Confucianism

Order kept with care becomes character.

All 108 concepts

• Ren - Benevolence — The supreme virtue of humaneness, compassion, and love for humanity.
• The Golden Rule — Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself.
• Love with Distinctions — Caring for all, but with appropriate degrees based on relationship.
• Cultivating Ren — Benevolence must be actively cultivated through practice and self-discipline.
• Ren and Ritual — True benevolence expresses itself through proper ritual behavior.
• The Four Beginnings — Innate moral sprouts that can develop into the four cardinal virtues.
• Empathy (Shu) — Putting oneself in another's place as the practice of ren.
• Overcoming Selfishness — Ren requires subduing selfish impulses in favor of care for others.
• Ren in Action — Benevolence must be expressed through concrete actions.
• Human Dignity — Ren implies the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
• Ren and Governance — Rulers must govern with benevolence, caring for the people's welfare.
• Loving Learning — The path to ren includes love of learning and self-improvement.
• Friendship and Ren — True friendship is based on mutual cultivation of virtue.
• The Unity of Virtue — All virtues are unified in the person of ren.
• Li - Ritual Propriety — The proper forms of behavior that maintain social harmony.
• Spirit and Form — Li requires both proper form and proper spirit.
• Social Harmony — Li creates and maintains harmony in society.
• Respect Through Ritual — Li expresses respect for others and social order.
• Music and Ritual — Music and ritual together cultivate the emotions and create harmony.
• Ancestor Veneration — Honoring ancestors through proper ritual demonstrates filial piety.
• Proper Speech — Speaking appropriately to each situation and relationship.
• Dress and Demeanor — Proper appearance and bearing as expressions of inner virtue.
• Adapting Ritual — Li should be adapted to circumstances while maintaining its spirit.
• Daily Rituals — Everyday activities can be performed with ritual awareness.
• Rectification of Names — Using proper terms to ensure social roles are properly fulfilled.
• Ritual and Self-Cultivation — Practicing li is a method of self-transformation.
• Critique of Empty Ritual — Ritual without inner meaning is to be avoided.
• Li and Government — Proper ritual creates good governance without coercion.
• Xiao - Filial Piety — Devotion and respect toward one's parents, the root of all virtue.
• Care for Parents — Providing for parents' physical needs is the basic duty.
• Respectful Attitude — Serving parents with genuine respect and cheerful demeanor.
• Gentle Remonstrance — Advising parents when they err, but with gentleness and persistence.
• Three Years Mourning — Mourning parents for three years as expression of gratitude.
• Protecting the Body — Caring for one's body as received from parents.
• Establishing Oneself — Achieving success and honor brings glory to parents.
• Not Traveling Far — Staying close to aging parents to care for them.
• Knowing Parents' Age — Being aware of parents' age evokes both joy and concern.
• Ancestor Worship — Continuing to honor parents through ancestral rites after death.
• Xiao and Ti — Filial piety toward parents extends to respect for elder siblings.
• Foundation of Society — Filial piety is the foundation of social order.
• Xiao and Loyalty — Filial piety is training for loyalty to ruler and state.
• Yi - Righteousness — Doing what is right and proper in each situation.
• Yi over Profit — Righteousness should take precedence over personal gain.
• Moral Courage — Yi requires the courage to do right despite difficulty.
• Situational Judgment — Yi requires wise judgment about what is right in each situation.
• Shame — A sense of shame motivates righteous behavior.
• Keeping Promises — Honoring one's word as a matter of righteousness.
• Yi and Ren — Righteousness and benevolence work together.
• Just Distribution — Righteousness in distributing goods and responsibilities.
• Duty Before Desire — Putting duty and obligation before personal desire.
• Protesting Injustice — Speaking against injustice as a requirement of yi.
• Integrity — Maintaining moral consistency in all circumstances.
• Yi in Leadership — Rulers must govern by righteousness, not force.
• Economic Yi — Righteousness in economic activity and commerce.
• Zhi - Wisdom — The capacity to discern right from wrong and act accordingly.
• Learning and Wisdom — Wisdom is developed through learning and reflection.
• Self-Knowledge — Knowing oneself is essential to wisdom.
• Knowing Others — Wisdom includes the ability to understand other people.
• Practical Wisdom — Wisdom manifests in practical judgment about action.
• Questioning and Inquiry — The wise person learns by asking good questions.
• Knowing the Mean — Wisdom finds the balanced middle way in all things.
• Learning from the Past — The wise person studies history to understand the present.
