Confucius Ideology and Its Effect on the Structural Profile of Modern Education System of China

Authors

  • Mir Ruhal Shaanxi Normal University, China
  • Qu Linxin Shaanxi Normal University, China
  • Luo Shaofeng Shaanxi Normal University, China
  • Efa Efa Ange Liberte Shaanxi Normal University, China
  • Makhmanazarov Dilshod Shaanxi Normal University, China
  • Syarifatul Mafruhah Shaanxi Normal University, China
  • Asra Awan Shaanxi Normal University, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53103/cjess.v4i5.265

Keywords:

Confucian, Junzi, Rituals, and Education

Abstract

One of the oldest contributors to the educational system of different nations, Confucius, was the ancient Chinese philosopher and educator. Implicit in this topic is the idea that Confucius has nursed formidable thoughts concerning education hence the consideration of this paper to discuss the current discourse on education as has been given by the old philosopher. Stressing the person’s perspectival self-formation, Confucius called for virtues’ ethical cultivation, proper conduct, and of a Master as a role model. His philosophy was anchored on the ‘junzi’ which referred to the noble personage who was characterized by morality and sense of responsibility. According to Confucian theories educational methods included practices such as: ritualism, individual education, cultivation of the person, and correction of speech that presumptions of role relationship in society. As this paper has sought to establish, integration of Confucian principles provides values that are timeless and relevant in today’s education. However, translating these concepts in different cultural settings and the ever-changing society is not easy. Still, the envisaged incorporation of Confucian principles into modern educational paradigms may contribute to the promotion of the human being’s harmonious and ethical further development as well as character building as per the purpose of an ethical society. Confucius’s philosophy can be seen as confirming the value of education as a way of developing people’s ethical characters alongside their learning hence paving way for the guidelines on moral education for educators as well as policy makers.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abdullah, M. N. L. Y. (2020). Student-centered philosophies and policy develop-ments in Asian higher education. In The Routledge International Handbook of Student-Centered Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (pp. 581-596). Routledge.

Ambrogio, S. (2017). Moral education and ideology: The revival of Confucian val-ues and the harmonious shaping of the new Chinese man. Asian Studies, 5, 113-135.

Bell, D. A. (2010). China's new Confucianism: Politics and everyday life in a changing society.

Bergen, T. J., & Mi, H. F. (1995). An analysis and review of Confucian philosophy as the basis for Chinese education. International Education, 24(2), 40.

Billioud, S. (2016). The hidden tradition: Confucianism and its metamorphoses in modern and contemporary China. In Modern Chinese Religion II: 1850-2015 (2 vols.) (pp. 767-805). Brill.

Billioud, S., & Thoraval, J. (2015). The sage and the people: The Confucian revival in China. Oxford University Press.

Cheng, M. T. (1952). A Study of the Philosophy of Education of Confucius and a Comparison of the Educational Philosophies of Confucius and John Dewey. University of Wyoming.

Cottine, C. (2016). Role modeling in an early Confucian context. The Journal of Value Inquiry, 50(4), 797-819.

Elliott, J., & Tsai, C. T. (2008). What might Confucius have to say about action re-search? Educational Action Research, 16(4), 569-578.

Fengyan, W. (2004). Confucian thinking in traditional moral education: Key ideas and fundamental features. Journal of Moral Education, 33(4), 429-447.

Fouts, J. T., & Chan, J. C. (1995). Confucius, Mao and modernization: Social stud-ies education in the People's Republic of China. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 27(5), 523-543.

Gu, C., & Li, Z. (2023). The Confucian Ideal of Filial Piety and Its Impact on Chi-nese Family Governance. Journal of Sociology and Ethnology, 5(2), 45-52.

Hartig, F. (2012). Confucius Institutes and the rise of China. Journal of Chinese Political Science, 17, 53-76.

Hayhoe, R. (2001). Lessons from the Chinese academy. Knowledge across cultures: A contribution to dialogue among civilizations, 323-347

Huanyin, Y. (1993). Confucius (K’ung Tzu). education (Paris, UNESCO: Interna-tional Bureau of Education), 23(1/2), 211-19.

Hwang, K. (2013). Educational modes of thinking in Neo-Confucianism: A tradi-tional lens for rethinking modern education. Asia Pacific Education Re-view, 14, 243-253.

Jacobs, L., Guopei, G., & Herbig, P. (1995). Confucian roots in China: a force for today′ s business. Management Decision, 33(10), 29-34.

Jianfu, Y. (2009). The influence and enlightenment of Confucian cultural education on modern European civilization. Frontiers of Education in China, 4(1), 10-26.

Jin, G. (2019). The value of Confucian education in the modern world (Doctoral dissertation, San Francisco State University).

Juanjuan, Z. H. A. O. (2013). Confucius as a critical educator: Towards educational thoughts of Confucius. Frontiers of Education in China, 8(1), 9-27.

Kett, J. F. (1995). The pursuit of knowledge under difficulties: From self-improvement to adult education in America, 1750-1990. Stanford University Press.

Keung Ip, P. (2011). Practical wisdom of Confucian ethical leadership: A critical inquiry. Journal of Management Development, 30(7/8), 685-696.

Kim, H. K. (2003). Critical thinking, learning and Confucius: A positive assess-ment. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 37(1), 71-87.

Kim, T. (2009). Confucianism, modernities and knowledge: China, South Korea and Japan. In International handbook of comparative education (pp. 857-872). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Kwong-loi, S. (2016). Confucian learning and liberal education. East-West Thought, 2, 5-20.

Lee, T. H. (2019). Education in traditional China. In The Routledge Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Culture (pp. 238-253). Routledge.

