Confucianism Confucianism literally translates to "The School of the Scholars" and is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the early Chinese sage Confucius. Confucianism is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and religious thought which has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia. Confucianism was originally forbidden during the short-lived Qin Dynasty. In fact, the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang at one point demanded that all books on Confucianism be burned and even went so far as to bury several hundred believers of Confucianism alive. Confucianism was later adopted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and used as a political system to govern the Chinese state. If one was going to sum up the meaning and purpose of Confucianism it would be “Social harmony” This is the great goal of Confucianism and results from every individual knowing his or her place in the social order and playing his or her part well. When asked about the structuring of government Confucius once replied, "There is government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is father, and the son is son." There are five basic human relationships in Confucianism: (1) ruler to ruled; (2) father to son; (3) husband to wife; (4) elder brother to younger brother; and (5) friend to friend. For Confucius and his followers, the relationship between father and son was the most important. This relationship is specifically called filial piety. Filial piety is considered among the greatest of virtues and must be shown towards both the living and the dead (ancestors). The term "filial", meaning "of a child", denotes the respect and obedience that a child, originally a son, should show to his parents, especially to his father. Over time, filial piety was also built into the Chinese legal system: a criminal would be punished more harshly if the culprit had committed the crime against a parent, while fathers exercised enormous power over their children. The foundation and success for all these relationships was respect and trust. Confucius believed that social harmony could only be reached through the following of these five relationships. The people must trust their ruler to make good decisions. In turn, if the ruler wants to keep the peopleʼs respect he must make decisions on behalf of the people that will foster (strengthen) their trust in future. Similarly, a wife must be submissive and obedient to her husband but has the right to be treated respectfully and should trust that the husbandʼs decisions are ones that will strengthen the family unit. The term is a term Chun-Tzu is crucial to classical Confucianism. Chun-Tzu translates to "exemplary person" or "perfect man" and is that for which Confucianists strive to be. A perfect man was one that strove to:

1. cultivate themselves morally; 2. show filial piety and loyalty; 3. cultivate kindness, or benevolence.