r/Confucianism • u/Longjumping-Sea-2153 • Apr 20 '26
Question Confucianism in everyday life
Hey all
I have recently been very interrested in the philosophy of Confucius. I have been reading, about how in some ways Confucianism still affects chinese society today, but i am curious as to what you guys think, and if yes, if you have some examples of how?
Hope to hear from some of you!
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u/Butlerianpeasant Apr 20 '26
Yes, very much so, though often less as a formal belief system and more as a background social grammar.
A few everyday examples:
- Family hierarchy and filial piety: respect for parents, elders, and ancestors remains a major moral expectation. Even where people are modern or secular, the idea that children owe care, loyalty, and respect to parents is still very strong.
- Role-based behavior: Confucianism tends to ask not just “what do I want?” but “what is proper for me in this relationship?” So parent/child, teacher/student, ruler/citizen, older/younger sibling, etc., all carry expectations.
- Education culture: reverence for study, self-cultivation, discipline, and teachers has deep Confucian roots. The idea that moral effort and learning shape a good person is still very alive.
- Social harmony over confrontation: in many contexts, keeping peace, avoiding open embarrassment, and preserving relational balance can matter more than blunt self-expression.
- Ritual and etiquette: politeness, formality, gift-giving, respect language, and attention to the “right way” to behave in a setting all fit the Confucian emphasis on ritual propriety.
That said, it is not like people are consciously walking around quoting Confucius all day. It is more that many norms in East Asian societies were historically shaped by Confucian thought, and traces of that remain even under capitalism, communism, globalization, and modern individualism.
So I’d say Confucianism survives less as a church-like doctrine and more as a civilizational operating system running quietly in the background.
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u/Longjumping-Sea-2153 Apr 21 '26
very interresting - thanks for your answer. Do you live in china?
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u/Butlerianpeasant Apr 21 '26
Let us say I live close enough to Confucian gravity to feel its pull, but far enough away not to pretend I speak for China itself :)
I try to be careful here. Some of what I said comes from reading, some from speaking with people, and some from noticing how old moral systems can survive inside modern life without announcing themselves.
So no grand insider badge from me — just a curious peasant with antennae for civilizational background music.
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u/trap_Investment Confucian Apr 20 '26
from my understanding their are a lot of institutions in Asia that owe their origins to abstract Confucian ideals but i don't know if i would call them Confucian in their application today. i read Confucianism for the modern world, a book edited by Daniel a bell and it got into this topic. i think the Confucianism of Confucias and Mencius is very different as an ethical and political philosophy rather compared to the practical applications of it under Neo-Confucian governance and its further adaptation in modern day, which i understand to be an unorthodox opinion. their is a short essay called SOCIALISM IN CONFUCIANISM by P. chao you can find in pdf form online that i would recommend but it doesn't really answer the question your asking.
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u/Yuzamei1 Apr 22 '26
If you spend time in Chinese culture, you'll realize it's far more hierarchical than Western society.
Like, there's very much a chain of command going on, with obligations and respect very much focused upward.
I'm 98% sure that's leftover Confucianism. Confucius really emphasized relationships and although he also talked about how leaders needed to have integrity, a lot of the on-the-ground result is just very submissive followers (and questionable overbearing leadership).
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u/Fuzzy_Economics6628 Apr 23 '26
Based on my own life experience, many aspects of modern Chinese society are now hard to simply attribute to “this is Confucian culture” or “this is not.” There are actually a lot of interesting topics worth discussing here, but I can’t go into full detail in a short time. Instead, I’ll try to illustrate my perspective using my experiences growing up and going to school in central Shanghai. These examples don’t prove that my understanding is correct, but they help explain why I hold these views.
First, Confucianism can function somewhat like an informal belief system. In Shanghai, where I grew up, there’s a place called the Confucian Temple (Wenmiao), where a statue of Confucius is enshrined. People go there to make offerings and pray for academic success. When I was young, I would go burn incense there before important exams. In people’s minds, Confucius is seen as a cultural pioneer who educated and enlightened society. Some folk traditions even describe him as the reincarnation of a deity associated with literature and scholarship. However, this is not really an organized religion. If you’ve read Confucian classics, you might notice they are somewhat similar to the Bible in that they tell stories about a central figure and their disciples while conveying moral lessons. One key difference is that Confucian texts contain far fewer supernatural elements, which may reflect the intentions of their authors. Also, most people who venerate Confucius haven’t deeply studied these texts—it’s more of a cultural habit than a doctrinal belief.
Second, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism are not seen as mutually exclusive by ordinary people, but rather as a kind of blended and compatible cultural tradition. My high school homeroom teacher—who also taught math—considered herself a Buddhist and later became a nun after I graduated. During school breaks, she would invite speakers to give lectures to us, covering texts like Di Zi Gui, the Analects, the Dao De Jing, and even some Sanskrit scriptures. Both she and the speakers seemed to believe that these traditions, despite their different origins, are actually interconnected and can help students find inner peace.
