emperor, he wasnt in personal danger. the emperor simply wanted to reduce his military strength. taizong didnt expand the purge other than wiping out his brothers' family and some die-hards. he was praised by both his enemies and his pals, becos he showed mercy, and some of the officials in the opposite camp actually became his right hand men. yongle basically wiped-out everyone in the opposite camp. he invented what the chinese called, killing off 10 lines of the family. and yongle didnt stop the killing there. he sort of went mad or obsessed towards the end of his reign, and his killing spree became unpredictable, spontaneous. he was praised becos all that opposed him were dead. only those that bow to him survived or were promoted. talking about simple presentations, lol. educate urself more instead of generalising stuff.
People only talks about Confusius moral teaching because Confucius/Kongzi and other pre-Qin-Dynasty scholars, many of them can be catagorized as Ruism or not depends on your definition of 儒, have left many words about politics that makes every highest ruler aka Emperor uncomfortable. So basically they don't really encourage people talking about these topics even nowadays. For example, When Mengzi (372-289 BCE) talked about regicide happened while Zhou replaced Shang dynasty, he said,: never heard any regicide (murder your king) back there, they just executed a man (implies an autocrat or tyrant no longer a legitimate king), that's all. 闻诛一夫纣矣，未闻弑君也。 It means people always have the right to rebel against a bad ruler in any necessary means. It deeply conflicts to the later emerged "Three fundamental bonds" that the loyalty/fidelity to your lord/king/father/husband is absolute, not conditioned. So, even these so called fundamental principals of Ruism may not be so fundamental, there are many different Ruisms if that's a legit word...
Could you do a follow up video on the difference between classical or historical Ruism, what's called "neo-Confucianism" and "New Confucianism" (the 20th century movement)? I know that's probably a huge topic but it's hard for an outsider to really understand what these schools of thought have in common and where they differ.
Actually, even that has a tradition in China. In the 18th century Chinese scholars said that Ruism and Islam are compatible and tried to systematize it
Roman Catholicism is not Christianity. It is a pagan Roman religion with biblical names. They replaced the authority of the Bible with the Popes[Antichrist, Man of Sin] and idols of Mary and dead people who have no power to save. It is the Whore of Babylon of Revelation 17.
Being an Korean I say, though Korean society and culture based on Confucianism, it tends to be considered as negative one more and more. Korean do not deny Confucianism has so much contributed modern economic progression but it's true that it also affected to authoritarianism throughout Korean society that dictatorship had abused to control its own citizens for a long time. The idea "忠" is one of the good example that government without righteousness always tries to use... Maybe Mencius would be so mad at this if he would have heard this. About 20 years ago, a scholar even wrote a book named "Killing Confucius"(exact name is "공자가 죽어야 나라가 산다"). Ironically, for many East Asian countries, this authoritarianism caused by Confucianism contributed to fight against pandemic situation.
you guys should try to change things instead of blaming Confucianism, that's very self-hating. Christianity also hindered science back then but they tried to change it instead of blaming it. Self-hating and white-worshiping are out of control in Asia.
@@user-ll8dj4kp5m Actually, it's hard to choose only positive aspect of particular culture. But yeah, it's definitely true that many Asian countries' cultural base is on Buddhism and Confucianism for so many years so people living in the area can see the negative aspect so easily.
I remember reading somewhere that Voltaire praised that we perfected moral sciences by having a meritocracy, I felt kinda embarrassed at the fact that we actually devolved into factionalism time to time, especially during Song dynasty, the scholars probably have the strongest political power in that era and we got a political feud where conservatives and reformists shoot down/enforce reforms even if they know some of them are good/bad (Wang Anshi's reform is a mixed bag). It's one of those “man, you guys are cool, your culture yadi yadi yadda” and you can only sweat and say “ha ha, yeah, yeah yeah” moment.
Well duh even the most meritorious are at the end only humans. Just because they are the most intelligent doesn't mean they are not selfish, greedy, overly ambitious and immoral.
It's also worth noting that, while Confucianism isn't a religion in the traditional sense, Confucius is actually worshipped in a different religion. Devotees of "Daojiao" Taoism (as opposed to "Daojia"), or traditional Chinese religion, practice the worship of their familial and cultural ancestors, especially the famous ones. They even have temples devoted to Confucius. So, a Confucian scholar would not worship Confucius, but a religious Taoist might.
Some say the origin of the word 儒 comes from the wizards or priests from the Shang dynasty because it's composed by 人(human)+需(need), from which 雨 is rain.So they were people who made rituals to pray for rain.Because back then, the wizards/diviners/priests etc had most of the knowledge, the term 儒's meaning changed to "scholar".Then Confucianism is the "scholar's teachings" (儒教).What do you think about this theory? Also, I suggest you to make a video about Shang dynasty too.
It is one possible theory, because at one time Confucius had a part time job as a sobbing man to appease the rain god. So practitioners of different philosophy within Hundred School of Thoughts used to use it in mocking manner. Like"heard you guys are agnostic but didn't your founder partake in ritual to appease rain god?(ritual included sobbing)" So the story goes.
thats just some modern christian org trying to link xtianity with ancient china. basically deconstructing chinese characters (esp modern simplified characters) without regard to ancient grammar rules.
@@deacudaniel1635 phonetic parts do not give any meanings to the word, and esp not being deconstructed into 'rain' to give extra meanings. see, this is the BS part in such 'modern' interpretation. this is akin to deconstructing words like 'beef' into 'be + ef' and 'be' means 'exist'. any true learner of english language will know it is BS.
@@deacudaniel1635 anyone who subscribe to such nonsense and spread it is likely a christain. this source of interpretation 1st came from xtian organisations, and they used simplified characters. after being mocked, then they try to use traditional characters instead. they are just a bunch of jokers.
First I am an agnostic so I've no fight in this and am only an observer but the blurriness of the religion-philosophy aspect is clear in the practice of Confucian rites. Though Kongzi made clear he did not have an opinion of religious matters, the practice of ancestor and Kongzi veneration asking for favors is clearly a religious practice e.g. excelling in taking your gaokao. You can remember and respect ancestors or exemplary persons without ritual. A dictionary definition of religion is "1: the belief in a god or in a group of gods" Likewise the definition of gods include: "2: a spirit or being that has great power, strength, knowledge, etc., and that can affect nature and the lives of people: one of various spirits or beings worshipped in some religions." Asking for favors from ancestors expecting them to "affect nature and the lives of people" is making them de facto gods. Sighting one form of religion (Catholicism) doesn't demonstrate conclusively that some aspects of Confuscianism are not religious in nature.
I think the main point was not to make a clear and conclusive judgment as to whether it is a religion or not, but to point out that there is debate in favor of both sides.
Asking favors from ancestors is such a relatively recent thing. Ancestral worship originates from honoring your ancestors or parents, it's not supposed to be a wish granting ritual. Heaven worship or Shang Di worship, now that's wish granting ritual.
@@danshakuimo I think OP mistook ancestral worship with heaven worship, because Confucius is also into heaven worship, recognition of heaven's mandate etc.
If superhuman or sacred things are the foundation stones of religion, then one must understand what is human and what is sacred. In Chinese, the creator 天 is written to be a person with an enlarged head, so the Chinese did not separate superhuman from human. As the Indian mystic Sadhguru puts it, it's not about being superhuman, it is about realising that being human is super. Human or superhuman are concepts of the mind, not reality itself, so are life and death. That's why when Confucius disciple Zilu (子路) asked about how to serve the spirits, Confucius replied "One who is not yet able to serve men, how would he be able to serve the spirits" and when the disciple again asked about death, Confucius replied, "Not yet knowing life, how would one know death". Confucianism is about knowing yourself, knowing life; knowing that being human is super.
@@Porfirio_Rubirosa The simple answer would be: the Creator is the Self, so it's self-created. Now the longer version: see, whatever a perceiver (such as yourself) perceives is the constituent of the perceiver. You perceive your hand for example, that hand is a part of you. But do heed that the perception of the hand is also just the air, the temperature, the light etc; that is to say, there isn't a hand existing apart from all the so-called external things that you perceive. The creator is just that everything is a part of him, that is, he perceives everything, hence, he is pure perception. When everything is within the perception, then there is just perception itself and nothing else. Hence perception, in substance, is self. The Creator is perception, you your Self is also perception, hence you your Self is the Creator. Now, this may sound outlandish, but if one reflect upon it profoundly, it may just be a simple truth. Take a look at your dreams, in those, there is you and everything else, you, in the dream, would not deem everything around you as creations manifested by the sleeping you, but it simply is. Same goes for when you are awake, you are just not awoken enough to realise that the entire existence is your creation. In the East, the source of creation; the Creator is taken to be Consciousness, and in Confucianism, particularly the "Mind School" (心學), that consciousness is called "Good Knowing" (良知) which is the source of morality and ontology.
