Confucianism
Confucianism questions focus on the Analects vocabulary, the five relationships, the Mencius–Xunzi debate over human nature, and Neo-Confucian developments. The exam also expects you to say why it is classed as a religion despite lacking a creator god.
Core terms
Ren is humaneness; li is ritual propriety; yi is rightness; zhi is wisdom; xin is trustworthiness; these form the five constant virtues. Xiao is filial piety, shu is reciprocity, zhong is loyalty. Junzi names the exemplary person, contrasted with the small person. Zhengming is the rectification of names, the doctrine that words must match social realities.
The five relationships
Ruler–subject, father–son, husband–wife, elder–younger brother, and friend–friend. Only the last is fully equal; the others are hierarchical but reciprocal, since each party owes duties to the other. Ancestor veneration and the family ritual system express xiao in practice.
Historical development
Confucius (551–479 BCE) taught in the Analects (Lunyu) during a period of political fragmentation, appealing to the Mandate of Heaven (tianming) and to Tian as a moral order. Mencius held human nature to be good, with incipient sprouts of virtue needing cultivation; Xunzi held it to be evil and requiring correction through li. Neo-Confucianism, especially Zhu Xi, built a metaphysics of li and qi, fixed the Four Books as the canon, and shaped the imperial civil service examinations.
Worked example
A ruler fails to rule and a father fails to father. A saying insists each must be what his name says. Reasoning: this is zhengming, rectification of names; social order follows when role-bearers perform the duties attached to their titles. Do not confuse it with Legalism, which governs by law and punishment, or with Daoist wu wei, which governs by non-interference.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing li, ritual propriety, with law or with the Neo-Confucian principle of the same name.
- Claiming Confucius wrote the Analects; his disciples compiled it.
- Treating ancestor veneration and filial piety as identical; the first is ritual, the second a broader ethic.
- Missing that the Analects' golden rule is negative: do not impose on others what you would not want.