The Gospel According to Confucius - Confucianism Issue 5-13
Asians have a reputation for being very disciplined. The reason for this stereotype is that, on the whole, they tend to be able to focus on whatever they are doing in ways that other cultural groupings do not. For instance, if you look in the field of music, it is not unusual to see a large representation of Asians among the top performers. You can find the same thing true in certain fields of science. You also see this principle playing out in the business arena.
The reason you see this phenomenon is not because Asians are genetically predisposed to this kind of focus. Rather, it is because there are certain cultural values within many Asian societies which promote this kind of discipline. If you chase down specifically where that comes from, you will find the root in the teachings of Confucius.
Confucianism is actually not a religion in the traditional sense of the word. In fact, many people consider it more of a cultural foundation than anything else. The main reason it is worthy of examination regarding its worldview basis is because it does supply a major part of the thinking about all of life for a very significant portion of the world’s population. And while it is not a religion, strictly speaking, it does, indeed, contain certain assumptions about the nature of reality which need to be understood when dealing with people who come from Far Eastern cultures which were influenced by this philosophy. Because of this, lets take some time to delve into the background of this system.
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