Category: Confucianism

Confucianism affected China by showing social qualities and otherworldly ideas, and by setting up organizations, such as, houses of worship, schools and state structures. Confucianism, in the most essential sense, orders as a religion. In any case, philosophers think about Confucianism as a common religion, as its lessons and ideas address all parts of society and life, helped out through guidelines, laws and codes.

Confucianism mixed the regularly isolated circles of teaching, government and church. This religion concentrated on the restoration and understanding of the main religion of the Zhou administration, which taught that by taking proactive measures, such as, performing rituals, Chinese people respected the gods, who gave back luck and prosperity.

Confucianism encouraged that everybody is naturally introduced to their ‘place’ in life and to acknowledge that place this influences because China they are a socialist government everybody where must be equal

A husband is better than his partner, who owes loyalty to the man. Guardians are better than youth, who owe guardians regard, submission, and respect. Governments received it and the huge acknowledgment prompted a Chinese culture with tight weave society with people that had jobs and obligations from birth to death

Impacted by Confucianism, in Chinese culture, a scholar isn’t constrained to learn alone. He has to be good at being a human and in his orientation of himself. A key target of scholars are to have to use his capacity, character and knowledge to do useful things for the state, society and the world. Confucianism has been fundamental to the development of present day Chinese society by empowering social request, regard for the old, the rise of instructors, and the benefit of the network. Confucianism educates and impacts Chinese culture completely.

Humanism is at the focal point of Confucian way of thinking. It raises to the position of the consecrated many components of mainstream regular day-to-day existence. This impacts the fundamentals of Chinese political idea and the ethical climate in Chinese culture.

Yi is the framework by which profound quality and exemplary nature are maintained. This arrangement of profound quality are resolved inside by the fundamentals of Confucianism and keep up a solid nearness in idea and activity in present day China. They additionally present a particular social connect to the nation’s past and to the people who added to its inheritance.

Zhi is an impression of the good and bad in others and their actions. It is the measurement by which a productive member of society has to check and act when interfacing with others. These ideas hold significant load inside the bigger structure of Confucian idea and are the main way of thinking.

Confucianism rises above the division among religions and humanism, considering the standard exercises of human life and particularly human connections as a sign of the hallowed, on the grounds that they are the declaration of humankind’s ethical nature, which has an otherworldly mooring in Heaven and unfurls through a fitting appreciation for the spirits or divine forces of the world.

Confucianism likewise centers around the down to earth request that is given by a common mindfulness. Priest praise out in the open and in temples. The common worry of Confucianism settles upon the conviction that people are in a general sense great, and assertive, improvable, and perfectible through endeavors, particularly self-development and self creation. Confucian idea centers around the development of righteousness in an ethically composed world. A portion of the essential Confucian moral ideas and practices incorporate ren and li. Ren is generosity or sympathy and is the quintessence of the person which shows as empathy. Li is an arrangement of ceremonial standards and respectability that decides how an individual ought to appropriately act in regular day-to-day existence in concordance with the law of Heaven.

Social agreement comes from each person knowing their status in the world, and having their impact well. Duty stretches out past obedient devotion and includes the system of social relations, even the regard for rulers. Confucianism to a great extent characterized the standard talk on gender in China from the Han dynasty forward. The gender roles turned into a foundation of the family.

Beginning from the Han time frame, Confucians started to encourage that woman should follow the lead of the men in her family the dad before her marriage, the husband after she weds, and her children in widowhood. For a long time, numerous leading researchers have viewed Confucianism as a misogynist, male centric belief system that was verifiably harming to Chinese woman. Further examination proposes, nonetheless, that a woman’s place in Confucian culture might be progressively intricate. During the Han tradition period, the persuasive Confucian content Lessons for Women, was composed by Ban Zhao to educate her daughters how to be great Confucian wives and moms, that is, to be quiet, persevering, and agreeable.

The person who made Confucianism, Confucius was an old Chinese instructor, government official, and logician. He had a place with the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Confucius is one of only a handful couple of leaders who put together their way of thinking with philosophes that are required for everyday living. His way of thinking fixated on personal and administrative ethical quality, accuracy of social connections, equity and genuineness. Known as Master Kong to the Chinese, he showed people how to develop the use of humility, arranging, regard, moral conduct, genuineness and earnestness, aside from good judgment. He lectured that embracing these qualities was the main way a person could have a decent existence. Confucius was of the assessment that genuine bliss would just be brought from well-arranged activities and aiding of other people.

Confucianism is an ancient philosophy about kindness and respect which is based on the teachings of Kung Fuzi He is also known as Confucius. Confucianism is not religion, but philosophy about how to live life, therefore, Confucius was also not God or supreme being with extra power. He was person who was able to transmit wisdom because he created moral code for Chinese people which is based on love, ethics, and humanity. The main principle of it is that people should not do to others what they do not want to be done to them. Confucius suggested that only in this way society can prosper. Although Confucianism is not religion as Christianity, their approach to life is similar:to love and respect others. It mainly focuses on daily lives of people rather than life after death or ruling authorities. Even though this philosophy is mainly practiced in China, it is also spread to nearby countries as Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.

There are six fundamental principles of Confucianism. According to this philosophy, people who follow these principles can be called ideal men. The first principle is Li. It proposes that a person should live honorable life, respect elderly, his family. He should not be selfish in his actions. In my opinion, this principle is very effective one for building just society. It does not tell people not to think about themselves, it only says that while achieving personal goals and ambitions they should be just towards others. The second principle is called Hsiao. This principle suggests that parents should love their children and children should love their parents, happy families are important factor for flourishing society. This principle is also very logical. In modern world we witness violence and negative behavior towards others. I believe that such actions come from family. For example, if a person does not feel that he is loved and even experiences violence, in future, he can also act violently towards others. The third principle is Yi which is about righteousness. Confucius says that what is right should be above everything else. For example, if a man wants to help someone, he should do it because it is right to do, but not for some other reason as personal benefit in the future. If he helps others to have some benefit in the future, then his action lacks moral worth. The forth principle is Xin. Its main focus is honesty. Being honest to yourself and others builds confident and trustworthy society. This is also very logical principle because it is impossible to trust people who lie. Another principle is Jen which is considered the most important one among all other principles. It is mainly about humanity and says that people should be kind towards fellows. They should understand each other rather than judge. For instance, if someone behaves negatively towards you, you should not judge him, but instead ask the reason behind and try to understand him. Such approach helps to build healthy society. Sometimes people do not even want to know the cause of others certain actions. The last but not least principle is Chung. It is about being loyal to country and family. People who are loyal to family members and country will never betray them.

According to Confucianism there are social rituals which set ways of interaction of person with others. In each type of relationship, a person plays certain role. So, the five main relationship types are: ruler and subject, wife and husband, father and son, elder brother and younger brother, friend and friend. The fundamental concept Li determines how these relationships should be prioritized. For Confucius, a good ruler is the one who is benevolent towards his followers and good subject is the one who is loyal to his ruler. A good father is the one who loves his son and good son is respectful to his father. A good husband should be kind towards his wife and listen to her, while the role of wife is to obey her husband. An elder brother should understand his younger siblings, and they in turn, should respect their brother. Finally, two friends should be respectful towards each other. I can say that if each person behaves in the suggested way, then the society will be healthy one. The only thing I do not agree with is the proposition that wife should obey her husband. I think in order to have equal society there should be equality in the family, too. However, Confucius puts father as the most important person in the family. If the father dies, the next one to hold authority is the oldest brother. I think that Confucius put males superior to women because in ancient times males had to earn money and feed their family. Yet, in modern time, everything has change, women the same as men can earn money and contribute to family budget. We can conclude that all relationships in Confucianism should be based on mutual respect. If husband does not listen to his wife and does not consider her desires and thoughts, then he should not wait respect from her. Confucius believed that through the implementation of these basic norms it would be possible to create a warm relationship with each and every person throughout the lifetime span. From the mentioned above relationships, we can see that the majority of described bonds are between the members of the family and we can come up with a conclusion that family and respect to each member play an important role in the fundament of Confucianism.

