Confucianism

[FireFromHeaven]

This is a Chinese religion/philosophy. It does not teach much on Spiritual matters so many consider it only a philosophy. Some people do great it as a religion. What is the Church’s view on its teachings? What in it is good?

 

[Vouthon]

Servant of God Matteo Ricci back in the 17th century praised Confucianism for having much natural good in it. He wanted to establish Catholicism in China without destroying in any way the Confucian culture. He sought to embrace and preserve all the elements of Confucianism that were compatible with revealed religion.

It is basically a philosophy of ethical injuctions on personal as well as societal morality, much of which contains sound principles of natural law. There are also certain overtly religious manifestations of it complete with its own rites, such as ancester veneration, I believe.

Its central sacred scripture is the Analects by Confucius himself. It is very “this-world focused” in that, apart from the ancestor rites which are not really connected to its moral philosophy but are kind of an integral part of old pre-communist Chinese life, it does not teach explicitly about the afterlife or deities.

In the 16th and the 17th centuries, the earliest European arrivals in China, the Jesuits, considered Confucianism to be an ethical system rather than a religion, and one that was compatible with Christianity. The rites, such as the ancestor veneration, were viewed by them as “civil rituals” that could co-exist alongside the spiritual rituals of Catholicism.

At its core is a very humanistic view of reality, based upon good strong family relations and moral leadership.

Catholic Answers has an article on Ricci that you might want to read:

catholic.com/magazine/articles/matteo-ricci-sj

Chinese people have traditionally, I think, had a syncretistic blend of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism for their majority religion before Communism was imposed on them by Mao and the revolution of 1949. Confucianist principles are still very important even in modern, Communist China.

 

[PatriciusRex]

What Vouthon said.

Also, it’s worth nothing that Catholics in China, Korea, Vietnam, continue to embrace a Confucian value system that is inseparable from their culture, even as they do not compromise on any teachings of the Church.

Confucianism is primarily concerned with matters in THIS world, not the next. It was formed in complement to Chinese traditional religion, of which Daoism is the most widely known example, but for the most part Confucian scholars left metaphysical considerations to other specialists.

The only possible conflict is the Confucian practice of prayer to one’s ancestors, which ignited the ‘Chinese Rites controversy’ in the 17th century. At that time, the Catholic Church decided to forbid the practice, fearing the Chinese converts would not distinguish between prayer for the dead and worship of their deceased ancestors (though whether even in a pure Confucian context the ancestors are “worshipped” is difficult to determine). In the 20th century however, the Catholic Church has altered its position to allow ancestor prayers with the caveat that it be done with the intent of prayers offered for the dead.

 

[FireFromHeaven]

Thanks.

 

[DavidFilmer]

I notice that you have recently asked a similar question about Methodists, Adventists, Calvanism, Baptists, Lutherans, Zarathusterism, Zoroastrianism, Rastafarianism, Confucianism, and Islam.

You seem very inquisitive, and appear to have a substantial amount of free time to devote to research of topics that would fill the Library of Alexandria. Please forgive me for also noting that your questions are also indicative that you are a troll, and should be ignored.

 

[NoWings]

I notice that you have recently asked a similar question about Methodists, Adventists, Calvanism, Baptists, Lutherans, Zarathusterism, Zoroastrianism, Rastafarianism, Confucianism, and Islam.

You seem very inquisitive, and appear to have a substantial amount of free time to devote to research of topics that would fill the Library of Alexandria. Please forgive me for also noting that your questions are also indicative that you are a troll, and should be ignored.

You do realize that posting the exact same reply in multiple threads is more indicative of trollish behavior rather than subject matter whose wording you personally disagree with, right?