Essays on Confucianism

One of the main advantages of literature lies in its ability to communicate various cultural experiences and provide greater knowledge and deeper understanding of foreign traditions for the reader. In the Western civilization, Eastern religious traditions and cultures informed by them are perceived with interest, fascination and even fear; while lack of understanding can often impair successful interaction and communication. In addressing the issue of religious values, the authors of two books, Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches Us about Living in the West and Children of Dust: A Portrait of a Muslim as a ...

As an introductive point, “The Four Books of Confucianism,” is a collection of philosophical works which greatly influenced Chinese civilization, both in the educational and spiritual realms, into the contemporary era. My most prominent observation after reading the book is that the most important aspect any individual ought to pursue is that of self-awareness, where the person seeks to know who they are. The whole idea of the book is to provide moral insights and guidelines into human nature, and this is primarily through the presentation of the apt manners and dispositions of life that a person is required ...

AUSTRALIA AND SOUTH KOREA

Comparison of the Religion’s Significance in Australia and South Korea Religion is undeniably one of the most important parts of the humanity. It has always been there, first as a form of fear before the unknown and misunderstood forces of nature, and then as a form of moral guidance and help. People have been showing a necessity to believe in something above them for a very long time, and even though the times have changed, this necessity still remains intact in many. However, religions do differ greatly depending on many factors: nationality, geography, climate, historical evolution, political situation ...

“A person lacking in humaneness cannot endure straightened circumstances for long, nor can he enjoy favorable circumstances for long” (Watson 32).

Here, Confucius concerns himself with the qualities of a gentleman and things that cannot be considered gentlemanly. In this regard, Confucius outlines various examples of what a gentleman should do as well as what he should not do. Book 4 is considerably brief as compared to the other books and also represents matters of filial piety with regard to the mourning periods when parents have passed on ad the extent to which a child should continue the path of the father following the death of the latter. Book 5 continues with the discussion regarding the characteristics of a gentleman ...

Yin and Yang are the basic principle and concept for both Chinese philosophy and culture that is traced back to the third century BCE. According to the principle, all the things that exist and surround us are inseparable and contradicting. Examples of this are female-male, old-young, darkness-light. These opposing aspects attract each other and, as it is illustrated by the well-known symbol of Yin-Yang principle, each of opposites has a part of the other in its core.

According to the principle, Yin stands for:

Feminine Black Dark North Cold Providing spirit for all things and so forth On the contrary, in terms of Chinese philosophy Yin ...

I had a lecturer who occasionally skipped lectures. She was an old woman who could not come due to health problems, but she saw no need to inform us about her non-attendance, and the whole group had to wait for her every time. Once, the guys decided not to come to the lecture and persuaded the others; everybody agreed, cause we were frustrated with her point of view. However, I felt remorse and came; I saw the lecturer entering the classroom and faced the ethical dilemma: I could go away, could come in the classroom and try to explain ...

Introduction

Systems of writing have been cited as one of the earliest and greatest inventions of human beings. Kanji is a broad term used to refer to logographic characters widely used in the Japanese writing system. In Japanese, Kanji simply means “Han Characters.” Kanji is therefore inherently Chinese which was adopted by the Japanese due to their close interactions in trade in the early years dating back to around 57AD (Rodgers 25). As a result, therefore, some modifications and alterations have been done on the initial Japanese Kanji to fit it into the Japanese language. Japanese Kanji has undergone tremendous ...

Introduction

In the contemporary era, there is a need to adopt a mechanism in which one can serve better in the business setting in different cultures. Today’s global business society is composed the various cultures in which people face the various business environments. The manner of doing business in each of the nation affects the manner of doing business (Aslani, Brett, Ramirez-Marin, Tinsley, & Weingart, 2011). Culture is important in business, and it has an impact on the strategic direction of the business; it can also have different effects on the management of the internal structure of the organization as ...

[Class title]

Introduction China is home to the most ancient and enduring human civilization. This civilization flourished for thousands of years and have survived through many succession of rulers and dynasties. The study of China’s civilization is important in order to understand China’s contemporary society. Chinese civilization can be categorized into three broad historical periods: ancient China, Imperial China and modern China. These periods, however, only serves as an imaginary partition in order to identify a certain time in the history of China. But in reality, Chinese civilization is continuous and was never interrupted even through there ...