Even though people who follow Confucianism and Hinduism live nearby in Asia, their teachings are different. While Hinduism is more focused about metaphysics, life, and death, confucianism is solely based on humanity issues. The answer of Confucius to questions about afterlife was: We do not know how to serve man, so how can we know about serving the spirits? We don’t know about life, therefore, how can we know about death?” He stresses that teachers and rulers are very important models for society, therefore they should rule and teach by virtue and moral example, rather than punishment. From my perspective, this approach is very rational because if teachers and rulers themselves would live righteous life, the followers would also want to be like them. However, if rulers themselves are unjust, lie to society, punish them, they cannot establish prosperous government. In case of Hinduism, they believe that people are born in certain social classes and cannot change it. For example, if a person is born in warrior caste, he has to fight and kill when needed. If he is born in poor family, then he has to accept it and should not try to get power.

In conclusion, we can state that in Confucianism healthy society comes from happy and respectful family. It promotes love, understanding and respect towards all members of society. It was about philosophy of life rather than religion. Confucianism was a system of ideas and thoughts establishing social values, human relationships and ideals of traditional Chinese society. From my perspective, in ancient times, there was a need for some rules that would build up civil society and Confucius made a great contribution to it. As I mentioned, it had a huge impact not only in China, but also such countries such as Vietnam, Korea, Japan and even some parts of North America. Fundamental principles of Confucianism were great guideline for people who want to live righteous life. It taught them to be honest, just, respectful, and understanding.

The design of Japanese garden establishes an independent school for itself. The gardening strategies are inherited from China, and gradually develop their own characteristics under the Japanese cultural connotation. Among all genres of Japanese garden design, the most representative one is Karesansui garden, or shall we call it Japanese rock garden, or Japanese Zen garden. In the remote past, Japanese garden design shares more similarities to Chinese gardens. During the early Heian period, the Japanese scenic gardens look more similar with the gardens in Tang Dynasty. When Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the late Heian period, Japan’s taste for culture and art experienced significant changes, so as the taste for garden design. Japanese artists started to find out their own way of gardening, based on their own understanding of Buddhism. Consequently, Karesansui style was given birth to. In this paper, I would like to depict a general image of the Japanese Karesansui garden from several different perspectives. First, I will generalize the beginning of Karesansui garden based on the recorded information in the Japan’s earlies garden manual Sakuteiki. Then, after having a basic understanding of Karesansui, I would then move to the Zen aesthetics principles that are supporting the garden design. We will be able to learn essential concepts of wabi-sabi, yugen, and how do these concepts apply to reality. Following that, I would then make a comparison of Japanese gardening with the Chinese style gardening. How do the two be different from each other, and do they share similarities with each other? Lastly, I will use a specific example to further detail the ideas of Karesansui gardens. We will be able to take a closer look at the first Karesansui garden—Ryoanji.

The term “Karesansui” was believed to be first introduced in Japan’s earliest garden manual Sakuteiki in Heian period. Sakuteiki means “Notes on Garden Making”. In the fifth chapter of Sakuteiki, the concept of Karesansui and certain principles were introduced. It says : “Sometimes rocks are placed in where there are no ponds or streams. This is referred to as Karesansui.” “When you build a Karesansui (dry landscape), you should first model the whole site to look like the base of a mountain or a hillside field, then arrange the stones so that they fit in with your overall design”(Sakuteiki, edited by Joe Earle). From these words, we learn a basic sense of Karesansui—no ponds or streams, only rocks are placed in the garden. The author of Sakuteiki also introduced the strategy of building a Karesansui. In this manual, Karesansui was a special element in garden design, but later believed to be the foundation of the establishment of Karesansui garden. Then in the 12th century when the political power fell into the hand of the samurai class, Buddhism became popular in Japan. It is during this period that the great Zen Buddhist monk Muso Soseki(1275-1351) founded the independent Karesansui style of garden design. If to say that the Chinses garden can be concluded as perceiving the nature from man-made sceneries, then the Japanese garden would be more like perceiving the men’s intelligence through nature. The Japanese garden is “suggesting” rather than “representing ” the nature. The term Karesansui literally means the dry landscape. This idea of “dry” contrasts with the pursuits on liveliness and flourishment in a Western or Chinese garden. Chinese gardens would be seen as a manifestation of imitating the nature, while Japanese gardens declare the idea of symbolism. The central expressive elements in Karesansui is the white sand and rocks. Plants are rare, and they do not take the role of protagonists in a rock garden. One can barely find any water scenery or plants like blooming flowers or trees. Muso Soseki, the great Zen Buddhist and garden designer in the Kamakura period, wrote a poem with the tittle Ode to the Dry Landscape (Kasenzui no in), which begins as:

Without a speck of dust’s being raised, the mountains tower up;

Without a single drop’s falling,

The streams plunge into the valley.

The idea in this poem resonates the experience that Robert Carter recorded in his book The Japanese Arts and Self-Cultivation. Carter writes that, when he was welcomed by a Zen Buddhist Philosopher Nishitani Keiji in Kyoto, he was asked by the Zen master whether he had heard “the garden roar”(Carter,70). Visitors are supposed to hear the roar of the water when observing the rock landscapes in this waterless garden. This poem also helped us to reveal a corner of the philosophical principles behind the garden design.

Before moving into a more detailed interpretation of Japanese rock gardens, I believe it would be essential to learn about the ideologies and principles that support the garden design, and the Japanese aesthetics in general. The Japanese Karesansui garden, or we shall call it the Japanese Zen garden, is apparently supported by the principles of the Japanese Zen Buddhism. The contemporary Japanese philosopher Daisetz T. Suzuki briefly explains Zen in his book Zen and Japanese Culture as “one of the products of the Chinese mind after its contact with Indian thought, which was introduced into China in the first century A.D. through the medium of Buddhism teachings” (Suzuki,1). The Zen thinking was born in China, but it was appropriately inherited by Japan. The Japanese Zen behind Japanese art is modified and developed into the culture connotation. Suzuki then later explained that, “Zen is discipline in Enlightenment”(Suzuki, 5). Enlightenment, or satori in Japanese, is no less than a true freedom. It can only be understood through intuition, through personal experiences, not through words. What need to interpret Zen is beyond logic and verbal language. As such state of mind is impossible to reach for ordinaries, I would then generally explain few terms derived from Zen Buddhism for the purpose of understanding Zen gardens. Two of the most important concepts to understand Japanese art are wabi-sabi and yugen. The literal meaning of wabi is poverty. While the poverty here does not equal to a state of being materially poor. As Suzuki said, “To be poor, that is, not to be dependent on things worldly—wealth, power, and reputation—and yet to feel inwardly the presence of something of the highest value, above time and social position”(Suzuki, 23). It is more like a cleanness in mind. It is a mind state that free of worries from the moral life. Wabi asks one to free one’s mind from everything that would distract the inner peace and calm. Then, let us take a glimpse at sabi. “If an object of art suggests even superficially the feeling of a historical period, there is sabi in it. Sabi consists in rustic unpretentiousness or archaic imperfection, apparent simplicity or effortlessness inexecution, and richness in historical associations; and lastly, it contains inexplicable elements that raise the object in question to the rank of an artistic production”(Suzuki, 24). In short, the basic idea of sabi can be concluded as aloneness, naturalness, and imperfectness. The aloneness brings an image of standing and starring in front of the ever-changing world all by oneself. Sabi also connects with the image of “a patch of green”. Although this “a patch of green” is seemly weak in the winter snow, it represents the upcoming spring and the sprout of vitality.

