Confucianism Response Question
Posted by pkimball on October 15, 2007
Using evidence from the Analects, compare and contrast the beliefs and values of your generation with the generation of your parents.
OR
Using evidence from the Analects, compare and contrast your experiences in a Confucian environment and a non-Confucian environment. Example: attending school in both settings
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:03 am
Confucianism
By: Philip S
Before I came to Taiwan and went to Taipei American School, I lived in California and went to a school in Fremont called Chadbourne Elementary School. Chadbourne Elementary School was a public school; while on the contrary, Taipei American School is a private School. In my opinion, the Confucian school would be Chadbourne Elementary School, while the Non-Confucian school would be Taipei American School.
The Chadbourne Elementary School was a public school, which meant that as long as you were a citizen and as long as you paid taxes, then you may go to this school. I believe that this aspect makes it “Confucian”. This meant that people with different amounts of money, or to put it bluntly, rich and poor people could both attend this school. The teachers and facilities were paid for by the government. Naturally, I had friends who were on the wealthier side of the monarchy, and some friends who were on the poorer side. People from all kinds of social status’ came to this school. I had many American friends and Chinese friends, and we all spoke English.
On the other hand, Taipei American School was a private school, and it required you to be a citizen of a different country other than Taiwan. There was a tuition fee, and it was pretty expensive to attend this school. Because of this, I believe that this would be in the “Non-Confucian” school category. The teachers and facilities were paid by our tuition fees, and all my friends were all on the wealthier side. The reason for this is because the tuition fee was so high. Most of my friends were Chinese, and in we all spoke mandarin. This is probably due to the geography of the school.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:41 am
Most people would consider China and Asia and the majority of the ‘Eastern World’ a Confucian world, where Confucianism has its most followers, and the ‘Western World’ a relatively less Confucian world. However, I have reasons to believe that Easterners are not necessarily more Confucian than the Westerners in all aspects, and that in some aspects of Confucianism, Westerners are just as virtuous as the Easterners, if not more virtuous. One of these aspects is the value about wealthy.
In the Analects, Confucius said, ‘The gentleman concerns himself with the Way; he does not worry about his salary. Hunger may be found in plowing; wealthy may be found in studying. The gentleman worries about the Way, not about money.’ Confucius is saying that the ‘gentleman,’ the perfect role model that we should all strive to become, is not worried about acquiring materialistic wealth such as money, but rather he is worried about becoming a better person through studying and following the Way, a Chinese code of conduct. Basically, Confucius is saying that money should not have a major impact in one’s life, and it certainly should not interfere with the person’s pursuit of following the Way. However, no matter how much Confucius emphasizes this point, there are still people who spend the majority of their life chasing after money, and some to the extent that they put making money before their families. And I think this problem is more severe in the Eastern world than the Western world. In the Chinese culture, cases of having parents, especially fathers, working for 20 hours a day but spending time with their families for only about 5 minutes are not rare. This situation is common among many families, and I know that some of my friends have this situation, just that some have a more severe situation than others.
On the other hand, this situation seems less common in the Western culture. Many movies have been made about parents that are like this, and they treat it as if the parents are abusing their kids. I think the in Western culture, having parents that do not spend a lot of time with their family and is concerned a lot about money is not a big problem, and that’s why people will watch movies about this situation, because they have never heard about such things, and definitely they have not been involved in this kind of situations.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:58 pm
I have been to both local school and international school. “Reverence, generosity, truthfulness, diligence, and kindness. If a person acts with reverence, he will not be insulted. If he is generous, he will win over the people. If he is truthful, he will be trusted by people. If he is diligent, he will have great achievements. If he is kind, he will be able to influence others.”-Analects. These are the basic characteristics of a gentleman that Confucius had thought of. And in a local school the most honorable award is to be a gentleman. This award will have a photo record and a piece of award paper having a stamp of the principle of the school on it. They even have minor award of kindness, truthfulness, and others. But in an international school, all the school record seems to be your grade. The annual award is awarded by departments and depends on your grade then how your treat people. So by this comparison your can see that the local school judges more on moral than international school.
But Confucian environment, local school, and non-Confucian environment, international school, punish people if they do un-“gentleman” actions. Such as lying (truthfulness), swearing (kindness), slacking off (diligence), not sharing school equipments or space (generous), and bullying (reverence). “Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you.” - Analects. This is the similarity of both schools. Actions of thieving, fighting, and killing are thaction. Nearly every country on Earth will punish those whom had done these actions. In conclusion, in both Confucian environment and non-Confucian environe actions that will let you be severely punished. Not only just school doesn’t allow these ment is it not allowed that people to do actions not morally right, but in a Confucian environment it is strongly suggested to be a gentleman while at non-Confucian environment it is just recommended to be a gentleman.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:17 pm
In Confucianism, Filial piety was an important value. People from different generation will have different perspective. By comparing my generation to our parents, it showed slightly differences.
People from the older ages; respect their elders in a great aspect. They rarely question them, and they do things whatever they say to. For example, if you are in an age for a marriage, parents will choose/decide which girl you’ll need to marry. You’ll need to marry her even though you haven’t even speak to her in you whole life. Parents decide their children’s destiny and future.
In contrast people from our age can marry to whomever they like. We can decide our own life. Filial piety still exists but not that strong if you compared it to the generation for our parents. People can now question or disagree about their elder’s words.
Now in an easily fluctuating world, values, and believes change through time to time. The values might become less important as different thoughts are added in; but the main idea will not change in a great difference. (Ex: Confucianism had lasted for hundred of years.):D))))))))))
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Our generation’s beliefs and values are often different from our parent’s generation. The most obvious difference is how we treat our parents compared to how they treated their parents. Confucius says filial piety is important, and that we must respect our elders. In modern days, a lot of kids don’t take their parent’s word as seriously. We are so determined to get our own way and we push our parents away for more independence. And to contribute to that, our parents tend not to be as strict as our parent’s parents were to them. To shorten it, we don’t respect our parents as much as how Confucius would want us to. During our parent’s childhood, they most likely had strict parents, and from this our parents gained obedience and therefore respect, unlike this generation’s kids.
A second point is that Confucius said about the gentleman, “First he behaves properly and then he speaks, so that his words follow his actions.” Often, kids in this generation are careless in how they speak and act. They don’t always “behave properly” and a lot of times what they say they aren’t serious about it. Also, often we break a simple promise we may make to our parents, like how we’ll go right to bed and not stay up, even though in the end we still stay up. Our parents, however, tend to take their promises more seriously, especially when they make promises to other adults. They behave properly before they say something, so that in the end their words follow their actions.
October 24th, 2007 at 1:47 am
Prompt: Using evidence from the Analects, compare and contrast the beliefs and values of your generation with the generation of your parents.
Generally my beliefs are the same as my parents concerning Confucius’s ideas, especially since most of them are considered quite natural (in how things should be at least) in the modern world. Examples would be things like: “The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions”, or “If the will be set on virtue, there will be no practice of wickedness”. A major thing that my parents and I disagree on however, is the importance of education. Confucius believed that education was extremely important, that everybody should have the right to education - not just the rich and those who had status. People nowadays though (namely adults), are going at it the wrong way. Nowadays, people must have education, it’s essential, or so they think. You don’t even get a choice. You’re going to school – or else.
Oh there are tons of arguments to promote forced education… It will help improve the quality of your later life! Your parents won’t always be there for you. How will you get a job otherwise? Children don’t know what’s best for themselves, they are not mature enough – we force them now, so that they may appreciate it later. (Which by the way, is assuming that all children are ignorant) But I, on the other hand, think that school is quite useless past the elementary level – especially since you probably won’t need more than half of what you learn in school once you’re out in the world. Sure, I agree some school is a must; there is some basic knowledge you have to know, but past that? I’ll take ICP as an example: do I really need to know that positive ions have smaller atomic radii than their neutral atoms, and that negative ions have larger atomic radii than their neutral atoms?
Today’s parents are judging children purely based off their grades, they think about nothing but getting into a good college, or earning straight “A”s, but in the end, does all of that really matter? I think going to school past a certain level should be a choice, or at least the subjects we take should be, so we can select what we will truly require when we are adults.
As a man once said, “For learning to take place with any kind of efficiency students must be motivated. To be motivated, they must become interested. And they become interested when they are actively working on projects which they can relate to their values and goals in life.”
October 24th, 2007 at 2:14 am
The values and beliefs of Confucius are knowledgeable and prospective. In my opinion, his words still need to modify and improve. First, Confucius said, “The gentleman concerns himself with the way; he does not worry about his salary.” But I agree with only a part of it. I think the gentleman should concern not only the way but also the salary. The right way can make our mind and heart graceful. But without the salary, we wouldn’t be able to take care of the family and basic needs. The most important point is how to keep a balance between the way and the salary.