The code of ethics stands out as a wide concept on how human beings treat each other. In most contexts, it acts as a guideline for determining whether an action is fit or not and narrows down to the overall treatment. It is for this reason that various philosophers and lawmakers find it hard to create a particular code, which can govern or direct people entirely. Unlike robots, human beings act and react differently depending on their interaction with each other. Hence, most of the guidelines provided by people in regards to the code of ethics have conflicting opinions ...

While death is scary in almost all cultures and civilizations, there are different views of taking and accepting this debilitating truth of life. In Western societies, death is almost forbidden, and it entails a process of profound bereavement and grief, sometimes unnecessarily. By contrast, Chinese embrace death by finding a solace in the fate. This paper, having referred to the relevant literature, presents a holistic account of the variations between these two cultures. Phillippe Aries' book, Western Attitudes Towards Death from the Middle Ages to the Present, highlights a comprehensive chronology of death as considered by Westerners. While they ...

View of After Life is one of the most important parts of religious beliefs. Every religion, first of all, is based on such categories as nature of God, view of human nature, view of good and evil, view of salvation and, of course, views of the afterlife. In my mind, it is really interesting how the view of afterlife affects the people’s everyday life. It is the basic part of the religion. The most of the other things that connected with religion are proceed from the View of After Life. As an example, we will take Christianity. In ...

Gender is a very powerful category and one that many different people have used in order to explain culture and society. The role of women in society had for the longest time been constricted to the private sphere, the home, taking care of the children and being the primary Linchpin that could take care of the family and be the emotional and often moral center of the family. Women in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have gained more rights and have fought for equality with men. When Korean families immigrated to the United States in the ...

Abstract

The Vietnamese are unusual and even unique people. Despite the fact that this nationality was influenced by three world religions - Confucianism, Hinduism and Buddhism, and each religion had a significant impact on the historic course and development of the Vietnamese society. Culture of the Vietnamese people is unique and distinctive, and the process of its development has been lasting for the third millennium. The Vietnamese have many interesting and unusual traditions that they are likely to follow in order to keep their identity among the representatives of another culture. Language and cultural barriers are two main reasons why ...

In the ancient times, there were many civilizations around the world, but all of them managed to develop independently. In spite of the fact that the world is so diverse and the West seems to be too far from the East, different parts of the world have a lot in common. However, it is extremely hard to trace the common themes between the West and the East when it comes to religions without concentrating on their differences first. This paper is going to focus on the differences in the role of the prophets between the biggest religions of the ...

“Over the past three decades, a new current of ‘combative Islam' has appeared and grown rapidly, and is attempting to gain control of the Islamic world”

Nabil Nofal

The Islam was considered as comparatively young religion and it had about one billion followers making it the largest religion in the world. The word Islam is Arabic and means submission, i. e. to submit to God’s will. It is a monotheistic religion, and its adherents are called Muslims. It is interesting that Muslims recognize several Judeo-Christian prophets from early times like Moses and Jesus and they believe that they are also ...

International Business

International expansion outside United States implies an insightful consideration of the business etiquette of the targeted location. For this report, the focus will be on United Arab Emirates, a Middle East country, China, an Asian society, and Mexico, a Latin America nation. From a business standpoint, there must be understood specific cultural aspects, such as the meet and greet protocol, the dress codes, gender relations, communication patterns, the negotiation style, socializing and business behavior. An important specificity for country analysis is also the economic profile, which will be investigated. Based on these aspects and the specificities for each country, ...

Question 4: Explaining the East Asian Conception of Human Nature

Introduction The problem of Human Nature has always been a point of hot discussions among the Western and Eastern philosophers. Although there are some theoretical discrepancies among members of the different philosophical schools, the majority of them concur that the idea of human nature encompasses the fusion of certain distinguishing characteristics, which a human possesses irrespective of his/her cultural background. Despite the fact that the nature of these characteristics, approaches to measuring them and understanding the components of this metaphysical phenomenon are not clearly defined in any philosophical school yet, there is a strong opinion in the both Eastern ...

