The Religious Educational View on the Confucian concept of God

ABSTRACT

In this essay, we will discuss the concept of God in Ancient China and its religious functions. We find that Confucius turned the absolute dignity of Heaven to the idea that Heaven is the immanent being and urged individuals to be morally aware, as well as affirming the factor of the personal Heavenly God as the object of faith. This Confucian concept of God shows that the personal God (Lord-on-High) in ancient China was depersonalized, and came down to the human world. The God in Confucianism takes part in the human society and the worldly order, however limited. In other words, it can work with jen 仁 , the order of human inside, and Li 禮 , the consideration of the outside. It is characterized as the adaptation with no tension between Man and God, and between Man and society. It shows that Confucianism which communicates with something focuses on this worldliness and rationalism as its features.