Is Confucianism considered to be a religion? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Yes, it is a religion.

"K'ung Fu Tzu (commonly pronounced Confucius in English) was born in 551 BCE in the state of Lu (modern day Shantung Province). He lived during the Chou dynasty, an era known for its moral laxity. Later in life, he wandered through many states of China, giving advice to their rulers. He accumulated a small band of students during this time. The last years of his life were spent back in Lu, where he devoted himself to teaching.
His writings deal primarily with individual morality and ethics, and the proper exercise of political power by the rulers.
In China, and some other areas in Asia, the social ethics and moral teachings of Confucius are blended with the Taoist communion with nature and Buddhist concepts of the afterlife, to form a set of complementary, peacefully co-existent and ecumenical religions.
There are approximately 6 million Confucians in the world. About 26,000 live in North America; almost all of the remainder are found throughout China and the rest of Asia.

Beliefs:
Confucian ethical teachings include the following values:

Li: includes ritual, propriety, etiquette, etc.

Hsiao: love within the family: love of parents for their children and of children for their parents

Yi: righteousness

Xin: honesty and trustworthiness

Jen: benevolence, humaneness towards others; the highest Confucian virtue

Chung: loyalty to the state, etc.

Practices:
Confucianism does not contain all of the elements of some other religions, like Christianity and Islam. It is primarily an ethical system to which rituals at important times during one's lifetime have been added.
Since the time of the Han dynasty (206 CE) four life passages have been recognized and regulated by Confucian tradition:

birth: The T'ai-shen (spirit of the fetus) protects the expectant woman and deals harshly with anyone who harasses the mother to be. A special procedure is followed when the placenta is disposed of. The mother is given a special diet and is allowed rest for a month after delivery. The mother's family of origin supplies all the items required by the baby on the first, fourth and twelfth monthly anniversary of the birth.

reaching maturity: This life passage is no longer being celebrated, except in traditional families. It takes the form of a group meal in which the young adult is served chicken.

marriage: This is performed in six stages:

Proposal: the couple exchange the eight characters: the year, month, day and hour of each of their births. If any unpropitious event occurs within the bride-to-be's family during the next three days, then the woman is believed to have rejected the proposal.

Engagement: after the wedding day is chosen, the bride announces the wedding with invitations and a gift of cookies made in the shape of the moon.

Dowry: This is carried to the groom's home in a solemn procession. The bride-price is then sent to the bride by the groom's parents. Gifts by the groom to the bride, equal in value to the dowry, are sent to her.

Procession: The groom visits the bride's home and brings her back to his place, with much fanfare.

Marriage and Reception: The couple recite their vows, toast each other with wine, and then take center stage at a banquet.

Morning after: The bride serves breakfast to the groom's parents, who then reciprocate.


death: At death, the relatives cry out aloud to inform the neighbors. The family starts mourning and puts on clothes made of a coarse material. The corpse is washed and placed in a coffin. Mourners bring incense and money to offset the cost of the funeral. Food and significant objects of the deceased are placed into the coffin. A Buddhist or Taoist priest (or even a Christian minister) performs the burial ritual. Friends and family follow the coffin to the cemetery, along with a willow branch which symbolizes the soul of the person who has died. The latter is carried back to the family altar where it is used to "install" the spirit of the deceased. Liturgies are performed on the 7th, 9th, 49th day after the burial and on the first and third anniversaries of the death."

Source: http://www.religioustolerance.org/confuciu.htm

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Is Confucianism considered to be a religion? Why or why not?

Answer 3

Yes

It has all the attributes necessary to qualify.
Scholars have traditionally considered it one of the "Great Religions." I guess they know something about it.

Christianity
Judaism
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Confucianism

Answer 4

confucianism is considered common knowledge than a religion

Answer 5

Scholarly tradition and way of life propagated by Confucius in the 6th-5th century BC and followed by the Chinese for more than two millennia.

Though not organized as a religion, it has deeply influenced East Asian spiritual and political life in a comparable manner. The core idea is ren ("humaneness," "benevolence"), signifying excellent character in accord with li (ritual norms), zhong (loyalty to one's true nature), shu (reciprocity), and xiao (filial piety). Together these constitute de (virtue).

Mencius, Xunzi, and others sustained Confucianism, but it was not influential until Dong Zhongshu emerged in the 2nd century BC. Confucianism was then recognized as the Han state cult, and the Five Classics became the core of education. In spite of the influence of Taoism and Buddhism, Confucian ethics have had the strongest influence on the moral fabric of Chinese society.

A revival of Confucian thought in the 11th century resulted in Neo-Confucianism, a major influence in Korea during the Choson dynasty and in Japan during the Edo period.



Confucianism (Traditional Chinese: 儒學, Simplified Chinese: 儒学; pinyin: Rúxué [ Listen (help·info) ], literally "The School of the Scholars"; or, less accurately, 孔教 Kŏng jiào, "The Religion of Confucius") is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the early Chinese sage Confucius. It is a complex system of moral, social, political, and religious thought which has had tremendous influence on the history of Chinese civilization down to the 21st century. Some people in the West have considered it to have been the "state religion" of imperial China because of the Chinese government's promotion of Confucist values.

Debated during the Warring States Period and forbidden during the short-lived Qin Dynasty, Confucianism was chosen by Emperor Wu of Han for use as a political system to govern the Chinese state. Despite its loss of influence during the Tang Dynasty, Confucianist doctrine remained a mainstream Chinese orthodoxy for two millennia until the 20th century, when it was attacked by radical Chinese thinkers as a vanguard of a feudal system and an obstacle to China's modernization, eventually culminating in its repression and vilification during the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Confucianism has been revived in mainland China, and both interest in and debate about Confucianism have surged.

The cultures most strongly influenced by Confucianism include those of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as various territories (including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau) settled predominantly by Chinese people.

Confucianism as passed down to the 20th and 21st centuries derives primarily from the school of the Neo-Confucians, led by emperor Zhu Xi, who gave Confucianism renewed vigour in the Song and later dynasties. Neo-Confucianism combined Taoist and Buddhist ideas with existing Confucian ideas to create a more complete metaphysics than had ever existed before. At the same time, many forms of Confucianism have historically declared themselves opposed to the Buddhist and Taoist belief systems

Answer 6

I consider it to be a philosophy. But others might consider it a religion.

Answer 7

All religions are based on a mythology of a certain people or location, so any fanatical following of a mythology will qualify.

Answer 8

I believe it is more of a philosophy than a religion

Answer 9

i think it's a religion, that is also a philosophy.

Answer 10

it's a philosophy