Moral Development According to Confucianism - Essay Example

The Five Great Relationships are the five fundamentals of noble behavior (Phatak, 2011). The first one is a good attitude of a father to a son and the respectful attitude of a son to a father. The second rule of Great Relationships lies in a gentle mood of an elder brother toward younger ones and respect for younger children to an elder brother. The third relationship manifests itself in a righteous treatment of a wife by her husband and the wife’s obedience to him. The fourth important doctrine of moral relations between people reflects a humane attitude toward older people to younger ones and a respectful attitude toward younger men toward older people. And finally, the fifth principle of morality is a generous attitude of rulers to ministers and citizens and the respective loyalty of ministers and citizens to their rulers.

Confucius has seen relations between people themselves as the highest form and main basis of successful intercourse of state rulers and average citizens, since men, as they are presented by nature without any statuses and social positions, serve as a premier source of morality provided by their constant development of ethical principles of life. In practice, Confucius believed that there is spectacular power in the Universe helping people to follow these rules of relationships. It can unite everybody regardless of their high or low social positions in their understanding of each other, which directly leads to democratic regulation of relations. Consequently, harmony settles in every possible sphere of people’s being, for there is no place for quarrels, strife, wars, and any other conflicts in family, community, and country at all.

Continuing the concept of people’s moral development, Confucianism proclaims the idea of the junzi or the Ideal Person. “This idea of a model man or an ideal gentleman is a very important concept in Confucianism…” (Htu, 2015). The Ideal Person according to Confucius must act as an educated high-toned human guided by principles of selflessness and self-neglect in his/ her desire to help everyone in his/ her surroundings. Such a person is an honorable human whose realization of ethical ideas is inborn and is in constant perfection during the whole life. The junzi is a natural leader who follows a code of morality in actions, namely: he or she never hurts the feelings of other people and just aims to use positive features for the benefit of humanity. Naturally, the Five Great Relationships are a direct instruction for the Ideal Person, which is implemented by him/ her with great pleasure.

There is no doubt that Confucianism as a strong system of moral principles has a particular effect on the culture and social life of Chinese people today. Being a base of China’s traditions, this philosophy helps to maintain order, stability, and peace in the modern challenging world, primarily due to its humane basics of relations between people, which in their turn have to be guided by ethical principles in their thoughts and deeds.
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