Library: Eastern Religions by Credo Reference: Confucianism

Terms & Concepts

Chih
From Dictionary of World Philosophy
Chinese term used in more than one sense. The first is as knowledge. Various characterizations of this notion were formulated through the ages. Sometimes, chih was understood, on the one hand, as the ability to know, and, on the other hand, as actual knowledge, which was identified with wisdom.
Confucianism: Topic Page
Moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects (see Chinese literature), the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient commentaries, including that of Mencius.
Ethics: Topic Page
In philosophy, the study and evaluation of human conduct in the light of moral principles.
Neo-Confucianism
From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Confucianism as revived in China during the late tenth to mid-seventeenth centuries. It has also been called Tao-hsüeh(learning of the Way) or Li-hsüeh (learning of principles) in the broader sense.
Philosophy: Topic Page
Study of the ultimate reality, causes, and principles underlying being and thinking.
Ren or Jen
From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosophical term, important in Confucianism, variously translated as ‘kindness’, ‘humanity’, or ‘benevolence’.
Xing or Hsing
From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosophical term generally agreed to be derived from ‘sheng’ (life, growth), and usually translated as ‘nature’.
Yi
From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese term probably with an earlier meaning of ‘sense of honor’, subsequently used to refer to the fitting or right way of conducting oneself (when so used, it is often translated as ‘rightness’ or ‘duty’), as well as to a commitment to doing what is fitting or right.
Zhong and shu
From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese philosophical terms important in Confucianism, meaning ‘loyalty’ or ‘commitment’, and ‘consideration’ or ‘reciprocity’, respectively.

Philosophers

Chu Hsi (1130 - 1200)
From The Encyclopedia of Ethics
Commonly regarded as the greatest Neo-Confucian philosopher, Chu Hsi lived in the Sung Dynasty (960 to 1279).
Confucianism: Topic Page
Moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects (see Chinese literature), the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient commentaries, including that of Mencius.
Gaozi
From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Chinese thinker and philosophical adversary of Mencius (4th century B.C.). He is referred to in the Meng Tzu (Book of Mencius).
Mencius (BCE 371 - 288): Topic Page
Chinese Confucian philosopher. The principal source for Mencius' life is his own writings. He was born in the ancient state of Ch'ao, in modern Shandong province.
Mou Zongsan (1909 - 1995)
From Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Philosophers
Mou responded to the challenge of Western positivism with a synthesis of idealist neo-Confucian philosophy and German idealism, particularly that of Kant and Hegel.
Tan Sitong (1865 - 1898)
From Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Philosophers
Tan adapted Confucian thought to modern circumstances.
Wang Yangming (1472 - 1529)
From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Chinese scholar and official whose idealistic interpretation of Neo-Confucianism influenced philosophical thinking in East Asia for centuries.
Xiong Shili (1885 - 1968)
From Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Philosophers
Xiong was one of the most powerful and original Chinese metaphysical thinkers of this century. After early republican revolutionary activity, he turned to scholarship, studying Consciousness Only Buddhism with Ouyang Jianwu.