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Ultimate Reality in Confucianism
Author(s) -
Yan Zhonghu
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
religion compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.113
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1749-8171
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00188.x
Subject(s) - tian , metaphysics , heaven , buddhism , neo confucianism , philosophy , epistemology , character (mathematics) , taoism , psychology , aesthetics , literature , theology , art , mathematics , geometry
Does Confucianism concern about the ultimate reality and its meanings? This is a question whose answer may resolve a long standing issue regarding the character of Confucianism. This article discusses and analyzes a few key metaphysical concepts in the foundational text of the Analects such as Tian , Heaven, shen , spirits and Dao , the Way, to demonstrate that early Confucianism grounds its ethics on these metaphysical understandings. This interest in the questions of ultimacy is renewed in Neo‐Confucianism, which enables itself to compete successfully against the rival schools of Buddhism and Daoism.