Strictly speaking, there is no term in Chinese which directly corresponds to " Confucianism.

The term jūnzǐ () is crucial to classical Confucianism.

Some scholars make sharp distinctions between moral or ethical usage of the word Dao that is prominent in Confucianism and religious Daoism and the more metaphysical usage of the term used in philosophical Daoism and most forms of Mahayana Buddhism ; others maintain that these are not separate usages or meanings, seeing them as mutually inclusive and compatible approaches to defining the concept.

* Rú ( 儒 ), a Chinese language term for Confucianism

The term Jūnzǐ ( 君子 ) is a term crucial to classical Confucianism.

( In modern times, the masculine bias in Confucianism may have weakened, but the same term is still used ; the masculine translation in English is also traditional and still frequently used.

Kurtz coined the term eupraxsophy ( originally eupraxophy ) to refer to philosophies or lifestances such as secular humanism and Confucianism that do not rely on belief in the transcendent or supernatural.

Because the proponents of the concept came from different cultural backgrounds, no single definition of the term exists, but typically " Asian values " encompass some influences of Confucianism, in particular loyalty towards the family, corporation, and nation ; the forgoing of personal freedom for the sake of society's stability and prosperity ; the pursuit of academic and technological excellence ; and work ethic and thrift.

Many Taiwan-based writers will tend to use the term Contemporary New Confucianism ( or ) to emphasize the movement's continuity with the Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism.

However, many within Mainland China prefer the term Modern New Confucianism ( or ) with an emphasis on the period of modernization after May Fourth.

However, as Chinese religion changed to incorporate later interpretations of Confucianism, Daoism, & Buddhism, the term seems to have merged, in the views of some philosophers, with an impersonal Shung Tian, or heaven.

The tendency to oppose Buddhism can be seen already during the early modern era as a nationalistic reaction to its spreading but the term usually indicates the anti-Buddhist movement that, from the middle of the Edo period onwards, accompanied Confucianism, the study of ancient Japanese literature and culture ( kokugaku ), and Shinto nationalism, all movements with reasons to oppose Buddhism.

Confucianism focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of ethics, the most basic of which are ren, yi, and li.

It is important to note that, although li is sometimes translated as " ritual " or " rites ", it has developed a specialized meaning in Confucianism, as opposed to its usual religious meanings.

In Confucianism, the concept of li is closely related to yì (), which is based upon the idea of reciprocity.

The main branch of Confucianism, however, argues that human nature must be nurtured through ritual ( li 理 ), culture ( wen 文 ) and other things, while the Daoists argued that the trappings of society were to be gotten rid of.

Confucianism, especially of the type argued for by Mencius (), argued that the ideal ruler is the one who ( as Confucius put it ) " acts like the North Star, staying in place while the other stars orbit around it ".

The Doctrine of the Mean (), is both a doctrine of Confucianism, and also the title of one of the Four Books of Confucian philosophy.

The posthumous name is sometimes rendered canonization in English, for the scholar-official to Confucianism is analogous to the saint in the Catholic Church, though the process is not nearly as long.

Confucianism in Korea is sometimes considered a pragmatic way of holding a nation together without the civil wars and internal dissent that was inherited from the Goryeo dynasty, and before.

Confucianism, sometimes translated as the School of Literati, is an East Asian ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of Confucius.

The Mongol nobility during the Yuan dynasty studied Confucianism, built Confucian temples ( including Beijing Confucius Temple ) and translated Confucian works into Mongolian but mainly followed the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism under Phags-pa Lama.

Yi Guan Dao ( loosely translated as " Universal Taoism ", " the pervasive truth ", or " the consistent path ") incorporates elements from Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and recognizes the validity of non-Chinese religious traditions such as Christianity and Islam as well.

In the Chinese philosophical systems of Taoism and Confucianism, Tian is often translated as " Heaven " and is mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of Dì ( 地 ), which is most often translated as " Earth ".

According to his biography in the Jin shu ( History of the Jin Dynasty ), it was during this early period that Ge began his study of the canon of texts, generally associated with ru jia, often translated simply as " Confucianism ".

During the Han Dynasty, Confucianism developed from an ethical system into a political ideology used to legitimize the rule of the political elites.

Lu Xun also criticised Confucianism heavily for shaping Chinese people into the condition they had reached by the late Qing Dynasty: his criticism are well portrayed in two of his works, A Madman's Diary and The True Story of Ah Q.

It was during the Warring States era that the major philosophies of China, Confucianism, Mohism, Legalism, and Taoism, arose, along with philosophies that later fell into obscurity, like Agriculturalism, Chinese Naturalism, and the Logicians.

Despite Confucianism losing popularity to Taoism and Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism combined those ideas into a more metaphysical framework.

Following the victory of Han over Chu after the collapse of Qin, Confucius's thoughts received official sanction and were further developed into a system known as Confucianism.

During the Song Dynasty, the scholar Zhu Xi ( AD 1130 – 1200 ) added ideas from Daoism and Buddhism into Confucianism.

Scholarship on these texts naturally divides itself into two periods, before and after the " Qin Fire ", when many of the original texts, especially those of Confucianism, were burned in a political purge.

The text is fundamental to both philosophical and religious Taoism ( Daojia,, Pinyin: Dàojiā ; Daojiao,, Pinyin: Dàojiào ) and strongly influenced other schools, such as Legalism, Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism, which when first introduced into China was largely interpreted through the use of Daoist words and concepts.

The Kuomintang purged China's education system of western ideas, introducing Confucianism into the curriculum.

The Kuomintang purged China's education system of western ideas, introducing Confucianism into the curriculum.

Chen introduced many new ideas into popular Chinese culture, including individualism, democracy, humanism, and the use of the scientific method, and he advocated the abandonment of Confucianism for the adoption Communism.

Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy.

At the same time, an intellectual paradigm shift from Taoism to Confucianism among the intelligentsia moved the focus of academic inquiry from natural science and mathematics, which were conceived of under Taoism as investigations into the mystical nature of the universe, to studies of social philosophy and morality under Confucianism.

He adapted some ideas from these competing religions into his form of Confucianism.

Hoashi Banri 帆足万里 ( February 11, 1778 – July 30, 1852 ) Miura Baien's pupil who expanded his academic ability into many fields including Confucianism, natural sciences, medicine and language.

The word han first came into use by with scholars of Confucianism from the mid-Edo period onwards, in imitation of the feudal system of Ancient China, and became popularised around the time of the Meiji Restoration.

Ninomiya combined three strands of traditional teachings Buddhism, Shintōism and Confucianism and transformed them into practical ethical principles which matured out of his experiences.

For it was a period of no outstanding religion for the masses with Buddhism pressed into the backfround, and the Confucianism of less appealing contents was unacceptable to the people.

In Western Xia, Confucianism was further strengthened, and Taoism was made into the national religion along with Buddhism.

In films, school stories of manners and comic situations within educational frames fit well into the satires on Confucianism from earlier writings.

A more and more influent movement among them is working to turn Confucianism into a religion ( and a movement of its own, independent from the Chinese folk religion ), to obtain recognisation by the Chinese government, and even make Confucianism the official state religion of China.