Religious Confucianism

The Chinese name for religious Confucianism is Rujiao, in contrast with non-religious Confucianism which is called Rujia. The differences can be roughly translated with jiao meaning religion, and jia meaning school, although the term Rujiao is ancient and predates this modern usage of jiao.


Ru ("Erudites") were a "small group of cultural specialists" who preserved older Zhou dynasty rituals and did scholarly work to pass down traditional Zhou "written classics" through the generations.^[2]


Religious Confucianism includes traditional Chinese patriarchal religion in its practice, leading some scholars to call it Tianzuism (Chinese: 天祖教; pinyin: Tiānzǔjiào; lit. 'Church of Heaven and Ancestors') instead to avoid confusion with non-religious Confucianism.^[3][4] It includes such practices as heaven sacrifice, jisi, and fengshan.


Elements include the deification and worship of Confucius, the seventy-two disciples, Mencius, Zhu Xi,^[5] and Shangdi.^[6]


Religious Confucianism has had state sponsorship since the Han dynasty, and in all subsequent major dynasties until the 1911 Revolution. The Five Classics became the jurisprudential basis of the national code and the Chinese legal system, as well as the Spring and Autumn Courts. At the end of the Han dynasty, religious Confucianism was widespread.^[7] Religious Confucian organizations known as Confucian churches, which emerged during the Qing dynasty, have significant popularity among overseas Chinese people today.^[8]


Elements of religious Confucianism can be found in Chinese salvationist religions and Falun Gong, while a number of Japanese and Korean religious sects also claim a Confucian identity.