Confucianism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 18981968 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tan Chee‐beng (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Publication date | 2007-02-15 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | OTHER |
| Venue | The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosc091 |
| OpenAlex | W4235244908 |
| ISBN | 9781405165518 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
It is widely acknowledged that Confucianism has a dominant influence in Chinese culture. But what is religion in the Chinese context? 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 (Weber 1951). It is worth noting that, historically, 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 an important issue whether Confucianism is a religion or not
Buddhism · China · Chinese buddhism · Chinese culture · Chinese philosophy · Epistemology · Political science · Sociology · Taoism · Theology · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies
| Highly cited | No |
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