A brief history of Confucianism "Confucianism" is a magician who was differentiated from shamanism, history, fortune-telling, and divination in the Spring and Autumn Period. He was familiar with poetry, rituals, and music and served the nobility. "Shuowen": Confucianism, the name of a magician. "Fayan·Junzi": A person who understands the world is called a Confucian. According to reliable literature, in the early years of the Zhou Dynasty, Ji Dan, Duke of Zhou, who assisted King Wu of Zhou to overthrow the rule of the Shang Dynasty, once "made rituals and music" after the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, and established an advanced etiquette system integrating politics and religion at that time. But hundreds of years later, this system was gradually destroyed. Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period was worried about the chaotic situation at that time. He lived in panic all his life and hoped that the country would restore order and stability. He was the most erudite scholar at that time, so he was respected by many people. He was respectfully called "Confucius" or "Master", and people felt it was a kind of blasphemy to call him his name. However, his proposition was not responded to by the monarchs at that time. Therefore, he compiled the cultural achievements that were believed to be created by the ancient holy emperors and kings, and put forward his own understanding, hoping that these documents could become the basis for the behavior of future generations. The ancient documents compiled by Confucius became the basis of the Confucian Classics or Confucian Classics. Due to the great contributions of Zhou Gong Ji Dan and Confucius in the etiquette system and religious concepts, until the Tang Dynasty, people often called them "Zhou and Confucius" together, thinking that they were the two greatest saints, and described the ideas of Confucianism as " The Way of Zhou and Confucius".

Due to the need for national governance in the Han Dynasty, successive emperors since the Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty have praised Laozi's rule of inaction and recuperation. However, starting from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to strengthen centralized rule, he implemented the "exclusive respect for Confucianism" " policy. The Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu provided a new interpretation of this traditional national religious doctrine based on Confucius' thoughts and adapting to new historical conditions. On the basis of Dong Zhongshu's new explanation, subsequent Confucianism continued to work hard to gradually base traditional religion completely on the foundation of Confucianism laid by Zhou Gong and Confucius. Therefore, exclusive respect for Confucianism is the beginning of the complete Confucianization of traditional state religion and the true beginning of Confucianism.

The Confucian teachings reinterpreted and developed by Dong Zhongshu attach great importance to the construction of etiquette systems, especially the construction of etiquette systems for worshiping heaven and ancestors. A complete and complex etiquette system helps people develop the habit of observing order and staying safe. This is one of the important purposes of Confucianism's emphasis on etiquette. However, the external nature of the etiquette system can easily lead to hypocrisy. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Confucian thinkers, represented by Wang Bi and others, believed that more attention should be paid to the intangible and visible things (nothing) behind the visible behaviors (being), and believed that the intangible and visible things behind them, It is more important than what is visible. Although their opinions were approved by many people, they did not become the ideological guidance of Confucian countries because they could not explain what "nothing" is, which would lead to different opinions due to different understandings.

In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the construction of the etiquette system reached its climax. The "Kaiyuan Rites" formulated in the middle of the Tang Dynasty became a model for the etiquette system for future generations. It included detailed and codified regulations on how to worship heaven, ancestors, and Confucius. Such system construction should have stabilized the country, but soon the famous "Anshi Rebellion" broke out, and the country fell into chaos, and the Tang Dynasty regime also failed to recover. Confucian scholars in the late Tang Dynasty reflected on the effectiveness of Confucianism. On the one hand, they advocated that Buddhism and Taoism should be resolutely rejected. On the other hand, they believed that people should appeal to their hearts and cultivate people's piety to abide by the etiquette system. Therefore, the discussion of the issue of mind gradually became the most important theory of Confucian scholars. direction. Confucian classics that were ignored in the past, such as "Mencius", "Great Learning", and "The Doctrine of the Mean", received special attention. In the Song Dynasty, through the efforts of brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi and their successors, mainly Zhu Xi, works such as "Mencius" received special attention. Together with "The Analects of Confucius", they were known as the "Four Books" and became the most compulsory study for Confucian scholars. Important work. [5]

