Confucianists

Confucianism is an ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (孔夫子 Kǒng Fūzǐ, or K'ung-fu-tzu, lit. "Master Kong", 551–479 BC). Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han Dynasty. Following the abandonment of Legalism in China after the Qin Dynasty, Confucianism became the official state ideology of the Han. The disintegration of the Han in the second century C.E. opened the way for the spiritual and otherworldly doctrines of Buddhism and Daoism to dominate intellectual life and to become the ruling doctrines during the Tang dynasty. In the late Tang, Confucianism absorbed many of these challenging aspects and was reformulated Neo-Confucianism. This reinvigorated form was adopted as the basis of the imperial exams and the core philosophy of the scholar official class in the Song dynasty. Neo-Confucianism turned into sometimes rigid orthodoxy over the following centuries. In popular practice, however, the three doctrines of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism were often melded together. The abolition of the examination system in 1905 marked the end of official Confucianism. The New Culture intellectuals of the early twentieth century blamed Confucianism for China's weaknesses. They searched for imported doctrines to replace it, such as the "Three Principles of the People" with the establishment of the Republic of China, and then Communism under the People's Republic of China. In the late twentieth century, Confucianism was credited with the rise of the East Asian economy and revived both in the People's Republic and abroad.