Confucianism

It is widely acknowledged that Confucianism has a dominant influence in Chinese culture. Chinese scholars writing in Chinese generally see Confucianism ( ruxue , or rujia , thinking) as a school of Chinese philosophy, and the question of whether Confucianism is a religion or not does not arise. Western scholars on religion, however, often regard Confucianism as a religion. Indeed, Weber's famous work on Chinese religion is entitled The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism . It is worth noting that, historically, the Chinese do not make a clear distinction between moral teaching and the western concept of religious teaching, these being referred to as jiao , or “teaching.” Thus, sanjiao , referring to Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, is better translated as “three teachings” rather than as “three religions,” for in the Chinese understanding of jiao , it is not important whether or not Confucianism is a religion.