Comparing the Anglo and Asian Confucian

The Unites States is part of the Anglo culture cluster while China is the main player in the Confucian Asia cluster, according to the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness). As expected, the two countries differ in many ways due to such factors like political inclination (where the United States is inclined towards democratic legitimacy while China lies on the end of performance legitimacy), community settings and religious beliefs. This part of the paper will concentrate on the differences between the Anglo and Asian Confucian clusters to create a backdrop of what a manager is moving from America ...

The paper will look at the Analects of Confucius in comparison to the Epic of Gilgamesh in regards to the beliefs of the Chinese and Mesopotamian people. The cultures of China and Mesopotamia were made up of completely different political and religious structures and principles. This does not mean that there were not some areas with similarities. First Confucianism is a complex system of values and religious practices that were passed down by Confucius and his followers in a collection of quotes called the Analects of Confucius which were written between 551-479 BC. Confucius was a philosopher and a ...

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, Chinese culture is presented by thousands of art and religious masterpieces, which reflects the country's deep historical roots and wisdom of many generations. However, modern China took a rapid pace in economic development and social advancement, it is necessary to evaluate the country's historical, religious and cultural heritage in order to understand a unique life approach of China. A plentiful of artistic accomplishments gives a vision of diverse and exotic Chinese culture, including the areas of architecture, poetry, philosophy, painting and, of course, porcelain production. During its huge historical path China was influenced by religious confessions, foreign intervention, ...

Analysis of the Chinese Culture Ideas

Introduction Most people may not be able to grasp the idea behind the Chinese culture, but certain elements in its religious system reveals the comprehensive understanding of the elements reflected in the cultural phenomena of imperial China. The discussion articulates the elements that described the cultural evolution of imperia China from the Daoist, Confucian, Buddhist, and Legalist perspectives. In addition, expressing the understanding of the Chinese culture encompasses an analysis of relevant Chinese literatures, which embodies the characteristics of Chinese culture from the literary standpoint. Most importantly, the discussion aims to identify, which Chinese philosophical idea best represent the ...

As we are living in a vast world swirling with the swing of different conflicts and issues that it is facing, it is quite inevitable for us to experience and feel emotions that can either make or break our character. There have been a lot of debates around the nature of each emotion that a human being has the tendencies to feel. Of course, one of the most talked about emotions could be traced to the word “love”. Philosophers and sociologists have tried to accurately explain the weight of the influence of love to our society. However, it is ...

(Student’s Full Name) The Disney animated film, Mulan, is based on a female warrior living in ancient China. The movie shows how Mulan, who is a veteran’s daughter, struggles with living up to the expectations of women as dictated by the Chinese society at that time. The teachings of Confucius believed that it was “incumbent” on the women to “accord with the wishes and needs of closely-related men” (Ebrey, n.d., para. 2). Therefore, the woman was not expected to fulfill her own desires. The Chinese woman living in ancient times was expected by the society to fulfill ...

Introduction

The essay will compare the skepticism of two ancient philosophers concerning popular religious, spiritual and superstitious beliefs. The first philosopher we will look at is Lucretius who was a well-educated Roman popularly known for his poem “On the Nature of Things.” The second philosopher is Wang Ch’ung who was born in China and studied at Loyang academy in the capital. He is said to have had remarkable memory and gained a lot of knowledge in Chinese literature. The two philosophers did not believe in the religious beliefs and came up with arguments to convince the masses that they ...

Introduction

Virtue ethics are the theories that gives importance to our moral values that effect our mind and our character. It not only helps us to decide what is rightness or wrongness in our decision but also provides a guidance to be a good person that we wish to achieve .Virtual ethic was prevalent from the time old civilizations started. The philosophers always guided the rulers and the common people to follow the path of virtue ethics. Among the famous philosophers whose ethics are followed till date are Aristotle, father of Greek philosophy and Confucius, father of Chinese philosophy. Virtue ...

