Eastern Religions in Credo: Confucianism

From Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosophical terms in the Daxue (“Great Learning”) that refer to two related stages or aspects of the self-cultivation process, subsequently given different interpretations by later Confucian thinkers. ‘Ge’ can mean ‘correct’, ‘arrive at’, or ‘oppose’; ‘wu’ means ‘things’. The first ‘zhi’ can mean ‘expand’ or ‘reach out’; the second ‘zhi’ means ‘knowledge’. Zhu Xi (1130–1200) took ‘gewu’ to mean arriving at li (principle, pattern) in human affairs and ‘zhizhi’ to mean the expansion of knowledge; an important part of the self-cultivation process involves expanding one's moral knowledge by examining daily affairs and studying classics and historical documents. Wang Yangming (1472–1529) took ‘gewu’ to mean correcting the activities of one's heart/mind (xin), and ‘zhizhi’ the reaching out of one's innate knowledge (liangzhi); another important part of the self-cultivation process involves making fully manifest one's innate knowledge by constantly watching out for and eliminating distortive desires.

In philosophy, the study and evaluation of human conduct in the light of moral principles.

Moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects, the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient commentaries including that of Mencius. In its early form (before the 3d cent. B.C.) Confucianism was primarily a system of ethical precepts for the proper management of society.

From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Confucianism as revived in China during the late tenth to mid-seventeenth centuries. It has also been called Tao-hsüeh(learning of the Way) or Li-hsüeh (learning of principles) in the broader sense.

Study of the ultimate reality, causes, and principles underlying being and thinking.

From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosophical term, important in Confucianism, variously translated as ‘kindness’, ‘humanity’, or ‘benevolence’.

From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosophical term generally agreed to be derived from ‘sheng’ (life, growth), and usually translated as ‘nature’.

From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese term probably with an earlier meaning of ‘sense of honor’, subsequently used to refer to the fitting or right way of conducting oneself (when so used, it is often translated as ‘rightness’ or ‘duty’), as well as to a commitment to doing what is fitting or right.

From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosophical terms important in Confucianism, meaning ‘loyalty’ or ‘commitment’, and ‘consideration’ or ‘reciprocity’, respectively.

From The Encyclopedia of Ethics
Commonly regarded as the greatest Neo-Confucian philosopher, Chu Hsi lived in the Sung Dynasty (960 to 1279).

Distressed by the constant warfare between the Chinese states and by the venality and tyranny of the rulers, he urged a system of morality and statecraft that would preserve peace and provide people with stable and just government.

From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese thinker and philosophical adversary of Mencius (4th century B.C.). He is referred to in the Meng Tzu (Book of Mencius).

Chinese Confucian philosopher. The principal source for Mencius' life is his own writings. He was born in the ancient state of Ch'ao, in modern Shandong province.

From Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosopher, perhaps the most original thinker among contemporary Neo-Confucians. Educated at Peking University, he first studied Western philosophy but was converted to Chinese philosophy under the influence of Xiong Shili. He made a great breakthrough in his study of Song-Ming Neo-Confucian philosophy, arguing that Zhu Xi was really a side branch that took the position of the orthodoxy. He maintained that all three major Chinese traditions, Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist, assert that humans have the endowment for intellectual intuition, meaning personal participation in dao (the Way).

From Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosopher of the late Qing dynasty, a close associate of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. He was a syncretist who lumped together Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Western science. His book on renxue (philosophy of humanity) identified humanity with ether, a cosmic force, and gave a new interpretation to the unity between nature and humanity.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Chinese scholar and official whose idealistic interpretation of Neo-Confucianism influenced philosophical thinking in East Asia for centuries.

From Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese contemporary New Confucian philosopher. He was a revolutionary when young and later studied Weishi (Vijnanavada, ‘Consciousness-Only’) philosophy at the China Buddhist Institute under Ouyang Jingwu. But, dissatisfied, he developed his New Weishi philosophy of creativity based on the insights he derived from the Yijing. He became influential and had Mou Zongsan, Tang Junyi, and Xu Fuguan among his disciples. After the Communist takeover in 1949, he still rejected materialism, but embraced a radical social philosophy that was not shared by most of his former disciples.