@@Porfirio_Rubirosa In a way, if we are to convey any idea; form any concept of reality, then in words, one certainly could say that it is an illusion. But whether it is indeed real or imaginary is really irrelevant, since the gist of being is about reaping pleasantness, just as one prefer pleasant dreams instead of nightmares.
I would love to see a video on the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai. I’m kinda interested in how they are legendary and came from roughly the same time period if I remember correctly.
Good intro to Confucianism, though I think it would be even better if *Mencius* were at least briefly touched upon. He was to Confucianism what Saint Paul was to Christianity!
Crazy statement. The whole fabric of society will be ripped apart if patriarchy and matriarchy is disregarded. We'll be ;Ike animals, whereby the children and parents have no respect for one another. Incestism will be the norm and that's when we will cease to be humans.
@@ALIEN_857 You are exaggerating a little there, thinking that disrespecting parents will lead to incest. The statement I quoted was a reflecion on Kong Fuzi's idea that the primacy of gender roles should take priority even above familial ties. Now I do not agree with the statement, I just undertand it.
To me, that's the hardest Chinese classic to understand ever.I've read a translation and it doesn't make any sense.Maybe in original it is more logic idk...
I found it strange that paying respects to one's ancestors was considered idolatry but worshipping the Virgin Mary, saints and the visage of Cesare Borgia (which is used as an image of Christ Jesus) isn't considered idolatry. I guess things never change: rules for thee, not for me.
Roman Catholicism is not Christianity. It is a pagan Roman religion with biblical names. They replaced the authority of the Bible with the Popes[Antichrist, Man of Sin] and idols of Mary and dead people who have no power to save. It is the Whore of Babylon of Revelation 17.
Though this might be a niche topic, I was curious if you would perhaps make a video on 荀子 (Xunzi)? I find him to be a fascinating person, and he had some interesting different opinions on how Ruism should take shape - particularly on human nature. Also, he pretty much was considered through a large part of Chinese history to have been a controversial character, mainly due to having been a former teacher to Li Si and Han Fei Regardless, love the content as always
Indonesia is the only country in the world that recognize confucianism as religion. Even in China , they only recognize 5 religions Buddhism,daoism,islam,catholic and christianity.
@@junainoakuma 1. Yi sung gye - popular military caudillo like Napoleon 2. Jeong do geon - Trotsky 3. Yi bang won(son of 1.) - Stalin 4. Jo jun - Bukharin 5. Goryeo - Ancien Régime 6. Neo-confucianism - Marxism or Lumières 7. Buddhism - Russian church or Catholic 8. Shin don - Lasputin or former reformist 9. Goryeo's loyal family - Bourbon or Romanov I admit that it is not 100%, but it is quite similar to Russian or French revolution.
Nice video. What can or cannot be considered religion definitely depends one's cultural background. The Qing emperors banned Christianity from China because, they said, different peoples have different ways to worship Heaven. They didn't understand that Christianity was not about worshipping Heaven, but about saving souls. Pope Pius XII's position on Chinese ancestor worship is surprising, since he was a very conservative pope. He is the pope who excommunicated all the Communists, those who voted for them and even those who read Communist newspapers. It's an interesting paradox.
@@junainoakuma yes, but still there was a huge misunderstanding. The Qing position was one of cultural relativism. The Catholic preachers instead believed that their faith was the only true religion, and that those who didn't follow it were doomed to Hell. The two ideas are incompatible.
@@alessandrodelogu7931 I think about the ancestor thing it was presented as ancestor veneration, which is similar to the Catholic practice of venerating saints. However veneration and worship are different things so maybe the Pope was ok with it as long as you were not worshipping your ancestors, just like they don't worship Mary. Meanwhile in Communism (not sure about the original, but at least in how many countries interpreted it) it implies that there is no God and religion was considered something to be destroyed. And in support of the Qing argument (not their actions), idk if you could really say Christianity is not about worshipping Heaven (understood as the Christian God) even if saving souls is an integral part of it. Is saving souls not a form of worship in of itself?
Yeah. In practice after the death of the father, the mother rule the roost. Since men naturally died earlier than women, it is more like an aged based power sharing system. A combination of gerontocracy/patriarchy if you will.
@@CoolHistoryBros I think I read that Confucianism wasn't so keen on women and prefer them to be obedient while children attitude is seen but not heard. Also Confucians prefer men to fight with a pen than with sword so they also look down on all militarism as well and think it is "barbaric". Still in Chinese culture and norm, no one dare to go against their mom as she is supposed to be your elder, woman or not.
I think you can compare it to how Christianity was practiced in Europe, really. Jesus talked about giving the other cheek, but there were so much war even between fellow Christians back then. LOL! What was written and what was practiced are usually very different things.
@@CoolHistoryBros talk about Jesus.. Mohist are basically the Chinese Jesus. He want to spread love and peace between your fellow human during Warring State and also they focus alot on science and invention over superstition. Although they want peace they also are said to be great at commanding military and would basically turn the tide on the losing side by using defence doctrine. Sadly alot of their knowledge are gone, only a book about how to make protective walls survived. Many years ago there was a historical manga called BOKKO which later become a movie few years earlier called Battle of Wits
And then most people, particularly the older generation in my country disregard all the other stuff Confucius preached and talk only about filial piety and respecting your elders. Basically forcing only those parts that benefit them down our throats. There's a section of the population that really, really hates Confucianism/Ruism due to this.
That is the same issue I have with just about every single institution. There are those, banking in on our ignorance, who would twist words to benefit them over you. They've done it to religion, they've been doing it to law, and now they're doing it to academia as well. The key to avoid this is knowledge; know your shit and you will have power for yourself.
We have that problem in America with Fundamentalist Christianity. All the worst heresies are praised while the actual positive teachings of Jesus are disparaged.
People forgot that that while sons, wives and the king’s subject have a duty towards their parents, husbands and the king, they too have obligations and duties vice versa. The person in charge have the duty to be benevolent to their subjects and look after their welfare first and foremost before themselves. There is a social contract. Mencius says it best: while a King floats above a placid body of water on a boat, the King do well remember that the water could easily upturn the boat if the weather changes.
@@Porfirio_Rubirosa That is the principal. That is why Emperors are checked Confucian trained ministers and civil servants that constantly reminded the Emperor about the risk of losing the mandate of heaven by breaking the code.
I am an amateur student of philosophy. I take an interest because I am a Catholic, and it is part of my heritage to want to apply y religion through reason. The big names in Catholic philosophy are of of course Aquinas who gets his theory from Aristotle. I think Confucius has one thing over the entire Western philosophical tradition, to which otherwise I think he is at least an equal: he is pithy. Just trying to say the Nicomachean Ethics makes me feel tired. Greek philosophy is very long winded. The Four Books are shorter than the Book of Sirach. Confucius, Mencius, and Kong Tsi (and I forget who wrote the Doctrine of the Mean) get straight to the point instead of meandering around things they don't mean to teach.
I grew up Catholic, discarded it and Christianity because of the arrogance, greed, and perversion all sects are guilty of. In college I was given a copy of the Analects of Kung Fu Zi to read. I was converted in just months.
It would make more sense to interpret "从" in "三从" as "maximize his gain". So before marriage, a girl should maximize her father's gain. After marriage, a woman should maximize her husband's gain. After her husband dies, a woman should maximize her son's gain while the son may not be hers but from a concubine of her husband. "三从四德" denies that a woman has her own interest. She could only act toward the interests of her father, her husband and her son, often at the cost of having her own interest overlooked or violated. Her father and husband can sell her to other people or into slavery. Her husband can rent her out to other men. She is obliged to look after the children from the concubines of her husband. If her husband has no son, the brother(s) of her husband can take the family fortune away, since a woman can't hold properties on her own.
