Confucius and his teaching: the foundations of traditional Chinese culture

Kun Fu-Tzu or, in Europeanized form, Confucius is a Chinese philosopher whose name has become a household name. It symbolizes the basic provisions of culture Celestial. It can be said that Confucius and his teachings are the property of Chinese civilization. The philosopher was surrounded with honors even in communist times, although Mao Zedong tried to oppose his own theories. It is known that the traditional ideas of its statehood, social relations and interrelations among people, traditional China, were built precisely on the basis of Confucianism. These principles were laid in the sixth century BC.

Confucius and his teaching became popular along with the philosophy of Lao Tzu. The latter based his theory on the idea of a universal path - "dao", in which in one way or another move as phenomena, and living beings, and even inanimate things. The philosophical teaching of Confucius is the complete opposite of the ideas of Lao Tzu. He was not very interested in abstract ideas of a general nature. All his life he devoted to the development of principles of practice, culture, ethics and politics. His biography tells us that the philosopher lived in a very turbulent time - the so-called "Age of struggling kingdoms", when human life and the welfare of entire societies depended on the case, intrigues, military success, and no stability was even foreseen.

Confucius and his teaching became so famous because the thinker actually left untouched the traditional religious morality of the Chinese, only gave it a rationalized character. This he tried to stabilize both public and inter-human relationships. He built his theory on "five whales." The basic principles of the teachings of Confucius are "Ren, I, Li, Zhi, Xin".

The first word roughly means what the Europeans would translate as "humanity." However, this main Confucian virtue is more like the ability to sacrifice one's own good for the sake of the public, that is, to sacrifice one's interests for the sake of others. "And" is a concept that combines justice, duty and a sense of duty. "Li" are rituals and rituals necessary in society and culture , which give life order and strength. "Zhi" is knowledge necessary for the management and conquest of nature. "Xin" is trust, without which real power can not exist.

Thus, Confucius and his teaching legitimized the hierarchy of virtues, proceeding, according to the philosopher, directly from the laws of heaven. No wonder the thinker believed that power has a divine essence, and the ruler is the prerogative of a higher being. If the state is strong, the people prosper. That's what he thought.

Any ruler - the monarch, the emperor - is the "son of Heaven." But this can only be called that gentleman who does not create arbitrariness, but fulfills the commands of the heavens. Then the divine laws will extend to society. The more civilized the society and the refined culture, the more they are further from nature. Therefore, art and poetry should be something special, refined. As an educated person differs from the primitive, so culture differs from obscenity in that it does not sing of passion, but accustoms to restraint.

This virtue is not only useful in family and neighborhood relations, but also good for management. The state, the family (especially the parents) and society - this is what the member of society should think about first of all. His own passions and feelings he must keep within strict limits. Be able to obey, listen to the elders and superiors and reconcile with reality should any civilized person. These are in brief the main ideas of the famous Confucius.