Is Confucianism a religion?

Abstract

Among the five religions (zōngjiào) whose followers operate in eight legal or­ganizations in the Peo-ple’s Republic of China, there is no Confucianism (rújiā). Interest­ingly, for over half a century, researchers of this tradition have been engaged in a lively, serious discussion about the possibility of recognizing it as a religion. At the beginning of the article, the difficulties associated with this issue are mentioned. Then, by way of introduction, Confucius’s religiosity as illustrated in the Analects is discussed. The main part presents several rele-vant approaches to Confucianism that emphasize, although for different reasons, its religious character. They are accompanied by various references to the phenomenon of religion, which constitute their context, as well as reservations ex­pressed towards these approaches. Additionally, the text contains comments on Chinese spiritu-ality, which are important in relation to attempts to resolve the discussed issue.