The concept of yugen and sabi would be inter-penetrable to each other. Yugen was adapted by Zeami Motokiyo—the son of the founder of Noh theater for the purpose of establishing aesthetic principles for Noh. Yugen would be translated to English as “cloudy impenetrability”, “obscurity”, “unknownability”, “beyond intellectual calculability”(Suzuki,69).The general sense of yugen is “…the sense of the mysterious quiescence beneath all things. The world this imagery evokes is a muted, tranquil world in which nothing remains immutably fixed, a world of mist, rain, and wind, of snow and withering flowers”(Kaula, 221). In Japanese literacy works, yugen lies in the depiction of impermanence of life, mourning for the loss of love, flowers in mists, or clouds covering the moon. Yugen is elusive. While as both being elusive, the elusiveness of yugen does not equal to the elusiveness in western works such as Ulysses, The Divine Comedy, or Faust. It lies in the difficulty of exactly transcribing what the creator wants to tell the audiences in words, or the difficulty of grasping the theme of the entire work. Yugen is instantaneous, indirect, and uncatchable.

In a Karesansui garden, the ideas of wabi-sabi and yugen are manifested through the simplicity, serenity, and impermanence in garden design. The size of the gardens is relatively small, and the garden would be enclosed by fences or walls to isolate the garden from outside. What’s inside the garden is as less as possible. There are no exquisite or luxurious decorations, even the living plants would be considered as a distraction. The ground is usually covered with white gravel, which is a representation of purity and cleanness. The existence of white gravel isolates all the uncleanness and pollution from mortal life. The combination of white gravel, rocks and moss brings the audience a sense of motionless and permanent. As Parkes said, the best way to approach a rock garden is “slowly, deviating from what is nowadays helpfully sign posted as the ‘Usual Route’”. By visiting a rock garden, visitors can leave the “commotion of traffic and bustle of the city” behind, and spend one day “admiring the ponds, rocks, trees…”(Parkes, 130). The serenity from outside would go inside to one’s mind. All scenes would be fixed once being arranged. Waterscapes are avoided, as water itself represents unpredictability. Audiences would be able to understand the order and eternity, and the pursue of nature’s fixed beauty in Karesansui. The only thing one could find in such garden is endless quietness and peacefulness. Karesansui garden brings an extremified sense of primitive, and unaffected simplicity.

As we have known that the design of Japanese gardens was greatly influenced by the Chinese Buddhism and philosophy, I will then indicate the differences and similarities between Chinese and Japanese view of nature. The ancient Chinese garden was nurtured by the scholar’s culture, the Confucianism philosophy. The garden designers are mostly elites, scholars, and the owner of such garden is usually the politician or the noble. While the origin of Japanese garden lies in religion. The garden designers and users are those Zen masters. This fact builds a basic knowledge for understanding the differences between these two styles of gardens.

According to the ancient Chinese view on nature, all the natural phenomenon and human beings are animated by the cosmic energy-qi, or ki in Japanese. The energy qi connects men with nature, and it makes the relationship between men and nature into a continuum. Resultantly, the style of an ancient Chinese garden always follow the rule of “ though the landscape is manmade, it is almost like that it is created by the heaven”. In addition, the idea of qi is also represented through Chinese’s view on rocks. As the ancient philosophers believed, rock is dynamic rather than a quiescent object. When reading the stories of the monkey Wukong transformed through rocks in the novel the Journey to the West, we realize that Chinese people believe that rocks contains spirituality and humanity. Correspondingly, garden designers showed their understanding of nature’s intelligence through the large amount of rock installation in classical Chinese gardens. As an extension of Chinese thinker’s idea of continuum, I believe rock is viewed as a continuity of the nature. Such spiritualty in rocks are often embodied in those rocks that are well polished by time and nature. Thus, the selected garden rocks are usually asymmetric, irregular, and unadorned. These traits would help the rocks to prove that they were the total masterpiece of nature without any artificial marks. The rocks from Taihu lake is the most representative category of garden rocks that fit all the standards. By appreciating the garden rocks, the audiences would be reminded of the beauty and energy of nature in macrocosm when imaging how rocks were created by heaven and earth. When signing for the trace of time and nature power’s polishing, people’s thoughts are then led to the exploration of the continuity and connection of all modalities.

The stone reminds people of the past, the water reminds people of the future. Water and stone are the most indispensable components of a garden. A peak can represent the view of rolling mountains, a spoon of water can represent the view of thousands miles of rivers and lakes.This poem resonates with the Chinese belief that the beauty of the macrocosm is concentrated in the microcosm, which remains as one of the tenets of Japanese garden design.

Chinese traditions appreciate rocks for the passed time and the energy of nature they represent. In addition, a single rock can be an independent masterpiece. While in the Japanese culture connotation, rocks are appreciated for being the sources of ideas and mind, especially for the Karesansui gardens. In “The Role of Rock in the Japanese Dry Landscape Garden”, Graham Parkes said that: “Japanese Buddhism adds pedagogic and esoteric dimensions by inviting us to regard rocks and other natural phenomena as sources of wisdom and companions on the path to deeper understanding” (Parkes, 142). For Zen Buddhism, everything in the physical world would be the manifestation of Buddha Dharma. When emerging oneself into a Japanese Zen garden, one’s important lesson is to cultivate oneself through communicating with nature and finally understanding the nature’s central teachings-Buddha Dharma. As a result of the difference in the perspectives of appreciation, the design of the Japanese Zen garden emphasizes not too much on the physical senses of aesthetics, but more on the untranslatable intuitions that people may feel when walking around a Zen garden. As the Zen master Dogen(1200-1253) wrote, “At the time of right practice, the voices and form of river valleys, as well as the form and voices of mountains, generously bestow their eighty-four thousand hymns of praise.”(Parkes, 141 ) This sentence explains a hint of the Japanese view on nature. For the rocks, Dogen then wrote that “rocks and stones, large and small, are the Buddha’s own possessions”. As he believed, nature is the sermon of Buddha, so as the rocks. In addition, human beings would be able to understand the Buddhism teachings by understanding the principles of nature phenomena. Dogen’s assertion of Buddha nature claims that, “Buddha-nature is not just sentient beings but also ‘fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles’ ”(Parkes,141). By contemplating in front of the rocks, the power of the motionless rocks allows people to imagine a flowing river or a cataract that are not physically there. The Karesansui garden is not only an expression of the garden designer’s own enlightenment, but one can also feel the enlightenment by making efforts on communicating with nature. Just like all the aims of practicing any traditional Japanese art, the purpose is to, in the end, realize the principle of Zen-enlightenment, which would make you hear the sound of water by looking at the rocks, or understand life and death by looking at the drifting clouds. It can also be said that, people are experiencing part of the self, which is a process of approaching enlightenment, through appreciating rocks and hearing rock’s “mute speech” in a Japanese Dry Landscape garden. This idea resonates with Robert E. Carter’s explanation for enlightenment. “Enlightenment is the direct experience of oneness with all that exists, and such a state of being is one in which one seems to become one with the flower, the rocks in a landscape garden, or the sorrows and suffering of others” (Carter,13).

