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Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

Postal Subscription Code 80-983

Front Phil Chin    2011, Vol. 6 Issue (1) : 20-40    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11466-011-0123-9
research-article
Confucius’ Transformation of Traditional Religious Ideas
ZHANG Maoze()
Institute of Chinese Thought and Culture, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
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Abstract

Confucius’ religious thought summarized and utilized existing historical and cultural achievements. He strove to bring problems concerning traditional religious ideas such as destiny, the spirits, ritual propriety and faith into the realm of the rational. He sought to unearth the elements of human reason contained within these and to highlight the sublime and sacred in actual human society. He established a system of religious humanism that incorporated views on edification, faith, destiny, the ghosts and spirits and self-cultivation. Using a dialectic based on the mean, he established a spiritual mindset comprising rational faith, a this-worldly transcendence and a sacredness grounded in the human that led ancient Chinese religious thinking in a unique direction.

Keywords Confucius      religious thought      spiritual mindset     
Corresponding Author(s): ZHANG Maoze,Email:zhangmaoze@nwu.edu.cn   
Issue Date: 05 March 2011
 Cite this article:   
ZHANG Maoze. Confucius’ Transformation of Traditional Religious Ideas[J]. Front Phil Chin, 2011, 6(1): 20-40.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/10.1007/s11466-011-0123-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/Y2011/V6/I1/20
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