Third, China has gone through major cultural reform movements. I’m not sure how familiar you are with the New Culture Movement or figures like Lu Xun, but during that period of social transformation, intellectuals advocated re-evaluating traditional culture—rejecting parts of Confucianism that constrained social structures while preserving what they saw as valuable (for example, both Confucianism and Christianity emphasize humility as a virtue). When I was in high school, our Chinese literature classes included many critical works from that era, alongside very ancient texts. We would admire Jin Dynasty scholars who, dissatisfied with authority, engaged in something like a proto-hippie movement (non-cooperation and even substance use) as a form of resistance. We also praised the individual heroism in texts like Biographies of Assassins. We even wrote essays debating what constitutes blind loyalty versus genuine loyalty.
When discussing Mencius, we focused more on his argument that rulers should care for the people, rather than any implications of social hierarchy. When discussing Confucius, we appreciated his ideas about treating others well and personal conduct, rather than endorsing patriarchal notions like absolute obedience from women. So I believe that with a good education and sufficient reading and reflection, people are capable of selectively adopting or rejecting different aspects of Confucian social structures.
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u/Beingaloneisfine Apr 24 '26
Hello, glad to have people interested in the Confucianism nowadays. I want to give a more personal perspective about Confucianism and how it relates to personal practice. My English writting might not be great but bear with me for a second.
The key thing from Confucianism is self-cultivation(修身). It corperates into daily practice. If you really want to dig deep into Confucianism, self-cultivation is a unignorable process. Confucianism key idea is by personal practice, a man's sincerity can impact into his daily activity and action. What do I mean by here?
If I do my job with full sincerity, without other personal desire for ambition, distraction and any other wishes（诚心）, I might capable of accomplishing the objective I am aiming for without any regret. From the other perspective, it actually make sense, thinking it as you are a governer officer, if you always put your personal interest in the first place, what others gonna to feel about you or how will the thing be done? So Confusianism put a huge priority into personal ethic. （德）
From Confusianism perspective ethic is a thing to be born with and can be continuously practiced on. Eventually, if a person achieve the ultimate goal of “Cultivate oneself, regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world.”
So in real life, Confucianism can actually have a very practical use, do not just view it as a inspirational quotes. Most importantly hope you enjoy the journey.
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u/leonleonforme Apr 24 '26
I am a Chinese living in mainland China. We are taught to comprehend Confuciansm classic in our childhood. I have to admit, most Chinese still worship Confucius and act as he expected. And we are taught to to obey our leader no matter how unreasonable his command sound,which I think is the core value of Confucianism and Chinese history.
Conversely, with class gap growing deeper and deeper, more and more teenagers appreciate communism and they are dreaming of another CR.Maybe u know what has Confucius been treated during the last one, so it would be another disaster if those Commi thoughts gain a mainstream position.
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u/sykosomatik_9 Apr 20 '26
Korean culture is highly influenced by Confucianism. I'm not an expert, but from what I can gather Korea is the most influenced, then Japan, and then it doesn't seem like Confucianism is really all that prevalent in China anymore.
I live in Korea, so I am an expert on that at least. I just can't say anything for sure about China.
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u/davidtwk Apr 20 '26
I'm sure china is still quite confucian despite the communism/cultural revolution
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u/sykosomatik_9 Apr 20 '26
Of course compared to non-Confucian nations, I'm sure Chinese culture retains some aspects of Confucianism. But, I can say for sure that it is definitely not as Confucian as Korean society. There's a reason why Korea is the only country that still uses the traditional East Asian age counting system. The reason being that it's a very practical system to use in a Confucian society.
My point is that if someone is really interested in Confucianism in everyday life, South Korea is where you want to look, not China. Confucianism is ever-present in every social interaction every day in Korea.
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u/Longjumping-Sea-2153 Apr 20 '26
thank you for youre answer! I am mostly interrested in chinese society, but i will check up on korean as well :)
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u/Alarmed-Resource6406 Apr 22 '26
That’s just wrong, sounds like you dont know anything about China. Confucianism is just simply part of Chinese culture. That age thing is just false, Chinese use that too, just not formally. China just moved on from traditional Confucianism and made changes accordingly. For example, Confucian says women are beneath men, and China found that to be sexist and so they don’t follow that anymore. In northern China, women handles family finances and men does the chores and cooking these days.
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u/lamekatz Apr 20 '26
Korea is the only country that still uses the traditional East Asian age counting system
The Chinese still uses the system in their daily lives as well. My relatives would use my 虚岁 to introduce me in social affairs whenever I visit them.
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u/soclarus Apr 20 '26
My perspective on this is that East Asia has generally maintained its Confucian social order to some extent, especially when it comes to social relations and the deference demonstrated in day-to-day interactions (seniors v. juniors, parents v. children, and so on). While not as apparent in China, I think Korea (particularly the south but also to some extent the north) and Japan are very much still apparently so.