A man also has their own obligations, in fact a son's responsibility is to have children, whether you want to or not. A husband's responsibility is to take care of your family, is selling your wife constitutes taking care of your family? No. A brother's responsibility is to take care of your other brother's family. Especially in a rural farming household, can the weaker woman even take care of the family farm without a male? Maybe in modern times but not back then. A father's responsibility is to take care of your children and think of what's best for them? Is selling your daughters constitute taking care of your kids? No. Is it possible that the more wealthy husband that the father choose for the daughter somehow abusive? Well yeah the father is not god. You are biased against Confucian philosophy, thinking that a woman are doomed to be sold by the husband and parents while in fact a good Confucian scholar will not be allowed to mistreat the woman.
@@limitlesssky3050 But men can choose not to fulfil the obligations. They can do so without consequences. Women can't. That's the difference between a human and a tool: humans have choices while tools don't. Women are treated as tools since they don't have a choice. The problem with this kind of system is that it doesn't have provisions if some man don't follow the rules. It naively assumes that every man would do the right thing and doesn't see the need to prescribe the punishment for not doing so. On the other hand, those 'good scholars' are very keen on keeping the 'good' behaviours of women, indoctrinating women in the rules for women and tossing out punishments when women don't comply. When a women suffers, the 'good scholars' may not be the direct abusers, but they are the ones that put the shackles on women's bodies and minds. Why should it be the father that chooses a husband for his daughter? A father is not god. In terms of ability, he can't know it all and can't be sure the man is right for his daughter. In terms of moral, he may not have the best interest of his daughter in heart when he chooses the man. He may choose the man because he would gain political alliance from the man's family. Some men today like to praise the 'good behaviours' of the women in ancient time. Just like slaves are the best workers from the perspective of a business owner, women in ancient time are nothing but slaves to the system. No wonder they are the best women in some men's eyes.
儒家is a system of philosophical and ethical ideas that form the cornerstone of the family, society and nation. It's not a religion. The Chinese belief some sort of order is necessary in all the three units of humanity.
No. They have always been Ruists all the way up to today. They have just been misinterpreted by the West all this time and modern Sinologists want to change that.
As a Chinese i have to say Confucian influenced everyone and every areas in China. Fox example , "party" in our country's history used to a negative word, it means a group of people unit just for their or some people's interests. And many time we failed or collapse because of parties conflicts which those parties cant work together just for fight each other then the country cant work. Like Ming Dynasty, party conflicts made Ming collapsed
Confucianism applies to civil servants, officials Taoism applies to leaders, decision makers, also known as imperialism Zhuangzi, Zen is suitable for ordinary people.
I feel like any good definition for religion would exclude the question of deities as belief in a deity /-ies is already the concept of theism which can be embedded in a religion but does not need to be. Good examples can be different kinds of animism etc that all have moralities, rituals, even stories for afterlifes or rebirth but don't have things that fit the definition of a deity.
*The Europeans looked at Confucianism as very confusing...and sub-standard...when compared to the more traditional...and logical Ancient Greek Philosophy...so...Western Scholars...at first...meant to name such a "school of thought" as "chinese ConfuSionism"(A strategy of maintaining confusion in the minds and preventing objective analysis.)but later on accepted it as we know today...Nevertheless...it still controversial...as the author of the present vlog said...from now on it will be called "Ruism"...(that in Latin "Ruir and Ruere" can be understood as decadent...*
"Anything which they have witnessed their parents doing becomes a sport to their minds. They don't think that their parents would be proud of them if they find a NEW way to non-forcefully cause others to respect them. Which region am I describing?" Is there any doubt that it becomes obvious who's a colonizer when you say that? Knowing that freedom may or may not be the only thing which cannot have an illusionary version, is there any doubt that infinite discipline is the only key to the freedom of the mind? Is there any doubt that there cannot be an alternate freedom just as equally as there cannot be an illusionary freedom?
If something controls in belief system, that's religion. The religion belief and controls individual human mind due to their teachings, So, you are wrong! 00:15 *If something controls out of individual freedom, personal belief system, anything could called it in belief system and it's a ways of religion and yes, it is religion.
But to me it is implied that the moral values of Confucianism are objectively moral, and that fact hinges on the fact that there is a higher power that cares whether you are moral or not. But then again you could argue it is a religion only to a degree to which an agnostic is religious, which still basically just saying it's not a religion.
The Chinese naver gave their heroes anyplace in history and the kings always do their best to destroy such name, it was all about the royal family or the so called gods of deities
confucianism IS a religion. a religion has 3 or 4 major characteristics. a creator god (tale) or a founder, a set of rituals and teachings, a congregation of followers, and an afterlife narrative. confucianism has all these characteristics. in ancient china it was parallel with taoism and buddhism and collectively known as 三教 or 3 teachings/religions. the name confucianism is actually not wrong. even thou the name 'ru' exist b4 confucius, he was the one to turn it into a systematic sch of thoughts. so this school can be attributed to him. b4 him there was no strict definition of 'ru' or scholars. he was the one who refined it. confucianism has its own god/gods/deities. the main god is heaven or 昊天上帝, an impersonal god. and confucianists promotes divine right of kings, called the heavenly mandate. rulers who are fit to rule are said to have earned the heavenly mandate, and the ruler is therefore the son of heaven. the original confucianism during confucius' time might not have displayed strong religious traits, but once it became the state philosophy during early han dynasty around 100BC, it is mixed with soothsaying and divination, which were popular then, and it became a state religion as well.
So , supposedly, master Ruists roamed from region to region in ancient China , supported by shadowy networks of disgruntled and embittered peasants that kept their mouths shut. Corrupt judges and various officials, overly confident in their despicable machinations , were lured into one deadly trap after another. Then appropriated monies and valuables disappeared from the lavish homes of parasitic, lying , deceitful creeps. Peace and harmony restored in such areas , inquiries later could find no cooperation from locals , who had erected humble but comprehensive defenses and barriers of various kinds , and presented a unified front to answer. Of course, there are variations of these accounts. Ruism as a popular form of regional justice and contempt of corruption disappeared in the era of Mao Zedong.
Confucianism generally played the same role as Christianity in the West. They both regulate how people should think and act. They are both important part of state apparatus (for the cynics, the part that keep people in line and easy to lord over.) The difference is Christianity allows windows of individualism, and those windows blossomed into liberation movements. Many bloody wars were thought over liberation of the individuals. So that wasn't easy at all. Confucianism allows no such windows. There are no individuals within a Confucian society, beyond one's obligation to serve the state/emperor/parents.
what you are saying is only a stereotype of outsider looking at Confucianism trying to dehumanizing Asian people. The relationship and responsibility with others is only a small part of the teachings. If there is no individual, why do Chinese constantly have internal wars where everyone tries to claim the mandate. It's so stupid that even now the west still stereotypes Asian as "they are all the same", "life is cheap in Asia". In fact, Asian have different individuals and diversed personalities.
My brother ordered my mom to pick up his dry cleaning. He no longer exists.
RIP!
LOL ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅎㅌㅎㅊㅌㅊㅌㅌ
u performed ritual for him?
Lol
OMG
"He who attends to his greater self becomes a great man, and he who attends to his smaller self becomes a small man"
- Mengzi (孟子)
Every time I hear you say "Ruism", the blood pressure I accumulated from having to hear "confusion-ism" year after year lowers a little. My health thanks you.
儒-ism 😉
LOL SO TRUE speaking as a Korean
This channel is like taking a blood pressure medication for all East Asians living in the West reading/listening to all kinds of stupid sh*t Westerners put out
Almost every restaurant and hotel I've been to in Vietnam has an altar for ancestor worship (key component of Confucianism). I always find it so touching because I would go into a business just to get some food or to get a room and there's an altar there. The altar shows the humanity of the business owners. Its especially touching considering all the difficult times Vietnamese people had to endure after the Vietnam war.
yeah that's the biggest commonality between southern china and vietnam
Fascinating to see how empiricism and rationalism developed in East Asia compared to Western Europe.
Wow, I've never heard of Ruism before. So interesting!!! I'm Japanese, but I'd love to learn more about East Asian History as a whole.
in japan 陽明學 is the more common name of confucianist teachings.
I think Bushido comes from Neo Confucianism.
@@limitlesssky3050 more connected to zen buddhism. do not care about the past, do not care about the future, just burn brightly and give the best while u are at it.
