Confucianism is one of the hundreds of pre-Qin schools of thought. Confucianism, also known as Confucianism or Confucianism, was founded by Confucius. It initially referred to the master of ceremonies. Later, it gradually developed into an ideological system centered on benevolence and hierarchy. It is the most influential school in China and the mainstream consciousness in ancient China. Confucianism has had a profound impact on China, East Asia and even the world.
Confucianism is the most influential school of thought in ancient China. As an expression of China's inherent value system, Confucianism is not an academic or school in the usual sense. Generally speaking, especially in the pre-Qin period, although Confucianism was the most influential school of thought, it was only one of the schools, and there was no master-slave relationship with other schools of thought. "Ru" is originally a contemptuous term. The title of Confucianism is not the title of Confucius himself, but the Mohist name for Confucius' school of thought. In the pre-Qin period, Confucianism had an equal status with all other scholars. It was severely damaged during the reign of Qin Shihuang when he "burned books and entraped Confucians". It emerged after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented ideological suppression in order to maintain his autocratic rule by "deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone."
The connotation of Confucianism is rich and complex. The feudal imperial power gradually developed basic theories and ideas, that is, it talks about the great unification and the father and son of the monarch and his subjects. Confucius, the founder of the Confucian school, broke for the first time the monopoly of education by the old ruling class. He changed "learning in the government" to "private lectures" and spread traditional cultural education to the entire nation. In this way, Confucianism has a solid national psychological foundation, is accepted by the whole society, and gradually Confucianizes the whole society. The Confucian school adheres to the belief that "the Tao cannot last more than three generations, and the law cannot last more than two queens" ("Xunzi King System").
The essence of Confucianism includes pre-Qin Confucianism, Confucius's benevolence and etiquette, the ritual and music system from the pre-Confucius era to Confucius's benevolence and etiquette thoughts, Confucius' benevolence, Confucius' etiquette, Confucius' filial piety, and "The Analects of Confucius" Filial piety in "The Book of Filial Piety" discusses filial piety, Confucius's view of life, the background of the formation of Confucius' view of life, the characteristics and connotation of Confucius' view of life, the life guiding significance of "cultivation of one's self before fate", Confucius's theory of life issues, music - —Confucius’s attitude towards life and realm of life, Confucius’s discussion of ambitions with his disciples, speech and silence in conduct, Mencius’ theory of good nature and Mencius’ mission, Mencius’ theory of benevolent government, Xunzi’s theory of evil nature and the theory of ritual rule, the flow of Confucian thought Change and connect heaven and man - Confucian thought of Dong Zhongshu, "Xing is reason" - Neo-Confucian thought of Zhou, Zhang, Cheng and Zhu, "Heart is reason" - Xiangshan, Yangming's thought of mind, New Confucianism - The cultural response to the spread of Western learning to the east, the rise of the Confucian cultural circle - the possibility of Confucianism promoting modern economic development, etc.