The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism
Encyclopedia
The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism is a book written by Max Weber
, a German
economist
and sociologist. It was first published in German
under the title Konfuzianismus und Taoismus in 1915 and an adapted version appeared in 1920. An English
translation was made in 1951 and several editions were released until today.
It was his second major work on the sociology of religion
, after The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
. Weber focused on those aspects of Chinese
society
that were different from those of Western Europe
and Puritanism
, and posed a question why capitalism
did not develop in China. From the chronological perspective, he concentrated on early period of Chinese history (Hundred Schools of Thought
, Warring States Period
), during which major Chinese schools of thoughts (Confucianism
, Taoism
) were invented. In that period, he focused on the issues of Chinese urban development, Chinese patrimonialism
and officialdom, and Chinese religion, as the areas in which Chinese development differed most distinctively from the European route.
had emerged from a loose federation
of feudal states of the Warring States Period
to the unified empire
with patrimonal
rule. Confucianism emerged to dominate other schools that were growing in the fertile social upheavals of pre-imperial China Daoism (Taoism), Mohism, and Legalism all attacked Confucianism. (c. 400–c. 200 B.C.). Mencius
(c. 372–c. 289 B.C.) developed a more idealistic version of Confucianism. Xun Zi (Hsün Tzu, c.313–c.238 B.C.), argued that all inclinations are shaped by acquired language and other social forms. Confucianism rose to the position of an official orthodoxy during the Han dynasty
(206 B.C.–A.D. 220). When the Han fell from power, Confucianism fell with them, and lay dormant for approximately 600 years (206 B.C.–A.D. 220).
When the Chinese dynastic power re-established and the introduction of the Chan Confucianism began to revive (618–906). The Song (Sung) dynasty
(960–1279) produced Neo-Confucianism — an interpretation of classical Confucian doctrine that addressed Buddhist and Daoist issues. In the Ming dynasty
(1368–1644), Wang Yangming
claimed that the heart projects li on things rather than just noticing external li. 20th century Chinese intellectuals blamed Confucianism for the scientific and political backwardness of China after the disastrous conflicts with Western military technology at the dawn of the modern era.
were founded as forts or leader's residences
and were the centers of trade
and crafts. However, they never received political autonomy
and in fact sometimes had fewer rights than villages. Likewise, its citizens had no special political rights or privileges; the resident of Chinese cities never constituted a separate status class
like the residents of European cities.
The lack of city development is partially due to strengths of kinship
ties, which stems from religious beliefs (in ancestral spirits) and maintaining strong ties to the villages in which one's ancestors lived. The guild
s likewise competed against each other for the favour of the Emperor
, never uniting in order to fight for more rights.
never gained significant authority when the power structure was being formed. This meant that the focus of struggle for political power
turned from the distribution of land to the distribution of offices, which with their fee
s and tax
es were the most prominent source of income for the holder. The state depended on the services of those freely removable and non-hereditary officials, rather than on the service of military (knight
s), like in Europe. The officialdom nonetheless had significant powers, and its vested interests were in preserving the status quo
, opposing any reforms or changes, particularly on a governmental level.
For the members of the officialdom, it was their rank, or status, which was of prime importance. The 'superior' man (literati
) should stay away from the pursuit of wealth (though not from the wealth itself). Therefore, becoming a civil servant was preferred to becoming a businessman and granted a much higher status class. Literati did not care about the wealth, although they could and did care about their status. As Weber wrote:
nor a powerful priesthood social class. The emperor was the high priest
of the state religion
and the supreme ruler. Weber emphasized that Confucianism tolerated the simultaneous existence of many popular cults and made no effort to organize them as part of a religious doctrine, while nonetheless curtailing the political ambitions of their priests. Instead it taught adjustment to the world.
This forms a sharp contrast with medieval Europe, where the Church
was often able to superimpose its will over those of secular rulers, and where the same, singular religion was the religion of rulers, nobility and the common folk.
and mysticism
as long as they were useful tools for controlling the masses; it denounced them as heresy
and suppressed them when they threatened the established order (hence the opposition to Buddhism
). Another notable quality was the avoidance or both irrational ecstasy and excitement, as well as mystic contemplation and metaphysical speculation.
Note that in this context Confucianism can be referred to as the state cult
, and Taoism as the popular religion.
, each attempting to prescribe a way of life based on religious dogma. Notably, they both valued self control and restraint, and did not oppose accumulation of wealth.
