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Summary:
Confucius was born into a poor shi (scholar bureaucrats) family in the midsixth century. He was a blunt outspoken person who said what he thought andmeant it. Confucius took to the road looking for the ideal ruler to work for,but never finding one he created his own principles and how he felt societyshould be ordered. He taught his philosophy to whoever would listen. Order andHarmony were his main obsessions; he decided that they would only exist if therulers would take advice from wise educated men. These wise men he felt couldonly come from the shi. In the early fifth century he finally died but his idealsdid not as his followers continued to spread them after his death. Not everyone agreed about how to interpret those ideas though.
Mencuis decided that Confucius meant humans were inclined to be good and thusshould be ruled in a way to bring out the most good in the people. His thoughtsstressed that the common people were the foundation for political power. Thatthinking provided the Chinese belief that the people could rise up against cruelor pathetic rulers. Xunzi, however, thought Mencuis’s interpretation wasincorrect or backward. Instead, Xunzi insisted that humans were inclined toevil and laziness. In his opinion a strong authoritarian government was requiredto hold the selfish people in check so they don’t end up hurting eachother. Both men had many followers and their views caused many intellectualdisagreements in China for many years. At first however, Xunzi’s ideasinfluenced China the most as he had the support of a group of political philosopherscalled the Legalists..
By the end of the 3rd Century B.C. what was left of the Zhou dynasty was conqueredby a Qin Warlord, Shi Huangdi, who unified China under the Qin. Then as he wasconsolidating his power he outlawed the spreading of all forms of philosophyexcept for the Legalist form that he believed in. He eagerly embraced the Legalistideas and used it to gain power and crush his enemies, he was a harsh rulerand once had hundreds of shi buried alive since they opposed the Legalist views.The legalist administrators tried to control what the country thought by burningnon state-approved books. Many special and important works and ideas were lostbecause of that. Shi Huangdi died in 204, and three years later the dynastycollapsed. Legend tells this came about by a peasant revolt when two men whowere late to work at the great wall, decided to start a revolution instead ofgetting killed as punishment. While Shi’s rule and the Qin dynasty didn’tlast as long as others, it was a big turning point. Although the persecutedshi became stronger, Shi’s government had a centralized bureaucracy andprovided social and political bonds that held China together for a very longtime.
After the Qin dynasty the Han Empire followed founded by a former peasant LiuBang. His empire, unlike the brief Qin, lasted about 400 years total. Whilethe Qin was supported by the Confucius Legalists, the Shi grew to support thenew empire. With their urging, Liu and his successors banned the work of theLegalists and some were even killed. The Han replaced the Qin’s overlystrict code of law with a much milder version. Confucianism soon grew to bethe dominant thought system in China. In 124 B.C. an imperial University wasbuilt which taught history, astronomy, music and the Confucian classics thatall students had to memorize and interpret. Confucianism in effect removed Chinafurther away from its barbarian and nomadic heritage, and into a more civilizednature. They now strived for knowledge, happiness, and a perfection of character.
Confucianism didn’t last as a replacement for religion for long, andthe Han Empire finely collapsed around 88 B.C. Even before it collapsed somereal religions were gaining some ground, mainly the Daoists. Many peasants andsocial protesters joined this religion and led the rebellion that soon afterled to end of the Han. After this China started to fall apart into separatelittle governments like it was doing before Confucius came around. Then fromIndia, Buddhism started spreading through China like wild fire. It providedspiritual comfort and something to believe in during those troubled times. Itonce again brought the country together filling the gap that Confucianism hadleft. The ideas of Confucian were still preserved and followed but they weremixed with Buddhism and help created new and more powerful dynasties like theSui and the Tang.
In the Roman Empire, Christianity started spreading after Jesus rose from thedead, encouraged his followers, and the ascended into heaven. Missionaries fromJudea started spreading Christianity throughout the Empire after the Jews refusedit. Christian missionaries stopped insisting that Christians follow Jewish laws.One of the most famous missionaries was the apostle Paul. He made four majorjourneys into Asia minor of the Roman Empire on the Mediterranean. On his lastjourney he was arrested and brought to Rome where he preached there under custodyfor a few years until Rome eventually had him beheaded.
Rome was intolerant of religions that didn’t agree with the idea of theEmperor as God. Christianity was attacked because Christians refused to putthe Ceasar before Jesus. Among the worst Christian persecutors was Nero whofed them to the Lions and even burned down half of Rome, partly to kill themout, but also because he was crazy. Despite tragedies like that, Christianitydid find many converts in the Roman Empire. As it grew, Christianity replacedthe capricious gods of the Roman pantheon. Slaves, farmers, and poor city dwellersfound peace, hope, and something to live for, which they had lacked before hand.
After Constantine recognized the enormous growth of Christianity, he formalizedit for political purposes. Bishops became like Roman Governors as they ruledover the churches spread throughout a region. What had started as a Jewish religionsoon became a major religion with a genuinely cosmopolitan stance. As a whole,Rome improved under Christian influence and a few Emperors were converted andfollowed Jesus for the rest of their lives, doing their best to improve lifefor the poor and spreading the word of Jesus.
Between Confucianism and Christianity, Confucianism primarily impacted Chinawhile, in the long term, Christianity spread to every continent. As a moralsystem, Confucianism led to despair even when synthesized with Buddhist teachings.Confucianism is remembered in the west as only a collection of practical sociopoliticalsayings. Christianity continues to spread not just because Jesus preached truth,but because he is "the way, the truth, the life" (John 14:6).
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