The Mystic and Rational Properties of Confucainism:A Historical Perspecitve

It is widely acknowledged among sinology scholars in Japan that after it was promoted to the position of a national religion in the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has become a religion which has mystic and irrational qualities and which places emphasis on weishu (secondary Confucian classics), and that the history of Confucianism is described as the struggle between believers of the mystic and irrational Confucianism and intellectuals who criticized the irrationality of Confucianism and insisted on the promotion of rationalsm with the latter defeating the former. However, a close scrutiny of this issue on the basis of the study of Emperor Chang's change of the calendar may reveal that that the secondary Confucian classics contain mystic and irrational elements is true, but its rational elements have been neglected up to date. A reexamniation of Confucianism as a national religion and its history reveal that Confucianism contained some elements which supressed mysticism and irrationality in order to promote rationalism in it. Therefore, it can be predicted that there is the possibility in the history of Confucianism there had been a spontaneous movement for self-development.