Confucianism

Tan Chee-Beng

Tan Chee-Beng

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

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First published: 22 September 2017

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that Confucianism has a dominant influence in Chinese culture. Chinese scholars writing in Chinese generally see Confucianism (ruxue, or rujia, thinking) as a school of Chinese philosophy, and the question of whether Confucianism is a religion or not does not arise. Western scholars on religion, however, often regard Confucianism as a religion. Indeed, Weber's famous work on Chinese religion is entitled The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism. It is worth noting that, historically, the Chinese do not make a clear distinction between moral teaching and the western concept of religious teaching, these being referred to as jiao, or “teaching.” Thus, sanjiao, referring to Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, is better translated as “three teachings” rather than as “three religions,” for in the Chinese understanding of jiao, it is not important whether or not Confucianism is a religion.

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