1. The Social Miracle T. R. Reid moved to Tokyo, Japan, with his family – composed of his wife and their two daughters – where he lived for five years, as an expatriate employee for the Washington Post. He posits that some Asian nations (such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore ) have built modern societies within the safest environment, providing the best education for the children, and with probably the most stable families on Earth. In Reid’s opinion, this accomplishment is due to the widespread acceptance by Far East countries of the ethical values of Chinese philosopher Confucius. He pointed ...

Introduction

It’s called a fugue state. A fugue state is characterized by a complete removal from, or interruption of, a person’s identity and a personal history. A fugue state is not always permanent, but during the episode, a person can completely forget who they are, and can assume a completely new identity for themselves. Usually, the fugue state isn’t even diagnosed until a person can recall their identity after the fugue state has ended (Costandi). This is a perfect metaphor for Death Fugue, a novel by Sheng Keyi. In her novel, she explores the events related to ...

The Yin-Yang concept has been an integral part of the Chinese culture for many years with the Chinese citizen viewing it as a means to gaining personal balance. In essence, the Yin and Yang way of thinking are distinct to the Chinese culture by perception of the main human principles and in terms of they view the universe and its occurrences. The phenomenon is a Dual-Polar concept that aims at enabling the coexistence of two different extremities such that it differs from the western way of thinking. The western way of thinking unlike the Yin and Yang way of ...

The Ming dynasty in the 1600s made considerable and deliberate efforts in a bid to ensure that its regions remain under one ruler. A Buddhist monk who was also a peasant found the dynasty, rose to the rank of an army general and led a rebellion against the Mongols. The monk assumed the name of Hong Wu and made the decision to have Nanjing as the capital of China, but a latter emperor of the dynasty moved the capital back to Beijing. One of the major roles that Hong Wu assumed as the emperor include reorganizing every aspect of ...

In essence, the Jesuits sought to be inclusive of various Chinese traditions, within limits, to the Christian faith. For instance, how the Chinese honor their ancestors as well following certain teaching of Confucius. The Jesuits argued this point with the Dominicans and Franciscans, who felt that these secular Chinese beliefs had no compatibility within the confines of Christianity. They were so opposed to this inclusivity, they reported the issue to the Pope. The three points that were argued about in Rome were what Chinese word should be used for “God”, that Christians should not participate in Confucius’ seasonal rites, ...

Of the pieces that we have read, I really enjoyed the various excerpts from Zhuangzi, especially chapter 6. Although it is a short piece, it is such a pure example of Confucianism. In his unique manner, Confucius manages to point out Yan Hui’s own arrogance without insulting or deriding him. It is the manner in which Confucius teaches which I find so appealing. He manages to make a person look inward for the answers they know already, versus giving them the answer directly. In this manner, people learn a much deeper lesson then they would have otherwise done. ...

The Samurai Ethics: A Paradigm for Corporate Behavior by Shinya Fujimura

In this article, Fujimura advocates for the adoption of the samurai moral and ethical values into the corporate world. The author suggests that the integration of these values by corporate and businesses in wealthy countries such as the US and the UK would aid them in dealing with economic vicissitudes. Apparently, the ancient Japanese samurai culture exemplifies the importance of a society that is driven by loyalty, benevolence, and duty. Fujimura studied for his master degree in public administration at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government where he focused on social change (Fujimura 212). Fujimura also ...

Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Confucius are enjoying a meal of steamed dumplings and Kung pal chicken at P.F. Chang’s Restaurant. They are discussing the question: “What is the meaning of life?” I happen to be sitting on a table near them and I can overhear their conversation. Buddha begins the conversation by posing the question to the other three.

Buddha: What is the meaning of life?

Mohammed: (Looking up from his meal and putting on a serious face) I believe that life is sacred and a gift entrusted to humans by God. Every human being should live his life with skill and ...

Question One

When Alessandro Valignano arrival in Japan in the year 1579, the Society of Jesus had constantly been working for more than thirty years. The mission was, however, struggling despite the huge number that was considered to have been influenced by the feudal lords. The leadership of Francisco Cabral was stressful such that the few Jesuits workers were overworked, and therefore, they became frustrated. Francisco Cabral had refused to cater for the needs of Jesuits, and this was seen as a disrespect to the Japanese. After Valignano had arrived in Japan, he saw the way Jesuits were being mistreated through ...

