The Basics of Confucianism

Students will be introduced to Confucius and his ideas. The concepts that will be studied are li, ren, qi, rites, junxi, etc. This list is only a sampling of the basic concepts that will be explored. The Five Relationships of Confucianism will also receive significant attention. Nonetheless, in spite of this course not being Western in outlook, certain Confucian concepts will be compared and contrasted with the Great Books where applicable. While this course does not focus on the Western tradition, studying the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism is invaluable in today’s society, particularly with China’s rise on the world stage. This 32-week course consists of four eight-week quarters. Each quarter students will be assigned a weekly recorded lecture, reading appropriate for the week, relevant reading questions, a weekly 1 hour live recitation, one 500-700-word essay, and a quarterly exam. In the course of the year, the students will read all the texts listed below, will have listened to 32 lectures, written four essays and attended at least 90 percent of live recitations to discuss the texts in Socratic fashion.

This class is offered for grades 7-12, but for 7th and 8th-grade students, it is best if the student is gifted or an honors-level student. This course is being offered for a wide range of students because of the unique nature of the course content. As far as grading is concerned, I will take into consideration students' grade levels when tabulating grades.

Course Objectives:

1. To become proficient in the conversational approach to learning: close readings, interpretative questions, and Socratic discussions of the texts.
2. To gain a grasp of the key ideas of Confucianism.
3. To develop lateral thinking skills by analyzing and synthesizing themes and motifs.
4. To cultivate an appetite for learning as a way of life (the life of the mind).
5. To be able to think Christianly and write persuasively about perennial human questions.

Texts:

The Four Books: ASIN: B01L9XKZU6

• Confucius (Great Learning)
• Zisi (Doctrine of the Mean)
• Confucius (Analects)
• Mencius (Mencius)

NOTE: The ASIN number is similar to the ISBN number. All of the works of the Four Books and Five Classics are available digitally as a complete set through Delphi Classics. Please use the ASIN number provided. Please order the Kindle edition through amazon.com or delphiclassics.com.

The Five Classics:

• Confucius (Classic of Poetry)
• Confucius (Book of Documents)
• Confucius (Book of Rites)
• Confucius (I Ching [Book of Changes])
• Confucius (Spring and Autumn Annals)
• The Holy Bible (KJV)

The authorship of these works cannot be fully authenticated but are frequently attributed to Confucius’s own hand or his editing of them from preexisting works.