Instead of focusing on each single rock, the Japanese garden designer paid more attention on the sense of integrity between the arranged rocks and the garden as a whole. This idea can first be seen from the principles of selecting and arranging garden rocks for a Japanese garden. In Sakuteiki, although it represents more of the Heian period ideas of garden aesthetics, we can still get a sense of the general idea behind garden design. “When you place stones, it is first and foremost necessary to grasp the overall sense, following the topography of the site and seeing how the pond lies one must think over the particular aesthetic sense of all parts of the place. Then recall landscapes scenery as it is found in nature, and seeing how different all the parts of the site are you must place the stones by combining these impressions”. As we shall see, the sense of integrity is emphasized instead of the individuality of the rocks. Rather than the place where the stone comes from, the more important thing is whether the shape of the stone fits the entire atmosphere of the garden.The differences between Japanese Karesansui gardens and Chinese gardens are more likely to be perceived from the physically different garden arrangements. While as Japanese Zen is not completely alien to Chinese philosophy, so as the aesthetic principles of garden design. Both Japanese and Chinese garden engage with nonverbal teaching and learning.

As all modalities in nature have their own principle, the Confucianism promote the idea of exploring knowledge through the study of principles, or to say “ge wu zhi zhi”. Nature is given the philosophy of life as instructions for human being. For example, pine trees are related with the spirit of fearlessness; mountains refer to steadiness. By putting morality into the appreciation of nature, people can not only enjoy beauty through intuition, but also gain the distillation of morality.

Some of the oldest philosophical ideas can be traced back to Asia, thousands of years ago. Lifestyle and how you are supposed to fit in society are key parts to these philosophies. Asia is home to one of the largest and oldest cultures on Earth, so there is no surprise that their beliefs are the ones we look back at and study. Taoism and Confucianism are just two examples of old Asian philosophy. They contain similarities as well as many differences.

Taoism was started at least 2,500 years ago in China. Lao-Tzu, the founder, was a man trying to find peace in a rough time period. Tao, or dao, is what is called “the way”. This is the founder of everything that exists. A popular idea that has come from Taoism is the idea of Yin and Yang. The Yin and Yang contradict each other, but also have to work together. Yin and Yang are two forces in nature that work with and against each other to keep us in balance. In Taoism, all people are told to “go with the flow”. You do not make plans for your future, and what you expect to happen. As things happen, you make choices in the moment. Instead of planning to be kind to others in the future, do not plan it and wait to just do it. This philosophy has Sages, that work for the idea. They are here to guide us to better understanding of Taoism. The main part of their explanations is using contradicting statements to explain. As Taoism is not able to be limited by a definition, they believe all things should not be limited by a name. Names are just limits on the possibilities of what something can be. The realization that reversal and relative opposites happen helps people. Reversal happens whenever you expect something, because the opposite will happen. Relative opposites are opposites that don’t actually have distinctions. You can’t tell what is good or bad, because it depends on the view of the point. Your view can decide whether rain is helping your crop in the moment, or flooding your fields. Taoism as a whole, is about minimalism and not going out of your way to try.

Confucianism is an upgrade to Taoism. Instead of sitting back and waiting for things to happen, you take action. The first step to universal peace in Confucianism is starting with yourself. You have to become the happiest, kindest, and most humane person you can be. You need to fill your role in society. For example, the woman of a house stays home and keeps care of kids while the father of the house is out working and providing for his family. The role for a great male is to be a “superior man” instead of a “vulgar man”. You need to be providing for yourself, as well as providing for your family members to become a superior man. The vulgar man, however, is not dominant and is not able to support himself and others. This weak man also may only care for himself, and not about his family. Your character is a big part of what helps keep society going. You should treat petty people not as good as superior people, but not like they are completely nothing. You need to have some leniency. Confucianism doesn’t focus on keeping yourself good, but instead on keeping society going along. You doing your part, means that society will keep going along well. One of the key parts to Confucianism is the the Golden Mean. Mean, meaning the average or middle, is referring to a great middle ground between to opposite forces. This Golden Mean also requires you starting with yourself, and that will build up to your community, then city, nation, and world. An example of this would be instead of being depressed and causing the people around you to be depressed, you can be happy and have that rub off on the people around you. Confucianism has three key parts to their expected actions. Tao, te, and li are the principles. Tao has to do with how our government should be run and organized. Te I think is the most important, our capacity to act on tao through li events. An example of this could be knowing you should include the friends that usually don’t get invited, and then actually doing it. Confucianism is the more active of the two philosophies.

Taoism as compared to Confucianism, is not as good. Taoism I believe has a strength in the idea of Yao and Ying. We do need to realize there is a balance of good and bad. The weaknesses for it are the lack of action, and lack of planning. I am more of a plan and do your plans type of guy. Overall, Taoism is a weaker philosophy. Confucianism is more interactive and involved. The strengths are the idea of beginning with yourself, being part of a larger community, and the idea of a dominant and not dominant male figure. I like these ideas of being the best you, and then everything will fall into place. I honestly do not see any weaknesses of Confucianism. Overall, Confucianism is much better than Taoism.

Both philosophies bring good ideas to the table. Ying versus Yang, a better you means a better universe, and the realization of a dominant and not dominant male are all great ideas. There are also some weaknesses in Taoism, like the lack of action. At the end of the day, these both work like a religion does. They give people a basis to live off of, and give them a “reason to live” in certain situations. The ideas behind Confucianism are much better than the ideas of Taoism in my opinion due to their more active approach, while both are acceptable ideas.

Religion played an important role in history, and it has powerful and effective influence on various spheres of life, as it happened before common era. An example of how this can be done should be the introduction of Confucianism into the quality of state ideology, which strengthened the national identity of Chinese civilization. Comparing the influence of Confucianism and Hinduism it is noticeable that Chinese religion was more successful in case of social, economic and political stability. Hinduism had some positive influence, although Confucianism had more successful ideas to create empire in harmony, because had positive impact on education, social stratification, and creating a right empire.

Beginning with the Han era, Confucians not only held state and society management in their hands, but also made sure that Confucian norms and value guides became generally accepted and turned into a ‘true Chinese’ symbol. In practice, this led to the fact that every Chinese had to first of all be Confucian so people started to give giving it the value of the centralized law code. Accordingly, the authority and popularity of the literacy increased,there was a “cult” of a hieroglyphs, Confucian-educated moralists, academic officials, who were able to read, understand and interpret the wisdom written in the sacred books.The layer of intellectuals, who had the power of knowledge, education and administration took a place in China. The educational system was focused on training of Confucianism experts. Good knowledge of ancient texts, the ability to write essays was really useful for thousands of years.

The study of the Confucian science opened up a way up, provided an opportunity to make a career, to achieve honors, power and wealth , it took many years of hard work, and not everybody was given a diploma.As a result, the most successful, capable and diligent students, who had enough strength, perseverance, ability and patience, could master the entire amount of knowledge required in competitive exams and had ability to live in wealth.

