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Confucianism
Confucianism is "the way of life propagated by Confucius in the 6th–5th century BCE and followed by the Chinese people for more than two thousand years". Britannica has an excellent summary of Confucianism here. Interestingly, Confucianism does not have a direct translation in Chinese. The thoughts of Confucius and his later followers were put together as one of the dozens of schools of Chinese ancient scholars. This school is called 儒(rú) in Chinese meaning "people with knowledge and specialties or scholar servers to nobles". It is not a religion, but more "a worldview, a social ethic, a political ideology, a scholarly tradition, and a way of life".
The core of Confucianism is 仁(rén), meaning “humaneness,” “benevolence”, or "goodness". Here are a couple of excerpts from "The Analects of Confucius". Click here to read the complete translation.
The Master said, "A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies."
The philosopher You said, "They are few who, being filial and fraternal, are fond of offending against their superiors. There have been none, who, not liking to offend against their superiors, have been fond of stirring up confusion. The superior man bends his attention to what is radical. That being established, all practical courses naturally grow up. Filial piety and fraternal submission! - are they not the root of all benevolent actions?"
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