Spirituality Guide

Standing as another religion originating many centuries ago, Confucianism is also not truly a religion. It is widely regarded as a ‘code of conduct’ for life rather than any sort of religion. Confucianism relies primarily on rhetoric to explain Confucius’ ideas on moral, political, philosophical and other types of issues.

Origins: Confucianism has survived through many years of being accepted, then suppressed, and once again accepted on a much wider scale. It was started by K’ung Fu Tzu (commonly pronounced Confucius in English). He lived during the Chou dynasty, spending much of his life wandering and giving advice to rulers. He wrote many things on morality and ethics. Confucianism gradually developed from his teachings and writings.

Beliefs: Confucianist philosophy at its best leads to healthy and content people, which is one goal of Confucianism. Importance is placed on honesty and the principles listed below.

God: “His way to please God or the gods is through a “good conduct” with your family, neighbors, and society… if you are a good person, God is going to like you…â€? [Source] Confucianism has no church, no teachings on the worship of God or gods, and also no teachings on life after death.

Principles [Source] :
The “Jen”: The essence of all his teachings may be summed up under this one word ‘Jen’. The nearest equivalent to this difficult word is “social virtue”. All those virtues which help to maintain social harmony and peace like benevolence, charity, magnanimity, sincerity, respectfulness, altruism, diligence, loving kindness, goodness are included in Jen.

His “Golden Rule” is: “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do unto others”. “The injuries done to you by an enemy should be returned with a combination of love and justice”.

The “universal virtues” are: Wisdom, Benevolence, and Fortitude… Asked about what is “Benevolence”, he answered: “It is to love all men”; what is “knowledgeâ€?? “It is to know all men”… The “perfect virtue”: “Gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness”.

Other sources of information:
Confucianism @ Wikipedia
Confucianism @ Religious Tolerance
All About Confucianism