Just like Confucius’ words, my parents always teach me that I have to choose the right way in my whole life. Sometimes we see the bad social events in the news, many people chose the wrong way to earn money; for example, the robbers and political parties. In the same time, I still heard lots of people were too poor to offer their children to attend school because their parents always complained about their lives and did not work or find a job. In conclusion, I don’t want to become either one of them. So that is the reason why we need to keep the balance.
October 24th, 2007 at 2:28 am
I have been to both a public school in the United States, and a private school in Taiwan. Although people may say that there is more Confucianism in private schooling than in public schooling, I have to disagree. I found that I see more of Confucius’s teachings in Taipei American School, than I did at Stanwood Middle School.
At Stanwood Middle School, yes the education was for everyone and not just people with a lot of money, but none of the teachers really taught, and none of the students wanted to learn. All of the work assigned to us there were no-brainer assignments and required no thinking at all. Confucius taught that you inquire nothing when you learn and don’t think.
However at Taipei American School, the teachers are amazing, and most of the students want to learn. Our assignments give us things to think about, and people really want to learn.
The surroundings of the schools are also very different. Taipei American School is in Asia so here we are surrounded by all of Confucius’s ideas and teachings, but in Stanwood, it was a small town, and everybody was Christian, so all of the beliefs there are Christian.
October 24th, 2007 at 3:26 am
Filial piety is an important idea that Confucius had brought to us. People should respect elders just like respecting their parents, who work hard and gaining money for their family. In Confucianism, he said, ‘ you can be of service to your father and mother by remonstrating with them tactfully. If you perceive that they do not wish to follow your advice, then continue to be reverent toward them without offending or disobeying them; work hard and do not murmur against them.’ However, this idea seems to change over the generations. In the past generation, people ‘ really’ respect the elders. Most of them 100% obey the elders, and follow all the command they’ve given; even it isn’t right to follow. In modern days, people question the elders more often, and instead of the command given by the elders, people start to follow their own way.
In my opinion, modern people should pay more respect to the elders because they experienced lot of things both good and bad, which is worth to be respect. However, should we follow and obey them regardless? Even they are elders, they can still be wrong, which we can give them some useful or correct advice. Therefore, I believe the value of filial piety should be some where between the past generation and the modern time.
October 24th, 2007 at 3:34 am
The values of our generation are most certainly different from the previous generation. I agree with my parent’s that Confucius’s saying ‘”First the gentleman behaves properly and then he speaks, so that his words follow his actions. Yet parents and children have different beliefs in parents and education.
During the parent’s time as children, probably their parents weren’t wealthy. In those days, our parents would most certainly respect their parents, and work to supplement them. Nowadays, their descendants don’t take parents seriously. ‘”Nowadays, filial piety is considered to be the ability to be the ability to nourish one’s parents. But this obligation to nourish extends down to the dogs and horses. Unless we have reverence for our parents, what makes us any different?”’- The Analects. The quote described how our generation probably planned eventually. I agree with my parent’s that Confucius’s saying ‘”First the gentleman behaves properly and then he speaks, so that his words follow his actions.
Confucius believed if people educated us, then there aren’t class differences. His students, who recorded their teachers teachings, and so somewhere in history people got the belief to force kids into school. The forcing was then guised as is excuse used perhaps some million times “for our own good”. Yes, many facts in school are wonderful, but colleges look at grades. Parents, knowing this, decide to keep looking at us like we are workhorses. There are true workers out there, and I give them my luck, but what in school is going to affect your life. Math is fine, but where is the quadratic formula going to be used in your daily shopping? Is anyone actually going to write an essay to their friends with words like cryptic, damnation, or antithesis? I don’t think so.
October 24th, 2007 at 3:48 am
Before I came to Taiwan and attend Taipei American School, I was living in Hong Kong, studying in a school called Lingnan elementary school and they are both private schools. I would consider Lingnan Elementary school as a Confucian environment and Taipei American School as a non-Confucian environment. Although people will think that TAS, as a private school, should be stricter in rules and behaviors, though, I totally disagree. When I was studying in Hong Kong, everything was influenced by the British, so most of them are Christians, but they follow Confucius words. They are extremely strict in studying, attitude, behaviors, and reverence. Comparing TAS to my old school, Taipei American School is extremely free and does not pay as much attention to the behaviors of the students. I sometimes see people slacking off in TAS but none in my old school.
October 24th, 2007 at 3:55 am
The time between our parents and us is relatively short but very different in contrast. From the one of the main idea of Confucianism, women are lower in rank then men. In the time of our parents, the differences between the two genders are not as great as ancient times but still exert its influence on the society. During our parents time, female are given okay treatment but most of the attention still goes to the boys. Women are also given less chance in the field of work or any other parts of the society. However, women are given much more respect and opportunities in comparison to ancient times. In our times, this generation, women are evenly equal. Given same educations and opportunities as male, women are now at the same social standing as any men from anywhere. Confucius’s idea in the difference in gender is quickly becoming obsolete from our everyday life.
Beside the change in social standing of women in comparison to men, another difference between our time and our parents’ time is the different fields of knowledge covered. Confucius, for all his life, tried to tell every one that education is not only for the rich, education can make people better then they were before. However, the knowledge the education covers changed dramatically in between the time. During our parents’ time, the education system focused on few special areas. In contrast, our generation’s education emphasizes multi-areas education and all area basic education. The difference between these two time periods makes a big impact on the people getting educated. In the generation before, the people are given less choose and less view on topics. In this generation, people are giving more variety and chance to see things in different view points.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:06 am
The beliefs and values of our generation and our parent’s generation are often different. In our generation, our parents are usually more kind and flexible, but before most parents used to be strict and hard on their children. In modern worlds, the parents and the kids are more like family, they would tell jokes to each other and sometimes they would want to spend time with each other and they don’t take each other as seriously as they used to in the past. Everyone is more kind and helpful to each other. Even though sometimes, parents and kids still fight, it is meant to be good and to help us in our social lives.
Confucius had always said in the analects “Filial Pity” that respecting parents and elder is the most important thing, but now we don’t respect them as much as they used to because we have more freedom and feel more opened to everyone. In the past generations they have always learned like the way Confucius had taught to respect parents and elders, so they were trained to be obedient and to follow their parents or the elders and to help them. I believe that both generations have their strength in life. Our generation can give us more happiness and freedom, but in their generation it can give them the education and the respect they wanted.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:22 am
Confucius had said, “The gentle man looks to himself; the petty man looks to other people.” Here I believe Confucius is trying to say that, when in trouble, the gentleman will work out problems himself rather than clinging on to others and causing them trouble as well. When comparing this value of a gentleman with my parent’s generation of and my own, It would depend on the amount of trouble the gentleman is in. For example, if a student in my own generation had trouble understanding work that was covered in class he would most likely ask a friend who did understand it. This I believe would be true as well for my parent’s generation.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:37 am
During the summer breaks, I often go to Korea and go into a school near my apartment. Mostly, almost all the schools in Korea are a public school, unlike Taipei American School which is a private school. To my own opinion, I would consider the school in Korea a more Confucian environment because of the way how the government helps people pay their school funds. However, Taipei American School is a private school which only lets people from other countries go to this school, which is why I believe it is the non Confucianism school.
The schools that I went to in Korea were free only if you were a citizen of that country. I believe that this is the reason that made me decide that the schools in Korea were more of a Confucian environment. At this school, there were people who were rich and people who were poor. But in this school, everyone got to learn the same thing. Furthermore, some of my friends were smarter than his other classmates even though he wasn’t as rich as them. In addition, I believe that the schools in Korea are more of a Confucian environment.
Yet, Taipei American School was almost the opposite of the schools in Korea. It is a private school which required you to be a non citizen of that country. Furthermore, all of my friends in Taipei American School were people who could afford the money to go and learn at this school. This is one thing that Confucius didn’t wanted, where people who were rich only got to study. Overall, I think the school in Korea is the more Confucian school than TAS.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:54 am
A lot of our generations’ beliefs are similar than the generations of our parents, though there are still some differences too. In the Analects of Confucius, he said that, “Do not offend your parents.” And this saying still stands from his time to our generation. After talking with my parents, they said that it was considered disrespectful during their generation to insult or offend their parents in any way. Though it is still like this in our generation, the “rule” is not as strict as it was, kids can offend their parents at home in a joking way and they won’t get a slap in the face for a birthday present. But if the “insult” was made publicly and was nasty, then the kid may get more than a slap for their present. Also, Confucius also said, “It is unacceptable not to be aware of your parent’s ages. Their advancing years are a cause for joy and at the same time a cause for sorrow.” Apparently, it’s either my family is different or that by the time of my parent’s generation this saying was already disregarded as waste of brain power, but both of my parent’s said that their parents never thought that not knowing their ages is disrespectful. I asked my parents whether they feel disrespected or not, and they said that they don’t expect me to remember their ages. (In truth, I really don’t remember their ages, phew.)
