temples (Shanghai-Wenmiao in Shanghai, Confucius Mausoleum in Nagasaki, temples in Beijing and Qufu, etc.),
where ceremonies are held, including on the occasion of various holidays,
there are religious concepts of their own, for example, the triad “tian” (sky), “di” (earth), ” ren “(man), the pair ” yin ” and “yang”, as well as ” tao ” (“path”, this term is not unique to Taoism),
Confucianism also formed the basis of some other religious movements, such as Cheongdoge in Korea and Caodai in Vietnam.
In addition, there are people who view Confucianism as their own religious identity. Since at least the 3rd century BC, there have been trends in Confucianism that indicate that meditation is an organic part of Confucian self – cultivation-for example, the works of the Confucian scholar Xun-tzu, who insisted on the need to achieve “emptiness” through meditation in order to gain unity with the Path-tao, which some researchers see as the birth of Confucian mysticism.�
In the X – XVII centuries, such meditation practices were further developed in the so-called neo-Confucianism, becoming an important part of the Confucian educational process. The purpose of such meditations was to prepare for learning and discover the true substance of one's mind, which was also understood as the universal basis of all things.
To be fair, the question of whether Confucianism is a religion is debatable. It is controversial due to the fact that in the Chinese language, in principle, there was no such thing as “religion”. The concept of “teaching” that replaced it, “school” was equally applicable to philosophical, scientific, and religious teachings – neither Chinese nor, for example, Indian culture distinguished between them.�
Hence, accordingly, the question of the boundaries between religion, philosophy, science, and esoteric practices (such as I Ching divination or Taoist alchemy) is almost meaningless in Chinese terms. Therefore, the same problem as with Confucianism exists, for example, with Buddhism (especially Chan Buddhism).
This means that we can distinguish a separate religious component in Chinese culture only with a large degree of conventionality for analytical purposes, and the classification of Confucianism as a “religion” strongly depends on the chosen definition of religion. With some definitions, for example, Marxism can also be considered a religion (and this is not a meaningless approach).
Because Confucianism has:
Since at least the 3rd century BC, there have been trends in Confucianism that indicate that meditation is an organic part of Confucian self – cultivation-for example, the works of the Confucian scholar Xun-tzu, who insisted on the need to achieve “emptiness” through meditation in order to gain unity with the Path-tao, which some researchers see as the birth of Confucian mysticism.�
In the X – XVII centuries, such meditation practices were further developed in the so-called neo-Confucianism, becoming an important part of the Confucian educational process. The purpose of such meditations was to prepare for learning and discover the true substance of one's mind, which was also understood as the universal basis of all things.
To be fair, the question of whether Confucianism is a religion is debatable. It is controversial due to the fact that in the Chinese language, in principle, there was no such thing as “religion”. The concept of “teaching” that replaced it, “school” was equally applicable to philosophical, scientific, and religious teachings – neither Chinese nor, for example, Indian culture distinguished between them.�
Hence, accordingly, the question of the boundaries between religion, philosophy, science, and esoteric practices (such as I Ching divination or Taoist alchemy) is almost meaningless in Chinese terms. Therefore, the same problem as with Confucianism exists, for example, with Buddhism (especially Chan Buddhism).
This means that we can distinguish a separate religious component in Chinese culture only with a large degree of conventionality for analytical purposes, and the classification of Confucianism as a “religion” strongly depends on the chosen definition of religion. With some definitions, for example, Marxism can also be considered a religion (and this is not a meaningless approach).