Confucianism

Confucianism, also called Ruism or Ru classicism, is a tradition of thought and conduct that began in ancient China. It has been described as a philosophy, religion, ethical system, political theory, or simply a way of life. Its founder, Confucius, lived during the Hundred Schools of Thought period around 500 BCE. The system blends philosophy, ethics, and social governance, centering on virtue, social harmony, and family duties.

The tradition stresses virtue gained through self-cultivation and collective effort. Core virtues include ren (benevolence), yi (righteousness), li (propriety), zhi (wisdom), and xin (sincerity). These values are closely linked to the concept of tian (Heaven), presenting a worldview where human relationships and social order reflect sacred moral principles. Confucianism does not focus on an all-powerful god, but sees tian as a transcendent moral order.

Confucius saw himself as a transmitter of cultural values from the earlier Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou dynasties. During the Legalist Qin dynasty around 200 BCE, Confucianism was suppressed. It later flourished under the Han dynasty around 130 BCE, replacing the proto-Taoist Huang–Lao tradition as the dominant ideology, while also absorbing pragmatic Legalist ideas. In the Tang dynasty around 600 CE, a response to the growing influence of Buddhism and Taoism led to Neo-Confucianism, a reformulated philosophy that became central to the imperial examination system and the scholar-official class of the Song dynasty around 1000 CE.

State-backed Confucianism declined after the imperial examination system was abolished in 1905. In the early 20th century, Chinese reformers linked Confucianism to China’s “Century of Humiliation” and turned to other ideologies, such as Sun Yat-sen’s “Three Principles of the People” and later Maoism. Still, Confucianism persisted as a cultural force, shaping East Asian economic and social structures into modern times. The Confucian work ethic was credited with the late 20th-century rise of the East Asian economy.

Confucianism remains influential in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and areas with large Chinese diaspora communities. A modern revival has gained momentum in academic and cultural circles, leading to the founding of a national Confucian Church in China in 2015. This reflects renewed interest in Confucian ideals as a basis for social and moral values. American philosopher Herbert Fingarette described Confucianism as a system that regards “the secular as sacred.”

**Terminology**

No single Chinese term directly matches “Confucianism.” The closest catch-all is the word rú (儒). In modern Chinese, its literal meanings include “scholar,” “learned,” or “refined man.” In Old Chinese, it had distinct meanings such as “to tame,” “to mould,” “to educate,” and “to refine.” Several terms, some modern, express different facets of Confucianism:

- 儒家 (Rújiā) – “the ru school of thought” - 儒教 (Rújiào) – “ru religious doctrine” - 儒学 (Rúxué) – “ru studies” - 孔教 (Kǒngjiào) – “Confucius’s religious doctrine” - 孔家店 (Kǒngjiādiàn) – “Confucius’s family’s business,” a pejorative phrase used during the New Culture Movement and the Cultural Revolution

Terms using ru do not mention Confucius by name but focus on the ideal of the Confucian man. Some modern scholars avoid “Confucianism,” preferring “Ruism” and “Ruists.” Robert Eno argues the term has been “burdened … with the ambiguities and irrelevant traditional associations,” and that Ruism is more faithful to the original Chinese name. David Schaberg has suggested “Traditionalist” to emphasize the connection to the past, its standards, and inherited forms—something Confucius himself valued. Yuri Pines follows this translation. According to Zhou Youguang, ru originally referred to shamanic methods of holding rites and existed before Confucius, but with Confucius it came to mean devotion to spreading such teachings to civilize the people.

**Five Classics and the Confucian Vision**

Traditionally, Confucius was thought to be the author or editor of the Five Classics, the basic texts of Confucianism, all edited into their received versions around 500 years later by Imperial Librarian Liu Xin. Scholar Yao Xinzhong allows that there are good reasons to believe the Confucian classics took shape in Confucius’s hands, but that “nothing can be taken for granted in the matter of the early versions of the classics.” A sixth classic, similar to the Classic of Poetry, was the Classic of Music, lost during the Han dynasty. Music was seen as an invaluable tool for inducing focus in performing rituals. These were the internal (music) and external (rites) keys to harmonizing society. Yao suggests most modern scholars hold the “pragmatic” view that Confucius and his followers did not intend to create a system of classics, but nonetheless “contributed to their formation.” Scholar Tu Weiming explains these classics as embodying “five visions” underlying Confucianism’s development:

- **I Ching (Classic of Change or Book of Changes)**, generally held to be the earliest of the classics, shows a metaphysical vision combining divinatory art with numerological technique and ethical insight. Its philosophy of change sees the cosmos as interaction between the two energies yin and yang, and the universe as always showing organismic unity and dynamism. - **Classic of Poetry or Book of Songs** is the earliest anthology of Chinese poems and songs, with the earliest strata predating the Zhou conquest. It shows the poetic vision of Confucianism.