For education, all our parent’s had to do to find a job was to graduate from college and that was pretty much it. My father didn’t graduate from that good of a college (he said it himself) and he didn’t even finish high school. But he did have to take a test to prove that he was capable of the skills that high school students should be able to do. On the other hand, diligence and a lot of effort had to be made. In our generation, all that matters for employers is what college you went to. If you weren’t in the top 5 colleges of Taiwan, then you don’t the job. Because of this, even more effort was needed in order to even be able to get a job with a stable income. Also, during our parent’s generation their parents will let them go out on the streets by their own, but now it’s different. Our parents rarely allow kids to stay after school because of the change in society changed their beliefs. As time went on, general society became more and more “low-leveled”. More and more “bad guys” are appearing and kidnapping kids, this caused parents to be a little more protective of their kids and thus changing their beliefs.
October 24th, 2007 at 5:12 am
My generation and the generation of my parents have, for the most part, very different opinions in their beliefs and values. Some examples showing how different we are in our beliefs and values can be taken from the Analects of Confucius. For example in the Filial Piety section, Confucius says, “You can be of service to your father and mother by remonstrating with them tactfully. If you perceive that they do not wish to follow your advice, then continue to be reverent toward them without offending or disobeying them; work hard and do not murmur against them.” The generation of my parents belive that this is true and you should obey your parents all the time. You should also work hard for them and don’t disagree with them, unless you do it tactfully. However, I believe that disagreeing with your parents is very usual. Children should be able to share their own opinions with their parents instead of just agreeing with them all the time. You should be able to be blunt in saying what you believe instead of doing it tactfully.
However, my generation and my parent’s generation also see some things eye to eye. For example, in the Analects, Confucius said: “The gentleman has nine concerns. In seeing he is concerned with clarity. In hearing he is concerned with acuity. In his expression he wishes to be warm. In his bearing he wishes to be respectful. In his words he is concerned with sincerity. In his service he is concerned with reverence. When he is in doubt he wants to ask questions. When he is angry, he is wary of the pitfalls. When he sees the chance for profit, he keeps in mind the need for integrity.” Both my parents and I agree with this particular quote. We both think that it is important to be all the things Confucius thought a gentleman, (or lady,) should be like.
October 24th, 2007 at 5:16 am
Although I’ve had private education for a fairly long time, I was in Korean public school until 3rd grade. Then I went to a private school called Kaohsiung American School, which was more “public” than TAS. Confucius thought everyone, rich AND poor, should get the same education. However, more money you pay, better education you’ll get! I think the public school is more Confucian than the private schools. In public schools, you get the same education with everyone, no matter how much money you have. However, you can only attend private schools when you have enough money to attend. Plus, more money you have, more education you get. For example, who is wealthy enough gets all tutoring and classes. When for those who aren’t wealthy enough, can’t.
In public schools, respect for elders and parents were taught stricter than private schools. For example, we were taught to say the language in a polite way even though someone was you’re classmate if they were older than you. However, in private school, you don’t really respect “older students” as much. They’re more like friends, not “elders.” It’s also the difference between Eastern and Western education. Eastern is more Confucian than the Western education. When I was in Korea getting a Korean education, I had lots of Confucian education, which on the other hand, in American education, I didn’t get much of Confucian education.
October 24th, 2007 at 5:18 am
I moved back to Taiwan when I was forth grading, I went to a private Chinese school called Fu shing, and then I transferred to Taipei European School. I thought it was a big change for me, because in the Chinese school, the teachers were strict and very harsh. I also used to go to the same class with Alisha, and she was really hard working person, and really gave pressure to herself. In the Chinese school, they are stricter about behavior of the class. Students weren’t allowed to drink water or any other drink during class as for respect. We always have our own homework instead of group work. And whenever you make a teacher mad, they hit you if they wish to. I have seen many of my classmates getting hit or have been pulled by the ear out of the class. Because I have just moved back from Canada, I was laughed and teased really badly by calling me names, swearing at me, and saying “Being a Canadian isn’t that much of a deal.”, and because of that, those bad memories will always be memorized. And this showed how they looked down upon people who were different. Before class, the class leader always has to call out “stand up” “good morning…teacher” “sit down” as to respect the teachers. I thought these were really cruel ways to teach the students but it still worked out because none of the students wanted to get hit by the teachers. Through those four years, I lost weight and got very skinny and never ate, my parents were worried and told me to eat more, but I never had the appetite.
After transferring to TES, we had a lot of group work during class and the teacher always encouraged you to do things that I liked. And that really brought up my self esteem, and I got better at sports and learned new sports that I have never played before like field hockey, rugby and soccer. The teachers really took time to help me and made sure that I understood everything that I needed to know, I improved with my English after four years of Chinese. And I really had faith in me and I got healthier and grew taller because my bag wasn’t that heavy anymore.
October 24th, 2007 at 5:20 am
In contrast with our parents generation , our generation has attributed many different changes in our relationship on how we interact and treat our parents. “When your parents are alive serve them according to the rules of ritual and decorum.” This was one of Confucius’s quotes from the analects and means that you should respect and obey your parents without question. In my parents generation it was common for them to have strict parents and have to meet their commands, while in our generation we feel more free to express our own opinions and go against what they say. Another major difference between the generations is that our parents generation was brought up to be caretakers for their parents and stay close to the family, while in our generation we are free to pursue our own careers and interests wherever they may take us.
Although there are many differences between the generations, there are also similarities or things that have stayed the same as time went on. One of the strongest intentions that each generation has is the drive to be more successful than the previous one. An important aspect of our generation ,like our parents generation, is the importance of education. It is stressed over and over that education is important and we must continue it through all of our lives. However, despite the differences one thing remains the same throughout both generations, the aspects of humanity.( kindness, reverence, diligence, generosity, and truthfulness.)
October 24th, 2007 at 5:28 am
During our parent’s generation, their beliefs and values are very different than our beliefs and values. Firstly, in our parent’s childhood the parents are always the most dominate people in the house, but nowadays children like us spend less time obeying our parent’s wishes and more time on ourselves. The quotes “Do not offend your parents.” or “You can be of service to your father and mother by remonstrating with them tactfully. If you perceive that they do not wish to follow your advice, then continue to be reverent toward them without offending or disobeying them; work hard and do not murmur against them.” said from Confucius in The Analects. The quotes used to be a very important factor in our parent’s generation but in this generation we often offend and get angry our parents without knowing it. For example, talking back to your parent when being lectured often can cause lots of disagreements which would cause both sides unhappy. Our generation’s beliefs and values are decreasingly less serious about filial piety than the generations of our parent.
Another difference from the two different generations is that our generation is much more foolish than the elder generations. We are not proper “gentlemen” because we don’t always follow Confucius saying “First he behaves properly and then he speaks, so that his words follow his actions”. These days, young people acts foolish under peer pressures, and normally their behaviors are not “proper”, and his words may not be always followed with action. Yet during the elder generation, the value of behavior and responsibility was very important, since you are always responsible of your behavior. Therefore, the young generations rarely follow the “proper” behavior or follow his words.
October 24th, 2007 at 5:36 am
I been to Taipei local school for 2 years. Half year of first grade and completed 4-5th grade. The local school I been to was a harsh school. They keep pushing you to the limit just so you learn things faster and become smarter. But compare to Taipei American School, there’s a huge difference between a local school and a private school. TAS may have some Confucianism knowledge included, but the local school I went to, is packed with knowledge and ideas of Confucious. We were taught about the story behind Confucious and one of his famous words and ideas. The local school may be full of Confucious’ knowledge, does not mean there’s Confucian enviroment. For example,students were meant to learn, but with the hard way; the teachers teach in ruthless way, the desk’s are uneven because the goverment wouldn’t give more money for new one’s for the school. This tells me the goverments in Taiwan aren’t doing a great job, but thats not the point. And TAS is just another different kind of school not because it’s a private school, but how they keep their promise for educating every student with the best evnviroment. Now that’s an great example for the Confuciounism society.
October 24th, 2007 at 5:42 am
Through out my academic life, I have gone to local elementary school here in Taiwan, and an international school. Elementary schools here in Taiwan are more of a Confucian school compared to the international school.
