title: Platoon (film)

text: Due to a legal dispute between HBO Home Video and Vestron Video over home video rights, the film was delayed from its planned October 1987 release. After a settlement was reached, it was finally released on tape on January 22, 1988 through HBO, and then reissued on September 1, 1988 by Vestron. Vestron reissued the film twice, in 1991 and 1994. It made its DVD debut in 1997 through Live Entertainment. It was released again on VHS in 1999 by Polygram Filmed Entertainment (who briefly held the rights to the film through its purchase of the Epic library). The film was rereleased on DVD and again on VHS in 2001 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (who now owns the rights to the film through their purchase of the pre-1996 Polygram Filmed Entertainment library). MGM released the 20th anniversary DVD through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2006 while 20th Century Fox released the Blu-ray version on May 25, 2011. Shout! Factory released the 4K remastered Blu-Ray on September 18, 2018 and released a 4K Ultra-HD/Blu-ray combo pack on September 13, 2022.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a way of life, Confucianism developed from what was later called the Hundred Schools of Thought from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BCE).


title: Confucianism

text: Confucius considered himself a transmitter of cultural values inherited from the Xia (c. 2070–1600 BCE), Shang (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and Western Zhou dynasties (c. 1046–771 BCE). Confucianism was suppressed during the Legalist and autocratic Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), but survived. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), Confucian approaches edged out the "proto-Taoist" Huang–Lao as the official ideology, while the emperors mixed both with the realist techniques of Legalism.


title: Confucianism

text: A Confucian revival began during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). In the late Tang, Confucianism developed in response to Buddhism and Taoism and was reformulated as Neo-Confucianism. This reinvigorated form was adopted as the basis of the imperial exams and the core philosophy of the scholar official class in the Song dynasty (960–1297). The abolition of the examination system in 1905 marked the end of official Confucianism. The intellectuals of the New Culture Movement of the early twentieth century blamed Confucianism for China's weaknesses. They searched for new doctrines to replace Confucian teachings; some of these new ideologies include the "Three Principles of the People" with the establishment of the Republic of China, and then Maoism under the People's Republic of China. In the late twentieth century, the Confucian work ethic has been credited with the rise of the East Asian economy.


title: Confucianism

text: With particular emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony, rather than on an otherworldly source of spiritual values, the core of Confucianism is humanistic. According to American philosopher Herbert Fingarette's conceptualisation of Confucianism as a philosophical system which regards "the secular as sacred", Confucianism transcends the dichotomy between religion and humanism, considering the ordinary activities of human life—and especially human relationships—as a manifestation of the sacred, because they are the expression of humanity's moral nature ("xìng" ), which has a transcendent anchorage in Heaven ("Tiān" ). While "Tiān" has some characteristics that overlap the category of godhead, it is primarily an "impersonal" absolute principle, like the "Dào" () or the "Brahman". Confucianism focuses on the practical order that is given by a this-worldly awareness of the "Tiān". Confucian liturgy (called "rú", or sometimes , meaning 'orthopraxy') led by Confucian priests or "sages of rites" () to worship the gods in public and ancestral Chinese temples is preferred on certain occasions, by Confucian religious groups and for civil religious rites, over Taoist or popular ritual.


title: Confucianism

text: The worldly concern of Confucianism rests upon the belief that human beings are fundamentally good, and teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor, especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue in a morally organised world. Some of the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include "rén", "yì", and "lǐ", and "zhì". "Rén" (, 'benevolence' or 'humaneness') is the essence of the human being which manifests as compassion. It is the virtue-form of Heaven. "Yì" () is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. "Lǐ" () is a system of ritual norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life in harmony with the law of Heaven. "Zhì" () is the ability to see what is right and fair, or the converse, in the behaviors exhibited by others. Confucianism holds one in contempt, either passively or actively, for failure to uphold the cardinal moral values of "rén" and "yì".


title: Confucianism

text: Traditionally, cultures and countries in the East Asian cultural sphere are strongly influenced by Confucianism, including China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, as well as various territories settled predominantly by Han Chinese people, such as Singapore and Myanmar's Kokang. Today, it has been credited for shaping East Asian societies and overseas Chinese communities, and to some extent, other parts of Asia. In the last decades there have been talks of a "Confucian Revival" in the academic and the scholarly community, and there has been a grassroots proliferation of various types of Confucian churches. In late 2015, many Confucian personalities formally established a national Confucian Church () in China to unify the many Confucian congregations and civil society organisations.


title: Confucianism

text: Strictly speaking, there is no term in Chinese which directly corresponds to "Confucianism". In the Chinese language, the character "rú" meaning "scholar" or "learned" or "refined man" is generally used both in the past and the present to refer to things related to Confucianism. The character "rú" in ancient China had diverse meanings. Some examples include "to tame", "to mould", "to educate", "to refine". Several different terms, some of which with modern origin, are used in different situations to express different facets of Confucianism, including:


title: Confucianism

text: Three of them use "rú". These names do not use the name "Confucius" at all, but instead focus on the ideal of the Confucian man. The use of the term "Confucianism" has been avoided by some modern scholars, who favor "Ruism" and "Ruists" instead. Robert Eno argues that the term has been "burdened ... with the ambiguities and irrelevant traditional associations". Ruism, as he states, is more faithful to the original Chinese name for the school.


