REL 101 Class notes, Week 4, Lecture 1-2

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Early Chinese Religion and Culture

551-478 BCE: Confucius, founder of Confucianism

I. Early Chinese Civilization

  1. Three Cultural Heroes:
    • Fuxi 伏羲
    • Shennong (Divine Farmer) 神農
    • Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) 黃帝
  2. Three Sage Kings:
    • Yao 堯
    • Shun 舜
    • Yu 禹
  3. Zhou Dynasty 1122-256 BCE
  4. King Wen 文王 and Tyrant Zhou 紂王
  5. King Wu  武王 and Duke of Zhou 周公

II. Confucius' World of Thought

  • Tian (Heaven, Nature) 天
  • Tiandi (Heaven and Earth) 天地
  • Ming (Mandate, Life, Destiny, Fate) 命
  • Tianming (Mandate of Heaven) 天命
  • Tianzi (Son of Heaven, Emperor) 天子
  • Junzi (Gentleman) 君子
  • Xiaoren (Petty Person) 小人
  • Ren (Benevolence, Humaneness, Relatedness) 仁
  • Yi (Propriety, Correctness, Righteousness) 義
  • Li (Rites, Rituals) 禮
  • De (Virtue) 德
  • Xiao (Filial Piety) 孝
  • Yue (Music) 樂
  • He (Harmony) 和

Confucius (Kong Fuzi [K'ung Fu-Tzu]) 孔夫子, Analects of Confucius [Lunyu] (論語)