Evaluation of Confucianism in Contemporary Chinese Society

Evaluation of Confucianism in Contemporary Chinese Society
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Evaluation of Confucianism in Contemporary Chinese Society
Introduction
Confucianism is best understood as an ethical guide for moral behavior and self-discipline. The core concept of Confucianism is "cosmic harmony." The creation of cosmic harmony requires the achievement of interpersonal, familial, and societal harmony. The overall understanding is that nature needs human fulfillment to grow. The emphasis on the oneness of heaven and humanity in Confucian thought exemplifies the importance of harmony in Confucianism. Or, according to spiritual and religious conceptions of heaven, it is possible to become one with heaven via submission to heaven's will. Using ren (benevolence, authoritative behavior), Yi (righteousness, morality), and li (ritual propriety) as standards, these parties are harmoniously coordinated. This essay attempts to analyze the impact of Confucian educational concepts on contemporary Chinese society.[You, Mi. "Confucius." In The Routledge Companion to Performance Philosophy, pp. 347-350. Routledge, 2020.] [Zhang, Bei. "Reading Song of Solomon in the Viewpoint of Confucian “Unity of Heaven and Human”." 동서비교문학저널 51 (2020): 395-424.]
Values of Confucianism
Confucius felt education should be utilized to cultivate the qualities of a gentleman, "shi." His educational objective was to create and foster a perfect personality. When he mentioned "perfect personality," he meant a person with a flawless moral character who can bring others happiness and peace. He encouraged the creation of a gentleman and argued that when a student demonstrates that he can handle his studies full-time, he should be allowed to run for public office. However, it is essential to note that he viewed males as having a higher social rank than females. According to him, the purpose of education should be to educate everyone regardless of their social status or rank. In other words, he supported compulsory schooling for everybody. This Confucian viewpoint appears to have impacted the current Chinese policy of free elementary education for six years and free secondary school for three years. In addition, anyone can study Chinese thanks to the university-level Confucius scholarships available.[Sheng, Xiaoming. "Confucian home education in China." Educational Review 71, no. 6 (2019): 712-729.]
Confucius placed significant emphasis on education without discrimination, which asserts that everyone should receive teaching without favoritism. Confucius thought that all people, regardless of social status or rank, should have an education. Any individual, no matter how noble, submissive, or lowly, should have access to knowledge. Before Confucius, there was a class system in China. Confucius made education available to commoners in remote areas. Today, China mandates that all residents attend elementary school for six years and secondary school for three years at no cost, guaranteeing everyone accesses to education.[Bahtilla, Marinette, and Hui Xu. "The Influence of Confucius’s Educational Thoughts on China’s Educational System." Open Access Library Journal 8, no. 5 (2021): 1-17.]
The fundamental principles of Confucianism support the pursuit of worthy life goals. Confucius felt that the pursuit of the proper objective was crucial to advancement. According to him, a person should have a higher spiritual goal or a romantic vision of how society should develop in the future, to which they might contribute. His principal arguments are as follows: First, he talks about how important it is to make goals that take both the present and the future into account. Second, he said that a person's spiritual life should be more important than his earthly life. He concluded by emphasizing the need to retain one's determination and stick to one's goals. He asked that they make their determination so firm and unshakable that nothing could sway them.[Chan, Alan KL. "Confucian ethics and the critique of ideology." Asian Philosophy 10, no. 3 (2000): 245-261.]
According to Confucius, self-discipline and introspection are essential traits everyone should cultivate. Confucius stated that to manage interpersonal interactions; one must be strict with himself, govern and evaluate his words and actions to ensure they follow moral principles; he termed this "self-control." He meant that we should engage in self-reflection and introspection (self-assessment). In addition, he advocated learning for onesel...