The Influence of Confucianism

Confucianism is among the most influential philosophy in China. It is centered on

morality, respect for the community, inner virtue, and culture preservation (National
Geographic Society, 2022). It is often more concerned with the system of society and ethical
philosophy rather than religion (Norman, n.d.). Thus, in this philosophy, there are two moral
rules that everyone must follow. The first one is the “everyone must follow li-social rules and
rituals” while the second one is, “everyone must follow the rectification of names.” The first
rule emphasized the importance of performing the traditional rituals or customs in society and
the second rule focused on the people's roles in society. These two values are influenced by the
crisis of ideals in China when Confucius was alive. Other than this, Confucianism also believes
that everyone must live to serve their community because.

There are a lot of beliefs from Confucianism that I do not subscribe to. For instance, I do
not believe that it is not right to perform a role outside of your own in society, especially when
other people are not performing their duties effectively. For example, I believe that it is
perfectly acceptable to call out our public servants when they are not performing their roles for
the betterment of society. I think that the belief from Confucianism that everyone must follow
the rectification of their name is very ideal. This is only possible when everyone is performing
their role in society effectively, which is in our case impossible.

However, what made me choose this philosophy is because of the importance it gives to
maintaining the tradition and ideals of our culture and society. I believe that our traditions,
customs, and ideals are our mark as Filipinos in the world. If we allow ourselves to lose them
then we also somehow lose our identity as Filipino. That’s why I believe that we must continue
to perform our customs, ideals, and traditions as long as it is not harming the people in society.
Other than this, I also share their belief that everyone must work not only for themselves but
also for the sake of the community. Every one of us must be nurtured to care about the state of
our community and country.
 One of the decisions I made in my life that was influenced by the belief in Confucianism
is my decision to pursue my course, Bachelor of Arts in Literary and Cultural Studies. This was
not my initial choice, in fact, it was my fifth choice. However, what made me decide to pursue
this is because I believe that this course will bring me closer to knowing the culture of our
country, which will help me to perform my job in the future to preserve our culture and
tradition. I also believe that this course will serve as an avenue for me to know more about the
issues in our society that will allow me to think about what I can do in order to fix and address
them.

My choice to pursue my current course despite it not being my first choice is influenced
by the belief in Confucianism that says everyone must nurture to help their community or state.
I believe that education should not be used as an investment for us to money in the future, it
must be used as an instrument for us to learn, care, and perform our job in the future to help
our state. In addition, the reason why I also choose to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Literary and
Cultural Studies is that I believe that this course will help me learn more about the tradition,
customs, and ideals of our Filipino culture which will then help me to perform my job to
preserve it. This is in line with one of the beliefs in Confucianism which is that “everyone must
follow li-social rules and rituals.”

In conclusion, though I think that there are some beliefs in Confucianism that I do not
agree with, I still think that its philosophy remains relevant in the present in some ways. There
are still some beliefs from this philosophy that we must follow to maximize our role in society.
As a matter of fact, one of the reasons why I choose this philosophy is because of its focus on
the government, state, and individual. I believe that discussing the morality that involves these
three entities is complicated. That’s why I think that Confucianism has failed to consider
numerous factors when talking about the importance of rectification of names. These factors
include the fact that everyone performs their role with good intent in their heart, thus it is
pertinent to call out other people, especially those who are in power whenever they do
something wrong that can negatively impact that state. However, if we’re living in an ideal
world, the philosophy of Confucianism will be perfect.
REFERENCES:

National Geographic Society. (2022, April 20). Confucianism | National Geographic Society.
National Geographic. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/confucianism/

Norman, G. (n.d.). Confucianism. Asia Society. https://asiasociety.org/education/confucianism