• Adapting to Circumstances — Wisdom adjusts principles to particular situations.
• Avoiding Extremes — Wisdom recognizes and avoids extreme positions.
• Caution and Care — The wise person is careful and deliberate in action.
• Continuous Improvement — Wisdom recognizes the need for constant self-improvement.
• Wise Speech — Wisdom shows in speaking appropriately and at the right time.
• The Junzi - Exemplary Person — The ideal of the noble or superior person that all should aspire to.
• Contrasted with Xiaoren — The junzi is the opposite of the small or petty person.
• Cultivated Through Education — Anyone can become a junzi through proper education and effort.
• Inner Strength — The junzi possesses inner strength and stability.
• Leadership by Example — The junzi leads primarily through moral example.
• Self-Cultivation Focus — The junzi focuses on improving themselves rather than criticizing others.
• Principled Flexibility — The junzi maintains principles while adapting to circumstances.
• Dignity and Composure — The junzi maintains dignified bearing in all circumstances.
• Humility — The junzi is humble about their achievements and open to learning.
• Comprehensive Virtue — The junzi embodies all the virtues in balanced proportion.
• Moral Autonomy — The junzi acts from internal motivation, not external pressure.
• Constancy — The junzi maintains consistent character through changing circumstances.
• The Sage — The sage (shengren) is the highest realization of the junzi ideal.
• Self-Cultivation (Xiuyang) — The ongoing process of developing one's character and virtue.
• The Eight Steps — The Great Learning's eight steps to self-cultivation and societal harmony.
• Sincerity of Will — Making one's intentions genuine and pure.
• Rectifying the Heart — Correcting and purifying one's emotions and motivations.
• Daily Examination — Regular self-examination to track moral progress.
• Learning from Models — Emulating exemplary people in one's moral development.
• Learning from Failure — Using mistakes as opportunities for growth.
• Persistence — Continuous effort despite difficulty and slow progress.
• Music and Poetry — Arts as tools for emotional cultivation.
• Environment — Choosing one's environment to support moral development.
• Physical Cultivation — Care for the body as part of overall self-cultivation.
• Facing Adversity — Using difficulties as opportunities for growth.
• Joy in Learning — Finding deep satisfaction in the process of cultivation.
• Stages of Development — Confucius's description of his own moral development through life.
• From Self to Society — Personal cultivation as the foundation of social harmony.
• The Five Relationships — The fundamental relationships that structure society.
• Virtuous Governance — Ruling through moral example rather than force.
• The Mandate of Heaven — The right to rule depends on virtue and the people's welfare.
• People as Root — The welfare of the people is the purpose of government.
• Loyal Remonstrance — Officials have a duty to advise against wrong policies.
• Meritocracy — Positions should be based on ability and virtue, not birth.
• Education and Society — Education as the foundation of a good society.
• Economic Welfare — Ensuring the material welfare of the people.
• Light Taxation — Taxation should be moderate and not burden the people.
• Justice and Law — Law should serve justice and be applied fairly.
• Ritual and Social Harmony — Ritual practices maintain social harmony and order.
• Confucian Internationalism — Relations between states should follow the same ethics as personal relations.
• Harmony Under Heaven — The ultimate goal of world peace and harmony.

Essays on Confucianism

• What Confucianism says about family — Ten Confucian concepts on family, with the Analects passages behind them: caring for parents, disagreeing with them, mourning, and love with distinctions.
• What Confucianism says about reverence and ritual — Nine Confucian concepts on reverence: li as ritual and manners, respect given form, music, ancestor rites, and the constant worry about empty ceremony.
• What Confucianism says about order in human life — Nine Confucian concepts on order: the eight steps, rectifying names, the five relationships, the mean, and the claim that it scales from person to world.
• What Confucianism says about leading others — Ten Confucian concepts on leading: the wind-and-grass claim, enriching before teaching, the duty to contradict your ruler, and the hierarchy it assumes.
• What Confucianism says about what to say and what to leave unsaid — Ten Confucian concepts on speech: the two errors of Analects 14.4, rectifying names, gentle remonstrance, and the point where silence becomes complicity.
• What Confucianism says about failure — Ten Confucian concepts on failure: why not correcting an error is the real error, shame as a sprout, the pine in winter, and a whole life as the unit.