Local schools are more of a Confucian school because everyone is allowed to apply for the school. It doesn’t not matter whether you are a foreigner or a local person; on the other hand, Taipei American School (international school) is a school for people that have an international passport. According to Confucius, both rich and poor deserve the same education; and live the same lives. If a local person wanted to apply to educate at Taipei American School, they wouldn’t be able to because they only have a Taiwan passport. Also, in order to go to Taipei American School, you need to pay a fairly expensive amount of money.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:05 am
The experiences I had from going to both a public school in America and a private school in Taiwan gives me a pretty clear idea of where Confucianism is more obvious. I believe that public schools tend to be more of a Confucian environment rather than an international private school.
In a public school in America, people of all races, genders, and social classes were allowed to go to school. In fact, it is required for children to go to school. When I attended a public school, I had friends who were rich, who were poor, and who were from different cultural backgrounds. This is more of a Confucian environment because Confucius believed that everyone should receive education. In the states, as long as you were a resident, you were able to go to public school with no cost. This gave many who didn’t have as much money to have an opportunity to be successful in life.
In an international private school, however, only certain people can attend school there. You had to have enough money, and you had to be somewhat foreign in order to be accepted. This is exactly the opposite of Confucius’ ideas. He didn’t like it how only the rich could afford education. This doesn’t give a chance to those who didn’t have the money, although they could have been just as smart, if not smarter, than those who actually go to international private schools.
Overall, public schools in America are more of a Confucian environment than international private schools. They allow everyone to be able to attend that school, while international private schools are extremely selective and allow only those who have enough money and who have some sort of foreign identity.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:07 am
Before I came to Taipei American School, I attended a local school in Japan. And I think from local school and private school, Confucian school is more likely to be a local school, and private school to be a non Confucian school. Japanese school is a public school, which means that as long as you live there than you can attend to that school. This also means that this school is a poor and rich people school. And this makes it Confucian school. Also teacher that teaches in public school is receiving their pay from the government.
Other hand to get in to Taipei American School you have to have a passport other than Taiwan passport, and also this school is full of rich people. Because of this, every thing in school is expensive. I think this makes it non Confucian. The money teachers get are also different from public school, in Taipei American school teacher gets their money from the school fee, and some other money that we pay to get in to this school.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:15 am
Confucius said, “Nowadays, filial piety is considered to be the ability to nourish one’s parents. But this obligation to nourish even extends down to the dogs and horses. Unless we have reverence for our parents, what makes us any different?”
I think what Confucius said was absolutely correct. Even though we still need to offer our parents food and take care of them, but even animals need taking care of. That makes our parents no different than animals. So, besides taking care of them we must respect, obey, and not offend them. First of all, your parents have been there for you since you were little up to when you graduated from college, so the least you can do is repay their kindness and the hardships they went through because you were a teenage rebel.
Confucius said, “You can be of service to your father and mother by remonstrating with them tactfully. If you perceive that they do not wish to follow your advice, then continue to be reverent toward them without offending or disobeying them; work hard and do not murmur against them.” What Confucius said was true. Your parents are the ones that raised you, fed you, and sent you to school hoping for a good education. It’s okay to refuse to follow what your parents want, but don’t talk back or be rude to them. Also, even if you and your parents fight, don’t talk behind their back and complain about them.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:29 am
The current world now has changed a lot from what it had been like in my parent’s generation. With new technological advances, beliefs and values of people have altered as well. Back in my parent’s school days, they were taught that you should not teach others things you yourself are not completely sure about. It is like Confucius’ saying, “He does not preach what he practices till he has practiced what he preaches.” However, in the modern period, children are encouraged to express and share their ideas with others, whether it is right or wrong. Adults are always telling me that the best time to make mistakes is when you’re young, because then you are excused for your errors. Another significant difference between the beliefs of my parent’s generation and my generation is filial piety. Confucius once said, “A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders.” My parents confirmed that when they were young, there was no such thing as talking back at your parents. Whatever they say, the kids must obey with no comments at all. They must always show respect to their elders, treating them the way they would treat guests. Nowadays, children are masters at arguing with their parents. What’s worse is that many parents now treat kids as if they’re the little rulers of the house; serving them food, doing all the household chores, and many other things. This is definitely a contradiction to Confucius’ belief on filial piety, and demonstrates how children have been gaining more and more power since the last generation. With these examples, you can see how within several decades, the beliefs and values of people have managed to change quite a bit.
However, despite the many differences between the beliefs and values of my parent’s generation, and mine, there are still many similarities with them. For example, Confucius believed that in order to be considered a gentleman, you have to be humble. When my parents were young, they were taught to be modest, and never proud or arrogant. They said that their parents told them it would encourage others to want to befriend them, and will make them more successful people in the future. Currently in my generation, I constantly hear people say the same thing; that being humble will make you a better person in life. Confucius’ saying, “The man of humanity is cautious in his speech,” affected my parents when they were young. Adults back then trained them to think before they say something. Children in this period are also taught to think before they speak. It is to reduce the chances of harmful words coming out of our mouths that may hurt other’s feelings. In addition to that, Confucius also believed that everyone should get an education. Back when my dad was young, by law, everyone had to be educated until they are 6th grade. Now, in Taiwan, kids need to get an education until they are in 9th grade. Either way, this shows that both periods believed that education is necessary for children. In conclusion, Confucianism is followed by people not only in my parent’s generation, but also the modern time period.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Comparing my beliefs to my parents’ beliefs, I realized that they believe more in filial piety than I. They have much respect for their parents and their parents-in-law for example mother took very good care of my grandfather who has sadly suffered from Alzheimer’s for over two years now. My father on the other hand has given mass amounts of money to buy a lot in Malaysia for my mother’s side grandmother to live in. ‘”Nowadays, filial piety is considered to be the ability to be the ability to nourish one’s parents. But this obligation to nourish extends down to the dogs and horses. Unless we have reverence for our parents, what makes us any different?”’- The Analects. While this may not be so true for me, I’m sure I could not bear such a burden my parents bear. I listen to my parents, but for only the utmost importance, or when their angry. They probably were disciplined and well mannered, as for I, my parents keep reminding me of manners and being considerate.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:37 am
Before I came to Taiwan, I was in the states. I lived in a small place in New York. I went to a public school there called Northeast Elementary School. Throughout my life, I lived in both sorts of environment: Non-Confucian and Confucian. The Confucian part of that place was that as long as we were there and paying the taxes, then we were able to get an education. That means no matter how rich you or your family was, and then everyone would attend this school. The non-Confucian part of when I was living there was that when people were there and socializing, people would just go out and meet somewhere in public to meet and talk business. When I was there, people also ate in different ways. In America, people would eat with their own family (husband, wife, children) and occasionally invite a few friends over to eat with them. Back here, the whole entire family eats together (grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins…)
Back here in Taiwan, I learned that most of the people are Confucian, but some schools, including Taipei American School, are non-Confucian. The people back here are Confucian because they respect their parents and always take care of them. When I was in the states, I learned that when one’s parents get old, then their children just send them to a retirement home. Back here, when people go out to meetings, then guests get invited to their home, or somewhere private. While they are there, they enjoy tea, snacks, and sometimes a meal. Overall, living in different places does affect one’s education and how people live their daily lives.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:40 am
By comparing the two schools I’ve been to, it is actually not easy to tell the difference between the Confucian and non-Confucian school because they are not very distinct. As an overall, Taipei American School is a Confucian school, while Thornton, a public school in California, is a non-Confucian school. The main differences are students’ background and behavior.
Taipei American School holds values which follow the way of Confucianism. The values include honesty, respect, responsibility, and kindness. These are emphasized and ensured on students through many different ways. There aren’t a lot of students in each grade level, which makes it easier for everyone to interact. Everyone at Taipei American School’s background is pretty diverse, following Confucius’ idea of everyone receiving education. However, since this is a private school, not many people can afford to be educated in this school. On the other hand, Thornton students are not very civilized and disciplined, mainly because it is available to everyone. The more the people attend that school, the more everyone’s behavior and thoughts are influenced and impacted. Respect, responsibility, honesty, and kindness are not abundant at that school. This is the clear contrast between these two schools.
Overall, I believe Taipei American School is more a Confucian school than Thornton. This is also because the environment of the school is filled with Chinese culture and tradition. Background and behavior impacts the schools.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:50 am
The values and beliefs of Confucius have been handed down for thousands of years, and even in the modern time, his thoughts are still supported by the majority. But in my opinion, I don’t totally agree with all of his ideas. “The gentleman concerns himself with the Way; he does not worry about his salary. Hunger may be found in plowing, wealth may be found in studying. The gentleman worries about the Way, not about poverty.” Based on this quotation, I think that materialistic parts and wealth are actually important. Since they have been important parts of our lives, we do have to concern about them. As long as people don’t chase after those absurdly, material life can be practiced in a proper way. Though the Way does promote our mental parts and lead us to a better spiritual life, yet we are creatures that we do need food and money to survive.