It is obvious that each person takes his place in the social hierarchy.It is possible to consider a society consisting of two categories of people: one social stratum whose representatives think and control, the representatives of the other work and obey. In this case,the criteria for such a division is knowledge and virtue, not finances and wealth. The interests of the people should be the highest goal of government, because the population cannot do without a ruler and his care.

Since Ancient China was ruled by different dynasties,who had the wealth and power, the social stratification was divided strictly by privileged ruling aristocracy, consisting of the supreme ruler, his relatives and confidants, local rulers with their relatives and confidants, free communal peasants and disenfranchised slaves who were in the service of representatives of the nobility and that fact that people were in their place and the discipline was strict, provided an opportunity to have social stability.

The political program of early Confucianism was generally conservative, although it contained progressive ideas. In practice, it contributed to the consolidation of patriarchal relations, the assertion of the rule of hereditary aristocracy. Confucian ideas of renewing the ruling class at the expense of representatives of the underprivileged strata could not lead to a radical restructuring in the state, because the latter, being brought up in ancient traditions, themselves turned into active defenders of the organization of power, which the well-known nobility advocated. The concept of the nomination of the just assumed only the easing of conflicts between the old and the new aristocracy.However, certain provisions of the doctrine, as has been said, had a progressive meaning. To them should be attributed primarily to the idea of ​​spreading moral knowledge and teaching people, regardless of their class status. The educational activities of Confucius and his students played a huge role in the development of Chinese culture.

‘ When working in the medical field, a sense of sociocultural ethics should be developed from the first day. Regardless of the culture, clients are to be respected and treated equally, with autonomy and social justice. Confucianism is a Chinese culture based on the teachings of Confucius. The most important value to this culture is harmony.

Upon exploring their values and principles, I found their biggest ethical principle is this statement: “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.” Like other cultures, family is at the center of the Confucianism realm. The father is the patriarch, while sons, primarily the oldest, is expected to respect and look after parents. “Traditional Chinese values put the family and society over the individual. A traditional deference to authority may produce miscommunication. For example, patients may nod their head to indicate understanding and agreement, but they may be simply deferring to authority. It is important to be sure they understand what is being said and are not just being polite.” (red paper cultural beliefs)

Discussing each culture’s view on mental health, it is intriguing to find what the culture values in order to accomplish wholesome mental health. I have discovered there is not a “black and white” answer. However, certain acts are taken in order to gain aspects that contribute to mental health, for example, harmony, respect, and knowledge. Confucian individuals value rituals and teachings of Confucius to become competent in his philosophy.

When examining Confucianism’s cultural beliefs regarding that of healthcare, I was awestruck to find the similarities with beliefs of American healthcare. Confucianism principles regarding ethics is fairly simple, placing most importance on the value of the human life. Ethics are to be portrayed with honesty, integrity, and in a dignified manner. It seems one of the most prominent goals is: respect. Differences approach between the American culture and Confucian culture regarding billing. The confucian culture believes the physician should present patients with as much financial support as possible, eliminating most fees. An additional difference of beliefs is what the physician does with their income after it is dispersed. It is understood physicians are to live a simple life, saving money instead of spending money.

Cultural differences should be taken into consideration when determining care and treatment of each client or patient. In order to build a professional relationship with the individual, rapport must be present. To accomplish rapport, the professional should approach the patient with respect, dignity, and nonjudgement. The healthcare personnel should determine what is important to the client regarding their cultural beliefs, without overstepping. Although it is important to be aware of the cultural difference between therapist and the client, it should not change the ethics used when establishing rapport. Every patient should be given time to express values, without being bombarded with questions and opinions.

As discussed prior to this, Confucian philosophy has particular theories when treating clients or patients, as well as, the relationship between the healthcare personnel and patient. For example, when thinking of treatment for a widow or maid, additional precaution should be taken. An immediate relative should be present in the case of questions being examined. Exploring diet and daily habits or occupations are two objects that should be determined very early on in the treatment plan.

Time and setting are of the essence when scheduling treatment sessions for a client of the Confucian culture, affecting the temporal context of the individual and treatment. Education is of high importance for Confucian individuals. Hours are spent during their day studying and practicing. The occupational therapy practitioner should treat the client with the utmost respect while planning a suitable time and schedule for treatment sessions. Although it may be more difficult to organize a schedule that is feasible for both client and therapist, it should be the primary goal. Ultimately, the client being present in sessions is of great significance.

The cultural context should determine what activities will be implemented, as well as what will not. The personal context will help determine what treatment is appropriate for the client’s age and gender. When contemplating using technology within your treatment session, virtual context should always be acceptable to the client.

After researching what is important to the client and their culture, the occupational therapy practitioner would establish a treatment plan equipped of important occupational tasks relatable to the client and their needs. I feel as if activities of daily living will be paramount in treatment. According to research, Confucius’s teachings impart meal prep and mealtime a very important part of an individual, although there are many rules for the client to follow regarding their culture when eating. Ritual attire is worn frequently for all rituals and activities should incorporate that. Overall, activities should be grounded on AOTA’s occupations and client factors: values, beliefs, spirituality, body functions, and body structures.

References

1. Zhaojiang, G. (1995) Chinese Confucian culture and the medical ethical tradition. Journal of medical ethics, 21, 239-246.

In East Asia, Confucianism has always been regarded as the cultural basis of political order and social norms. However, there are still differences that emerge in its application especially in western and East Asia. Confucianism is interpreted and presented differently in the hands of various people. The way that Confucianism is understood in the west is different from how it is used in East Asia. In this paper, a comparison of western and East Asian countries systems of law and justice will be compared to understand the origin of the differences and why they exist.

Confucianism as a living tradition flows from the past to the present and the Confucian doctrine underlines the life of the people and how they practice political or religious activities, (Yao, pg. 19). Confucianists hold a strong belief that the governance of a nation cannot depend on strict and harsh laws and punishments but the criminal law must be based on moral conventions. In East Asian countries, it is entirely believed that administration, legislation and adjudication of law should be analyzed through the moral principles lenses. Thus, social order is preserved through moral persuasions as the primary method, which is also assisted by the laws and punishments that are set.

The Western and East Asian legal systems have both differences and similarities. One similarity between these two systems is that they both have humanizing aspects. The concept of leniency towards those without legal capacity or those who are of limited capacity such the very young or the mentally disabled comes out in both systems of law and justice. For example, from the regime of Sanzong Sanyou , there comes the concept of leniency. Also, the regime of Xuqiu Shenxing also advocated for leniency for those who cooperate with the authorities (Yao, pg. 254). Similarly, in the Western systems of law and justice, there also existed and still exists leniency towards people without legal capacity and those of limited capacity. In many bizarre murder cases, many victims are subjected to forensic psychology to determine whether the person is mentally fit to stand trial or not. Also, there are instances where governors or presidents show mercy to people especially those incarcerated for life or have long prison terms.

What is more, there is yet another similarity between the Western and east Asian law and justice systems. There are must be multiple reviews prior to the execution of death penalty. In the Zhuzifushen dynasty in Chinese traditional political regimes, it provided multiple appeals at different levels before the person was executed. The person is given more chances to convince the law why he or she should not be executed and if one appeal goes through, the convicted person is not executed. Similarly, in the west, the law allows for multiple reviews of a case of a person that is condemned to death through execution. Should the appeal go through, then the person’s life is spared and may be sentenced to life or have the sentence commuted.