title: Confucianism

text: The term "Traditionalist" has been suggested by David Schaberg to emphasize the connection to the past, its standards, and inherited forms, in which Confucius himself placed so much importance. This translation of the word "rú" is followed by e.g. Yuri Pines.


title: Confucianism

text: According to Zhou Youguang, "rú" originally referred to shamanic methods of holding rites and existed before Confucius's times, but with Confucius it came to mean devotion to propagating such teachings to bring civilisation to the people. Confucianism was initiated by the disciples of Confucius, developed by Mencius (c. 372–289 BCE) and inherited by later generations, undergoing constant transformations and restructuring since its establishment, but preserving the principles of humaneness and righteousness at its core.


title: Confucianism

text: Traditionally, Confucius was thought to be the author or editor of the Five Classics which were the basic texts of Confucianism. The scholar Yao Xinzhong allows that there are good reasons to believe that Confucian classics took shape in the hands of Confucius, but that "nothing can be taken for granted in the matter of the early versions of the classics". Professor Yao says that perhaps most scholars today hold the "pragmatic" view that Confucius and his followers, although they did not intend to create a system of classics, "contributed to their formation".


title: Confucianism

text: The scholar Tu Weiming explains these classics as embodying "five visions" which underlie the development of Confucianism:


title: Confucianism

text: Confucianism revolves around the pursuit of the unity of the individual self and the God of Heaven ("Tiān" ), or, otherwise said, around the relationship between humanity and Heaven. The principle of Heaven ("Lǐ" or "Dào" ), is the order of the creation and the source of divine authority, monistic in its structure. Individuals may realise their humanity and become one with Heaven through the contemplation of such order. This transformation of the self may be extended to the family and society to create a harmonious fiduciary community. Joël Thoraval studied Confucianism as a diffused civil religion in contemporary China, finding that it expresses itself in the widespread worship of five cosmological entities: Heaven and Earth ("Di" ), the sovereign or the government ("jūn" ), ancestors ("qīn" ) and masters ("shī" ).


title: Confucianism

text: According to the scholar Stephan Feuchtwang, in Chinese cosmology, which is not merely Confucian but shared by all Chinese religions, "the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy" ("hundun" and "qi" ), organising through the polarity of yin and yang which characterises any thing and life. Creation is therefore a continuous ordering; it is not a "creation "ex nihilo"." "Yin and yang are the invisible and visible, the receptive and the active, the unshaped and the shaped; they characterise the yearly cycle (winter and summer), the landscape (shady and bright), the sexes (female and male), and even sociopolitical history (disorder and order). Confucianism is concerned with finding "middle ways" between yin and yang at every new configuration of the world."""


title: Confucianism

text: Confucianism conciliates both the inner and outer polarities of spiritual cultivation, that is to say self-cultivation and world redemption, synthesised in the ideal of "sageliness within and kingliness without". "Rén", translated as "humaneness" or the essence proper of a human being, is the character of compassionate mind; it is the virtue endowed by Heaven and at the same time the means by which man may achieve oneness with Heaven comprehending his own origin in Heaven and therefore divine essence. In the "Dàtóng shū" () it is defined as "to form one body with all things" and "when the self and others are not separated ... compassion is aroused".


title: Confucianism

text: "Tiān" (), a key concept in Chinese thought, refers to the God of Heaven, the northern culmen of the skies and its spinning stars, earthly nature and its laws which come from Heaven, to "Heaven and Earth" (that is, "all things"), and to the awe-inspiring forces beyond human control. There are such a number of uses in Chinese thought that it is not possible to give one translation into English.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucius used the term in a mystical way. He wrote in the "Analects" (7.23) that Tian gave him life, and that Tian watched and judged (6.28; 9.12). In 9.5 Confucius says that a person may know the movements of the Tian, and this provides with the sense of having a special place in the universe. In 17.19 Confucius says that Tian spoke to him, though not in words. The scholar Ronnie Littlejohn warns that Tian was not to be interpreted as personal God comparable to that of the Abrahamic faiths, in the sense of an otherworldly or transcendent creator. Rather it is similar to what Taoists meant by "Dao": "the way things are" or "the regularities of the world", which Stephan Feuchtwang equates with the ancient Greek concept of "physis", "nature" as the generation and regenerations of things and of the moral order. Tian may also be compared to the "Brahman" of Hindu and Vedic traditions. The scholar Promise Hsu, in the wake of Robert B. Louden, explained 17:19 ("What does Tian ever say? Yet there are four seasons going round and there are the hundred things coming into being. What does Tian say?") as implying that even though Tian is not a "speaking person", it constantly "does" through the rhythms of nature, and communicates "how human beings ought to live and act", at least to those who have learnt to carefully listen to it.