@@Porfirio_Rubirosa we are at it while hoping to move towards the future.
bushido doesnt care about that. thats one reason why they have suicidal tendencies.
@@zhua2964 拜托，唯心主義的咚咚就不要拿來蹭現代科學。碰巧懞到不等於陽明學有多正確。這種説法，等於是先看了答案再解題的僞科學。虧你還是工科生。
Will we have a video on the Chinese Imperial Examination? It sounds so interesting to say the least!
A nice wide look into the many aspects and organizations that make up the Rujia. You touched on basically every important element and provided some interesting theories and ideas from the Western perspective as well.
You are a treasure to this site, CJ.
Thank you very much. I have been eagerly awaiting this and I was not disappointed! I'll be using this in social media to spark discussions among my friends, and I hope others will as well. Maybe we can discuss where it went here? Thank you again!
Joseon Kingdom is so heavily influenced by Ruism that even Korean Banknotes contain pictures of Korean Ruism scholars like Yi Hwang, Yi I and Sin Sa Im Dang (Mother of Yi I)
So true. While Ruism in its bornplace China is pretty much devastated by the Cultural Revolution and CCP policies, Korea still manages to preserve this old dynasty's legacy even in this modern century. (Note: Only true in southern half of Korea. The North is all Jucheism cults now.)
The Joseon Kingdom's entire ideology was the revival of "Ruism" over Buddhism that dominated the Koryo era
Only heard of Confucianism . This is d most informative piece in your incredible collection yo
Hi there, about the 2:16 "small movement that wants to make Confucianism a Religion in Indonesia" - it's not actually a religious movement, and not the same as the ones in US.
It was actually a political move, when our 4th President Abdurrahman Wahid "recognized Confucianism as one of Indonesia's registered religions" back in 2000. But why?
1. Under the dictatorship of our 2nd President, Soeharto (1967-1998), the Chinese Indonesian minority was suppressed culturally. Up to the point they need to change their legal registered names into more "Indonesian-sounding names". This was a political move to give a sign that the era of the old dictatorship is over. The recognition of Confucianism was also given through the same Presidential Decree that sanctioned Chinese Lunar New Year as an annual national holiday. So you can see the political symbolism there too.
2. Throughout the 32 years of dictatorship of Soeharto, there was the requirement to register one's religion in their KTP (national identity card). Why? This was part of the anti-communism scare, since Soeharto was pro-US, and reminding people that people who don't register any religion in their card is an atheist, and as always in those cold war years, "atheist = communist". So many Chinese Indonesians were then forced to register as mostly Buddhists, or sometimes Christians / Catholics. So this recognition is also another signifier that the Chinese Indonesian minority don't need to falsify their registered belief any more.
And despite these moves, just like most other countries in SE Asia, talking about Chinese-descendant minorities is still a sensitive, sometimes controversial issue even now, 23 years after the end of the dictatorship...
Indonesia is the only country in the world that recognize confucianism as religion. Even in China , they only recognize 5 religions Buddhism,daoism,islam,catholic and christianity.
So Ruism is more popular in Indonesia than China itself??? 😎😎😎 I wonder religion always trapped in politics all this time
@@felixchrist667 In China everyone is probably just assumed to be Confucian in some way, shape, or form there is no need to make it distinct when everyone is basically already a Confucian to some degree. Confucianism is so ingrained into Chinese culture that to make it a legally recognized religion would make it more exclusive rather than inclusive.
Tbh in my experience living in Java almost my whole life, I saw that Taoist temples were more popular compared to Confucian institute. The move of 'acknowledging' Confucianism is probably came from the general ignorance of Indonesian society on Chinese origin religion and philosophy.
@@andia968 because Ruism is not a religion in China.
The American founding fathers such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, and John Adams all were familiar with Confucius and many thought his teachings, to be extremely important and valuable for the new American republic. James Madison even hung a portrait of Confucius in the White House.
...and if anyone is wondering, no, there is no "Korean expert" saying "Confucius is from Korea." **roll eyes**
If there happen to be a random Korean believing that Confucius is Korean origin, that person will be considered an idiot by other Koreans.
many countries have their own ultra-nationalists. In Korea, this kind of people are called "Hwanppa(환빠)", and often considered as follwers of cult or idiots by many ordinary Korean people. it is true that some ultra-nationalists saying "Confucius is a Korean" exist. But please, Do not think that their statement as the official opinion of all Korean.
@@junainoakuma Ancient Korean scholars believed that Cofucius was one of Ancestors of Korean, which was right !
In Chinese old history-- 史记 , the original Chosen kingdom ( 古朝鲜) was founded by royal emigrant from Shang dynasty (商代遺民 ), uncle 箕子 of the last emperor --- 纣王, reluctant to be ruled under 周‘s soverignty, led part of defeated 商people, moving eastward to penisula, and form a new dynasty called Chosen --- 朝鲜, meaning --- first place to get the morning sunlight !
And this name is just one Chinese character different with the capital of 商~ 朝歌,
meaning : singing in the morning!
Apparently, 商people liked morning very much!?
Confucius's grandpa was from 宋, ~ feudal country for 商descendents by 周 emperor!
And his ancestor was also from商 royal family ,
So, nothing wrong to say Cofucius is one of ancestor, or at least, relative of Korean!
After 1945 dependece of Korean pennisula, both north and south Korean political soverignties started to cut history ties with China, and denied nearly all history relation with China ! Orinally commonly recognized ancestor--- 箕子, was replaced by a nythical character--- 檀君!
And ethnical source was claimed to be only one ---- Korean !
Like what Japanese claimed earlier!
@@johnsonchu5695 This is the example of ultra-nationalism.
@Johnson Chu Can you name so-called "Ancient Korean Scholars" who claimed that Confucius was a ancester of Korean?
Yeah, Many Joseon scholars thought 箕子 is their ancesor and very proud of that because ancinet Zhou周 Kingdom's value was brought by him, which was the ideal of Ruism ideology.
But 箕子's connection to ancient joseon is considered as a just myth by modern historians.
Moreover, None of Ancient Koreans did not claim that Confucious was a national ancester of Korean because of 箕子.
In Indonesia, Confucianism (id: Konghucu) has been recognized as one of seven country's official religions since 2000 to accommodate the rites and traditions of Chinese Indonesian descent. The four books and five classics are akin to the bible. They have their own place of worship and recognize the Rui philosophers (starting from Fu Xi to Confucian) as their prophets. They have their own creed as well (Ba Cheng Chen Gui).
Is it really a religion?
@@parisan9985philosopically religion
I learn so much from this channel!
good timing bro
I love this channel.
Many thanks for this very interesting videos! I only realized now how much I didn't know about Confucianism.
Magnificent explanation!
In Indonesia, I only met real Confucianist devotee once.
Yes, they use joss sticks. And the weird thing about them from us, typical Buddhist / Taoist / Chines folkist religious follower is, they use different numbers of joss sticks instead of our usual "lucky numbers" of 1, 3, 7, 9, or your western calendar birthday.
My friend uses 2 joss sticks or 4 (East Asian taboo) of them, which is quite unheard of. And of course, the way they perform prayer rituals is also pretty unique but generally the same. You held the offerring and place it, and do the follow up gestures (usually namaskara wave), but this Confucianist uses the kowtow hand form instead of the Indian / Indonesian / Tibetan hand gesture.
Indonesia is the only country in the world that recognize confucianism as religion. Even in China , they only recognize 5 religions Buddhism,daoism,islam,catholic and christianity.
Great video! The debate as to whether or not Ruism is a religion is very complicated. Ancestor worship itself precludes a belief in some type of afterlife, and during the Shang dynasty this extended to the point of implying the existence of a "God" aka Shangdi. Over the centuries, Ruists have always venerated the sages such as the Duke of Zhou to the extent that they are quasi-divine, and, even today, students will sometimes pay their respects to a statue of Confucius at a Ruist temple before taking the Gaokao examination. If you ask students why they do this, many will say that it is for good luck. This places the practice clearly within the purview of religion.
It is possible to construct a "secular" Ruism in the same way that many in the West practice "secular" Buddhism. But doing this relies on taking principles outlined in a key text and removing them from the actual context from which they emerged. The fact that this is possible with both Ruism and Buddhism is somewhat connected to their status as inclusive religions as opposed to exclusive. Yet if you actually went to the past, the practice of Ruism on the ground would be inseparably tied to religious practices and assumptions about the afterlife and divinity. The existence of Ruist temples themselves illustrates this.
