(551-479 B.C.

)
Confucianism
 Major system of thought in China
 Developed from the teachings of Confucius
and his disciples: Mencius and Hzun Tzu
 Concerned with the principles of good
conduct, practical wisdom, and proper social
relationships.
 Has influenced the Chinese attitude toward
life, set the patterns of living and standards of
social value, and provided the background for
Chinese political theories and institutions.
Confucius (Proponent)
 is the Latinized name for Kong-
Tzu or Kung-Fu-Tzu
 was a scholar and well versed in
charioting and archery, history
and numbers, music and rituals.
 For him, philosophy is a kind of a
system of ideas and thoughts that
talk about the human
behavior, the rules to be followed
to become successful in life and
about the government.
Five Constants
(五常)
 Yi 義:
upholding of
righteousness and the
moral disposition to do
good.
 Li 禮:
Following/respecting
of etiquette and
norms of daily life
Zhi 智:
Education is very
important for him.
Xin 信:
Refers to keeping one’s
word and being faithful to
it. (not to gods, but to one’s
words, tasks, etc.)
Four Virtues
(五常)
Zhong 忠:
One should be loyal to their
superiors and vice versa.
Jie 節:
One must
exercise self
control.
 Xiao 孝:
Children must respect their
parents, but a child has a
duty to dispute with his/her
parents if necessary
Yi 義:
The same as the one in the five constants, which is the moral disposition to do good.

Yi 義:
The same as the one in the
five constants, which is the
moral disposition to do
good.
Contributions of
Confusianism
Public policies
Family codes
Relationship ethics
Education
Government
 Influenced the
Chinese people to
respect their
leaders and their
leaders to set a
good example as
well
Explained humanity as ‘to love
the people’ and ‘to love the
masses extensively’
Development of
everyone’s potential
ability’
“Dont do unto others what you
do not want to do unto you”.
Built on the foundational belief
that man is basically
good.
Teachings:
*Morality
*The importance of
justice, sincerity and
filial piety - the duty of
every son to serve his
parents.
Confucius and
Education
Aims
 Character building / Moral education
Create gentlemen who carry themselves
with grace, speak correctly, and
demonstrate integrity in all things.
To produce men who are capable to serve
in the government/ in decision roles.
To resurrect the traditional values of
benevolence, propriety and ritual in
Chinese society.
Curriculum
He taught his students
morality, proper
speech, government, and the
refined arts.
He emphasizes the “Six Arts”-
ritual, music, archery, proper
speech, government and
computation.
Methods
 Confucius' pedagogical methods are striking.
He never discourses at length on a subject.
Instead he poses questions, cites passages
from the classics, or uses apt analogies, and
waits for his students to arrive at the right
answers.
 He disparages those who have faith in natural
understanding or intuition and argues that
the only real understanding of a subject
comes from long and careful study.
Role of Teacher
 A good teacher is someone older who is
familiar with the ways of the past and
the practices of the ancients.
ANALECTS
 Five
Classics
Confucian Temple Statues
Reported by:
Jan April Neri
BEEd-3