The traditional culture of the Chinese is an interesting field of study in cultural studies. The ideological basis of the Confucianism gains from Confucius. Three dynasties, the Xia, Shang and the Zhou are the originators of Confucianism, and lasted for about two thousand years, influencing the culture of China to a great deal. This paper purposes to discuss and analyze the different approaches to Confucianism as it is put forward by the Analects, Mencius, and the Xunzi. In lieu of this, the paper will characterize Confucianism as it was originally developed by Confucius. It will then consider the ways in which the subsequent scholars, Mencius and Xunzi reflect Confucian ideals in their works. Finally, the paper will look at how these scholars differ, while, at the same time, they follow Confucius.

As developed by Confucius, Confucianism was characterized by the moral and values inspired to it by its founder. Confucius was an unsuccessful politician, a thinker and as well, an educationist (Berling, 1982). Intellectualism was also a feature he abhorred so much that he influenced the Chinese intellects to a great deal. The original Confucianism was characterized by patriotism. In his young age, Confucius had political ambitions, and he purposed to get an official job, as an opportunity for promoting his patriotic ideals. Though he struggled much, he only got importance and regard at the age of fifty one. The patriotism of Confucius is seen in that he was forced to leave his country after failing to agree with some officials in the government of his state. He even worked for a very short time, and was ready to live the job, showing that he was a man of principles. The Confucianism he portrayed and preached is one of persistence and patience.

The Confucianism developed by Confucius further was a representation of equality (Berling, 1982). The achievement of Confucius in education cannot be overlooked. The campaign to educate all children despite their social class was started and championed by Confucius when he was working as a teacher. When he introduced this system of education that considered all children, only the aristocrats were being educated. To assist the students more, he championed for teaching the students as per their individual features and ability. This was very beneficial because every student benefited from the teaching. Through him, many principles of learning were proposed in the sector of education. He encouraged critical thinking. The modern system of education borrows from him.

The original Confucianism by the original author was also emphasizing influencing people with moral values, and intellectualism (Berling, 1982). The people who were close to Confucius learned a lot from him. He believed in imparting knowledge to his followers, and this he made sure he imparted to the people who used to follow him. Up to date, the words of wisdom proposed by Confucius are passed on to people as “The Analects”. In addition to teaching people, another characteristic of original Confucianism is the humility to learn from others. As Confucius was patient and humble to learn from people, he passed this to other people around him. He taught many people, many values, and many disciplines. The people he taught contributed greatly in the development of Confucianism.

Righteousness was another characteristic of original Confucianism. Confucius would not tolerate wealth whose source was questionable. Virtue, honesty and tolerance were among the values that he treated people (Berling, 1982). He also had an attitude of always being ready to help. He believed in doing to others what one would be comfortable being done to them. Further, he emphasized full use of one’s ability, strength, potential, and ability with a goal to help others. He portrayed optimism, and taught his followers to be optimistic.

Although the question of religion was predominant in Confucius times, his main intention was not to find religious movement. According to Berling (1982), he was more interested in looking for a solution to the query of social order. The Zhou dynasty, for example, had a religion that had not been unnamed. Reviving it and also reviving it was a task that Confucius put at heart. People had queries like why their supernatural being could not prevent the social suffering they were undergoing. The people following the law and those who considered themselves as real proposed that the question culd be answered through legal grounds. However, the ideology spread by Confucius about the same was very different. His solution had a religious inclination.

The other phase of Confucianism was extended by the scholars like Mencius and Xunzi. The two were opposing one another on the deals of Confucianism. They tried to make their own definitions of the ideals and the principles of Confucianism, though it was based on the original Confucianism. For example, Mencius preached the gospel of the goodness of human nature. He argued that naturally, human beings were created with a moral sense. Ha made a proposition that human nature is good. He defended the original Confucianism from people who criticized Confucius for showing and encouraging human’s moral sense (Makeham, 2001). The critics of Confucius argued that Confucius was misleading by trying to shape human nature through rituals. On his part, Xunzi opposed Mencius ideals on human nature.He argued that the moral sense of human beings needed some schooling for it to express some goodness. He claimed that human nature was bad, and had to be modified with rites for it to portray the good side.

The heaven’s command and moral disciplines are evident in the works of Mencius through his writings and martial arts (Makeham, 2001). A close look at his works shows some similarity to the original Confucianism. Confucius preached and promoted the spirit of generosity. Similarly, Mencius advocates for unselfishness. Mencius believed that the sense of discipline and generosity are endowed in the inner person of human beings by the supreme creator. For this reason, he advocated following Confucianism and conveying a life of selflessness. He believed that, for order to prevail in the world, the wise should portray good morals and live a life of selflessness. By doing this, they will be I line with the purpose of the creator. From his analogies, it is evident that he saw life as full of discipline and morality. According to him, the wise should seize every opportunity to explain the morals of creation and the will of the creator.

Looking at the development of Confucianism after Confucius, it is evident that Mencius introduced the concept of theoretical formulas. Analects came up with just but disjointed aphorisms (Makeham, 2001). However, such disjointed aphorisms, as Mencius argued, were very helpful in defending the ideals of Confucianism from the critics. In the essence, Mencius literary trained his followers on how to argue for Confucianism against critics in every arena of life, including schools. Although Mencius received opposition from the critics of Confucianism, and scholars like Xunzi, his contribution to the ideas of Confucianism thrives to date. For example, his theoretical concept of human nature has not been discredited on any ground that can be termed credible. However, a strong opposition put forward by Xunzi has a great impact on Confucianism in the present day.

Xunzi was famous in discrediting the ideals of Mencius Confucianism and his postulation that human nature is bad (Makeham, 2001). He discredits the proposition made by Mencius that human nature is composed of morals that can be put to use anytime they feel like. His point on this is that; people may have the capacity to act morally, but lack the goodwill to do so. Going by this fact, Xunzi considers the generalization made by Mencius as being out of true Confucianism. His argument is that; there is a reason to learn morality and human beings should be taken through the process to develop their capacity.

In conclusion, Confucianism owes its origin from the charismatic Confucius. He portrayed good morals and showed good discipline to his disciples and people around him. His achievements in education were great. He tried in politics but could not make with people who opposed his ideas. The moral, selfless, honest and optimistic doctrine that he preached is what formed the basis of Confucianism. Later, Confucianism was developed by other scholars like Mencius and Xunzi. Even though they differed, they contributed greatly into Confucianism being made the ideological doctrine in the Chinese tradition. Up to the present, Confucianism is central in Chinese tradition.

References

Berling, J.A. (1982). Confucianism. Focus on Asian Studies, 2(1): 5-7

Makeham, J. (2001). Interpreting Mencius. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 3(1): 20-33.

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