I agree with you. Ruism arose out of the background of a religious society, and implies a set of objective morals meant to earn the favor a of higher power. The justification for why the ruler must rule justly under Confucian principles is precluded on the fact that he is answerable to a higher power. So while some pieces are interchangeable, it is not really possible to make Confucianism atheist or even deist since it implies that the higher power cares about what you do. However, you could use Confucian principles as a moral guide even if you are not religious, but that kind of ruins the reasoning as to why you were supposed to follow those principles in the first place.
Confuciunism is secular, but not an atheist philosophy. They believe in the mandate of heaven. They are secular because they discouraged for being overly reliance on Heaven, gods, the underworld and all others and just to live your life in accordance to Confucius teachings.
Good video, man.
If the Pope have no problem accepting Latin American or Mexican version of rituals of ancestor veneration, he was unlikely object to the Chinese versions as well. I was struck how the Mexican day of the dead is similar to Qing Ming, except the Mexicans visit their graves and tombs at night while the Chinese does it in daytime.
to recruit more members, anything goes
Wait. Didn't the Vatican back then ordered their missionaries in China to prevent their followers from worshipping their ancestors? Or am I mistaken?
Latin American don't worship their ancestors unlike Chinese
They only pray for their ancestors safety unlike Chinese who ask their ancestors for guide
Latin American ancestors ritual is more a kin to European counterparts who later incorporate native Rituals.
@@mimorisenpai8540 Not really. We already have folk gods for that. Ancestor worship in Asian societies is mainly about respect and the social pecking order - i.e. we respect senority and seniors. Asians don't expect the ancestors for anything like guidance. Maybe blessings like how you ask your grandfather or grandmother for blessing on something you undertake. You want to learn how to get rich, you worship and ask the God of Wealth for help, not your ancestors.
@@tat3179 but not for Asians who Christian or Moslem
Interesting video.
And I subscribed.
The next episode is going to be vital to have an understanding on Journey to the West.
Others: 'Fighting' or 'Voting' or 'God authorizing' a leader
East Asian: 'Examing' a leader
This is a solution for social promotion
urm, nope, confucianism promotes divine rights of king, heavenly mandate and stuff.
only the officials were tested, not the royals.
@@anikiace2253 Not really bro.
The emperor has his own examination.
The heaven will give him a low score by an earthquake or a famine .
According to those 'scores', all people have their right to kill the emperor and choose a new one.
The 'Legally-Revolution' is a major feature of Confucianism
@@TK-my7jg sorry bro, confucianists dont promote rebellions. they only do hindsight assessment after the previous leadership is overthrown.
b4 that happens, they tend to be politically correct and support the current leadership.
this is the main reason why confucianists were against reformation most of the time.
@21st Century Art that is a misinterpretation. were the powerful officials a legit thing?
no. they were being criticised when they were alive, and even more so in historical records.
in fact, the emperors who allowed this to happen, shared equally bad reputation in history.
this is different from japan where such a system was more or less permanently established.
u cant take the exceptions as the norm.
in the confucianism structure (after han dynasty where confucianism is established),
the govt is a centralised structure. it is different from european or japanese feudalism.
this is the key difference. in europe or japan, it is a pyramid structure.
the king/emperor at the top, the lords (dukes, counts, earls etc) in the middle, the peasants below.
the peasants pay taxes to the lords, the lords in turn take a part of it and pay the king/emperor.
if the king/emperor want to raise taxes, they have to go thru the lords, not directly at the peasants.
the king's pocket money came from the lords, and they have no direct transaction with the peasants.
therefore the lords esp the powerful ones, can officially influence or even manipulate the king.
in ancient china, totally different. it is a hourglass structure. the emperor tax the ppl directly.
the officials have no land or power, they are just in the tiny middle as subordinates of the emperor.
the direct taxes belonged to the emperor, he is the boss. the officials are paid employees.
they do not question the emperor, they are supposed to execute his orders dilligently.
they can sometimes argue, but the final decision always lay in the emperor.'s hand
if the emperor veto-ed them, there is nothing they cant do about it. it is the emperor's right.
it's not like in europe/japan, where the powerful lords can confront and threaten the king/emperor with his men.
the chinese official have no men and no fiefs of their own.
this is one main reason why europe and japan can transform into parliament or constitutional monarchy,
but the chinese struggled with that and eventually ended up with authoritarian govt, or worse, dictatorship.
they have different traditions.
@21st Century Art what u said is itself an oversimplification. the difference btw tang taizong and emperor yongle is HUGE. taizong didnt went against a reigning emperor. it was a dispute with his brother, triggered by long-standing rivalry.
he can argue that it happened on short notice and a matter of survival. yongle rebelled against a reigning emperor, he wasnt in personal danger. the emperor simply wanted to reduce his military strength. taizong didnt expand the purge other than wiping out his brothers' family and some die-hards. he was praised by both his enemies and his pals, becos he showed mercy, and some of the officials in the opposite camp actually became his right hand men.
yongle basically wiped-out everyone in the opposite camp. he invented what the chinese called, killing off 10 lines of the family. and yongle didnt stop the killing there. he sort of went mad or obsessed towards the end of his reign, and his killing spree became unpredictable, spontaneous. he was praised becos all that opposed him were dead. only those that bow to him survived or were promoted.
talking about simple presentations, lol. educate urself more instead of generalising stuff.
People only talks about Confusius moral teaching because Confucius/Kongzi and other pre-Qin-Dynasty scholars, many of them can be catagorized as Ruism or not depends on your definition of 儒, have left many words about politics that makes every highest ruler aka Emperor uncomfortable. So basically they don't really encourage people talking about these topics even nowadays.
For example, When Mengzi (372-289 BCE) talked about regicide happened while Zhou replaced Shang dynasty, he said,: never heard any regicide (murder your king) back there, they just executed a man (implies an autocrat or tyrant no longer a legitimate king), that's all. 闻诛一夫纣矣，未闻弑君也。
It means people always have the right to rebel against a bad ruler in any necessary means. It deeply conflicts to the later emerged "Three fundamental bonds" that the loyalty/fidelity to your lord/king/father/husband is absolute, not conditioned.
So, even these so called fundamental principals of Ruism may not be so fundamental, there are many different Ruisms if that's a legit word...
Could you do a follow up video on the difference between classical or historical Ruism, what's called "neo-Confucianism" and "New Confucianism" (the 20th century movement)? I know that's probably a huge topic but it's hard for an outsider to really understand what these schools of thought have in common and where they differ.
If I say Ruism enough times, maybe the term will catch on?😄
I say 儒家 often enough to supplement the common term Konghucu (Confucianism) amongst my peers, so there's that.
Fingers crossed! My health and peace of mind depends on it!
I hope that will be the case. And my mom is recently passed away. May she rested in peace and reunited with my maternal grandparents in the afterlife.
Hope so. As Korean, Confusionism really doesn't stick to my tongue well.
As a Muslim, I love and seek to practice Ruism as much as possible in my life. Great video!
Hopefully not the shirky stuff like ancestor veneration
Actually, even that has a tradition in China. In the 18th century Chinese scholars said that Ruism and Islam are compatible and tried to systematize it
@@Wubulixi true. Isn't that awesome?
儒家行为是非常困难的，最高的要求是要在活着的时候达到永存。因为儒者不相信来世。
1成为道德模范，让后辈学习。2书写著作，有伟大发现。3为国家完成伟大功业。
行为上要求，保持心灵纯洁，对所有生命和国民负责，传承先辈儒家的知识，和开创新的思想。
还有活着要永不停的奋斗，工作上要有所成就，为社会做贡献。
所以你会发现一个标准东亚人永远的加班工作不休息。
知道这些你还敢信儒家吗？😆
Roman Catholicism is not Christianity. It is a pagan Roman religion with biblical names. They replaced the authority of the Bible with the Popes[Antichrist, Man of Sin] and idols of Mary and dead people who have no power to save. It is the Whore of Babylon of Revelation 17.
Thanks for explaining Confucius
Ruism is never not fascinating! I'm looking forward to learning about the co-existence between Ruism, Buddhism and Taoism
Being an Korean I say, though Korean society and culture based on Confucianism, it tends to be considered as negative one more and more. Korean do not deny Confucianism has so much contributed modern economic progression but it's true that it also affected to authoritarianism throughout Korean society that dictatorship had abused to control its own citizens for a long time. The idea "忠" is one of the good example that government without righteousness always tries to use... Maybe Mencius would be so mad at this if he would have heard this.