However, to both those qualities where just means to the final goal, and here they were divided by a key difference. The Confucianism goal was "a cultured status position", while Puritanism's goal was to create individuals who are "tools of God". The intensity of belief and enthusiasm for action were rare in Confucianism, but common in Protestantism. Therefore, Weber states that it was this difference in social attitudes and mentality, shaped by the respective, dominant religions, that contributed to the development of capitalism in the West and the absence of it in China.
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
, a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and sociologist. It was first published in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
under the title Konfuzianismus und Taoismus in 1915 and an adapted version appeared in 1920. An English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation was made in 1951 and several editions were released until today.
It was his second major work on the sociology of religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, after The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a book written by Max Weber, a German sociologist, economist, and politician. Begun as a series of essays, the original German text was composed in 1904 and 1905, and was translated into English for the first time by Talcott Parsons in 1930...
. Weber focused on those aspects of Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
that were different from those of Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and Puritanism
Religious fanaticism
Religious fanaticism is fanaticism related to a person's, or a group's, devotion to a religion. However, religious fanaticism is a subjective evaluation defined by the culture context that is performing the evaluation. What constitutes fanaticism in another's behavior or belief is determined by the...
, and posed a question why capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
did not develop in China. From the chronological perspective, he concentrated on early period of Chinese history (Hundred Schools of Thought
Hundred Schools of Thought
The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophers and schools that flourished from 770 to 221 BC during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period , an era of great cultural and intellectual expansion in China...
, Warring States Period
Warring States Period
The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...
), during which major Chinese schools of thoughts (Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
, Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
) were invented. In that period, he focused on the issues of Chinese urban development, Chinese patrimonialism
Patrimonialism
Patrimonialism is a form of governance in which all power flows directly from the leader. This constitutes essentially the blending of the public and private sector. These regimes are autocratic or oligarchic and exclude the upper and middle classes from power. The leaders of these countries...
and officialdom, and Chinese religion, as the areas in which Chinese development differed most distinctively from the European route.
History
By 200 B.C., the Chinese stateSovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
had emerged from a loose federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
of feudal states of the Warring States Period
Warring States Period
The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...
to the unified empire
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
with patrimonal
Patrimonialism
Patrimonialism is a form of governance in which all power flows directly from the leader. This constitutes essentially the blending of the public and private sector. These regimes are autocratic or oligarchic and exclude the upper and middle classes from power. The leaders of these countries...
rule. Confucianism emerged to dominate other schools that were growing in the fertile social upheavals of pre-imperial China Daoism (Taoism), Mohism, and Legalism all attacked Confucianism. (c. 400–c. 200 B.C.). Mencius
Mencius
Mencius was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres ...
(c. 372–c. 289 B.C.) developed a more idealistic version of Confucianism. Xun Zi (Hsün Tzu, c.313–c.238 B.C.), argued that all inclinations are shaped by acquired language and other social forms. Confucianism rose to the position of an official orthodoxy during the Han dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
(206 B.C.–A.D. 220). When the Han fell from power, Confucianism fell with them, and lay dormant for approximately 600 years (206 B.C.–A.D. 220).
When the Chinese dynastic power re-established and the introduction of the Chan Confucianism began to revive (618–906). The Song (Sung) dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
(960–1279) produced Neo-Confucianism — an interpretation of classical Confucian doctrine that addressed Buddhist and Daoist issues. In the Ming dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
(1368–1644), Wang Yangming
Wang Yangming
Wang Yangming was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox...
claimed that the heart projects li on things rather than just noticing external li. 20th century Chinese intellectuals blamed Confucianism for the scientific and political backwardness of China after the disastrous conflicts with Western military technology at the dawn of the modern era.
Cities
Similar to Europe, Chinese citiesCity
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
were founded as forts or leader's residences
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
and were the centers of trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
and crafts. However, they never received political autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
and in fact sometimes had fewer rights than villages. Likewise, its citizens had no special political rights or privileges; the resident of Chinese cities never constituted a separate status class
Status class
The German sociologist Max Weber formulated a three-component theory of stratification in which he defines status group as a group of people that can be differentiated on the basis of non-economical qualities like honour, prestige and religion...
like the residents of European cities.
The lack of city development is partially due to strengths of kinship
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
ties, which stems from religious beliefs (in ancestral spirits) and maintaining strong ties to the villages in which one's ancestors lived. The guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s likewise competed against each other for the favour of the Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
, never uniting in order to fight for more rights.
