User:Aishwaryanigalye/Korean Confucianism

Before Goryeo
'''Confucianism can first be traced back to the development of the Korean writing system, when Confucianism began to be studied and endorsed by the higher classes. Additionally, artifacts that depict Confucian ideals, such as the famous "Painted Basket" and a roof tile imprinted with a Confucian institution's symbols, have been found in the Lolang colony (located in the modern day city of Pyongyang). These artifacts reflect the influence of Han Chinese and the prevalence of Confucianism among foreigners in Korea, rather than Koreans themselves.'''

The nature of early Korean political and cultural organization centered on the clan and the tribe rather than cities and states. A Chinese record of the Gojoseon Kingdom (1000 BC – 300 BC) labeled the inhabitants of the peninsula as DONG-I or "eastern barbarians" or "eastern bowmen". Though the Shang dynasty (1600 BC – 1040 BC) is recognized chiefly for its metallurgical accomplishments, its organizational accomplishments included the invocation of authority through one's ancestors. When the Shang Dynasty was overtaken by the Western Zhou (1122 BC – 771 BC), the Zhou modified the Shang belief in ancestors belief to invoke the "Mandate of Heaven" as a way of identifying the divine right to rule. The Mandate of Heaven was based on rules of good governance and the emperor was granted the right to rule by heaven as long as those rules of good governance were obeyed.

The scattered rule of many semi-autonomous holdings were increasingly brought under the rule of a central government as a Zongfa or "kinship network" though as time went on the territory ruled was far too large for all vassals to be actual blood relatives. Vassals to the king enjoyed hereditary titles and were expected to provide labor and fighting forces as circumstances merited. In these many ways, the Gojoseon kingdom would have been “validated” by their “big brother” to the south, and while the Gojoseon king would still rule, the “Mandate of Heaven” lay obligations on him to rule justly and fairly and for the benefit of his people and not just his favorites or relatives. As the Western Zhou declined, China entered into a period known as the Spring and Autumn period (771 BC – 471BC) and the "kinship network" also declined. Control of many feudal holdings fell to feudal lords and knights, or "fighting gentlemen", (C. SHI). Unbound by family relationships, these men were free to attack their neighbors and accrue holdings. It was into this period, then, that Confucius was born and spent his entire life seeming to strive for the construction of a governmental ideal in the nature of the Zhou centralized government. However, in 109 BC the Han Emperor, Wu-Ti overwhelmed Gojoseon by both land and sea and established four bases, or "commanderies", Four Commanderies of Han in the region as a way to stabilize the area for trade. The subsequent introduction of four separate administrations to oversee the region only served to prolong the divided nature of the Korean peninsula and hamper an adoption of the Confucian model. <-- all plagiarized

As the Three Kingdoms Period emerged from the Four Commanderies, each Kingdom sought ideologies under which their populations could be consolidated and authority could be validated. From its introduction to the kingdom of Baekje in 338 AD, Korean Buddhism spread rapidly to all of the states of the Three Kingdoms Period. Though Korean Shamanism had been an integral part of Korean culture extending back to earliest time, Buddhism was able to strike a balance between the people and their administration by arbitrating the responsibilities of one to the other.