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Spread of Confucianism II
By peace | May 31, 2008
The downfall of the Han Dynasty at the beginning of the third century AD was a great blow to Confucianism. During the following four centuries China was divided politically and the new religions of Buddhism and Taoism spread throughout China. Buddhism, in particular, became popular among all strata of society, right up to the imperial court. By the ninth century AD, it was regarded as a menace to Confucian supremacy and severe measures were taken to restrict the number of Buddhist monasteries and temples.
In the eleventh century, an intellact movement within Confucianism sought to counter both Buddhism and Taoism. The most influential figure in the movement was Zhu Xi (1130-1200), also known as Zhu Zi (Master Zhu), who wrote commentaries on the four Books of Confucianism: The Analects of Confucius, The Book of Mencius, The Doctrine of the Mean and the Great Learning. In 1313, the emperor ordered that these four books should be the main texts used in the state examinations and that their official interpretation should follow Zhu Xi’s commentaries.
Zhu Xi developed a theory which is known as Li Xue (The Doctrine of Li). According to this theory, every object in the world, whether animate or inanimate, possesses an innate principle, or li, which distinguishes it from other things. Not only animate and inanimate objects had hteir li, but also government and social institutions. Although it was not intended by Zhu Xi, this was taken by some to mean that current institutions were immutable. Generally speaking, the imposition of Neo-confucian orthodoxy during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties had the effect of obstructing political and intellectual change from the fourteenth to the nineteeth centuries.
Because of its idealization of the past and espousal by those in society opposed to change. Confucianism lost its status as a state of orthodoxy early in the twentieth century, though it continues to exert an influence on the minds and social mores of the Chinese and other East Asian people. The concepts of loyalty and filial piety, which Confucians have promoted through the centuries, are still very much alive.
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