Neo-Confucianism is influenced by Confucianism as it is more metaphysical, ethical and morally in the Chinese philosophy. There are righteous human experiences when an individual is unselfish or altruistic. The virtue that tries to relate the unselfish feeling to an individual is what is known as Ren. Protecting feelings for adults towards children are embodied in Ren. This paper talks about the Confucian perception of the teachings under Ren. There was a Confucian student who was outstanding known as Yan Hui. In one of the lessons, he asked the master to explain or describe the rules that govern ren. ...

Taoist practice of psychic self-regulation has essentially solved the same task of ordering the mind as the Confucian culture. Confucianism and Taoism are quite closely related, although this is a relationship of antipodes and the unity of opposites.

Similarities in Taoism and Confucianism

Mental functions of a person must be trained and “educated” in a certain way, changing them in a particular direction. Before proceeding to any business, especially such an important and responsible as management of other people, first of all you must “learn to control yourself”, i.e. your psyche. “The root” of successes and failures should be primarily searched in yourself. The ...

Lives of women in the ancient and early-modern world

During the ancient and early modern days, women were characterized by some Christian beliefs as either being corrupted or saintly. For instance, Judeo-Christian belief portrayed women’s righteousness to that of Virgin Mary while their corrupt nature was linked to Eve of the Holy Bible. And as such, there were a lot of literature that intended to teach women on how they should behave and carry themselves. Women of these days were not only denied legal persona but were also subjected to control by their male counterparts. In China, for instance, this act was manifested by Neo-Confucianism that gave ...

Introduction

Yi Hwang was a prominent figure among the Korean Neo-Confucian Scholars. He led a modest life, applying what he learned to enrich his life. Hwang was a man of absolute character. He always embraced high moral standards during his time. He worked hard in his studies, securing a government job; however, later in his life, he turned down several job offers to pursue his passion of enriching the society through his works. In this essay, the writer seeks to explore the contributions Yi Hwang to Buddhist and Neo-Confucian thoughts. The author observes that Hwang made profound contribution on Buddhist ...

(Teacher)

The Ancient world was a time when humans were still attempting to figure out how the earth worked, why that natural world worked the way it did, and how to communicate effectively. The ancient world is one way to define that time period before the middle ages after Christianity began to take over most of Europe, North Africa, and parts of China. The ancient world is a time in the history of humanity that is viewed through many different lenses, depending on who is viewing it and for what purpose. Christianity is certainly a pivot point between the ...

Introduction

This research aims at understanding the development of the Samurai culture as a worldview that it became through its a thousand years of existence. The culture of the samurai is interesting as it developed from the simple armed support to the landowners, into the feudal leadership of the country of Japan. The code of ethics and unity that brought the Samurai together is of a very unique status in the society as it developed in a people that would otherwise be expected to remain servants. In most civilizations, the guards and other security servants often retain their servant status ...

Gender roles have undergone dramatic changes in modern China during the 20th century, particularly since the rise of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. There are three main ancient philosophies that have substantially influenced and deeply rooted in China for a long time. They are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Among three philosophies, I believe Confucianism has influenced China the most and still have a lot of remains when closely looking at every aspect of the Chinese culture. Confucianism is defined as every human relationship has superiority and inferiority and a superior person should take care of an ...

Although China is known to be the home of the world's ancient and most continuous culture, it has experienced many institutional changes since the Communist regime came into power in 1949. In China, foundation of hierarchy and family, social set up was based on relational norms that were expounded by Confucius and Tang Dynasty's legal codes. Such an institutionalized relational kind of logic has shaped the society whereby the order is based on the social obligation to the authorities and family as opposed to the protection of individuals. The country’s history has been marked by two intertwined social ...

