Module Reflection (Chinese Literature and Confucius)

 

Image of Confucius at the palace examination at Kaifeng, in Song Dynasty China.

        I find happiness and exciting when I started to check this module. Knowing that I love Chinese foods which I mostly watch on YouTube made by the vloggers from the around the world. Seeing that this module is all about Chinese culture and Analects of Confucius I get to the point of excitement since I will know another portion of knowledge into this race.

I’ve been hearing Confucius since then but I never get to know him deeper that much but this lesson in World Literature is a big help into reminding me to be curious about him and not only this but also the journey into exploring the literature from across the globe. 

Chinese literature extends thousands of years, composed of literary works in the field of fiction, philosophical and religious, poetry, and scientific writings. The different dynasties across eras frame their history of literature .

It was Zou Dynasty (1045-255 BC), introduced literary works of philosophy and religion which became bases for Chinese religious and social belief. It lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history (790 years).

I found out one remarkable event happened in this dynasty, the progress of One Hundred Schools of Thought . This occurred between 770 to 221 BC which is the expansion of cultural and intellectual aspects to China. It allowed philosophers and schools of thought to shield a discussion of ideas and thoughts. In the same season the four most influential schools of thought that evolved during this period were Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism.

During Song era, Confucian Classics became a dominant political philosophy of several empires until modern times. Even the people of that time were required to study it to pass the examination for the bureaucracy of China.

The Five Classics include: The Book of Changes, The Classic of Poetry, The Record of Rites  it is a recreation of the original Classic of Rites that was lost in the Qin book purge; The Classic of History; and The Spring and Autumn Annals.

The Four Books on the hand include: The Analects of Confucius is a book of sayings recorded or compiled by disciples of Confucius; Mencius which is a collection of political dialogues; and the Doctrine of the Mean which represents moderation, rectitude, objectivity, sincerity, honesty and propriety; and The Great Learning is a book about education, self-cultivation and the Dao.

Lastly, I find it very interesting in reading the Analects of Confucius because I get to understand the meaning of life more than I know.  Moral values and the ideas make me to understand what shall I pursue to avoid bad decision and apply those in my daily living.