| Do you like Confucius? | |
|---|---|
| Mar 5, 2007 12:58 |   |
 | Sorry, this might sound like an odd question, but I am really wondering if you think Confucius' ideas have overall benefited or retarded Chinese civilization. Myself, I'm not sure. One thing I know is that Confucius' ideas were bad news for Chinese women. A lot of the negative aspects of traditional Chinese culture could be attributed to his teachings -- such as elitism, ageism, male chauvinism, although he did promote education and respect for one's elders, which are positive things. Please enlighten me, what other good things did he do for China? Right now, I just feel that he encouraged the upper class to be pompous and gave a lot of women low self-esteem. |
| Mar 5, 2007 19:13 | #1 |
| One thing I know about that is that Confucianism promote benevolence and virtue among commons, with which to manage a lasting kingdom. |
| Mar 5, 2007 19:57 | #2 |
| Personnally, I think Confucius is a great teacher of noble morals and the first professional teacher in the Chinese history. He not only created some effective teaching methods but also proper studying ways. His righteousness, optimism and enterprising spirits have influenced the character of the Chinese people from generation to generation greatly. Everyone must have some flaws and there is no exception to Confucius. The contribution he did for the Chinese is more than his mistakes. |
| Mar 8, 2007 23:30 | #3 |
| >>>(feminism)...elitism, ageism, male chauvinism... You appear to be caught up in "isms" CHYNAGYRL. The fabricators of those "isms" wouldn't make a patch on Confucius' back side. Without his teachings, the Chinese people might not have been able to endure the hardships faced through China's history. Keep in mind that people often misinterpret the words written in great books of philosophy to justify their poor behavior or to advance their own evil agendas. American slave holders used the Bible to justify slavery...and consider the wars fought in the name of Christ or other great prophets. There are countless examples of this in world history. Presuming the worst is easy, especially when under the influence of persuasive peers. Read Confucius for yourself and make your evaluation with a sense of the conditions in his time. When compared with ancient times, life is easy today. Hard times make for difficult decisions that can easily be second-guessed from the comfort of an armchair. One last thing, be especially wary of those who counsel you to abandon the values taught to you by your family. Those values are the metal that support the greatness of Chinese culture. You must protect and defend those values for your children's future. |
| Mar 13, 2007 22:13 | #4 |
| Yes, GRIZ326, I really should like to read Confucius' books. Better to go to the source always. I hope I'm not giving the idea that I'm rejecting my own cultural values. People say that Chinese born abroad are sometimes more Chinese than those born in China... I lived in Korea (a Confucianist country) for several years and felt that people often interpreted his teachings in a way that I wasn't sure if was his original intention. I don't know about China today, but Korea is a very Confucianist country and it's very ageist, elitist, and male chauvinist. (Koreans can tell you those are the Confucian heritage). From what my friends told me though, China's practice of Confucianism is milder and less traditional because of the Cultural Revolution and its emphasis on giving women more leadership roles in society and disregarding the intellectuals. |
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