Patrimonialism, officialdom and literati
Unlike eternally divided Europe, China saw early unification and establishment of imperial government with a centralized officialdom. Relatively peaceful centuries in the first centuries of Chinese history meant that militaryMilitary
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
never gained significant authority when the power structure was being formed. This meant that the focus of struggle for political power
Political power
Political power is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. At the nation-state level political legitimacy for political power is held by the...
turned from the distribution of land to the distribution of offices, which with their fee
Fee
A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup.Traditionally, professionals in Great Britain received a fee in contradistinction to a payment, salary, or wage, and would often use guineas rather than pounds as units of account...
s and tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es were the most prominent source of income for the holder. The state depended on the services of those freely removable and non-hereditary officials, rather than on the service of military (knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s), like in Europe. The officialdom nonetheless had significant powers, and its vested interests were in preserving the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
, opposing any reforms or changes, particularly on a governmental level.
For the members of the officialdom, it was their rank, or status, which was of prime importance. The 'superior' man (literati
Literati
Literati may refer to:*Intellectuals or those who read and comment on literature*The scholar-bureaucrats or literati of imperial China**Literati painting, also known as the Southern School of painting, developed by Chinese literati...
) should stay away from the pursuit of wealth (though not from the wealth itself). Therefore, becoming a civil servant was preferred to becoming a businessman and granted a much higher status class. Literati did not care about the wealth, although they could and did care about their status. As Weber wrote:
Religious organization and the Confucian orthodoxy
Chinese civilization had no religious prophecyProphecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
nor a powerful priesthood social class. The emperor was the high priest
High priest
The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste.-Ancient Egypt:...
of the state religion
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
and the supreme ruler. Weber emphasized that Confucianism tolerated the simultaneous existence of many popular cults and made no effort to organize them as part of a religious doctrine, while nonetheless curtailing the political ambitions of their priests. Instead it taught adjustment to the world.
This forms a sharp contrast with medieval Europe, where the Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
was often able to superimpose its will over those of secular rulers, and where the same, singular religion was the religion of rulers, nobility and the common folk.
State cult and popular religiosity
According to Confucianism, the worship of great deities was the affair of the state, ancestral worship is required of all, and a multitude of popular cults are tolerable. Confucianism tolerated magicMagic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
and mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
as long as they were useful tools for controlling the masses; it denounced them as heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
and suppressed them when they threatened the established order (hence the opposition to Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
). Another notable quality was the avoidance or both irrational ecstasy and excitement, as well as mystic contemplation and metaphysical speculation.
Note that in this context Confucianism can be referred to as the state cult
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
, and Taoism as the popular religion.
Social structure and the capitalist economy
Weber argued that, while several factors were good for development of a capitalist economy (long periods of peace, improved control of rivers, population growth, freedom to acquire land and move outside of native community, freedom of choosing the occupation), they were outweighed by others (mostly stemming from religion) in China:- technical inventions were opposed on the basis of religion (disturbance of ancestral spirits leading to bad luck), instead of changing the world, adjusting oneself to it was preferred
- sale of land was often prohibited or made very difficult
- extended kinship groups (based on religion stressing the importance of family ties and ancestry) protected its members against economic adversities, therefore negatively affecting one's motivation for payment of debts and work discipline
- those kinship prevented the development of urban status class, hindered legal developments like creation of legal institutions, codification of laws and a jurist status class.
Confucianism and Puritanism
According to Weber, Confucianism and Puritanism are mutually exclusive types of rational thoughtRationalization (economics)
In economics, rationalization is an attempt to change a pre-existing ad hoc workflow into one that is based on a set of published rules. There is a tendency in modern times to quantify experience, knowledge, and work. Means-end rationality is used to precisely calculate that which is necessary to...
, each attempting to prescribe a way of life based on religious dogma. Notably, they both valued self control and restraint, and did not oppose accumulation of wealth.
However, to both those qualities where just means to the final goal, and here they were divided by a key difference. The Confucianism goal was "a cultured status position", while Puritanism's goal was to create individuals who are "tools of God". The intensity of belief and enthusiasm for action were rare in Confucianism, but common in Protestantism. Therefore, Weber states that it was this difference in social attitudes and mentality, shaped by the respective, dominant religions, that contributed to the development of capitalism in the West and the absence of it in China.
See also
- Sociology of religionSociology of religionThe sociology of religion concerns the role of religion in society: practices, historical backgrounds, developments and universal themes. There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in all societies and throughout recorded history...
- The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and BuddhismThe Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and BuddhismThe Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Butthism, also known as just The Religion of India, is a book on the sociology of religion written by Maximilian Weber, a German economist and sociologist of the early twentieth century. The original edition was in German...
- Ancient Judaism (book)Ancient Judaism (book)Ancient Judaism, also known as Ancient Palestine: Society and Religion, is a book written by Max Weber, a German economist and sociologist, in early the 20th century. The original edition was in German - the essays on Ancient Judaism appeared originally in the 1917–1919 issues of the Archiv fur...