In regard to criminal laws and procedures, in both western and East Asia, torture was practiced intensively in judicial proceedings. The trial system highly emphasized on the necessity of confessions by the person that is accused and thus torture was used as the means of extorting it should it be felt like the accused is nor giving satisfactory information. Torture was also used against witnesses who were considered not to have given enough information. Lastly, any person that invoked their appeal would have to endure beatings before their case was heard.

In as much as both the Western and East Asia law and justice systems have similarities, they also have very striking differences. In western countries, the governance of a nation depends on strict laws and harsh punishments. The set rules are to be followed and even the smallest mistakes are highly punishable. Each and every person in the society is expected to respect and follow the set rules, to which a consequence follows should they not be followed. In East Asian countries legal system operates in such a manner that it is from the moral behavior then the law follows, that is morality first and legal code second. On the contrary, in western countries, it is the law first then the moral behavior.

Moreover, harmony is the highest value in East Asian culture. Confucian adjudication prizes harmony above anything else. For instance, through the many years of Chinese history, the Chinese society continues to hold harmony as the highest ideal in resolution of disputes. In the ancient times, when resolving disputes the officials avoided lawsuits as much as possible and focused on using mediation to solve the cases, reaching harmony between the persons, nature and the society. They strove very hard to attain a Confucian Utopia of an ideal society without lawsuits (Yao, pg. 78). On the contrary, the western system of law and justice put so much emphasis on punishment of offences by the laws set, leaving absolutely no room for peacemaking and finding solutions without the involvement of the law makers.

The ancient legal system in the East Asian countries emphasized on combining the three factors of Confucianism; the ways of natures, the law and the social values. The combination of these three are what molded and made the law and justice system that governed the people. While these three factors aimed at creating a society that did not fully rely on the set rules, in the western it was totally different. The western countries only placed importance on the use of the legal code of the nation, following each and every set rule in it obediently.

Another striking difference is the differentiated law that existed in the western countries and did not exist in East Asia. Western law, especially the modern western law is non-discriminatory law, where everybody regardless of age, race, gender, sex, education or rank is equal before the eyes of the law. In ancient East Asia, especially in China there existed differentiated law, where persons of different ranks were treated differently. This is remains as the basic principle of ancient law in China that regulates the relationship between the monarch and his ministers, the high and officials , husband and wife , parents and children , the elder and the younger as per the regulations of Confucianism.

In ancient China for instance, the law was divided into two categories; the Xing and Li. The persons at the lower ranks known as the Xiao Ren were under xing and the persons at the higher ranks were under Li. This kind of differential law reinforced the existing hierarchies in the society. This is why an offence committed by a person against his senior was punishable through severe means unlike when the mistake was committed by a person against another person of similar rank. If the offence was committed by a person against his junior was less punished or not punished at all .

Loyalty, honestly, reciprocity, integrity, and humanity are all characteristics of a diffused religion founded by Master Kong named Confucius. Confucius was a teacher and a philosopher. Although there is not much research done on his early life, researchers are certain about one thing. His teachings shaped China’s ideology. He accidentally founded this religion when he was trying to save the Zhou Dynasty. (Berling) Confucius wanted a perfect society. He determined that the only way to get a perfect society was to teach others how to treat each other and how to treat themselves. Through his teachings, Confucius encouraged his followers to be the best that they can be by emphasizing education and the importance on the way that people treat each other.

“Confucianism focused on education as a means of attaining worth and status and was adopted as an official philosophical school under the Han Emperor Wu Ti in the second century BC.” (Gosha 2017) Confucius wanted his followers to be successful and to have worth. Therefore, he put so much focus on knowledge and inspiring his people to learn and grow. He wanted his followers to be teachers, in a way. He encouraged his men to follow and act according to how he taught them so that the people watching them will learn and follow behind. Confucius believed that learning was a process. It included observation, processing, and replication. He would watch something, decide if it was positive or negative, then replicate it if he thought it was positive. (McEnroe & Ed 2014) Along with being full of wisdom and knowledge, Confucius also encouraged people to be respectable and humanely.

As the Golden Rule says, Confucius wanted people to treat each other the way that they would want someone to treat them. Confucius was focused on being kind and respectable to other people. He wanted peace in the world, and he knew that had to start from within. For someone to be nice and caring to another person, they must take care of themselves first. This is what Confucius called self-cultivation. It is about respecting and caring for oneself. There were three main roots that Confucius used to develop this: Cheng, Shen, and Chi. Cheng correlated with being sincere and authentic to oneself. He wanted people to know who they are and to show off their real self. Shen dealt with a person’s spirituality. A person must know what they believe in. The last one, Chi, is about choosing the good or evil sound and finding one’s power and voice. After accomplishing these three roots, a person can begin to really focus on helping others. (Sideris, 2013)

Confucius believed that a person’s individual well-being depended on how others treated him/her. (“Confucianism.”) Confucius’s main purpose was to produce gentlemen. He wanted his followers to radiate with integrity, grace, and wisdom. (Riegel 2013) He showed people how to treat each other and how to love. He taught his people compassion and integrity. This is what the Five Constant Virtues essentially were. It was teaching people how be an ethical human being. These virtues were Jen, Yi, Li, Zhi, and Xin. Jen stood for humaneness, which basically means to have compassion and a helping hand. Yi stands for justice and righteousness. This means doing the write thing and standing up for what is right. Li means propriety or etiquette, which, in other words, means being polite. Zhi stands for knowledge. Confucius believed that knowledge held a huge weight on how people look at others and how people are classified. He stressed the importance of education and wisdom. Lastly, Xin stands for integrity. He wanted his followers to be able to trust each other and have faith. Without integrity, that is impossible to accomplish. (Wŭcháng, 2009)

Along with so many other important values Confucius set in place, he taught the importance of family and relationships to his followers. He showed his followers how to treat family members with kindness, love, and respect. “The inner pole of Confucianism was reformist, idealistic, and spiritual. It generated a high ideal for family interaction: members were to treat each other with love, respect, and consideration for the needs of all.” (Berling) He placed a huge emphasis on having a healthy relationship within families. He also emphasized the importance of a family’s ancestors and the respect people should have for their parents, elders, and ancestors. This is called Filial Piety. He wanted each member of the families to know the hierarchy of the family. The ancestors were on top, being the most respected. Following behind the ancestors are the elders and parents. Behind the parents are the children. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew what their responsibility was and that each member was fulfilling it. For example, the parents’ responsibilities included keeping their children out of harm’s way. On the other hand, the children’s responsibilities included obeying and respecting their parents and elders. (“Confucianism”)

Not only did he want the family relationships to prosper, but he wanted all of his followers to have prosperous relationships between one another. He strived for peaceful interaction for all. He wanted his followers to focus on maintaining healthy relationships with one another and to prosper and succeed together. He encouraged his followers to be supportive and helpful to one another. He wanted to have a team of followers that could rely on and help each other whenever needed; he wanted social harmony for his people.