About 20 years ago, a scholar even wrote a book named "Killing Confucius"(exact name is "공자가 죽어야 나라가 산다").
Ironically, for many East Asian countries, this authoritarianism caused by Confucianism contributed to fight against pandemic situation.
you guys should try to change things instead of blaming Confucianism, that's very self-hating. Christianity also hindered science back then but they tried to change it instead of blaming it. Self-hating and white-worshiping are out of control in Asia.
@@user-ll8dj4kp5m Actually, it's hard to choose only positive aspect of particular culture. But yeah, it's definitely true that many Asian countries' cultural base is on Buddhism and Confucianism for so many years so people living in the area can see the negative aspect so easily.
The fastest way to disappear as a son is to command your mom what to do - that is a universal fact!
I remember reading somewhere that Voltaire praised that we perfected moral sciences by having a meritocracy, I felt kinda embarrassed at the fact that we actually devolved into factionalism time to time, especially during Song dynasty, the scholars probably have the strongest political power in that era and we got a political feud where conservatives and reformists shoot down/enforce reforms even if they know some of them are good/bad (Wang Anshi's reform is a mixed bag). It's one of those “man, you guys are cool, your culture yadi yadi yadda” and you can only sweat and say “ha ha, yeah, yeah yeah” moment.
Well duh even the most meritorious are at the end only humans. Just because they are the most intelligent doesn't mean they are not selfish, greedy, overly ambitious and immoral.
09:07
1) Clever way of seeing it.
2) Also a clever way of seeing every single political philosophy ever invented lol.
It's also worth noting that, while Confucianism isn't a religion in the traditional sense, Confucius is actually worshipped in a different religion. Devotees of "Daojiao" Taoism (as opposed to "Daojia"), or traditional Chinese religion, practice the worship of their familial and cultural ancestors, especially the famous ones. They even have temples devoted to Confucius. So, a Confucian scholar would not worship Confucius, but a religious Taoist might.
儒家信徒不会承认儒家是宗教，因为我们的宗教没有神。😂儒家思想和亚伯拉罕教不一样，和泛灵不一样，和无神论也不一样。
Some say the origin of the word 儒 comes from the wizards or priests from the Shang dynasty because it's composed by 人(human)+需(need), from which 雨 is rain.So they were people who made rituals to pray for rain.Because back then, the wizards/diviners/priests etc had most of the knowledge, the term 儒's meaning changed to "scholar".Then Confucianism is the "scholar's teachings" (儒教).What do you think about this theory? Also, I suggest you to make a video about Shang dynasty too.
It is one possible theory, because at one time Confucius had a part time job as a sobbing man to appease the rain god. So practitioners of different philosophy within Hundred School of Thoughts used to use it in mocking manner. Like"heard you guys are agnostic but didn't your founder partake in ritual to appease rain god?(ritual included sobbing)"
So the story goes.
thats just some modern christian org trying to link xtianity with ancient china.
basically deconstructing chinese characters (esp modern simplified characters) without regard to ancient grammar rules.
@@anikiace2253 I doubt that since I've got this explanation from a Chinese guy who is most probably not a Christian.
@@deacudaniel1635 phonetic parts do not give any meanings to the word, and esp not being deconstructed into 'rain' to give extra meanings. see, this is the BS part in such 'modern' interpretation.
this is akin to deconstructing words like 'beef' into 'be + ef' and 'be' means 'exist'. any true learner of english language will know it is BS.
@@deacudaniel1635 anyone who subscribe to such nonsense and spread it is likely a christain. this source of interpretation 1st came from xtian organisations, and they used simplified characters.
after being mocked, then they try to use traditional characters instead. they are just a bunch of jokers.
First I am an agnostic so I've no fight in this and am only an observer but the blurriness of the religion-philosophy aspect is clear in the practice of Confucian rites. Though Kongzi made clear he did not have an opinion of religious matters, the practice of ancestor and Kongzi veneration asking for favors is clearly a religious practice e.g. excelling in taking your gaokao. You can remember and respect ancestors or exemplary persons without ritual. A dictionary definition of religion is "1: the belief in a god or in a group of gods" Likewise the definition of gods include: "2: a spirit or being that has great power, strength, knowledge, etc., and that can affect nature and the lives of people: one of various spirits or beings worshipped in some religions." Asking for favors from ancestors expecting them to "affect nature and the lives of people" is making them de facto gods. Sighting one form of religion (Catholicism) doesn't demonstrate conclusively that some aspects of Confuscianism are not religious in nature.
I think the main point was not to make a clear and conclusive judgment as to whether it is a religion or not, but to point out that there is debate in favor of both sides.
Asking favors from ancestors is such a relatively recent thing. Ancestral worship originates from honoring your ancestors or parents, it's not supposed to be a wish granting ritual. Heaven worship or Shang Di worship, now that's wish granting ritual.
@@danshakuimo I think OP mistook ancestral worship with heaven worship, because Confucius is also into heaven worship, recognition of heaven's mandate etc.
I like your video, but wish to share with Mandarin-speaking friend. The auto translated Chinese subtitle seems weird.
Could you do a video on Yan Xishan?
If superhuman or sacred things are the foundation stones of religion, then one must understand what is human and what is sacred.
In Chinese, the creator 天 is written to be a person with an enlarged head, so the Chinese did not separate superhuman from human. As the Indian mystic Sadhguru puts it, it's not about being superhuman, it is about realising that being human is super.
Human or superhuman are concepts of the mind, not reality itself, so are life and death. That's why when Confucius disciple Zilu (子路) asked about how to serve the spirits, Confucius replied "One who is not yet able to serve men, how would he be able to serve the spirits" and when the disciple again asked about death, Confucius replied, "Not yet knowing life, how would one know death".
Confucianism is about knowing yourself, knowing life; knowing that being human is super.
@@Porfirio_Rubirosa The simple answer would be: the Creator is the Self, so it's self-created.
Now the longer version: see, whatever a perceiver (such as yourself) perceives is the constituent of the perceiver. You perceive your hand for example, that hand is a part of you. But do heed that the perception of the hand is also just the air, the temperature, the light etc; that is to say, there isn't a hand existing apart from all the so-called external things that you perceive.
The creator is just that everything is a part of him, that is, he perceives everything, hence, he is pure perception. When everything is within the perception, then there is just perception itself and nothing else. Hence perception, in substance, is self.
The Creator is perception, you your Self is also perception, hence you your Self is the Creator. Now, this may sound outlandish, but if one reflect upon it profoundly, it may just be a simple truth. Take a look at your dreams, in those, there is you and everything else, you, in the dream, would not deem everything around you as creations manifested by the sleeping you, but it simply is. Same goes for when you are awake, you are just not awoken enough to realise that the entire existence is your creation.
In the East, the source of creation; the Creator is taken to be Consciousness, and in Confucianism, particularly the "Mind School" (心學), that consciousness is called "Good Knowing" (良知) which is the source of morality and ontology.
@@Porfirio_Rubirosa In a way, if we are to convey any idea; form any concept of reality, then in words, one certainly could say that it is an illusion. But whether it is indeed real or imaginary is really irrelevant, since the gist of being is about reaping pleasantness, just as one prefer pleasant dreams instead of nightmares.
Greetings thank you
I would love to see a video on the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai. I’m kinda interested in how they are legendary and came from roughly the same time period if I remember correctly.
Hey! Can I suggest you do a video on Kirishitan daimyo like Takayama Ukon?
Good intro to Confucianism, though I think it would be even better if *Mencius* were at least briefly touched upon. He was to Confucianism what Saint Paul was to Christianity!
Mother's should obey their sons. I dare any Chinese boy to say that to their mother. Go on just one.
Crazy statement. The whole fabric of society will be ripped apart if patriarchy and matriarchy is disregarded. We'll be ;Ike animals, whereby the children and parents have no respect for one another. Incestism will be the norm and that's when we will cease to be humans.
@@ALIEN_857 You are exaggerating a little there, thinking that disrespecting parents will lead to incest.
The statement I quoted was a reflecion on Kong Fuzi's idea that the primacy of gender roles should take priority even above familial ties. Now I do not agree with the statement, I just undertand it.