title: Confucianism

text: Zigong, a disciple of Confucius, said that Tian had set the master on the path to become a wise man (9.6). In 7.23 Confucius says that he has no doubt left that the Tian gave him life, and from it he had developed right virtue ( "dé"). In 8.19 he says that the lives of the sages are interwoven with Tian.


title: Confucianism

text: Regarding personal gods ("shén", energies who emanate from and reproduce the Tian) enliving nature, in the "Analects" Confucius says that it is appropriate () for people to worship ( "jìng") them, though through proper rites (), implying respect of positions and discretion. Confucius himself was a ritual and sacrificial master. Answering to a disciple who asked whether it is better to sacrifice to the god of the stove or to the god of the family (a popular saying), in 3.13 Confucius says that in order to appropriately pray gods one should first know and respect Heaven. In 3.12 he explains that religious rituals produce meaningful experiences, and one has to offer sacrifices in person, acting in presence, otherwise "it is the same as not having sacrificed at all". Rites and sacrifices to the gods have an ethical importance: they generate good life, because taking part in them leads to the overcoming of the self. Analects 10.11 tells that Confucius always took a small part of his food and placed it on the sacrificial bowls as an offering to his ancestors.


title: Confucianism

text: Other movements, such as Mohism which was later absorbed by Taoism, developed a more theistic idea of Heaven. Feuchtwang explains that the difference between Confucianism and Taoism primarily lies in the fact that the former focuses on the realisation of the starry order of Heaven in human society, while the latter on the contemplation of the Dao which spontaneously arises in nature.


title: Confucianism

text: As explained by Stephan Feuchtwang, the order coming from Heaven preserves the world, and has to be followed by humanity finding a "middle way" between yin and yang forces in each new configuration of reality. Social harmony or morality is identified as patriarchy, which is expressed in the worship of ancestors and deified progenitors in the male line, at ancestral shrines.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucian ethical codes are described as humanistic. They may be practiced by all the members of a society. Confucian ethics is characterised by the promotion of virtues, encompassed by the Five Constants, "Wǔcháng" () in Chinese, elaborated by Confucian scholars out of the inherited tradition during the Han dynasty. The Five Constants are:


title: Confucianism

text: These are accompanied by the classical "Sìzì" (), that singles out four virtues, one of which (Yì) is included among the Five Constants:


title: Confucianism

text: There are still many other elements, such as "chéng" (, honesty), "shù" (, kindness and forgiveness), "lián" (, honesty and cleanness), "chǐ" (, shame, judge and sense of right and wrong), "yǒng" (, bravery), "wēn" (, kind and gentle), "liáng" (, good, kindhearted), "gōng" (, respectful, reverent), "jiǎn" (, frugal), "ràng" (, modestly, self-effacing).


title: Confucianism

text: "Rén" () is the Confucian virtue denoting the good feeling a virtuous human experiences when being altruistic. It is exemplified by a normal adult's protective feelings for children. It is considered the essence of the human being, endowed by Heaven, and at the same time the means by which man may act according to the principle of Heaven (, "Tiān lǐ") and become one with it.


title: Confucianism

text: Yán Huí, Confucius's most outstanding student, once asked his master to describe the rules of "rén" and Confucius replied, "one should see nothing improper, hear nothing improper, say nothing improper, do nothing improper." Confucius also defined "rén" in the following way: "wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others."


title: Confucianism

text: Another meaning of "rén" is "not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself." Confucius also said, ""rén" is not far off; he who seeks it has already found it." "Rén" is close to man and never leaves him.


title: Confucianism

text: "Li" () is a classical Chinese word which finds its most extensive use in Confucian and post-Confucian Chinese philosophy. "Li" is variously translated as "rite" or "reason," "ratio" in the pure sense of Vedic "ṛta" ("right," "order") when referring to the cosmic law, but when referring to its realisation in the context of human social behaviour it has also been translated as "customs", "measures" and "rules", among other terms. "Li" also means religious rites which establish relations between humanity and the gods.


title: Confucianism

text: According to Stephan Feuchtwang, rites are conceived as "what makes the invisible visible", making possible for humans to cultivate the underlying order of nature. Correctly performed rituals move society in alignment with earthly and heavenly (astral) forces, establishing the harmony of the three realms—Heaven, Earth and humanity. This practice is defined as "centring" ( "yāng" or "zhōng"). Among all things of creation, humans themselves are "central" because they have the ability to cultivate and centre natural forces.


title: Confucianism

text: "Li" embodies the entire web of interaction between humanity, human objects, and nature. Confucius includes in his discussions of "li" such diverse topics as learning, tea drinking, titles, mourning, and governance. Xunzi cites "songs and laughter, weeping and lamentation... rice and millet, fish and meat... the wearing of ceremonial caps, embroidered robes, and patterned silks, or of fasting clothes and mourning clothes... spacious rooms and secluded halls, soft mats, couches and benches" as vital parts of the fabric of "li".