Social harmony is a team effort. It required members to be responsible of their duties according to where they stood in the social hierarchy. These duties included loyalty, obedience, understanding, and so much more depending on which relationship it was. There were five different kinds of relationships according to Confucius: friend to friend, husband to wife, father to son, older brother to younger sibling, and the ruler to his followers. These were called the Five Bonds. “Very prominent in the Confucian tradition is the idea of the five relationships. The relationship between, if you take it according to Mencius, parent and child, minister and ruler, husband and wife, older and younger brother, friend and friend. Those five relationships and the fact of human relatedness are of crucial importance in the Confucian tradition.” (Bloom) Each bond required different duties depending on who was involved in the bond. For example, the bond between the ruler and his followers would consist of support and obedience.

Confucius’s ideas are still prevalent in the world today. People abide by his teaching daily, regardless of whether it is realized or not. When someone is being respectful of their ancestors or if a person stops to help someone with a flat tire, these are both examples of what Confucius wanted. He wanted his followers to set aside their differences and create peace and harmony in this world.

Works Cited

1. Berling, Judith A. “Confucianism.” Asia Society, Center for Global Education, asiasociety.org/education/confucianism.
2. Bloom, Irene. “Confucian Teaching.” Asian Topics, Columbia University, afe.easia.columbia.edu/at/conf_teaching/ct07.html.
3. “Confucianism.” United Religions Initiative, www.uri.org/kids/world-religions/confucianism.
4. Gosha, Christopher. “What Is Confucianism?” History Today, 9 Mar. 2017, www.historytoday.com/history-matters/what-confucianism.
5. McEnroe, A. M., and Ed. “Confucius’s Educational Theory.” Maria Montessori on Education, New Foundations, 13 Apr. 2014, www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Confucius.html.
6. Riegel, Jeffrey. “Confucius.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 23 Mar. 2013, plato.stanford.edu/entries/confucius/#ConEdu.
7. Sideris, Jackie. “Confucian Beliefs and Practices.” Prezi.com, 9 Dec. 2013, prezi.com/53fo_gnyp_os/confucian-beliefs-and-practices/.
8. Wŭcháng, Sāngāng. “Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues.” China Connect University, Berkshire Publishing Group LLC, 2009, chinaconnectu.com/wpcontent/pdf/ThreeFundamentalBondsandFiveConstantVirtues.pdf.

At the very beginning of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle starts from goodness and states one of his main ethical ideas, “Every art and inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good.”[footnoteRef:1] The good here refers to something that is morally right, or in other words, righteousness. The he distinguishes between two kinds of practical activities, one of them aims to themselves, and the other one aims to the products apart from the activities that produce them. For instance, the first one will be we seek for happiness because we want to be happy. And for the second one, we work not because we only want to work, that’s due to the money that we get from work. According to this logic, then we must have a highest good, and there must be a corresponding science that aims for this good. From Aristotle’s perspective, such science is political science. [1: Aristotle, and H. Rackham. The Nicomachean Ethics. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 2003), 935.]

Following that, instead of continuing with the relationship between political science and highest good, Aristotle raises a very interesting argument saying that young adults are not proper to learn political science. Their lack of experience in life could lead them to take actions irrational. They may choose to just follow their heart regardless of the objective condition. From my perspective, I completely agree with his opinion. Even though political science has been changed over the two thousand years, it always requires tons of experience gained from action. The knowledge that we acquired from universities is no longer useful here. Also, preventing young people from learning political science is another way to protect them as they will not be exposed to the reality too early. Without enough knowledge as the foundation, too much experience related to politics could be harmful as young people are usually naïve and lack of judgment.

Let’s return back to highest good. So, what exactly is the highest good? Aristotle claims that happiness is the highest good. Then here comes another question, what is happiness? Different people will have different definitions for happiness, and every definition will be unique and specifically for that person. Just like the words saying, “We boil at different degrees.”[footnoteRef:2] Previously, I have only very shallow understanding of what happiness is. I thought happiness is the things that could bring me joy in my current life state, for example, the accomplishment of my current goal or current pleasant life condition. However, after reading and thinking about the definition given by Aristotle, I feels like my original thought was too plain and now I have a much deep understanding. The definition for happiness given by Aristotle is “Happiness is an activity of soul in accordance with perfect virtue.”[footnoteRef:3] Also, he believes that happiness should be self-sufficient, which is contradictory to most of traditional Chinese philosophers. Traditional Chinese philosophers believes that happiness is from outside, such as friends and relatives, and this is one of the reasons why traditional Chinese people believes having a large family is their happiness. They prefer to believe that happiness belongs more to a whole unit or a whole big family instead of for each individual. And more severely, they even think that it is reasonable to sacrifice individual’s happiness in order to achieve the unit’s happiness. [2: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude. (New York: Cosimo Classics, 2005), 222.] [3: Aristotle, and Rackham. The Nicomachean Ethics., 950.]

So, after reading Aristotle’s article, we can easily say that this traditional Chinese happiness is unveracious and unsustainable. That kind of happiness is just apparent happiness instead of true happiness. In order to achieve true happiness, we should be focusing on ourselves. Our whole journey as a human should be a journey that makes us become more mature step by step. We are building ourselves from scratch and we will gain happiness throughout the whole process.

From the Aristotle’s definition for happiness, we can see the close relationship between happiness and virtue. Then how are we going to define virtue? According to Aristotle’s definition, virtue is divided into two kinds, intellectual and moral. Intellectual is mainly obtained by teaching, while moral comes about as a result of habit. Then what is virtue? Virtue is state of characters instead of passions or faculties, such state of characters could make a man good and make him do his own work well. There is one major component that Aristotle emphasized in his virtue theory, which is mean. He states that “excess and defect are characters of vice, and the mean of virtue.” Therefore, we can say that mean is between two vice, and in order to achieve mean, we need to keep the balance between these two vices. Both excess and defect could be harmful for us, and only mean could be beneficial to make us good. For instance, reckless is the excess for brave, and it could result in super dangerous actions. Cowardice is the defect of brave, and it leads to inactive actions. We can see that both of them could lead to some improper consequences. Only by mean can we better take actions properly and make ourselves good enough for the future growth.

In ancient China, we have Confucianism raised by Confucius, and one of its main theory is also about mean. Its mean theory has been used as the principle of virtue for over two thousand years. These two definitions for mean are not exactly the same, but at least there are many similarities between them. “Being without inclination to either side is called ZHONG; admitting of no change is called YONG. By ZHONG is denoted the correct course to be pursued by all under heaven; by YONG is denoted the fixed principle regulating all under heaven.”[footnoteRef:4] ZHONGYONG here together stands for mean. From this definition, we can see that both of them are advocating for keeping the balance without inclination to either sides. Then here comes an interesting question, why does these two philosophers, one in east and one in west, both come up with such kind of theory? From my perspective, the reason is that both of them are born in war-ridden years, and the society is not stable as it is today. They are experiencing many meaningless wars that results in chaos, and their lives, along with the public’s lives, are in great danger because of this. Therefore, they would like to persuade the people to calm down and keep the balance between excess and defect in order to achieve stable again. [4: Confucius. The Doctrine of the Mean. (Kila, MT: Kessinger Pub., 2004), 127.]

However, one major issue that I find with mean is that it is really hard to judge what is mean and what is not. Also, mean may become different in different scenarios. For instance, the mean for studying a normal exam compared to the mean for studying an entrance exam will be definitely different. For the later one we need to spend more effort and the mean between rest and study should definitely be focused on the study side. While for normal exam, the focus may be on the rest side. Therefore, I think instead of a rigid balance, we should take a dynamic balance instead. Sometimes, we may be slightly inclined to one side of the mean, but we are still keeping the dynamic balance. Once such situation is ended, we can quickly return back to the original mean and keep doing this back and forth.

