Confucianism And Contemporary Chinese Politics World Religion Essay

As we mentioned in our study of what constitutes a religion at the beginning of the semester, Confucianism challenges most simple definitions of religion since it seems to deal so much with this world rather than with some transcendent reality. It also seems very political, and you might even think of it more as a political philosophy rather than a faith tradition. So this week you are going to explore the role of Confucianism in Chinese political life.

Start by reading the following articles (make sure to look up online any people, groups or terms that you don’t know):

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2007.00051.x (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150325-confucius-china-asia-philosophy-communist-party-ngbooktalk/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

On the basis of what you have read in our textbook and what you have read in the articles, describe the reasons why Confucianism has either been embraced or rejected by governments in China since 1900. Do you think that the religion si more of a help or a hindrance in China’s development as a modern nation?