For my mother’s generation, she agrees with Confucianism. She thinks that his ideas are more respectful to people’s basic human rights. It restraints people’s behavior and temperament, but it’s flexible enough that there are spaces and chances for people to reform themselves.
Time passes by, values and beliefs will always be changing. Everyone will also have his or her own concept, but the right path of life will always exist. There are no right or wrong answers, there are only ways of how people regard things.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:53 am
Recently my father took us down to Hsinchu to visit my grandmother, I was in a crabby mood so I asked my father vehemently “why do we always have to travel so far just to visit my grandma? Why can’t we move her up here somewhere in a retirement home?” to my surprise my father didn’t lash back but smiled and said, “first of all, there aren’t many retirement homes around Taipei, and even if there were many, I wouldn’t trust them, second of all, this is not the Taiwanese way, we have to take care of our parents ourselves no matter how old, how inconvenient it is to do that, some people I know that have jumped ship the moment they could are frowned upon.” The notions this speech put forward are deeply rooted in Confucianism, filial duty most of all. The filial path was and is to take care, feed, respect, and care for your parents until they pass on to the next life.
Also, I have noticed that most the people of my parent’s generation are a lot more frugal with their money. People of younger generations have less attachment to the money they have so worked so hard for. As Confucius had once said, a gentleman does not seek luxury, and Confucius’s words ring true for the generation of my parents.
Lastly, filial duty again is evident in the family reunions I have witnessed at birthday parties and weddings. My parents, and some of the people from older generations have a much more rigid in the way they address, speak to, compliment, and thank older generations. They are much more reserved, with a lot of stiffness and sometimes tension when they converse, the jokes they laugh at and tell and the way they laugh are hollow and drawn out slowly. The generations closer to mine are a lot more open, joking, and don’t adhere as often to the strict rules that encompass polite speech unless the family that raised the person ingrained the rules deeply into the particular person. The kids that do not have these rules ingrained so deeply (unfortunately I fall in this category) are looked down sometimes as uncultured and extremely rude and the ones that have these rules second nature are cherished and pointed out.
Although Confucius lived a thousand years or so ago, his words spoken in a minute rang for a thousand years more. And today, you can still see the effects of those words today in most Asian families.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:54 am
I have lived in Confucian and non-Confucian society. Which are United States and Asian countries. In my opinion, United States is the non-Confucian society and Asian countries are Confucian society.
United States is non-Confucian because most family in the States does not live with their grand parents which does not follow the idea of ‘Filial Piety’ that Confucius made which is to respect your parents all the time.
In Asian countries, such as Japan, many families live with their grand parents and respect them. This follows Confucius’ quote, “You can be of service to your father and mother by remonstrating with them tactfully. If you perceive that they do not wish to follow your advice, then continue to be reverent toward them without offending or disobeying them; work hard and do not murmur against them.”
October 24th, 2007 at 7:06 am
Before I moved to Taiwan and attended a private school called Taipei American School, I lived in California and went to a public school called Canyon Hills Junior High School. In my opinion, I would consider Canyon Hills Junior High School a more Confucian environment while Taipei American School than Taipei American School.
I believe that Canyon Hills Junior High School is considered as Confucian, because it is a public school, which means that anyone could attend this school. Here, there were people who were rich and those who were poor, but everyone received the same education from the teachers. Confucius quoted that everyone should be educated regardless of the race, gender, wealth, or any social standing. As long you are a human being, you should be educated.
On the other hand, Taipei American School is a private school which only allows students to attend from other countries that have an international passport. Also, students who attend TAS are people who can afford a high rate of money to come here and learn more. However, this was one of the major beliefs that Confucius loathed. He doesn’t want people who are rich to be educated more than the people who are poor and those who can’t afford to attend a private school. Therefore, I believe that Taipei American School is considered as a non-Confucianism school.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:28 am
From the analects, Confucius said something about filial piety, “Do not offend your parents”, “If you perceive that they do not wish to follow your advice, then continue to be reverent toward them without offending or disobeying them.” My mom and aunts agree on this quote because their parents, who are my grandparents, make bad decisions for themselves on the use of money. However, instead of trying to stop them, they take care of what they did. Personally, I don’t totally agree on what they did and Confucius’ explanation on filial piety.
When parents make some bad decision, instead of take care of what they did, it is better to stop them at first even if the action will be considered as unfilial. We care about our parents, just like the same thing toward the children; we stop them for their own good. Also, when someone did something wrong, no matter who they are, what they did are still wrong. Filial piety doesn’t mean to follow whatever the parents said. I think something should be add to the explanation of filial piety, “Have reverence for your parents, but don’t obey what is wrong”
October 24th, 2007 at 7:40 am
Confucius was a man of wisdom, manners, and is often most remembered for his love of education. He thought that everyone should be educated because it dissolved classes, which often lead to trouble. Also when he was growing up he disliked to play war games with other children because he thought they were barbaric, and instead he played his own thinking games to help strengthen his mind. If you put these pieces of information together you can probably see that Confucius didn’t consider sports very important, and that sports are not a major part of a Confucian life-style.
For most of my life I have lived in a non-Confucian environment. Though now I live in a Confucian environment, and I can see many distinctions between these two ways of life. For example ever since I was in kindergarten the “cool thing” was to be good at sports, until I started attending Taipei American School. Here sports are still “cool” but the “cool thing” here at T.A.S. is definitely education. Surprisingly, this isn’t something that has really affected my life that much. When I still lived in America I was at the very top in my classes, and I was pretty good at sports. So when I moved here I didn’t expect things to change too much, and now I am farther from the top in math, and closer to the top in sports. So I don’t really think that my new Confucian environment has altered me, but maybe in a few more years I will have a bunch of math tutors.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:48 am
In my parents generation, I believe that they were more respectful towards authority. I know this because my parents always tell me that they would say, “Yes, ma’am,” and, “No, sir.” Also, my parents’ teachers were not their friends; they were strictly authority figures. Instead of speaking to them in a more casual manner, they would speak to them more formally and nicely. Finally, my parents’ generation never cursed in public because of the fear that older people would hear and be shoked by the coarse language. Secondly, leaders in my parents generation were generally more strict. My parents would always tell me how their teachers would hit them if they did something bad. This seems really harsh now, but looking back it seems that they were probably more respecful to them because of this harshness. Lastly, it seems that students in my parents’ generation rarely skipped class. This shows that my parents’ generation had more respect for learning and thought that it was important that they attend school.
My generation, however, seem to have very little respect for authority. We swear in public, do thigns we aren’t supposed to, talk back to our parents and teachers, and even vandalize property. If you ask a few teenagers right now if they would help an old lady to cross the street, I bet that the majority of them would say no. But if you asked this same question to my parents’ generation, I bet the majority would say yes. Secondly, I think that the leaders now are not quite as strict as before. There are so many rules now that teachers, and parents even, can’t hurt a child. This means that teachers cannot physically punish a student for doing something wrong. I think this makes us have less respect for this authority figure. We even have less respect for our parents. Because there are laws that keep parents from beating their children, the children pretty much do whatever they want with little to know consequences. I believe that children now are pretty wild and unruly compared to children in my parents’ generation. Lastly, I think that kids in my generation generally view school as punishment and a waste of time and see less value in education. People skip class, don’t do school work, and completely disregard anything they learn. This shows that we do not value education.
October 24th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Since our parents generation, some beliefs and values have changed while others have stayed the same. In our parents generation, life has more strict and you weren’t able to express yourself freely or say whatever you wanted against the government. Back then, filial piety was very important, you had to respect your parents and take care of them when they’re old. When you disrespected your parents, you would have been hit.
In our generation, life is less strict and we can express ourselves freely and say whatever we want about the government without getting in trouble. Filial piety is still important but there is less respect for your parents since we will still do stuff even though our parents tell us not to and when we disrespect our parents, they aren’t as harsh and probably wont hit you.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
The difference in the beliefs and values of our generation and with the generation of our parents are huge. Our beliefs and values were influenced by our education and society, meaning it is more of the modern way of thinking. The beliefs and values of which our parents still possess are mostly the “traditional” way of thinking. In their generation, they still believe in the filial piety that people should act toward parents and elders. But by our generation, the belief seems less and less just like how the Analects said, if people only care about their parents in specific times, isn’t it just like animals? An animal also knows this, so then what is the difference between a man and an animal? We didn’t really forget this, but the education and the society influenced us in many ways making us take more of the western education, meaning sometimes we forget what we, the Chinese, should act upon.
