"Confucius". This name rings a bell for everybody in the world. It reminds China, of a philosophy, a way of life or even a religion. The Chinese philosopher, better known in China as "Kongfuzi", was born in 551 BC and died in 479 BC. Confucius's life has been the object study of several writers, especially Sima Qian, who wrote the most "realistic" biography during the first century BC. In fact, most writers consider Confucius as a supernatural being, whose life had been punctuated by extraordinary events. His father died when he was a little child. He then learnt the rites, music, writing, history, poetry, and mathematics, and started teaching after his mother's death. He achieved the position of a State employee and Secretary of Justice, a domain in which he showed his good sense.
[...] Considering the economic aspect, Confucianism is often said as being responsible of China's withdrawal into itself. In the 19 century, when someone came into justice to complain, the judge first put the complainer, the witness and the defendant into jail because they did not respect the harmony and did not try to find a compromise by themselves. This is just an example showing the importance of harmony. In fact, because of the necessary harmony and stability in the society, we can understand that the doctrine is not in favour of the borders' opening. [...]
[...] First of all, more and more Chinese students study abroad, as well as more and more foreign students study in China. This does not directly threaten Confucianism, but it cannot be denied that this phenomenon has an influence on the students' way of thinking and way of life, even if nowadays just a minority of students studies abroad. Chinese students learn other methods of working, other ways of thinking, and other values. Confucianism could be forgotten in the long term. [...]
[...] If Confucianism became the main ideology in China, it cannot be considered as a religion, since Confucius has always been considered as a wise man, not as a divinity. Studying Confucianism is not an easy matter, since many ideas and concepts are hidden behind one word. We will focus on its basic principles, because analysing Confucianism in details is not our subject, but we have to keep in mind the importance of nuances and relativism. Though there is still a debate about his existence, his ideas and concepts are more than obvious and visible in China. [...]
[...] What has Confucianism to do in all that ? Some would say nothing, but all these details are revealing how globalization leads to a change of culture, in which Confucianism seems to be forgotten. More than that, China has experienced new religions in the last years, especially Protestantism. Even if Confucianism has never been considered as a religion, it is obvious that it looses ground in the mind of people since western religions (with all the values they bring) are more and more influent. [...]
[...] Where is Confucianism in this trend ? It's true that hierarchy is still very important in Chinese companies, and employees still have to refer to their superior (who also has to refer to his superior, etc ) to make a decision. But in a larger scale, not inside the company, can we talk of harmony and hierarchy ? No : the capitalistic rules encourage the increase of profit, the competitiveness between companies and individuals. The leitmotiv is to get rich, sometimes by all possible means. [...]
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