Makes video about East Asian examination pls !!!
I ching deserves an episode to be examined.
To me, that's the hardest Chinese classic to understand ever.I've read a translation and it doesn't make any sense.Maybe in original it is more logic idk...
I found it strange that paying respects to one's ancestors was considered idolatry but worshipping the Virgin Mary, saints and the visage of Cesare Borgia (which is used as an image of Christ Jesus) isn't considered idolatry. I guess things never change: rules for thee, not for me.
Roman Catholicism is not Christianity. It is a pagan Roman religion with biblical names. They replaced the authority of the Bible with the Popes[Antichrist, Man of Sin] and idols of Mary and dead people who have no power to save. It is the Whore of Babylon of Revelation 17.
Though this might be a niche topic, I was curious if you would perhaps make a video on 荀子 (Xunzi)? I find him to be a fascinating person, and he had some interesting different opinions on how Ruism should take shape - particularly on human nature. Also, he pretty much was considered through a large part of Chinese history to have been a controversial character, mainly due to having been a former teacher to Li Si and Han Fei
Regardless, love the content as always
Here in Indonesia Confusianism is considered as a religion, most of the followers are Chinese Descendants
Indonesia is the only country in the world that recognize confucianism as religion. Even in China , they only recognize 5 religions Buddhism,daoism,islam,catholic and christianity.
Do you know that the rising of Joseon dynasty is a kind of neo-confucianist revolution like Russian revolution?
It isn't...
@@junainoakuma
1. Yi sung gye - popular military caudillo like Napoleon
2. Jeong do geon - Trotsky
3. Yi bang won(son of 1.) - Stalin
4. Jo jun - Bukharin
5. Goryeo - Ancien Régime
6. Neo-confucianism - Marxism or Lumières
7. Buddhism - Russian church or Catholic
8. Shin don - Lasputin or former reformist
9. Goryeo's loyal family - Bourbon or Romanov
I admit that it is not 100%, but it is quite similar to Russian or French revolution.
Nice video. What can or cannot be considered religion definitely depends one's cultural background. The Qing emperors banned Christianity from China because, they said, different peoples have different ways to worship Heaven. They didn't understand that Christianity was not about worshipping Heaven, but about saving souls.
Pope Pius XII's position on Chinese ancestor worship is surprising, since he was a very conservative pope. He is the pope who excommunicated all the Communists, those who voted for them and even those who read Communist newspapers. It's an interesting paradox.
More like paying repect to heaven, not worshipping as the Lord and Savior.
@@junainoakuma yes, but still there was a huge misunderstanding. The Qing position was one of cultural relativism. The Catholic preachers instead believed that their faith was the only true religion, and that those who didn't follow it were doomed to Hell. The two ideas are incompatible.
@@alessandrodelogu7931 I think about the ancestor thing it was presented as ancestor veneration, which is similar to the Catholic practice of venerating saints. However veneration and worship are different things so maybe the Pope was ok with it as long as you were not worshipping your ancestors, just like they don't worship Mary. Meanwhile in Communism (not sure about the original, but at least in how many countries interpreted it) it implies that there is no God and religion was considered something to be destroyed.
And in support of the Qing argument (not their actions), idk if you could really say Christianity is not about worshipping Heaven (understood as the Christian God) even if saving souls is an integral part of it. Is saving souls not a form of worship in of itself?
And when will you do the video about wuxia stories and those cultivation novels/manhua?
Before the end of the year. I will do a few videos on Wuxia around Jan next year too.
...So basically ancient Confucians or Ruist had enough of Chinese Tiger moms BS?
Yeah. In practice after the death of the father, the mother rule the roost. Since men naturally died earlier than women, it is more like an aged based power sharing system. A combination of gerontocracy/patriarchy if you will.
@@CoolHistoryBros I think I read that Confucianism wasn't so keen on women and prefer them to be obedient while children attitude is seen but not heard. Also Confucians prefer men to fight with a pen than with sword so they also look down on all militarism as well and think it is "barbaric".
Still in Chinese culture and norm, no one dare to go against their mom as she is supposed to be your elder, woman or not.
I think you can compare it to how Christianity was practiced in Europe, really. Jesus talked about giving the other cheek, but there were so much war even between fellow Christians back then. LOL! What was written and what was practiced are usually very different things.
@@CoolHistoryBros talk about Jesus.. Mohist are basically the Chinese Jesus. He want to spread love and peace between your fellow human during Warring State and also they focus alot on science and invention over superstition. Although they want peace they also are said to be great at commanding military and would basically turn the tide on the losing side by using defence doctrine. Sadly alot of their knowledge are gone, only a book about how to make protective walls survived.
Many years ago there was a historical manga called BOKKO which later become a movie few years earlier called Battle of Wits
I love that manga! Yeah, I think he was just too idealistic for his time. Couldn't survive the competition.
The difference in thought between Zhu Xi and Wang YangMing seems to resemble that of Aristotle and Plato.
类似于新教和天主教，
心学主张解放个性，听从内心的安排做事。
理学将就禁欲，严谨的一步步做事。
And then most people, particularly the older generation in my country disregard all the other stuff Confucius preached and talk only about filial piety and respecting your elders.
Basically forcing only those parts that benefit them down our throats. There's a section of the population that really, really hates Confucianism/Ruism due to this.
That is the same issue I have with just about every single institution. There are those, banking in on our ignorance, who would twist words to benefit them over you. They've done it to religion, they've been doing it to law, and now they're doing it to academia as well. The key to avoid this is knowledge; know your shit and you will have power for yourself.
We have that problem in America with Fundamentalist Christianity. All the worst heresies are praised while the actual positive teachings of Jesus are disparaged.
People forgot that that while sons, wives and the king’s subject have a duty towards their parents, husbands and the king, they too have obligations and duties vice versa. The person in charge have the duty to be benevolent to their subjects and look after their welfare first and foremost before themselves. There is a social contract. Mencius says it best: while a King floats above a placid body of water on a boat, the King do well remember that the water could easily upturn the boat if the weather changes.
@@Porfirio_Rubirosa That is the principal. That is why Emperors are checked Confucian trained ministers and civil servants that constantly reminded the Emperor about the risk of losing the mandate of heaven by breaking the code.
@@Porfirio_Rubirosa More like social contract
We Wish to Feature about Jumong and Goguryeo
I am an amateur student of philosophy. I take an interest because I am a Catholic, and it is part of my heritage to want to apply y religion through reason.
The big names in Catholic philosophy are of of course Aquinas who gets his theory from Aristotle. I think Confucius has one thing over the entire Western philosophical tradition, to which otherwise I think he is at least an equal: he is pithy.
Just trying to say the Nicomachean Ethics makes me feel tired. Greek philosophy is very long winded. The Four Books are shorter than the Book of Sirach. Confucius, Mencius, and Kong Tsi (and I forget who wrote the Doctrine of the Mean) get straight to the point instead of meandering around things they don't mean to teach.
I grew up Catholic, discarded it and Christianity because of the arrogance, greed, and perversion all sects are guilty of. In college I was given a copy of the Analects of Kung Fu Zi to read. I was converted in just months.
It would make more sense to interpret "从" in "三从" as "maximize his gain". So before marriage, a girl should maximize her father's gain. After marriage, a woman should maximize her husband's gain. After her husband dies, a woman should maximize her son's gain while the son may not be hers but from a concubine of her husband. "三从四德" denies that a woman has her own interest. She could only act toward the interests of her father, her husband and her son, often at the cost of having her own interest overlooked or violated. Her father and husband can sell her to other people or into slavery. Her husband can rent her out to other men. She is obliged to look after the children from the concubines of her husband. If her husband has no son, the brother(s) of her husband can take the family fortune away, since a woman can't hold properties on her own.
A man also has their own obligations, in fact a son's responsibility is to have children, whether you want to or not. A husband's responsibility is to take care of your family, is selling your wife constitutes taking care of your family? No. A brother's responsibility is to take care of your other brother's family. Especially in a rural farming household, can the weaker woman even take care of the family farm without a male? Maybe in modern times but not back then. A father's responsibility is to take care of your children and think of what's best for them? Is selling your daughters constitute taking care of your kids? No. Is it possible that the more wealthy husband that the father choose for the daughter somehow abusive? Well yeah the father is not god.