Wang Lung in the story of The Good Earth expresses both a Confucian and a non-Confucian man. To me, he was a good Confucian man because of his respect towards his father and uncle no matter what happens, they are still his elders. The filial Piety that Confucius emphasize in the Analects and when Wang Lung’s uncle says in a indirect way of asking him for “lending” for money, although he has thousands of unwilling, he still “lends” him the money as in no talkbacks to elders, and follow what elders tell you to do. And the filial piety towards doing the housework in the beginning of the book, which it shows that Wang Lung serves hot water to the old man, and boils water…,etc.. The side of the Wang Lung’s bad Confucian man are that he worries and fears and when the analects talks about how gentleman begs and blame himself, and the petty man begs other people. When the dry season arrived, he worries and fears that his family won’t live on and die. When he arrived at the new place, he didn’t follow what the ideal gentleman way, he begged for other people.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
As time go through, lots of things are changing. And beliefs and values are one of them. Each generation shows different values, beliefs, and characteristic. Lots of new generations (people) are more selfish than older generation. I think they become materialistic and unconscientiously. One day, I went to clothes store to buy gift for my young cousin. I considered the size of the clothes at that time. However, the clerk said “I’m pretty sure that that size fit for you cousin.” It was ironic that even though I didn’t bring my cousin, she’s sure about my cousin. This kind of things is happening a lot of time these days. It’s not respecting customers, and they just want to sell the clothes to customers. Anyway, his generation changed really much in another ways.
Nowadays, parents and children are so close to each other. Sometimes, children are looking their as equal as them. If it’s past at least 20 years, they might beaten by their parents. Some students call their parents without showing respect. Not only that, some people patricide and steal their parents’ money. It’s really off to the filial piety. Before, this generation, no one could think of it. Also, according to Analects, females are subordinate to males and 20 years ago, female were kind of subordinate to male. However, now, they are quite equal. I can see females get better treatment than male often. Not only that, before this generation, females should make food and clean the house. However, in this generation, lots males are doing house chores to show that they are really love their partners. It changed incredibly a lot, so I can’t figure it out what’s going on in this world. Even though, Confucius words still exist in the world, however, some of them changed too.
I repost this, this one is real one.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Before I attended Taipei American School in Taiwan, I was in Hong Kong studying at a school called “St. Joseph Primary School.” St. Joseph is a public school and Taipei American School is a private school. I’d say that Taipei American School is more of a non-Confucian environment and St. Joseph is a Confucian environment. Although many people might think Taipei American School is stricter about student’s behaviors and rules, but I don’t agree. On the other hand, St. Joseph had very strict rules and if you do something sort of bad, you’d get a detention or even a suspension. There were lots of Christians in St. Joseph, so they talked a lot about Confucius, and Taipei American School didn’t talk much about Confucius. So I see more people slacking off here than in my old school.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
My parents and I have different experiences and many of them include Confucianism. First let’s talk from the point of view from the students. I asked my father, “dad what did you experience about Confucianism?” and he responded “respect was the most important thing” Confucianism affected Korea a lot as in respect. If you were a freshman in high school and you didn’t obey what a higher grade student says, you will be well beaten. Another example can be demonstration because students that time did everything just for getting the government the right way. This demonstrated the gentleman who cares about the way but not the money. You were expected to follow every single word your parents say though there were few people who were kind of different. This was “not going against your parents” Confucius said do not go against your parents because they’re your parents. Your parents’ words were rule. Everyone was expected to cultivate your mind before setting your foot in to a society. You were considered low if you just went without experiences. This showed the spirit of gentleman.
On the other hand, in our generation, students are respected greatly. No one’s really beaten even if you act a bit rude but we do expect people to pay respect to other people as well. According to my experiences, many of the old ways disappeared. People still respect elders but many people disobey their parents and go their own way in the future. Partly because they want to make their own future, I guess. Not many students demonstrate anymore. May be the metal position of gentleman disappeared. If you wanted to train yourself before going out to society, you could but if you didn’t want to you can go in straight without further training of mind. That’s the way I see things going around. Because of these many more people are not successful in society or not respectful or very rude. Although I am glad that we are more respected as students these days but I also hope there would be more Confucianism.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
The school I went to before is a Chinese local school. Unlike the school I am going to now which is TAS a private American school. Even though the local school is a Chinese local school but the American school is actually more Confucian. According to one of the analects of Confucius” Treat everyone as if you were welcoming a great guest. Employ people as if you were conducting a great sacrifice. Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.” Peoples at the American school’s teacher won’t shout or hit the student if they did badly on their tests and quizzes. But the teachers at my old school shout at students and hit them if they did tests and quizzes badly. Also my old school is stricter than the TAS. At my old school at launch time everybody has to eat together quietly and after we ate launch we go to sleep for 30minutes. But in TAS we are free to go any where except out of school in launch time and we don’t have to sleep even if we don’t want to.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Before I came to Taipei American School, I went to a local school for two years, “Taipei Fu Hsing private school” where Confucianism was present. One analects of Confucianism is to pay respect to elders. In Fu Hsing, I often call the teacher “teacher!” instead of miss or mister, because it is one way to give fully esteem to teachers by not calling their names. It is still a difficulty for me to overcome. Before and after the class, the class leader will tell the entire class to, “Stand up!” “Attention!” “Bow!” and we will say “Thank you teacher” for every course. It is really different from TAS on how much respect they pay to teachers, which is obviously influenced by Confucius, the concept of filial piety. Teachers gave us pressure by making us learn instead of letting us love learning. They gave us the entire class’s ranks and grades once a while to let us know where we stand and who we should compete with. In Fu Hsing, we do individual work and I always felt alone. But at TAS we often do group work that helps us change a feel of learning.
Speaking of governing, each class in Fu Hsing is sort of like a government. The ruler is the teacher, and the minister is the class leader who is voted by the classmates. Every time when the class is in a mess before the teacher comes, the teacher first blames the class leader by not controlling the class. She always says that the class leader is a good model of the class; the class leader represents the whole. It is one idea in the analects that says “A ruler directs his minister through established ritual protocols. A minister serves his ruler with loyalty.”
October 25th, 2007 at 1:12 am
Back when dad was a child, his father made him believe in this quotation by Confucius: If a person acts with reverence, he will not be insulted. If he is generous, he will win over the people. If he is truthful, he will be trust by people. If he is diligent, he will have great achievements.
But the world has change, the news that we see everyday; has impacted our beliefs and values. I had a friend who likes talking to teachers full of reverence, but that didn’t guaranty her from not being insulted. Instead it was worse, classmates laughed at her for showing too much respect to teachers. From that day on, I knew that dad was wrong, for telling me to treat others as we wanted to be treated, and then we can be treated back the same way. Being the only child in the house, made me not want to share things with others. It may be selfish and isn’t following Confucianism, but that is what experience had taught me; when I lend things to others, they sometimes somehow disappear and never come back. The world’s steps are so fast now, that sometimes we can’t catch out breathe. Because we are so busy trying to get higher position than others, we don’t have time to think of trusting them. While dad lived in a world full of Confucianism; the world I am now makes parts of the analects untrue.
October 25th, 2007 at 2:35 am
Andrew H. B1
From the Analects we learn that the beliefs and values nowadays and from the past still exists some major differences. Here, we explore some of the differences between the past generation has regarding beliefs and values with what we believe today. In the past couple of decades, which is the difference between our generation and our parent’s, the lifestyle and beliefs have changed. We, as children notice the change the most, sometimes you just don’t understand why your parent’s would disallow to do some things when you think it is absolutely fine. For example, your parents might believe that getting a ear piercing is considered to be bad in the so-called ‘Chinese culture’ while you think it is only a sense of fashion, this is when the change comes in.
From the generation of your parents, they have been taught to be polite, nice and show respect to everyone. However, nowadays teenagers and younger children are influenced by not only the media but perhaps the Western culture as well. They believe it is cool to have attitude and be mean all the time. During our generation, children want to hang out with their friends all the time and may turn down their families for a friend’s party. Back in the past generation, they think it is much more important to spend time with your family then it is to have fun with your friends. Children have a more open relationship with people and spend a lot of time on entertainment. It was not so during our parent’s generation when they believed it is wrong to have so much entertainment. Through time, if another comparison was to be made, I believe a bigger difference would be seen.