title: Confucianism

text: Confucius envisioned proper government being guided by the principles of "li". Some Confucians proposed that all human beings may pursue perfection by learning and practising "li". Overall, Confucians believe that governments should place more emphasis on "li" and rely much less on penal punishment when they govern.


title: Confucianism

text: Loyalty (, "zhōng") is particularly relevant for the social class to which most of Confucius's students belonged, because the most important way for an ambitious young scholar to become a prominent official was to enter a ruler's civil service.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucius himself did not propose that "might makes right," but rather that a superior should be obeyed because of his moral rectitude. In addition, loyalty does not mean subservience to authority. This is because reciprocity is demanded from the superior as well. As Confucius stated "a prince should employ his minister according to the rules of propriety; ministers should serve their prince with faithfulness (loyalty)."


title: Confucianism

text: Similarly, Mencius also said that "when the prince regards his ministers as his hands and feet, his ministers regard their prince as their belly and heart; when he regards them as his dogs and horses, they regard him as another man; when he regards them as the ground or as grass, they regard him as a robber and an enemy." Moreover, Mencius indicated that if the ruler is incompetent, he should be replaced. If the ruler is evil, then the people have the right to overthrow him. A good Confucian is also expected to remonstrate with his superiors when necessary. At the same time, a proper Confucian ruler should also accept his ministers' advice, as this will help him govern the realm better.


title: Confucianism

text: In later ages, however, emphasis was often placed more on the obligations of the ruled to the ruler, and less on the ruler's obligations to the ruled. Like filial piety, loyalty was often subverted by the autocratic regimes in China. Nonetheless, throughout the ages, many Confucians continued to fight against unrighteous superiors and rulers. Many of these Confucians suffered and sometimes died because of their conviction and action. During the Ming-Qing era, prominent Confucians such as Wang Yangming promoted individuality and independent thinking as a counterweight to subservience to authority. The famous thinker Huang Zongxi also strongly criticised the autocratic nature of the imperial system and wanted to keep imperial power in check.


title: Confucianism

text: Many Confucians also realised that loyalty and filial piety have the potential of coming into conflict with one another. This may be true especially in times of social chaos, such as during the period of the Ming-Qing transition.


title: Confucianism

text: In Confucian philosophy, filial piety (, "xiào") is a virtue of respect for one's parents and ancestors, and of the hierarchies within society: father–son, elder–junior and male–female. The Confucian classic "Xiaojing" ("Book of Piety"), thought to be written around the Qin-Han period, has historically been the authoritative source on the Confucian tenet of "xiào". The book, a conversation between Confucius and his disciple Zeng Shen, is about how to set up a good society using the principle of "xiào".


title: Confucianism

text: In more general terms, filial piety means to be good to one's parents; to take care of one's parents; to engage in good conduct not just towards parents but also outside the home so as to bring a good name to one's parents and ancestors; to perform the duties of one's job well so as to obtain the material means to support parents as well as carry out sacrifices to the ancestors; not be rebellious; show love, respect and support; the wife in filial piety must obey her husband absolutely and take care of the whole family wholeheartedly. display courtesy; ensure male heirs, uphold fraternity among brothers; wisely advise one's parents, including dissuading them from moral unrighteousness, for blindly following the parents' wishes is not considered to be "xiao"; display sorrow for their sickness and death; and carry out sacrifices after their death.


title: Confucianism

text: Filial piety is considered a key virtue in Chinese culture, and it is the main concern of a large number of stories. One of the most famous collections of such stories is "The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars". These stories depict how children exercised their filial piety in the past. While China has always had a diversity of religious beliefs, filial piety has been common to almost all of them; historian Hugh D.R. Baker calls respect for the family the only element common to almost all Chinese believers.


title: Confucianism

text: Social harmony results in part from every individual knowing his or her place in the natural order, and playing his or her part well. Reciprocity or responsibility ("renqing") extends beyond filial piety and involves the entire network of social relations, even the respect for rulers. This is shown in the story where Duke Jing of Qi asks Confucius about government, by which he meant proper administration so as to bring social harmony.


title: Confucianism

text: Particular duties arise from one's particular situation in relation to others. The individual stands simultaneously in several different relationships with different people: as a junior in relation to parents and elders, and as a senior in relation to younger siblings, students, and others. While juniors are considered in Confucianism to owe their seniors reverence, seniors also have duties of benevolence and concern toward juniors. The same is true with the husband and wife relationship where the husband needs to show benevolence towards his wife and the wife needs to respect the husband in return. This theme of mutuality still exists in East Asian cultures even to this day.


title: Confucianism

text: The Five Bonds are: ruler to ruled, father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger brother, friend to friend. Specific duties were prescribed to each of the participants in these sets of relationships. Such duties are also extended to the dead, where the living stand as sons to their deceased family. The only relationship where respect for elders isn't stressed was the friend to friend relationship, where mutual equal respect is emphasised instead. All these duties take the practical form of prescribed rituals, for instance wedding and death rituals.