Economic development, as scholars have cited, is synonymous with the concept of modernization (Diarsi 1996). Modernization and development refer to the progression of society from conservative opinions towards an inclusive and liberal approach where people enjoy equality irrespective of their gender or race. Modern society also assimilates the concept of a 'just' society where women have equal access to resources as their male counterparts and disparities regarding job opportunities, wages, and social status are either non-existent or negligible. Theoretically, modernization should be one of the automatic outcomes of economic development; however, practical examples may not testify this theoretical hypothesis. ...

The May Fourth Movement and Chinese Literature

China has a long and rich history that stretches over several centuries. Part of that history, naturally, is a rich cultural history that includes a fine literary tradition. Unfortunately, most of that literary tradition is not well known to the West. Modern Chinese literature, that which is popular in the Western world, developed as a result of the cultural revolution that began with the May Fourth Movement. The May Fourth Movement was part of a cultural and political revolution in China that led to the birth of a new intellectual class in China as well as an opening up ...

International management in an Asian context: Business life and management in China

Introduction Globalization has complicated the management process. As such, for one to be an effective manager, that individual needs to understand the global context of the management process. Fundamentally, one needs to appreciate the role of culture in the management process (Luthans & Doh, 2014). As such, the paper shall examine several features of the Chinese society and evaluate the ways they will affect the management process.

Discussion

Culture sensitivity is highly linked to effective management (Luthans & Doh, 2014). Considering the Chinese society, the Chinese have been socialized to believe that they are the descendants of Hun. As such, the Hun ...

In the contemporary society, manga or the Japanese visual novels became an integral part of propagating Japanese culture to broad audiences. The 1990s sparked an immense distribution of Japanese animation throughout the world. Even so, the manga published by the Japanese companies such as Shueisha and Kodansha became a high-valued commodity for all the ‘otaku’ fans in Japan and abroad. With the advent of the internet in the 2000s, these mangas became widely distributed amongst websites and even downloadable through scanlations made by the fans. One of the best mangas known throughout the world was the Rurouni Kenshin or ...

Governances and policies are determined by the rulers. A leader can decide to use the Confucianism method of ruling or they can decide to adopt the Legalist methods. At the long run, all that a country or a state or an empire requires is a unified society which abides by the law and is loyal to the leaders. The philosophy of Confucianism was first elaborated by Confucius around 490 BC. His idea was based on the ethical aspect of ruling. He believed that people live in a society because they need the togetherness for them to fully develop. He ...

Introduction 3

Daoism 3 Confucianism 6 Buddhism 9 Conclusion 12

Introduction

Meditation is a way to transform the mind, relax, build an inner energy and increase life forces, a practice aimed to reach a specific altered state of consciousness. The beginnings of meditations date back to appearing of the major East Asian schools and religions as Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Nowadays, meditations are popular not only in the East but also in the Western countries. They are ways of personal growth and parts of psychotherapeutic programs that benefit people to attain the serenity of mind against the background of fast city life. ...

In this paperwork, I am going to analyze the similarities and differences between aspects of the Chinese Confucian and Daoist traditions. I will select aspects from the following types of cultural phenomena: philosophical ideas, ritual performances, as well as defense strategies. Philosophical ideas: this is an extensive field; therefore, I am going to select specific areas with the objective of maximizing the accuracy of my responses- wuwei and rens are my main parts of focus. I will start by establishing a good rapport with these ideas by giving a brief introduction of what they stand for, and finally construct ...

Buddhism spread to Korea during the 4th century B.C., since the country made contacts with China at that time. The religion flourished throughout Korea under the three kingdoms namely, Koguryu, Paekche, and Silla all had adopted the imported religion and made it the official religion throughout the country. (Grayson 17). The Buddhist art under these three kingdoms reached its full blossom and several of the iconography depicted in the sculptures originated from these periods retained the naturalism wherein images closely attained ‘human-like’ appearances and well-developed forms. However, it was not until the Korean medieval period that Buddhism declined; the ...

Different people have different ideas and ideals. The objective of this paper is to discuss the different ideas and ideals that shaped Liu Dapeng and the person that he grew out to become during his existence as a part of Chinese History during the early twentieth century . For starters, Liu Dapeng was a provincial degree holder who never had the experience to be in a government office. He managed to become a successful man eventually and this was because of his inherent skill to adapt to various situations and overcome the various challenges that life threw at him. Persistence ...

