Confucianism
Confucius
A resigned justice minister of the 6th century BCE chinese state of Lu, Confucius was a travelling teacher who is said to be the author of a complex philosophical system, Confucianism, which governed the lives and the politics of China and the neighboring countries for nearly two thousands years after his death. His main emphasis was that personal example of merit and moral is more beneficial to the state and society than any laws or rules, and that sincere performance of rituals (including everyday etiquette) is what makes individuals absorb cultural norms better than any post-factum reward or punishment. He also advocated continuous learning and individual development, concentrating on the improvement of the human nature, which is why confucianism is often considered a type of a humanist philosophy, especially in its elaboration by Xun Zi, who expanded greatly on Confucious’s natural philosophy, saying that there is no supernatural will, that the people should focus on dealing with reality and society rather than with the heavenly images.
Confucianism became the official state philosophy of the Han dynasty, and meritocracy became an integral part of the chinese government; any male adult citizen of any background could take an exam and become a high-ranking government official. This system of Imperial Examination existed, with a brief interruption in the Yuan dynasty, for 1300 years, from year 605 to year 1905, and is still followed in Taiwan. This tradition had created a great insentive for the people everywhere in the country, poor and elite, to educate themselves, because the rewards for passing the exam were great. Because the examination was centralized, the entire vast Chinese state was learning the same written language, the same philosophy, skills, sciences, arts, and morals, and became truly unified in spirit more than on paper, a great success for Confucius and his vision of unity and harmony.