title: Confucianism

text: The "junzi" (, "jūnzǐ", "lord's son") is a Chinese philosophical term often translated as "gentleman" or "superior person" and employed by Confucius in the "Analects" to describe the ideal man.


title: Confucianism

text: In Confucianism, the sage or wise is the ideal personality; however, it is very hard to become one of them. Confucius created the model of "junzi", gentleman, which may be achieved by any individual. Later, Zhu Xi defined "junzi" as second only to the sage. There are many characteristics of the "junzi": he may live in poverty, he does more and speaks less, he is loyal, obedient and knowledgeable. The "junzi" disciplines himself. "Ren" is fundamental to become a "junzi".


title: Confucianism

text: As the potential leader of a nation, a son of the ruler is raised to have a superior ethical and moral position while gaining inner peace through his virtue. To Confucius, the "junzi" sustained the functions of government and social stratification through his ethical values. Despite its literal meaning, any righteous man willing to improve himself may become a "junzi".


title: Confucianism

text: On the contrary, the "xiaoren" (, "xiăorén", "small or petty person") does not grasp the value of virtues and seeks only immediate gains. The petty person is egotistic and does not consider the consequences of his action in the overall scheme of things. Should the ruler be surrounded by "xiaoren" as opposed to "junzi", his governance and his people will suffer due to their small-mindness. Examples of such "xiaoren" individuals may range from those who continually indulge in sensual and emotional pleasures all day to the politician who is interested merely in power and fame; neither sincerely aims for the long-term benefit of others.


title: Confucianism

text: The "junzi" enforces his rule over his subjects by acting virtuously himself. It is thought that his pure virtue would lead others to follow his example. The ultimate goal is that the government behaves much like a family, the "junzi" being a beacon of filial piety.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucius believed that social disorder often stemmed from failure to perceive, understand, and deal with reality. Fundamentally, then, social disorder may stem from the failure to call things by their proper names, and his solution to this was "zhèngmíng" (). He gave an explanation of "zhengming" to one of his disciples.


title: Confucianism

text: Zi-lu said, "The vassal of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?"


title: Confucianism

text: The Master said, "How uncultivated you are, Yu! The superior man [Junzi] cannot care about the everything, just as he cannot go to check all himself!


title: Confucianism

text: Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect."


title: Confucianism

text: Xun Zi chapter (22) "On the Rectification of Names" claims the ancient sage-kings chose names () that directly corresponded with actualities (), but later generations confused terminology, coined new nomenclature, and thus could no longer distinguish right from wrong. Since social harmony is of utmost importance, without the proper rectification of names, society would essentially crumble and "undertakings [would] not [be] completed."


title: Confucianism

text: According to He Guanghu, Confucianism may be identified as a continuation of the Shang-Zhou (~1600–256 BCE) official religion, or the Chinese aboriginal religion which has lasted uninterrupted for three thousand years. Both the dynasties worshipped the supreme godhead, called "Shangdi" ( "Highest Deity") or "Dì" () by the Shang and "Tian" ( "Heaven") by the Zhou. Shangdi was conceived as the first ancestor of the Shang royal house, an alternate name for him being the "Supreme Progenitor" ( "Shàngjiǎ"). In Shang theology, the multiplicity of gods of nature and ancestors were viewed as parts of Di, and the four "fāng" ("directions" or "sides") and their "fēng" ("winds") as his cosmic will. With the Zhou dynasty, which overthrew the Shang, the name for the supreme godhead became "Tian" ( "Heaven"). While the Shang identified Shangdi as their ancestor-god to assert their claim to power by divine right, the Zhou transformed this claim into a legitimacy based on moral power, the Mandate of Heaven. In Zhou theology, Tian had no singular earthly progeny, but bestowed divine favour on virtuous rulers. Zhou kings declared that their victory over the Shang was because they were virtuous and loved their people, while the Shang were tyrants and thus were deprived of power by Tian.


title: Confucianism

text: John C. Didier and David Pankenier relate the shapes of both the ancient Chinese characters for Di and Tian to the patterns of stars in the northern skies, either drawn, in Didier's theory by connecting the constellations bracketing the north celestial pole as a square, or in Pankenier's theory by connecting some of the stars which form the constellations of the Big Dipper and broader Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor (Little Dipper). Cultures in other parts of the world have also conceived these stars or constellations as symbols of the origin of things, the supreme godhead, divinity and royal power. The supreme godhead was also identified with the dragon, symbol of unlimited power ("qi"), of the "protean" primordial power which embodies both yin and yang in unity, associated to the constellation Draco which winds around the north ecliptic pole, and slithers between the Little and Big Dipper.