October 25th, 2007 at 5:57 am
In Confucianism, On Governing was very important. The Analects of Confucius said, “If one has corrected himself, what problem would he have in governing? But if he is unable to correct himself, how can he govern others?” This means that the government should be upright to make the village successful and to make your people trust and obey you. So if the government wasn’t doing a good job, the government has failed to be successful. This fact shows some differences between the president of my grandparent’s generations and the president of generations today.
The president at my grandparent’s generation was being a good role model to his citizens. For example, the president Roosevelt in United States, he did what was right about his people, he also helped the people who had the same problems as him (which was a disease which people couldn’t use their legs) by supporting them and by playing with them. In this way president Roosevelt was appreciated by his citizens with his hard workings, and his righteous with his useless legs. So more and more people kept appreciating and obeying him. And he had faith of making United States a successful country. With these facts, the president Roosevelt became the one of most successful and important presidents in United States, and also honored by the people today. But the president of generation today, sets a bad example of being a good governor. In United States, the current president, Bush, is hated by majority of the citizens in United Sates today. The fact that the citizen hates the president Bush is because he doesn’t do what it is fair for the citizens and what the citizens want. For example, he is bad at political affairs which brought the citizens hard to live, since prices of tings could go up. Also he wanted the wars of Iraq which most of citizens didn’t want. Overall all, the presidents in old times tried their best to make themselves upright to lead his people and make the country successful. But now I think the presidents tries to earn their own popularity from other countries by doing what makes other countries happy but not his own.
October 25th, 2007 at 6:17 am
The generation gap is something that all parents and children experience; the age difference means that some things will always be different. For example, we can notice that technology changes over time, and I believe that behaviors and attitudes also experience this change. However, many of the things that Confucius said are universal virtues that all generations share, it’s just that we apply them and recognize them in different way.
Confucius said that the gentleman is humble, sincere, respectful, reverent, kind, clear, and warm. These are virtues that most people believe in regardless of age. However, the details of how you display these virtues are slightly different depending on which generation you are from. For example, my parents’ generation believes that being respectful means that you obey and accept anything an elder person says. They believe that elder people have more experience so their judgment must be right. In comparison, my generation still respects our elders but we think it’s important to consider our own ideas. Also, my parents’ generation has a different opinion on what being warm is. They think it’s more about being helpful and caring, but my generation thinks it’s about being friendly and having physical contact; if my friends are sad, I would give them a hug, but my mother would never do that with her friends.
The generations also have some differing opinions on filial piety. For example, Confucius said, “When your father and mother are alive, do not go rambling around far away. If you must travel, make sure you have a set destination.” This is true for my mother and father’s generation, but my generation is much more free and adventurous. So many people study abroad and travel the world when they finish their studies. This would never be accepted when my mother and father were in university.
People can have the same beliefs and virtues, but practice them differently. My mother and father generation strictly follows many of the things that Confucius said. My generation follows them too, but we just do it in a different way.
October 25th, 2007 at 6:40 am
Comparing and contrasting the two environments that I have lived out my life in, I figured that the two schools I was enrolled in could be split into a Confucian and non-Confucian environment. In the years of my younger childhood, I have lived out my boring life in Singapore. I remembered that Singapore, in its whole, is already a very Confucian-based environment. All parents urged children on to study every single day, and forced them to do practice test booklets, and every child had to do them in addition to school-given homework. Every primary public school had a very high standard school curriculum that urges the individual to work their very best, which then results into a thirst of knowledge for the students. This was usually the only path given to them by the government and their parents, and slacking off was not permitted at all – every individual was expected to get good grades. Although this is not really how a Confucian environment is built on, but it results in eager students wanting to learn, which was a learning attitude that Confucius favored. As mentioned above, the government also encourages students to work their very best, regardless of their wealth standards (government funded public schools).
As for the learning environment here at Taipei American School, I do not think it’s as Confucian-based as Singapore’s public schools are. Although I DO know that everyone is motivated to learn, but most of us do not get the ‘push’ that makes us go at full power learning mode. Since at TAS, we get a whole lot more choices in life than the ‘study study study’ mood in public schools, students here tend to have their concentration wavering around after school activities and clubs. Slacking is also available as an option for some students; not everyone has a thirst for knowledge. Another very evident non-Confucian point about our school is that it is a private school, and only those who are affordable can attend. The aspect of private schools does not dovetail into Confucius’s beliefs.
October 25th, 2007 at 6:48 am
I was in Taiwanese local school before I went to Taipei American School. After I went in, I saw there were some differences between Western school and Asian school, which could represent non-Confucianism and Confucianism. When I was in local school, all of the students needed to take serious respect to the elders, the teachers. We had to call the people who taught us, teacher, which was to show the respect. In every class, students needed to bow to the teachers before the classes and after the classes. This is the Filial Piety of Confucianism. For Taipei American School, the students called teachers’ names, but usually called their last names and the students didn’t bow to the teachers before and after the classes. Second, the local school’s teacher didn’t ask what students thought, the students just listened and respected, and was being responsible. The students had a response to keep classroom clean, so we had to clean it ever day. These are the on governing, lead by means of virtue and regulate through rituals and they will have a sense of shame and moreover have standards. American school’s teachers allowed students to express thoughts. They made students to have encouraged individual ideas, and the students didn’t have to clean the classroom.
Local school’s teachers and American school’s teachers punished students when students were having big mistakes. They thought that students should be equal, responsible, honesty, respectful, kindness, reverence, generosity, truthfulness and diligence. Example for honesty is that students should not cheat on the homework and the tests. Students should be responsible to each other and to the teachers. This is the humanity if Confucianism.
October 25th, 2007 at 7:09 am
Every generation has different thoughts and values. My sister and I have different values with my parents. Even more, our parents has different values from my grandparents. The main reason caused this difference is because the society needs changes or other countries influenced us. It’s such like wars and new inventions changes people’s values.
My parents thinks what they say is always right. Even though they don’t totally refuse me to express my ideas, they mostly don’t change their idea. They even command me not to think like that. I think that people are all equal. It is true that parents are older and have more experience. However, children’s thoughts would not necessarily be wrong. Every person makes mistakes. So, parents should at least think about their children ideas and think back to their own ideas. Parents should treat their children like any other person. If the parents are right, they should at least give us a clear explanation why children are wrong. My parent’s idea is really Confucianism, filial piety, but it is weakening in the modern world.
My father thinks governor should be mean and strict. The governor should not let himself carry the “faults” even if he was the one who is wrong so no one will have hesitation towards him. The governor should set strict and firm rules so people will fear under his power. Only that way people will not dare to break the law. However, I think a governor should be brave enough to find his own mistakes. This is one of the qualities according to the analects gentlemen should have and a governor must also have. A governor should be more concentrated on setting a good example rather than making strict rules to let people live under fear.
October 25th, 2007 at 7:27 am
Before I came to Taipei American School, I was studying in wego elementary school, and I think that international school should be non-Confucian so, I will like to take Taipei American School as non-Confucian and Wego elementary school as Confucian school. In Wego elementary school, most of the students behave themselves and some high school students stay in school for study until 10:00 pm and the parent was like I just want the grades to improve and they don’t care about other things so the student will care and want to learn themselves . In Taipei American School, what I saw is some student are really learning something, they study until 3 or 4:00 am but, there are still some students that just act like they don’t care anything.
October 25th, 2007 at 8:14 am
I’ve been to both International School and Local School in Taiwan. Most of the people will think that local school in Taiwan is more Confucian. It really depends how people see things. Even though Taiwanese school teaches more about “the four books” and focuses more in the meanings, but people don’t put them into practice more than western style of environment. In this case, I’ll say that International School is more Confucian. In local school, the teachers show low kindness to students. If a student gets a low grade on homework or tests, the teacher might scold at the student and even insult the student in front of the whole class. It’s also a loss of humanity. The teachers from local school, they always look down on students,; they think students are lower level than them. Confucius once said, “Only the man of humanity can rightly love some people and rightly despise some people.” In local school, no matter how kindly or reverent you treat other people, if you get bad grades, the teachers judge you as a bad person. The teachers will do everything to protect those good graders. If an A+ student does bad things, the teacher will protect the student from getting punishment from the principles.
In the international school, people and teachers show kindness. The teachers and students greet each other when they see each other. When a student gets a bad grade, the teacher won’t scold the student in front of the whole class. The teacher will have a little discussion with the students and help him/her to solve the problems. Students and teachers respect each other; teacher doesn’t look down on students. Of course, teachers from international school don’t judge a student base on his/her grades. In conclusion, western style of school is more Confucian.
