Pros And Cons Of Confucianism

Zheng He sailed the oceans for the Chinese Empire during the early fifteenth century. (Zheng) He took seven voyages during his tenure, as admiral of the Chinese naval power. Suddenly, in the year of 1433, all expeditions came to a halt and the ships were burnt until they no longer existed along with most documentation of these voyages. Although some historians, like Needham, argue that the new outbreak of Confucianism among the common people changed the thought process of the Chinese and their opinion of these voyages, and other historians, like Li Ung Bing, argue that the threats of the Mongols led to the stoppage of the voyages, my paper will argue that China stopped these voyages and burnt their whole maritime fleet, in order to focus on
Even to this day, Confucianism is the “substance of learning, the source of values, and social code of China” (Confucianism). Many people believe it is a religion but it does not fit the description because it is not organized, but it has had a strong “influence of Chinese literate culture and has exerted a profound influence on spiritual and political life” (Confucianism). Some historians, especially Needham, argue that Confucianism took off in China and that people started living according to what Confucianism said they should live like. The major core of Confucianism is humanistic, which makes the quote aforementioned even more powerful, and compels his argument. In a document that references his opinion, it says “voyages were terminated because compassionate Confucians wanted the money spent on the ships to go instead to water conservation and grain projects” (Finlay, 297). This quote demonstrates that the people who were benefiting from the voyages consisted of the government officials and maybe another small group, undisclosed to the public. The Chinese government may have been arguing internally with these people, which may have changed their focus away from the voyages. In essence, that is what Needham is arguing. Many historians argue that China chose not to continue exploration because of “Cultural deficiencies and shortcomings”. Every person in the world wants their government to spend less money on some things, and more on other things, but that seldom