title: Confucianism

text: By the 6th century BCE the power of Tian and the symbols that represented it on earth (architecture of cities, temples, altars and ritual cauldrons, and the Zhou ritual system) became "diffuse" and claimed by different potentates in the Zhou states to legitimise economic, political, and military ambitions. Divine right no longer was an exclusive privilege of the Zhou royal house, but might be bought by anyone able to afford the elaborate ceremonies and the old and new rites required to access the authority of Tian.


title: Confucianism

text: Besides the waning Zhou ritual system, what may be defined as "wild" ( "yě") traditions, or traditions "outside of the official system", developed as attempts to access the will of Tian. The population had lost faith in the official tradition, which was no longer perceived as an effective way to communicate with Heaven. The traditions of the ("Nine Fields") and of the "Yijing" flourished. Chinese thinkers, faced with this challenge to legitimacy, diverged in a "Hundred Schools of Thought", each proposing its own theories for the reconstruction of the Zhou moral order.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucius (551–479 BCE) appeared in this period of political decadence and spiritual questioning. He was educated in Shang-Zhou theology, which he contributed to transmit and reformulate giving centrality to self-cultivation and agency of humans, and the educational power of the self-established individual in assisting others to establish themselves (the principle of "àirén", "loving others"). As the Zhou reign collapsed, traditional values were abandoned resulting in a period of moral decline. Confucius saw an opportunity to reinforce values of compassion and tradition into society. Disillusioned with the widespread vulgarisation of the rituals to access Tian, he began to preach an ethical interpretation of traditional Zhou religion. In his view, the power of Tian is immanent, and responds positively to the sincere heart driven by humaneness and rightness, decency and altruism. Confucius conceived these qualities as the foundation needed to restore socio-political harmony. Like many contemporaries, Confucius saw ritual practices as efficacious ways to access Tian, but he thought that the crucial knot was the state of meditation that participants enter prior to engage in the ritual acts. Confucius amended and recodified the classical books inherited from the Xia-Shang-Zhou dynasties, and composed the "Spring and Autumn Annals".


title: Confucianism

text: Philosophers in the Warring States period, both "inside the square" (focused on state-endorsed ritual) and "outside the square" (non-aligned to state ritual) built upon Confucius's legacy, compiled in the "Analects", and formulated the classical metaphysics that became the lash of Confucianism. In accordance with the Master, they identified mental tranquility as the state of Tian, or the One (一 "Yī"), which in each individual is the Heaven-bestowed divine power to rule one's own life and the world. Going beyond the Master, they theorised the oneness of production and reabsorption into the cosmic source, and the possibility to understand and therefore reattain it through meditation. This line of thought would have influenced all Chinese individual and collective-political mystical theories and practices thereafter.


title: Confucianism

text: Since the 2000s, there has been a growing identification of the Chinese intellectual class with Confucianism. In 2003, the Confucian intellectual Kang Xiaoguang published a manifesto in which he made four suggestions: Confucian education should enter official education at any level, from elementary to high school; the state should establish Confucianism as the state religion by law; Confucian religion should enter the daily life of ordinary people through standardisation and development of doctrines, rituals, organisations, churches and activity sites; the Confucian religion should be spread through non-governmental organisations. Another modern proponent of the institutionalisation of Confucianism in a state church is Jiang Qing.


title: Confucianism

text: In 2005, the Center for the Study of Confucian Religion was established, and "guoxue" started to be implemented in public schools on all levels. Being well received by the population, even Confucian preachers have appeared on television since 2006. The most enthusiastic New Confucians proclaim the uniqueness and superiority of Confucian Chinese culture, and have generated some popular sentiment against Western cultural influences in China.


title: Confucianism

text: The idea of a "Confucian Church" as the state religion of China has roots in the thought of Kang Youwei, an exponent of the early New Confucian search for a regeneration of the social relevance of Confucianism, at a time when it was de-institutionalised with the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the Chinese empire. Kang modeled his ideal "Confucian Church" after European national Christian churches, as a hierarchic and centralised institution, closely bound to the state, with local church branches, devoted to the worship and the spread of the teachings of Confucius.


title: Confucianism

text: In contemporary China, the Confucian revival has developed into various interwoven directions: the proliferation of Confucian schools or academies ("shuyuan" ), the resurgence of Confucian rites ("chuántǒng lǐyí" ), and the birth of new forms of Confucian activity on the popular level, such as the Confucian communities ("shèqū rúxué" ). Some scholars also consider the reconstruction of lineage churches and their ancestral temples, as well as cults and temples of natural and national gods within broader Chinese traditional religion, as part of the renewal of Confucianism.


title: Confucianism

text: Other forms of revival are salvationist folk religious movements groups with a specifically Confucian focus, or Confucian churches, for example the "Yidan xuetang" () of Beijing, the "Mengmutang" () of Shanghai, Confucian Shenism ( "Rúzōng Shénjiào") or the phoenix churches, the Confucian Fellowship ( "Rújiào Dàotán") in northern Fujian which has spread rapidly over the years after its foundation, and ancestral temples of the Kong kin (the lineage of the descendants of Confucius himself) operating as Confucian-teaching churches.


