Confucius was a respected Chinese philosopher and an influential politician who lived from around 100 BC (Jeffrey, 2006). The Chinese government as well as the neighboring countries fully accepted his ideas in that period (Jeffrey, 2006). His teachings and philosophies gave rise to the name Confucianism and they taught morality and good governance (Jeffrey, 2006). The LI concept in Confucianism encompasses the aspect of human interactions, nature, and material objects (Jeffrey, 2006). According to his philosophy, a person is complete when they acquire proper training on social behavior and norms taught by the elderly in society. The LI philosophy advocates for filial submission, righteousness, good faith, and loyalty (Waxman, 2012).
The Chinese people uphold this philosophy up to this day. The Chinese people have over the years grown in loyalty to their leaders and respect for the elders in the society. The main principle of the LI philosophy is that the body learns through choreographed physical movements (Jeffrey, 2006). Nonetheless, he respected other options like scholarly training where the mind learns through literature. Confucius insisted on a protocol where people know and respect each other according to their social positions. This means one should know his or her superiors and juniors (Jeffrey, 2006).
The Chinese Rites according to Confucius are important to set up effective governance (Jeffrey, 2006). The Ren principle on the other hand is about perfection. Confucius described it as seeing nothing improper, hearing nothing improper, saying nothing improper, and doing nothing improper (Waxman, 2012). He had a belief that humanity was good contrary to the believers and followers of other philosophies (Waxman, 2012). He argues that Ren is close to humanity and that anyone who seeks after it finds it (Waxman, 2012). This philosophy suggests that human interactions and love for humanity are the essences of humanness (Jeffrey, 2006).
Confucius described humanness as simply loving people and wisdom he described it as knowing people (Waxman, 2012). Li is an action that society regards as proper behavior while YI is the true and undoubtedly proper behavior. The Ren philosophy is mostly concerned with how two people relate to each other (Jeffrey, 2006). This means that it is more of an out and not an in expression. The Xiao principle in Confucianism is an act of showing respect and being obedient. Obedience, loyalty, and care towards parents show high levels of moral conduct (Jeffrey, 2006).
This philosophy suggests that a person should put the interest of his or her parents and older family members first (Jeffrey, 2006). This principle known as filial piety is a virtue of showing respect for one’s parents (Jeffrey, 2006). Taking good care of one’s parents goes far beyond being obedient to them and performing one’s duty to make them happy. It goes beyond the family to the outsiders. A person must show love and respect for other people in order to give the family a good reputation in society (Jeffrey, 2006). A filial son’s endeavors are to make his parents happy by taking good care of them when they fall sick, showing great sorrow when they die, and offering a sacrifice to them after their death (Jeffrey, 2006).
Jeffrey describes the Wen principle as the icing on the cake or some leisure activities that one does. (2006). Leisure activities may include music, art dancing, poetry, and others.
References
Jeffrey, R. (2006). Confucius. Web.
Waxman, R. (2012). How-to Practice Confucian Ethics. Web.