[ **up: [[Philosophy, Chinese|Chinese Philosophy]] | [[Religion--China]]** ] --- # Confucianism [[‘China’s Three Great Religions’ refers to Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.|'China's Three Great Religions' refers to Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.]][^1] Confucianism became the official state religion during the Han dynasty.[^2] --- ## Xunzi [[2024-0607. Xunzi, one of the founders of Confucianism, had the doctrine that 'doctrine that human nature is bad'.|Xunzi, one of the founders of Confucianism, synthesised his philosophical views as a critical response to the naturalistic trends of his time.]][^3] [[2024-0607. Xunzi, one of the founders of Confucianism, had the doctrine that 'doctrine that human nature is bad'.|Xunzi’s doctrine was that ‘human nature is bad’]]; it placed a [[2024-0607. Xunzi, one of the founders of Confucianism, had the doctrine that 'doctrine that human nature is bad'.|’strong emphasis on ritual’]].[^4] [[2024-0607. Xunzi wrote, 'It is better to treat nature as a thing and regulate it than to consider it very great and always think of it.|Xunzi aspired to ‘conquer’ nature rather than return to it.]][^5] --- - *See also:* - [[Philosophy, Chinese|Chinese philosophy]] --- ## Confucianism and sexuality [[2025-0325. There were 'strict Confucian norms governing appropriate masculine sexuality ...'|There were 'strict Confucian norms governing appropriate masculine sexuality, which were that male sexuality needed to be both restrained and channeled in a heteronormative direction toward women, procreation and the resultant reproduction of the family.']][^6] --- ## External resources - [The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Confucianism, Part I](https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/legge-the-sacred-books-of-china-the-texts-of-confucianism-part-i) (trans. James Legge, 1879) - [The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Confucianism, Part IV](https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/legge-the-sacred-books-of-china-the-texts-of-confucianism-part-iv-the-li-ki-xi-xlvi) (trans. James Legge, 1885) ![[Photographer unknown (1900s) - Temple of Confuciu in Beijing China - American Museum of Natural History Library (in Public Domain).jpg|400]] Caption: Temple of Confucius in [[Beijing (China)|Peking]] (early 1900s).[^7] [^1]: Peter O. Staub, et al. ‘[[Staub, et al. ‘Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China_ A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi’, 2011.|Incense and Plant Ritual Use in Southwest China: A Case Study Among the Bai in Shaxi]]’, *Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine* 7, no. 1 (December 2011), p. 2. [^2]: ‘Imperial China’s Dynasties’, *National Geographic*, 19 October 2023, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/imperial-chinas-dynasties/. [^3]: ‘Xunzi and Early Chinese Naturalism’, *SUNY PRESS*, retrieved 7 June 2024, https://sunypress.edu/Books/X/Xunzi-and-Early-Chinese-Naturalism. [^4]: ‘Xunzi and Early Chinese Naturalism’, *SUNY PRESS*, retrieved 7 June 2024, https://sunypress.edu/Books/X/Xunzi-and-Early-Chinese-Naturalism. [^5]: ‘[['Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy', 2020.|Science and Chinese Philosophy]]’, *Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy*, last updated 7 October 2020, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-phil-science/. [^6]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 358. [^7]: Berthold Laufer (Photographer), ‘Temple of Confucius through archway, Peking, China’, approx. 1901–1904, *[AMNH Special Collections, PPC .L381: Collection of Chinese albumen prints, undated.](https://data.library.amnh.org/archives/repositories/3/resources/8958)*, American Museum of Natural History, https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/Browse/Research-Library---Museum-Archives/Browse-Library---Archives/#/SearchResult&VBID=2URJA4UJH4O&PN=1&WS=PackagePres.