Confucianism has been regarded as an official school since the Han Dynasty. In ancient China, Confucianism or Confucianism always occupied a dominant position in society or the country. The worship of Buddhism and Taoism by individual emperors or state officials is only a personal behavior and does not represent the country. In ancient China, starting from the Han Dynasty, Confucianism or Confucianism was always regarded as the national religion. Sinology and Song Dynasty The evolution of Confucian teachings can be divided into two major stages. The former stage is the "Tao of Zhou and Confucius" which respects the Five Classics and attaches great importance to the construction of the etiquette system. The latter stage is the "Tao of Confucius and Mencius" which respects the Four Books and attaches importance to cultivating inner piety. Confucian scholars of the Qing Dynasty called the teachings of the Tang Dynasty and its previous stages "Han Xue", while they called Confucianism starting from the Song Dynasty "Song Xue". The construction of the etiquette system is still important, but Song Dynasty requires more conscious and voluntary compliance. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi combined "The Great Learning", "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" into the "Four Books". "Learning must be based on the Great Learning first, followed by the Analects, Mencius and the Doctrine of the Mean." ,[6] which makes its status in Confucian classics increasingly improved. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, the focus of imperial examinations has also shifted to the Four Books, marking Neo-Confucianism becoming the mainstream. In the eyes of future generations, they overemphasized inner cultivation and thus lost the ability to govern the country. However, according to the advocates of Song Dynasty, if you cultivate your inner self, you can master the various systems of the country and achieve the goal of governing the country and bringing peace to the world.

Because they believe that everyone has an innate natural principle in their hearts to abide by the etiquette system. The problem is to develop this natural principle through inner cultivation, or in other words, to reveal this natural principle that has been obscured or polluted by selfish desires. Edit this paragraph Shinto teachings Confucianism means the "teaching" that Confucian scholars engage in. To teach means to educate and educate. This education and enlightenment not only refers to school education, but also to the general public. This teaching is not education in the modern sense, but education and enlightenment with the help of gods, that is, "Shinto teaching". "Shinto establishes teachings" is a saying in the Confucian Bible "The Book of Changes"

: "The sages establish Shinto teachings, and the world obeys them." ("Zhouyi·Guan·Tuo") According to the interpretation of Confucian scholars, this The meaning of the sentence is that if you educate the people with Shinto, the people will easily accept and obey. Some people in later generations interpreted this to mean that Confucian scholars themselves did not believe in gods, but only used gods to educate the people, which was a misunderstanding of Confucianism. In all the existing Confucian documents, there is no record that Confucians did not believe in gods. Confucian scholars sometimes criticize or deny certain low-level gods in order to maintain higher and more important beliefs in gods, just like Christianity and Buddhism often criticize gods outside the religion.

The meaning of Shinto teachings is religion. Until recently, the concept of "religion" was considered a "foreign word" by academic circles, including religious circles. In fact, it is an original word from ancient China. Its meaning is to educate the people with the will of the gods, that is, Shinto teaching. According to Xu Shen's "Shuo

Wen Jiezi": "Zong means the temple of the ancestral ancestors. From the 倀 to the shi." "倀" means a house. And "show" means "the sky hangs down like an image to see good or bad luck, so it shows people. From two (two, the upper character in ancient Chinese). Three hangs down, the sun, moon and stars

Also. Observe astronomy to observe the time Change means to show the things of the gods. All the attributes of the show are from the show. "So, the meaning of Zong is to build a house to worship the gods. Religion, on the other hand, is to use the gods’ ideas to educate the people, in line with the principles of nature, that is,

“The destiny is called nature, the will of nature is called Tao, and the cultivation of Tao is called teaching.” So far, at least the religions that have broken away from the primitive state are all social phenomena in which some people use the meaning of gods to educate the people. Therefore, the concept of religion

compared to the English "religion" can be said to reflect the nature of this type of social phenomenon more accurately and profoundly.