Levenson, J. R. (1958). Confucian China and its modern fate (Vol. 1). Univ of Cali-fornia Press.

Li, J., & Hayhoe, R. (2012). Confucianism and higher education. Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education, 1, 443-446.

Li, L. (2015). A Confucian perspective on teaching thinking in China. In The Routledge international handbook of research on teaching thinking (pp. 45-57). Routledge.

Li, L., & Wegerif, R. (2014). What does it mean to teach thinking in China? Chal-lenging and developing notions of ‘Confucian education’. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 11, 22-32.

Li, W. W., Hodgetts, D., Ho, E., & Stolte, O. (2010). From early Confucian texts to aged care in China and abroad today: The evolution of filial piety and its implications. Journal of US-China Public Administration, 7, 48-59.

Low, K. C. P. (2011). Teaching and education: The ways of Confucius. Available at SSRN 1760871.

Lu, Y., & Jover, G. (2019). An anthropocosmic view: What Confucian traditions can teach us about the past and future of Chinese higher education. Higher Education, 77, 423-436

Muyunda, G., & Yue, L. (2022). Confucius’ Education Thoughts and Its Influence on Moral Education in China. International Journal of Social Learning (IJSL), 2(2), 250-261.

Ng, R. M. C. (2009). College and character: What did Confucius teach us about the importance of integrating ethics, character, learning, and education? Journal of College and Character, 10(4), 1-7.

Nielsen, K. Background and history of Confucianism-a literature review.

Niu, J. (2016). Inner moral character flowing into outward actions: Reflections on what Confucianism can contribute to global citizenship education.

Palmer, J., Bresler, L., & Cooper, D. E. (Eds.). (2001). Fifty major thinkers on edu-cation: From Confucius to Dewey. Psychology Press.

Rosenlee, L. H. L. (2012). Confucianism and women: A philosophical interpreta-tion. State University of New York Press.

Ryu, K. (2010). The teachings of Confucius: Reviving a humanistic adult education perspective. International Journal of Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning, 2(2).

Spring, J. (2012). Wheels in the head: Educational philosophies of authority, free-dom, and culture from Confucianism to human rights. Routledge.

Spring, J. (2014). Globalization and educational rights: An intercivilizational analy-sis. Routledge.

Tan, C. (2018). Confucius. International handbook of philosophy of education, 91-101.

Tan, C. (2018). To be more fully human: Freire and Confucius. Oxford Review of Education, 44(3), 370-382.

Tan, C. (2020). Digital Confucius? Exploring the implications of artificial intelli-gence in spiritual education. Connection Science, 32(3), 280-291.

Tan, C. (2020). Confucian philosophy for contemporary education. Routledge.

Tan, C., & Ibrahim, A. (2017). Humanism, Islamic education, and Confucian edu-cation. Religious Education, 112(4), 394-406.

Tu, W. M. (1998). Confucius and confucianism. Confucianism and the Family, 3-36.

Vereș, D. E. (2020). The Revival of Confucianism: The Relevance of Confucian Thinking Reflected in the Educational System in Contemporary Chi-na. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai-Philologia, 65(1), 203-215.

Walton, L. (2018). The “Spirit” of confucian education in contemporary China: Songyang academy and zhengzhou university. Modern China, 44(3), 313-342.

Wan, H. S. Y. (1980). The educational thought of Confucius. Loyola University Chicago.

Wang, C. (2018). Debatable “Chineseness”. Diversification of Confucian Classical Education in Contemporary China. China Perspectives, 2018(2018-4), 53-63.

Wang, C. (2020). Educating the cosmopolitan citizen in Confucian classical educa-tion in contemporary China. Chinese Education & Society, 53(1-2), 36-46.

Wang, C., & Billioud, S. (2022). Reinventing Confucian education in contemporary China: New ethnographic explorations. China Perspectives, (2022/2), 3-6.

Wang, G. (2022). A cultured man is not a tool: The impact of confucian legacies on the standing of vocational education in China. Journal of Vocational Educa-tion & Training, 1-18.

Weiming, T. (1994). The historical significance of the Confucian discourse. The China Quarterly, 140, 1131-1141.

Wong, C. T. N. (2013). Confucian Junzi leadership: a model of authentic moral transformation for educational leaders.

Xiong, J. (2011). Understanding higher vocational education in China: Vocational-ism vs Confucianism. Frontiers of Education in China, 6(4), 495-520.

Yang, J. (2016). When Confucius "encounters" John Dewey: a cross-cultural in-quiry into Dewey's visit to China. Doctoral dissertation, University of Okla-homa

Yang, R. (2014). Soft power and higher education: An examination of China's Con-fucius Institutes. The Internationalisation of Higher Education, 65-76.

Yao, X. (1999). Confucianism and its modern values: Confucian moral, educational and spiritual heritages revisited. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 20(1), 30-40.

Ye, L. (2020). Teaching the Knowledge of Nature and Society, Cultivating the Self-Consciousness of Life. In Life-Practice Educology (pp. 332-465). Brill.

Yu, T. (2008). The revival of Confucianism in Chinese schools: A historical-political review. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 28(2), 113-129.

Downloads

Published

2024-09-30

How to Cite

Ruhal, M., Linxin, Q., Shaofeng, L., Efa Ange Liberte, E., Dilshod, M., Mafruhah, S., & Awan, A. (2024). Confucius Ideology and Its Effect on the Structural Profile of Modern Education System of China. Canadian Journal of Educational and Social Studies, 4(5), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.53103/cjess.v4i5.265

Issue

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)