Compare And Contrast Confucianism And Buddhism

Compare and contrast the roles of Confucianism and Buddhism in both China and Korea until roughly the 7th century

Introduction

East Asia is the largest emerging economy of the world at present, and this phenomenon can be traced back to its cultural, demographic, political and social traditions and identities. Yang and Tamney (2011) said religion was an integral part of cultural which played an extremely great role in enriching people’s spiritual life, guiding people to do good (p.132), and strengthening the state authority and legitimating their rule by instilling people with the politics-oriented beliefs from the perspective of the ruling class. Confucianism and Buddhism played a dominant role in the feudal society in both China and Korea and they exerted far-reaching impacts on both countries until today. As religion, both Confucianism and Buddhism served similar purposes in maintaining the social orderliness and stability, despite the differences between them in the religions beliefs and their impacts. In this paper, the roles of two mainstream religions, Confucianism (including Neo-Confucianism) and Buddhism in China and Korea until roughly the 7th century are compared and contrasted in various aspects. To begin with, the origins and basic principles of Confucianism and Buddhism and explored, followed by the issue that when and how both

Through the comparison and contrast, it is revealed these two religions have similar social contexts to originate, despite the different basic religious principles. The establishment and introduction of both religions were for specific social, cultural and political purposes. The Korean and Chinese feudal rulers, by propagandizing the basic principles of both religions to their advantage and adjusting them, serving the purpose of maintaining the social stability and keeping their subjects