Why is Confucius Important?

Importance of Confucius
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Importance of Confucius
Confucianism refers to a system of ethical and social philosophy that is a bit different from religion. Confucianism originated from ancient China during the 6th century BCE and created a foundation for the Chinese culture (Yao, 2000, p. 16). It believes that people are fundamentally improvable, teachable, perfectible, and good through communal and personal activities that focus on self-creation and self-cultivation. Master Kong, who was commonly known as Confucius, discovered Confucianism. His intentions were not to form a new religion but to revive and interpret the Zhou dynasty's religion. Many ancient people as a corrupt and bankrupt religion. Confucius believed and interpreted the foundation of the Zhou religion rituals as celebratory ceremonies conducted by people. This was a cultured pattern of behavior developed by human wisdom, which was transferred from generation to generation.
Master Kong also interpreted the rituals as activities greater than religious ceremonies and formal sacrifices but the basis of human civilization. He concluded that a civilized nation could only possess a unified, enduring, and stable social order. According to the lecture's notes, implementing this belief enabled the Western Zhou dynasty to exist for more than five centuries in prosperity and peace ((Lecture’s notes, p. 25). This statesmanship of Zhou gong made Confucius want to replicate this religion, but in his way from the political ideas, he had studied from the ancient worthies and sages.
To understand the importance of Confucius to the world, we must go back in time to find how he came into existence. The Chinese Confucian tradition is split into different periods to analyze its change, evolution, and relevance to the current era. Through these changes, Confucianism became stronger and gained positive feedback from the people. Still, on other occasions, it crashed because of the change in the social fabric, which either accepted the teachings or viewed it as more dogmatic. The advancement of Confucian learning was affected when a change in the dynasty occurred. The link between dynastic government and Confucianism was created during the reign of the Han dynasty, which lasted between 206 BCE to 8 BCE (Yao, 2000, p. 4.)
Confucius constantly changed and grew his Confucian tradition that underwent five stages of change throughout history. Confucius's teachings drew its vitality and energy from interactions with other traditions, within itself and between the present and past. Confucius acquired new traits that enriched his wisdom and teachings to new audiences through these five change dimensions. The first stage of Confucianism was the formation, which took shape during the spring and autumn of 770 BCE to 476 BCE. Through this time, Confucius and his apprentices attempted to create a different philosophy based on the ancient traditions that valued harmony and peace (Yao, 2000, p. 5). During the Warring States period, it underwent modification which intelligent scholars elaborated and clarified to greater magnitudes such as Xunzi and Mengzi.
Confucius was born in the spring and autumn period, which lasted between 770 BCE to 481 BCE. Confucius home town in a regional state of China called Lu. His hometown was under the imperial rule of the Zhou dynasty of the 1000 BCE era. Confucius's earliest ancestors are believed to originate from the state of Song and were from the Kongs clan that produced several reputable counselors. However, the Song dynasty and Kong’s clan lost their political powers and wealth during the battles of the 7the century that made the remaining clan members move to the state of Lu.
Confucius was open about his history. He remembered how he could not get a position in the government because he originated from a humble background that would deny him favors. Confucius's first job was with the Jisun clan, who were the right-hand counselors of the Lu rulers for many decades. His main duties were to look after livestock and attend the granaries as the village commander, which led him to acquire better roles and positions in the Lu government. When he accepted the higher roles, Confucius was renowned for being immaculate in diplomatic issues; hence, he handled matters associated with law and order. He also acted as the chief mediator of the Lu rulers (Yao, 2000, p. 47). He had conflicts with the hereditary families who wanted to steal powers from the rightful ruler family of Lu, and this led him to resign his job after a massive clash of the families in 498 BCE. The exile he took began his remarkable journey into discovering the ancient tradition that grew into Confucianism.
It reached an adaptation stage when Confucius renewed and reformed his relationship between Confucian schools, Maoism and Daoism, Yin Yang and the Five Elements, and the schools of Legalism. According to the lecture notes, the metaphysical and theological doctrine of interaction between humans and Heaven was created and became the forefront of the new Confucius principles (Lecture’s notes, p. 35). The pre-existing schools, Old Text and New Text Schools, had conflicts resulting in the new meaning of Confucian classics and Confucius the master himself.
More focus was put on the word-by-word interpretation of the c...