You are biased against Confucian philosophy, thinking that a woman are doomed to be sold by the husband and parents while in fact a good Confucian scholar will not be allowed to mistreat the woman.
@@limitlesssky3050 But men can choose not to fulfil the obligations. They can do so without consequences. Women can't. That's the difference between a human and a tool: humans have choices while tools don't. Women are treated as tools since they don't have a choice.
The problem with this kind of system is that it doesn't have provisions if some man don't follow the rules. It naively assumes that every man would do the right thing and doesn't see the need to prescribe the punishment for not doing so. On the other hand, those 'good scholars' are very keen on keeping the 'good' behaviours of women, indoctrinating women in the rules for women and tossing out punishments when women don't comply. When a women suffers, the 'good scholars' may not be the direct abusers, but they are the ones that put the shackles on women's bodies and minds.
Why should it be the father that chooses a husband for his daughter? A father is not god. In terms of ability, he can't know it all and can't be sure the man is right for his daughter. In terms of moral, he may not have the best interest of his daughter in heart when he chooses the man. He may choose the man because he would gain political alliance from the man's family.
Some men today like to praise the 'good behaviours' of the women in ancient time. Just like slaves are the best workers from the perspective of a business owner, women in ancient time are nothing but slaves to the system. No wonder they are the best women in some men's eyes.
Whenever I heard "ruism" when I was a kid, I immediately thought of grapes.
The Book Burning by Qin Shihuangdi is disputed by scholars. That should have been mentioned.
In regards to religion, I’d say it’s more attributed to supernatural powers (deities/gods/angels/demons) rather than superhuman.
儒家is a system of philosophical and ethical ideas that form the cornerstone of the family, society and nation. It's not a religion. The Chinese belief some sort of order is necessary in all the three units of humanity.
So basically Ruism is the intellectuals before they got slapped with that label, correct?
No. They have always been Ruists all the way up to today. They have just been misinterpreted by the West all this time and modern Sinologists want to change that.
The western and eastern philosophy do find common ground on the theory of Eidos
As a Chinese i have to say Confucian influenced everyone and every areas in China. Fox example , "party" in our country's history used to a negative word, it means a group of people unit just for their or some people's interests. And many time we failed or collapse because of parties conflicts which those parties cant work together just for fight each other then the country cant work. Like Ming Dynasty, party conflicts made Ming collapsed
Political parties = factions within the imperial court.
Confucianism is a philosophy and a system of how a society organizes itself. It is not a religion oer the western definition.
The founder of Ruism is the Duke of Zhou.
Confucianism applies to civil servants, officials
Taoism applies to leaders, decision makers, also known as imperialism
Zhuangzi, Zen is suitable for ordinary people.
Are you Indonesian?
I feel like any good definition for religion would exclude the question of deities as belief in a deity /-ies is already the concept of theism which can be embedded in a religion but does not need to be. Good examples can be different kinds of animism etc that all have moralities, rituals, even stories for afterlifes or rebirth but don't have things that fit the definition of a deity.
I believe in the Church of Thighology 🦵
Confucius famous quote: “ is good to meet girl in park. But is better if parking meat in girl.” Something like that. I dunno.
If you're trying to be funny, don't add an unfunny ending to the sentence. It really downplays the punch line
"Since 1939, the Vatican has stuck with the decision to let Chinese Catholics pay respect to their ancestors"
There, in one sentence, colonisation.
ua-cam.com/video/gT2CBWwBEpE/v-deo.html Which painting is that and where did you find it?
This entire thing is very confusing to me ;-)
catholics forgot one of their commandments. honor you father and mother.
confusionism is confusion
内卷😂
Burn the books. Bury the scholars.
MADE BY FAJIA GANG
Confucius say: even a snail can fly through space if it attaches itself to tail of dragon.
That is a metaphor for how an individual needs the state?
*The Europeans looked at Confucianism as very confusing...and sub-standard...when compared to the more traditional...and logical Ancient Greek Philosophy...so...Western Scholars...at first...meant to name such a "school of thought" as "chinese ConfuSionism"(A strategy of maintaining confusion in the minds and preventing objective analysis.)but later on accepted it as we know today...Nevertheless...it still controversial...as the author of the present vlog said...from now on it will be called "Ruism"...(that in Latin "Ruir and Ruere" can be understood as decadent...*
No problem onset Chinese music doesn’t sound so good .. book of music is lost …
"Anything which they have witnessed their parents doing becomes a sport to their minds. They don't think that their parents would be proud of them if they find a NEW way to non-forcefully cause others to respect them.
Which region am I describing?"
Is there any doubt that it becomes obvious who's a colonizer when you say that?
Knowing that freedom may or may not be the only thing which cannot have an illusionary version, is there any doubt that infinite discipline is the only key to the freedom of the mind? Is there any doubt that there cannot be an alternate freedom just as equally as there cannot be an illusionary freedom?
If something controls in belief system, that's religion.
The religion belief and controls individual human mind due to their teachings,
So, you are wrong! 00:15 *If something controls out of individual freedom, personal belief system, anything could called it in belief system and it's a ways of religion and yes, it is religion.
Confucianism is definitely not a religion.
So isn't Buddhism.
And neither is Christianity
@@junainoakuma doesn't buddism have Gods and Goddesses?
@@Joseph-qd9ew you must have been living on another planet. Christianity is the largest religion on planet Earth.
But to me it is implied that the moral values of Confucianism are objectively moral, and that fact hinges on the fact that there is a higher power that cares whether you are moral or not. But then again you could argue it is a religion only to a degree to which an agnostic is religious, which still basically just saying it's not a religion.
The Chinese naver gave their heroes anyplace in history and the kings always do their best to destroy such name, it was all about the royal family or the so called gods of deities
Confuciusm is a religion, not depending western dictionary, not depend on the opinion of people who do not embrace this religion
confucianism IS a religion. a religion has 3 or 4 major characteristics.
a creator god (tale) or a founder, a set of rituals and teachings, a congregation of followers,
and an afterlife narrative. confucianism has all these characteristics.
in ancient china it was parallel with taoism and buddhism and collectively known as 三教 or 3 teachings/religions.
the name confucianism is actually not wrong. even thou the name 'ru' exist b4 confucius,
he was the one to turn it into a systematic sch of thoughts. so this school can be attributed to him.
b4 him there was no strict definition of 'ru' or scholars. he was the one who refined it.
confucianism has its own god/gods/deities. the main god is heaven or 昊天上帝, an impersonal god.
and confucianists promotes divine right of kings, called the heavenly mandate.
rulers who are fit to rule are said to have earned the heavenly mandate, and the ruler is therefore the son of heaven.
the original confucianism during confucius' time might not have displayed strong religious traits,
but once it became the state philosophy during early han dynasty around 100BC,
it is mixed with soothsaying and divination, which were popular then, and it became a state religion as well.
So , supposedly, master Ruists roamed from region to region in ancient China , supported by shadowy networks of disgruntled and embittered peasants that kept their mouths shut. Corrupt judges and various officials, overly confident in their despicable machinations , were lured into one deadly trap after another. Then appropriated monies and valuables disappeared from the lavish homes of parasitic, lying , deceitful creeps. Peace and harmony restored in such areas , inquiries later could find no cooperation from locals , who had erected humble but comprehensive defenses and barriers of various kinds , and presented a unified front to answer. Of course, there are variations of these accounts. Ruism as a popular form of regional justice and contempt of corruption disappeared in the era of Mao Zedong.
Confucianism generally played the same role as Christianity in the West. They both regulate how people should think and act. They are both important part of state apparatus (for the cynics, the part that keep people in line and easy to lord over.) The difference is Christianity allows windows of individualism, and those windows blossomed into liberation movements. Many bloody wars were thought over liberation of the individuals. So that wasn't easy at all.
Confucianism allows no such windows. There are no individuals within a Confucian society, beyond one's obligation to serve the state/emperor/parents.
what you are saying is only a stereotype of outsider looking at Confucianism trying to dehumanizing Asian people. The relationship and responsibility with others is only a small part of the teachings. If there is no individual, why do Chinese constantly have internal wars where everyone tries to claim the mandate. It's so stupid that even now the west still stereotypes Asian as "they are all the same", "life is cheap in Asia". In fact, Asian have different individuals and diversed personalities.
Nice orientalism
Ruism is a really bad translation.
Confucianism, Also known as the reason for the Century of humiliation