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Confucianism, also known as Ruism, is a system of philosophical and "ethical-sociopolitical teachings" sometimes described as a religion. Confucianism developed during the Spring and Autumn Period from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BCE), who considered himself a retransmitter of Zhou values.〔Rickett, Guanzi - "all early Chinese political thinkers were basically committed to a reesteablishment of the golden age of the past as early Zhou propoganda described it."〕 Its metaphysical and cosmological elements developed in the Han Dynasty following the replacement of its contemporary, the more Taoistic Huang-Lao, as the official ideology.〔.〕 More privately, Chinese emperors would still make use of the historical Realpolitik of the Chinese, termed Legalism. The disintegration of the Han in the second century CE opened the way for the soteriological doctrines of Buddhism and Taoism to dominate intellectual life at that time. A Confucian revival began during the Tang dynasty. In the late Tang, Confucianism developed in response to Buddhism and Taoism and was reformulated as Neo-Confucianism. This reinvigorated form was adopted as the basis of the imperial exams and the core philosophy of the scholar official class in the Song dynasty. The abolition of the examination system in 1905 marked the end of official Confucianism. The New Culture intellectuals of the early twentieth century blamed Confucianism for China's weaknesses. They searched for new doctrines to replace Confucian teachings; some of these new ideologies include the "Three Principles of the People" with the establishment of the Republic of China, and then Maoism under the People's Republic of China. In the late twentieth century, some people credited Confucianism with the rise of the East Asian economy and it enjoyed a rise in popularity both in China and abroad. With particular emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony, rather than on an otherworldly soteriology,〔Herbert Fingarette, ''Confucius: The Secular as Sacred'' (New York: Harper, 1972).〕 the core of Confucianism is humanistic. According to the Herbert Fingarette's concept of "the secular as sacred", Confucianism regards the ordinary activities of human life — and especially in human relationships as a manifestation of the sacred,〔Adler, 2014. p. 12〕 because they are the expression of our moral nature (''xing'' 性), which has a transcendent anchorage in Heaven (''tian'' 天) and a proper respect of the gods (''shen'').〔Littlejohn, 2010. pp. 34-36〕 While Heaven (''tian'') has some characteristics that overlap the category of deity, it is primarily an ''impersonal'' absolute, like ''dao'' and ''Brahman''.〔Adler, 2014. p. 12. Herbert Fingarette captured this essential feature of Confucianism in the title of his 1972 book, ''Confucius: The Secular as Sacred''. Confucianism focuses on the practical order that is given by a this-worldly awareness of the ''Tian'' (the impersonal absolute principle)〕〔Adler, 2014. p. 10. Quote: «() Confucianism is basically ''non-theistic''. While Heaven (''tian'') has some characteristics that overlap the category of deity, it is primarily an ''impersonal'' absolute, like ''dao'' and ''Brahman''. "Deity" (''theos'', ''deus''), on the other hand connotes something ''personal'' (he or she, not it).〕〔Adler, 2014. p. 12 Confucianism deconstructs the sacred-profane dichotomy; it asserts that sacredness is to be found ''in'', not behind or beyond, the ordinary activities of human life — and especially in human relationships. Human relationships are sacred in Confucianism because they are the expression of our moral nature (''xing'' 性), which has a transcendent anchorage in Heaven (''tian'' 天). Herbert Fingarette captured this essential feature of Confucianism in the title of his 1972 book, ''Confucius: The Secular as Sacred''. To assume a dualistic relationship between sacred and profane and to use this as a criterion of religion is to beg the question of whether Confucian can count as a religious tradition.〕 Confucian liturgy (that is called 儒 ''rú'', or sometimes 正统 ''zhèngtǒng'', meaning "orthoprax" ritual style) led by Confucian priests or ritual masters (礼生 ''lǐshēng'') to worship the gods in public and ancestral Chinese temples, is preferred in special occasions over Taoist or popular ritual.〔Clart, 2003. pp. 3-5〕 The this-worldly concern of Confucianism rests on the belief that human beings are fundamentally good, and teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of ethics. Some of the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include ''rén'', ''yì'', and ''lǐ'', and ''zhì''. ''Ren'' ("humaneness") is the essence of the human being which manifests as compassion, it is the virtue-form of Heaven.〔Tay, 2010. p. 102〕 ''Yi'' is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. ''Li'' is a system of ritual norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life according to the law of Heaven. ''Zhi'' is the ability to see what is right and fair, or the converse, in the behaviors exhibited by others. Confucianism holds one in contempt, either passively or actively, for failure to uphold the cardinal moral values of ''ren'' and ''yi''. Historically, cultures and countries strongly influenced by Confucianism include mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, as well as various territories settled predominantly by Chinese people, such as Singapore. In the 20th century, Confucianism’s influence was greatly reduced. More recently, there have been talks of a "Confucian Revival" in the academia and the scholarly community〔Benjamin Elman, John Duncan and Herman Ooms ed. ''Rethinking Confucianism: Past and Present in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam'' (Los Angeles: UCLA Asian Pacific Monograph Series, 2002).〕〔Yu Yingshi, ''Xiandai Ruxue Lun'' (River Edge: Global Publishing Co. Inc. 1996).〕 and there has been a grassroots proliferation of various types of Confucian churches. ==Names and terminology== Strictly speaking, there is no term in Chinese which directly corresponds to "Confucianism". In the Chinese language, the character ''rú'' 儒 meaning "scholar" is generally used both in the past and the present to refer to things related to Confucianism. The word ''ru'' in ancient China has diverse meanings. Some examples include, "weak", "soft", "to tame", "to comfort" and "to educate".〔Robert Eno, ''The Confucian Creation of Heaven: philosophy and the defense of ritual mastery'' (Albany: SUNY Press, 1990), 190–197.〕 Several different terms are used in different situations, several of which are of modern origin: * "School of the scholars" () * "Teaching of the scholars" () * "Study of the scholars" () * "Teaching of Confucius" () * "Kong Family's Business" () Three of these use ''rú''. These names do not use the name "Confucius" at all, but instead center on the figure or ideal of the Confucian scholar; however, the suffixes ''jiā'', ''jiào'' and ''xué'' carry different implications as to the nature of Confucianism itself. ''Rújiā'' contains the character ''jiā'', which literally means "house" or "family". In this context, it is more readily construed as meaning "school of thought", since it is also used to construct the names of philosophical schools contemporary with Confucianism: for example, the Chinese names for Legalism and Mohism end in ''jiā''. ''Rújiào'' and ''Kǒngjiào'' contain the Chinese character ''jiào'', the noun "teach", used in such terms as "education", or "educator". The term, however, is notably used to construct the names of religions in Chinese: the terms for Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and other religions in Chinese all end with ''jiào''. ''Rúxué'' contains ''xué'', "study". The term is parallel to "-ology" in English, being used to construct the names of academic fields: the Chinese names of fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, political science, economics, and sociology all end in ''xué''. The use of the term Confucianism has been avoided by some modern scholars, who favor ''Ruism'' or ''Ruists'' in lieu of Confucianism. Robert Eno argues that the term has been "burdened... with the ambiguities and irrelevant traditional associations". Ruism, as he states, is more faithful to the original Chinese name for the school. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Confucianism」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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