October 25th, 2007 at 8:31 am
People from different generations have different beliefs and values. Confucius once said, “You can be a service to your father and mother by remonstrating with them tactfully. If you perceive that they do not wish to follow your advice, then continue to be reverent toward them without offending or disobeying them; work hard and do not murmur against them.” This quote represents what my parents’ generation believed about the interaction between parents and children. Kids are supposed to obey and be very careful with whatever they speak. They are not allowed to argue or correct their parents. However in my generation, people speak whatever comes to their mind. If they disagree what their parents, they will just speak out and fight for their rights. Both generations have different view toward filial piety.
On the other hand, there are some similarities in the two generations. Confucius told his students, “If a person’s acts with reverence, he will not be insulted.” In both generations, people believe that you should show respect to others before you want them to show respect to you. “If he is truthful, he will be trusted by others.” When you are honest, people will trust you; when you lie, people will look you down. In both generations, we highly value mutual respect and honesty.
October 25th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Using evidence from the Analects, compare and contrast the beliefs and values of your generation with the generation of your parents.
Ken C., B1
In my parents’ time, most of the people though that boys are always better than girls. In some schools, they thought that it was better to let boys and girls be in different classrooms and study at the same time, though they were in the same school. But some schools thought that both gender should be taught in different schools. In schools, they hit children with leather belts and other things. After some 30 to 40 years, the law has changed into no hitting children, and most elementary and junior high schools have changed into boys and girls are in the same school and in the same classroom when studying. Although there are still girls’ schools in this time, they have become an easier place to study in.
Confucius said, “The strong-minded scholar and the man of humanity do not seek to live by violating the virtue of humanity. They will suffer death in necessary to achieve humanity.”
A lot of people may not have heard of this part of the Analects, but they did it because they had humanity in their hearts. “The strong-minded scholar and the man of humanity do not seek to live by violating the virtue of humanity.” this part is saying that people shouldn’t be using things that will trend the humanity. To say it easier, teachers shouldn’t be using violence to teach and earn money.”T hey will suffer death in necessary to achieve humanity.” and between the generations, the teachers have fought hard to add the law of not hitting students in schools.
October 28th, 2007 at 7:16 am
This is late because I was absent on Tuesday and did not have the paper.
There are many similarities and differences between beliefs and values in the current generation, and in the past. My parents both grew up in a fairly Confucian environment in Taiwan. One major similarity could be the fact of the importance of government. “The Master said, ‘Make food supplies sufficient, provide an adequate army, and give the people reason to have faith.’” These principles of a good government still stand after thousands of years, as well as the importance of government officials and representatives. Government still has a huge affect on people now than it did during the previous generation, and even Confucius’s generation.
One chief difference is the importance factored on filial piety. “When your parents are alive, serve them according to the rules of ritual and decorum.” In the past generation, the care of parents was much greater than it is now, especially in Asian Confucian environments. It would be one’s duty to honor, respect, and take care of their parents. A lack of this would result in beatings. Now however, the extent of parental respect is much less. The typical person would rarely respect and honor their parents, and would normally only check up on them once in a while to make sure they are living well. “When they are deceased, give them a funeral and offer sacrifices to them according to the rules of ritual and decorum.” Nowadays, funerals are still typically very common, but sacrifices are not. Usually, only flowers are put next to the tombstone every year.
October 28th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Western people and eastern people are very different in many ways. Many say that what makes one person a westerner or an easterner is their looks. However, I think that the elements that differentiate easterner from westerner are their cultural background and their beliefs. Among their beliefs and cultures, I would like to talk about the differences in perspective towards filial piety.
As the first example, in many eastern countries, if one’s parents did something illegal, they will try to cover it up for their parents. They may try telling their parents not to continue the illegal behavior but they will never turn their own parents in. That is because those eastern countries believe in Confucius’s sayings and especially in what he said about filial piety “The upright man of my land are different. The father will shelter the son and the son will shelter the father. Righteousness lies precisely in this.” However, in many western countries, they have a different perspective in righteousness. Therefore, if a westerner was in the same situation they would even turn their own parent’s in because they consider the lawful legality more than the filial piety.
As another example, in mostly every western countries, the men say “Ladies first” before “Elders first”. However, in most eastern countries, they always think of elders first before anyone else. Again, from this, we can see another Confucius’s saying “When your parents are alive, serve them according to the rules of ritual and decorum.” That shows us the difference in the way people think in western countries and eastern countries.
October 28th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Confucianism Response:
Response to: A2 Hae-In
From: A2 Derek M
In the first paragraph, Hae In pointed out the difference in education giving by the amount of money. It is quite true. However, the difference extended more then that. The qualities of the teachers, equipments and tools used in classes, and the environment of the school all differ in response to the amount of the money given. Further more, in the first paragraph of Hae In’s ‘“Who is wealthy enough gets all tutoring and classes. When for those who aren’t wealthy enough, can’t.”’ She pointed out that education doesn’t stop at school. It went further, into tutors, extra classes, and teaching materials outside of school’s books, all matters that has connection with education. Money decided the quantity and quality able to obtain. The differences made by these extra supports and classes only pull the distances between poor and rich students larger, opposing what Confucius’s ideal education.
Another major idea Hae In mention is respect. In Confucianism, strict rules are set on behaviors of individuals with the elder ones, younger ones, and the same age. Respect and seriousness are required as one spoke to one’s elder, and kindness and patience toward younger. In contrast to the heavily influenced eastern culture, western cultures tend to relax more on such rules. Respect is still required, and kindness is still the decorum, but looser on the amount. In school, these two standards clashed each other, and the western culture seems to win. If Confucius was alive, he would have gone mad over the lack of discipline and appropriate behaviors.
October 28th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Confucianism Response
Response To: A2 Alex C.
From: A2 Derek M.
In Alex’s piece, he mentioned the different in awards and the things being awarded. The Chinese school awarded not the best in grades, but being a gentleman and following the five qualities of being a gentleman. In contrary, the awards given out in our school is base not solely on personalities, but also grades and performances in class. The differences between the two awards are evidences of different influences of Confucianism. Our school is not so influenced as the local school.
On the other hand, both school denounced the bad behaviors. Like what Alex said in his paragraphs, “‘Such as lying (truthfulness), swearing (kindness), slacking off (diligence), not sharing school equipments or space (generous), and bullying (reverence). “Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you.” - Analects.”’ Either school would have punished the wrong-doers and encourage the opposite. Maybe Confucianism didn’t influenced the awarded parts equally, but it state in both schools the wrong parts.
October 29th, 2007 at 3:04 am
Response to: William W. A1
From: Rebecca W. A1
I totally disagree with William’s posting. He stated in the second paragraph, “But I, on the other hand, think that school is quite useless past the elementary level – especially since you probably won’t need more than half of what you learn in school once you’re out in the world.” This is untrue because in elementary school, you only learn the fundamentals of some concepts. How will you ever get a job and survive in the real world, if all you know is simple math or a few basic words, such as ‘big’ or ‘small’. No company would want to hire an employee whose resume says that he only attended school from pre-school to the fifth grade.
The example he stated in the second paragraph talked about how learning about positive ions has smaller atomic radii than neutral atoms, and negative ions have bigger atomic radii would not be useful to you in the real world. However, I think that this information could be helpful to you if you wish to become a teacher or scientist to make a living.
At the end of the third paragraph, William said, “…at least the subjects we take should be, so we can select what we will truly require when we are adults.” I’d like to say that in high school, we could select the subjects we want to take. For example, you only need one fine arts credit in high school. The fine arts credit can be branched out in to visual arts or performing arts. Those two branches off the fine arts credit, then branch off in to more little branches, of photography, orchestra, ceramics, etc. This relates to his final quote in the last paragraph, “For learning to take place with any kind of efficiency students must be motivated. To be motivated, they must become interested. And they become interested when they are actively working on projects which they can relate to their values and goals in life.” In high school, you can choose which courses you want to take, letting you become motivated and interested.
October 29th, 2007 at 3:22 am
RESPONSE TO: Christina Y. A1
QUOTE: In contrast with our parents generation, our generation has attributed many different changes in our relationship on how we interact and treat our parents. “When your parents are alive serve them according to the rules of ritual and decorum.” This was one of Confucius’s quotes from the analects and means that you should respect and obey your parents without question. In my parents generation it was common for them to have strict parents and have to meet their commands, while in our generation we feel more free to express our own opinions and go against what they say.
Though one generation might not have much of a difference it’s not that hard to imagine what she’s saying here. Certainly older people will be more stuck with tradition; it’s that way with my grandparents, though in a different aspect – religion. My own PARENTS however, are pretty lenient compared to my grandparents, or perhaps my great-grandparents.
QUOTE: Another majo