The rigid social hierarchy and the already miserable situations of both Jihei and Kohei were the two catalysts that prompted to their suicide as an escape from the harsh reality of 18th century Japanese society. The story was originally intended as a play for the Bunraku Puppet Theatre but due to the immense popularity, the play was adopted in to Kabuki theatre which further emphasized the realistic theme of the play. Chikamatsu was indeed a master of Japanese play with his successful combinations of social duty and love to create conflict. The timeless romance between the star-crossed lovers Kamiya ...

Introduction

Different societies have common cognitive styles that influence the business practices, thinking patterns, and the perception that characterizes their nationwide cultures. China is essentially a diverse nation. The Chinese culture differs significantly from the Western culture. As a matter of fact, the Chinese culture is a collectivist culture while the Western culture is an individualistic culture. The Chinese people value unity. Confucianism, which is the basis of the traditional Chinese culture, is a vital source of their unity. Ideally, Confucianism centers on the notion of harmonious relationships. It is important to note that Confucianism affects the Chinese business practices ...

The research problem will be to investigate whether the patrimonial political systems of Singapore and South Korea are democracies that surpass their liberal Western analogues in terms of national growth and even democratization in some ways. It appears that, contrary to the popular misperception, democracy is not necessarily a lack of restraint and complete discretion or at least a range of freedom like the right to media. Sometimes, states like Singapore being low on resources and facing external threats decide on less liberal norms and behaviors bordering on authoritarianism in specific aspects. Regulated merit-based selection practices and disciplining norms ...

Abstract

Years of cultural activity and difference in perception have developed a world where different countries exist having different cultures. Every country can be separated on the basis of their cultural dimensions of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, long term orientation, career/life and universality. India is a country that has a significantly diverse culture and due to its diversity the most suitable leadership style for the country is often questioned. There are different motivational techniques that can be followed in the Indian market to motivate employees and ensure their performance is improved. Americans have certain stereotypes concerning Indians and most ...

Ge Hong’s seminal fourth-century work Baopuzi is a fundamentally important work for understanding Chinese late-antiquity religion and its practices. Chief among the concerns of the Baopuzi is the achievement of immortality and the cultivation of the self, which Ge Hong explores in excruciating detail to demonstrate the distinctions between what is of earth and what is of heaven. Along the way, Hong also showcases his immense fealty to, and support of, Confucian ideals of cultivating the self through study and political action within the Baopuzi. As a result, Ge Hong’s Baopuzi focuses on ways to fix the ...

The mysterious growth of the Chinese economy today had diverse effects on the social well-being of the country. The economic growth in the country failed to portray equal social development among the citizens. This fantastic colossal growth of the economy has impacted negatively on the social lives of the people in the country. Through globalization, today cultural crashes and the need to embrace the changes continuously affect the national development in a country (Williams, 2008). In the case of China, a communist country is trying to adapt to the capitalist world to sustain its development. With the integration of ...

Family, Society, Individuality, and Friendship

The Confucian society had a different view of Friendship. Friendship was considered unique in the societal context as it was not perceived as a family or state bond. Friendship was mainly considered voluntary as it was not forced upon an individual. Several arguments were brought forth against a bond that included assertions on its hierarchical nature and in the preservation of one’s morality. According to Kutcher (2000) the primary aim of friendship was thus considered to be one that was mainly based on the provision of services to others. Confucianism mainly deals with the ideal character of individuality ...

Sima Guang helped improve historiography in ancient China; the concepts that he espoused in co-authoring the Zizhi Tongjian have formed the basis for recording historical events and the same concepts have continued to be in use, even for the modern day historian (Buckley, 45).

Introduction

Sima Guang was a pioneer in the structured recording of historical events in ancient China. He compiled the Zizhi Tongjian, which offers a historical timeline of key events in China from 403 BCE to 959 BCE. Zizhi Tongjian is often referred to as the “comprehensive mirror for aid in government” (De Crespigny, 73). Historians have ...