title: Confucianism

text: Also, the Hong Kong Confucian Academy, one of the direct heirs of Kang Youwei's Confucian Church, has expanded its activities to the mainland, with the construction of statues of Confucius, Confucian hospitals, restoration of temples and other activities. In 2009, Zhou Beichen founded another institution which inherits the idea of Kang Youwei's Confucian Church, the Holy Hall of Confucius ( "Kǒngshèngtáng") in Shenzhen, affiliated with the Federation of Confucian Culture of Qufu City. It was the first of a nationwide movement of congregations and civil organisations that was unified in 2015 in the Church of Confucius ( "Kǒngshènghuì"). The first spiritual leader of the church is the scholar Jiang Qing, the founder and manager of the Yangming Confucian Abode ( "Yángmíng jīngshě"), a Confucian academy in Guiyang, Guizhou.


title: Confucianism

text: Chinese folk religious temples and kinship ancestral shrines may, on peculiar occasions, choose Confucian liturgy (called "rú" or "zhèngtǒng", "orthopraxy") led by Confucian ritual masters ( "lǐshēng") to worship the gods, instead of Taoist or popular ritual. "Confucian businessmen" ( "rúshāngrén", also "refined businessman") is a recently rediscovered concept defining people of the economic-entrepreneurial elite who recognise their social responsibility and therefore apply Confucian culture to their business.


title: Confucianism

text: A key Confucian concept is that in order to govern others one must first govern oneself according to the universal order. When actual, the king's personal virtue ("de") spreads beneficent influence throughout the kingdom. This idea is developed further in the Great Learning, and is tightly linked with the Taoist concept of wu wei (): the less the king does, the more gets done. By being the "calm center" around which the kingdom turns, the king allows everything to function smoothly and avoids having to tamper with the individual parts of the whole.


title: Confucianism

text: This idea may be traced back to the ancient shamanic beliefs of the king being the axle between the sky, human beings, and the Earth. The emperors of China were considered agents of Heaven, endowed with the Mandate of Heaven. They hold the power to define the hierarchy of divinities, by bestowing titles upon mountains, rivers and dead people, acknowledging them as powerful and therefore establishing their cults.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucianism, despite supporting the importance of obeying national authority, places this obedience under absolute moral principles that curbed the willful exercise of power, rather than being unconditional. Submission to authority ("tsun wang") was only taken within the context of the moral obligations that rulers had toward their subjects, in particular benevolence ("jen"). Confucianism — including the most pro-authoritarian scholars such as Xunzi — has always recognised the Right of revolution against tyranny.


title: Confucianism

text: Although Confucius claimed that he never invented anything but was only transmitting ancient knowledge ("Analects" 7.1), he did produce a number of new ideas. Many European and American admirers such as Voltaire and Herrlee G. Creel point to the revolutionary idea of replacing nobility of blood with nobility of virtue. "Jūnzǐ" (君子, lit. "lord's son"), which originally signified the younger, non-inheriting, offspring of a noble, became, in Confucius's work, an epithet having much the same meaning and evolution as the English "gentleman."


title: Confucianism

text: A virtuous commoner who cultivates his qualities may be a "gentleman", while a shameless son of the king is only a "petty person". That Confucius admitted students of different classes as disciples is a clear demonstration that he fought against the feudal structures that defined pre-imperial Chinese society.


title: Confucianism

text: Another new idea, that of meritocracy, led to the introduction of the imperial examination system in China. This system allowed anyone who passed an examination to become a government officer, a position which would bring wealth and honour to the whole family. The Chinese imperial examination system started in the Sui dynasty. Over the following centuries the system grew until finally almost anyone who wished to become an official had to prove his worth by passing a set of written government examinations.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucian political meritocracy is not merely a historical phenomenon. The practice of meritocracy still exists across China and East Asia today, and a wide range of contemporary intellectuals — from Daniel Bell to Tongdong Bai, Joseph Chan, and Jiang Qing — defend political meritocracy as a viable alternative to liberal democracy.


title: Confucianism

text: In "Just Hierarchy", Daniel Bell and Wang Pei argue that hierarchies are inevitable. Faced with ever-increasing complexity at scale, modern societies must build hierarchies to coordinate collective action and tackle long-term problems such as climate change. In this context, people need not — and should not — want to flatten hierarchies as much as possible. They ought to ask what makes political hierarchies just and use these criteria to decide the institutions that deserve preservation, those that require reform, and those that need radical transformation. They call this approach "progressive conservatism", a term that reflects the ambiguous place of the Confucian tradition within the Left-Right dichotomy.


title: Confucianism

text: Bell and Wang propose two justifications for political hierarchies that do "not" depend on a "one person, one vote" system. First is raw efficiency, which may require centralized rule in the hands of the competent few. Second, and most important, is serving the interests of the people (and the common good more broadly). In "Against Political Equality", Tongdong Bai complements this account by using a proto-Rawlsian "political difference principle". Just as Rawls claims that economic inequality is justified so long as it benefits those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, so Bai argues that political inequality is justified so long as it benefits those materially worse off.


