Neo-Confucianism - Research Paper Example

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism was a religion of metaphysical, ethical and social Chinese philosophy that had its roots primarily in Confucianism. All the same, quite a few of the metaphysical beliefs were taken from Taoism, while the belief that reality existed and could be comprehended by human beings was implemented with the purpose of going against Chan Buddhism’s own mysticism, which was comprised of contrasting thoughts. Neo-Confucianism was developed during the Song and Ming Dynasties, though its origin can also be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao and the Tang Dynasty.

Neo-Confucianism was developed as a response to Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Due to the mystical and superstitious influence of Daoism and Buddhism on a huge portion of Confucianism, neo-Confucianism set out to generate a more rationalist and secular version of Confucianism. Chu Hsi, who is believed to be the first pioneer of neo-Confucianism, wanted a belief system that played more on an ethical philosophy then spiritual development or religious enlightenment. Dunyi accomplished this by completely abandoning the mystical characteristics that Confucianism had originally adopted from Daoism and Buddhism, thus creating neo-Confucianism.

However, despite rejecting Daoism and Buddhism beliefs, neo-Confucianism still borrowed terminology and concepts from the two spiritual paths. The greatest characteristic of neo-Confucianism was the total rejection Taoism and Buddhism, which contained beliefs that were prevalent in Confucianism. The main principle of neo-Confucianism, which can be categorized as rationalistic and humanistic, is that “it was up to man to create a harmonious relationship between the universe and the individual (Craig 552).

” Furthermore, there were also two primary schools of thought: Cheng-Zhu and Yangmingism. Cheng-Zhu school taught that human nature is good, but is not considered to be pure unless action is taken to purify one’s life. Yangmingism taught that the best place for an individual to seek is within themselves, as opposed to an outside force or deity. The most noticeable impact of neo-Confucianism on Chinese civilization was that it was established as state ideology, bumping Buddhism out of place as the dominant religion.

Works CitedCraig, Edward. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Volume 7. London: Taylor & Francis, 1998. Print.