Confucianism

Question: Which of the following figures profoundly transformed Chinese culture with his edition of the Confucian classics, his synthesis of Chinese philosophical traditions, and reformation of the civil service examination system?

Answer: The Song dynasty philosopher, scholar, and bureaucrat Zhu Xi (1130-1200) established the versions of the Confucian classics that became the primary versions studied by aspirants to the civil service a century after his death. His interpretation of Confucianism influenced the reception of Confucian thought outside China as well as within it.

Question: During which dynasty did Confucianism become the orthodox philosophical system of the Chinese empire?

Answer: Confucianism became the official state philosophy during the Han dynasty.

Question: Which of the following is not one of the “Four Books” (the Confucian texts that Zhu Xi had hailed as “the ladder to [study of] the Classics”)?

Answer: The Spring and Autumn Annals are one of the Five Classics but are not one of the four texts given special favor by Zhu Xi. The "Four Books" are the Great Learning, the Analects of Confucius, Mencius, and “Doctrine of the Mean.”

Question: Which of the following countries was influenced the least by Confucianism?

Answer: Cambodia was more directly influenced by Indian philosophical and religious tradition than were Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

Question: Which of the following is not among the five Confucian “Classics” (Wujing)?

Answer: The Daode jing is one of the foundational classics of Chinese literature, philosophy, and religion. But it is associated with Daoism, not with Confucianism.

Question: Which of the following is considered by tradition to be the foundational virtue of Confucianism?

Answer: Ren is considered by most Confucian scholars to be the tradition’s foundational virtue. The word ren, whose character is composed of a human being and the number two, is etymologically linked with and homophonous with the word ren, which means “human being” or “person.” The implication is that an exemplary human being will display humaneness in relationships with others.

Question: Which of the following neo-Confucian figures was associated with a movement called “Learning of the Mind-and-Heart” (xinxue)?

Answer: Wang Yangming was associated with xinxue.

Question: Which neo-Confucian scholar formulated a theory of qi (vital force) in the tradition of the Song thinker Zhang Zai?

Answer: The Japanese neo-Confucian scholar and physician Kaibara Ekken (1630-1714) was one of Confucianism’s great theorists of the role that qi plays in the constant creation of the world.