Another interesting phenomenon is that both of them agree that some kind of actions do not have a mean. Confucius raised the argument that “Hypocrite is the person who spoils the virtue.”[footnoteRef:5] The Hypocrite here refers to people who just do not know right from wrong. They cannot distinguish between good actions and evil actions, and all they want to do is to be nice to every person and every action. Confucius claims this is incorrect as people should at least be aware of wrong actions and also prevent people from taking that kind of actions. Certain bad actions just do not have a mean and you cannot just keep the balance without inclination. Similarly, Aristotle has similar opinion. He states that “not every action nor every passion admits of a mean.”[footnoteRef:6] For instance, murder, theft, and adultery, they are just bad and do not have a mean associate with it. Doing any of these actions is just wrong. This is an alert for people who just regards mean as doing nothing. We should at least have certain moral bottom line and avoid doing actions that is below this line. [5: Confucius, and Lau. The Analects Confucius. (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1979), 79.] [6: Aristotle, and Rackham. The Nicomachean Ethics., 959.]

Moreover, when talking about Aristotle, we can’t bypass Plato, who is the teacher of Aristotle. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an English philosopher, claims that “Every man is born an Aristotelian or a Platonist.”[footnoteRef:7] One of the reasons for this phrase is that Aristotelian can be seen as focusing on realism, and Platonist can be seen as focusing on idealism. And for each person, they should either be realist or idealist. This phrase raised by Coleridge is definitely too broad, but at least we can tell what the main difference between Platonist and Aristotelian is. From the image that we see in the class we can easily tell that Plato’s finger is pointing to the sky, while Aristotle is holding his hand and facing down. Such kind of gesture could partly illustrate their own theory. Plato believes that concepts had a universal form, an ideal form. However, Aristotle disagrees with this opinion and claims that universal forms were not necessarily attached to each object or concept, and that each instance of an object or a concept had to be analyzed on its own. [7: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Coleridge Derwent. (Notes on English Divines. London: E. Moxon, 1853), 153.]

For Confucius, I prefer to see him as a realism, and this may be the reason why his doctrine has so much similarities with Aristotle’s.

In summary, from Nicomachean Ethics we can get a clear idea about Aristotle’s theory about good and virtue. Meanwhile, we can see many similarities between Confucianism and Aristotelianism as they both advocate for mean and both of them are realism. Such kind of similarities also makes me believe that the peak for wisdom is the same, just their ways of presentation in different culture are different.

Bibliography

1. Aristotle, and H. Rackham. The Nicomachean Ethics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 2003.
2. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, and Derwent Coleridge. Notes on English Divines. London: E. Moxon, 1853.
3. Confucius, and D. C. Lau. The Analects Confucius. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1979.
4. Confucius. The Doctrine of the Mean. Kila, MT: Kessinger Pub., 2004.
5. Emerson, R. W. Society and Solitude. New York: Cosimo Classics, 2005.

When the Han Dynasty fell around 220 C.E. This time of period would also be known as “Medieval China” that started in 220 C.E. and came to an end in 1368 C.E. China had to deal with confusing situations with their society. Most of the countries had only one religion and they went into war over the religion. China had to rebuild their society of having three major religions: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. China has been known for its leaders, inventions, and researching, as well as medicine, technology, science, and art.

Buddhism became a positive impact for China’s development, such as literature and the philosophies. Buddhism started to gain some more popularity since the Han Dynasty fell apart in China. Buddhist often came from India as the sculptures were becoming into Chinese form. China established a trademark called the Silk road. The silk road was a trade route that connected the East and the West of China. It was said that Buddhism was a single religion throughout the Han Dynasty.

The Buddhism showed religion as a practically purposes. It showed their beliefs visible and the colors used in the painting were rich and diverse. Buddhism art was said to serve as some sort of mediation because of the amount of detail the art showed. Also, sculptures captivated the power of the religion of Buddhism. Not only was art that showed the power of the Buddhism religion, other aspects like dance, symbols, visual mythology played a huge part on this religion and how China became positive of Buddhism. Buddhist art.

Another religion is Confucianism, a religion that was defined for people to be educated, trained, and with some personal experience. Confucianism came down to one the most popular religions in China. Confucianism was to make an example for people to have hope and make a better living of their lives. This type of art showed the relations between loyalty and types of ministers. The desaturated colors within the drawings and painting showed that how the importance of things became secondary.

In China, Taoism was not a religion, it was mainly focused of how people wanted to live their lives that’s pretty like Confucianism. Taoism focuses on the mental aspects of the mind and body through dance and art. Many people today use Taoism through dance as it allows a person to live their life like a river flowing as it relaxes the body and mind. Some people say the use of Taoism finds answers and they explore their inter-being.

Taoism uses several visual symbols as each symbol represents the importance of Taoism. For instance: The Yin-Yang Symbol is the way how Taoism approaches the opposites or shifting the opposites;

China was a developed country, they’ve developed many products such as technology, medicine, and coin currency. Those products that were developed are used in the United States today. Speaking of coin currency, China was the first country to ever develop paper money and was the first country to use it. Paper currency was first developed during the Tang Dynasty. They’ve build the first mechanic clock, and have also invented a magnetic compass, as in today both of the those would just be on a phone.

Technology has been a big impact in our lives. China has made a big step in technology of some great inventions. In today’s world, we are so connected to phones, computers, etc. Paper and printing were first found in China during the Tang Dynasty. Way back before we were alive, communication was much harder than it is today. Most of the products that are in the United States were invented in china. Where most of the products that were purchased have a lettering of “Made in China”.

Chinese art is one of the oldest pieces of art of any kind in the world, as makings pots and sculptures. But why is this so important for China? Each artwork has made some characteristic and developments for the dynasties. Most of the art that is sculpture in China was used with carving on stone, using silk to make their painting and sculptures. The Neolithic Yang Shao was one the early forms of art that was used for china.

One of China’s most memorable leader, Genghis Khan, who was the first leader of China to make a great effort that made a big impact on helping China build up on their society. Khan stabilized China very well, he provided more land for his people, giving safety to traders on transports to make trades at the Silk Road. But eventually those trade routes later in the years started to become highways.

Han Art, which is the two-sculptures next to each other. This was during the Han Dynasty, which used to be the golden dynasty in China. Some of these artworks were made for music, literature, and poetry. When the Han Dynasty started to realize that art was used for funerals, where it was making tombs arts. During this time, making this artwork was simple because the only thing people used for art is brushes and carving into stone.

The Buddha is one of the sculptures that have been most known artworks in the world. When Buddhism came from India to China, it made an affect on China during the Han Dynasty of art and culture. This type of artwork will be remembered in art history forever.

China has been known for their landscape artworks and they paint most of them in all five dynasties. Painting mountains in landscape painting were famous and they paint the with black lines, ink wash, etc. They would also paint rivers, lakes at the bottom of the painting to make it have an importance. Famous artist took part of this landscape: Guo Xi, Fan Kuan, and Jing Hao.

China had to go through some confusing situation when the Han Dynasty fell apart. It shows how Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism has completely made a positive impact on building their society, Genghis Khan comes to take command and helps China to build on the society. China invented many products that was shipped to the United States and are still being used today. China is a country that will be remembered and came down as a successful country.