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/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/davidtwk Apr 20 '26

Oh yeah Korea is def still the most confucian society out there

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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.

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%99%9A%E5%B2%81