title: Confucianism

text: Bell, Wang, and Bai all criticize liberal democracy to argue that government "by" the people may not be government "for" the people in any meaningful sense of the term. They argue that voters tend to act in irrational, tribal, short-termist ways; they are vulnerable to populism and struggle to account for the interests of future generations. In other words, at a minimum, democracy needs Confucian meritocratic checks.


title: Confucianism

text: In "The China Model", Bell argues that Confucian political meritocracy provides—and has provided—a blueprint for China's development. For Bell, the ideal according to which China should reform itself (and has reformed itself) follows a simple structure: Aspiring rulers first pass hyper-selective examinations, then have to rule well at the local level to be promoted to positions as the provincial level, then have to excel at the provincial level to access positions at the national level, and so on. This system aligns with what Harvard historian James Hankins calls "virtue politics", or the idea that institutions should be built to select the most competent and virtuous rulers — as opposed to institutions concerned first and foremost with limiting the power of rulers.


title: Confucianism

text: While contemporary defenders of Confucian political meritocracy all accept this broad frame, they disagree with each other on three main questions: institutional design, the means by which meritocrats are promoted, and the compatibility of Confucian political meritocracy with liberalism.


title: Confucianism

text: Bell and Wang favour a system in which officials at the local level are democratically elected and higher-level officials are promoted by peers. As Bell puts it, he defends "democracy at the bottom, experimentation in the middle, and meritocracy at the top." Bell and Wang argue that this combination conserves the main advantages of democracy — involving the people in public affairs at the local level, strengthening the legitimacy of the system, forcing some degree of direct accountability, etc. — while preserving the broader meritocratic character of the regime.


title: Confucianism

text: Jiang Qing, by contrast, imagines a tricameral government with one chamber selected by the people (the House of the Commoners 庶民院), one chamber composed of Confucian meritocrats selected via examination and gradual promotion (the House of Confucian Tradition 通儒院), and one body made up of descendants of Confucius himself (The House of National Essence 国体院). Jiang's aim is to construct a legitimacy that will go beyond what he sees as the atomistic, individualist, and utilitarian ethos of modern democracies and ground authority in something sacred and traditional. While Jiang's model is closer to an ideal theory than Bell's proposals, it represents a more traditionalist alternative.


title: Confucianism

text: Tongdong Bai presents an in-between solution by proposing a two-tiered bicameral system. At the local level, as with Bell, Bai advocates Deweyan participatory democracy. At the national level, Bai proposes two chambers: one of meritocrats (selected by examination, by examination and promotion, from leaders in certain professional fields, etc.), and one of representatives elected by the people. While the lower house does not have any legislative power per se, it acts as a popular accountability mechanism by championing the people and putting pressure on the upper house. More generally, Bai argues that his model marries the best of meritocracy and democracy. Following Dewey's account of democracy as a way of life, he points to the participatory features of his local model: citizens still get to have a democratic lifestyle, participate in political affairs, and be educated as "democratic men". Similarly, the lower house allows citizens to be represented, have a voice in public affairs (albeit a weak one), and ensure accountability. Meanwhile, the meritocratic house preserves competence, statesmanship, and Confucian virtues.


title: Confucianism

text: Defenders of Confucian political meritocracy all champion a system in which rulers are selected on the basis of intellect, social skills, and virtue. Bell proposes a model wherein aspiring meritocrats take hyper-selective exams and prove themselves at the local levels of government before reaching the higher levels of government, where they hold more centralized power. In his account, the exams select for intellect and other virtues — for instance, the ability to argue three different viewpoints on a contentious issue may indicate a certain degree of openness. Tongdong Bai's approach incorporates different ways to select members of the meritocratic house, from exams to performance in various fields — business, science, administration, and so on. In every case, Confucian meritocrats draw on China's extensive history of meritocratic administration to outline the pros and cons of competing methods of selection.


title: Confucianism

text: For those who, like Bell, defend a model in which performance at the local levels of government determines future promotion, an important question is how the system judges who "performs best". In other words, while examinations may ensure that early-career officials are competent and educated, how is it thereafter ensured that "only" those who rule well get promoted? The literature opposes those who prefer evaluation by peers to evaluation by superiors, with some thinkers including quasi-democratic selection mechanisms along the way. Bell and Wang favour a system in which officials at the local level are democratically elected and higher-level officials are promoted by peers. Because they believe that promotion should depend upon peer evaluations only, Bell and Wang argue against transparency — i.e. the public should not know how officials are selected, since ordinary people are in no position to judge officials beyond the local level. Others, like Jiang Qing, defend a model in which superiors decide who gets promoted; this method is in line with more traditionalist strands of Confucian political thought, which place a greater emphasis on strict hierarchies and epistemic paternalism — that is, the idea that older and more experienced people know more.


title: Confucianism

text: Another key question is whether Confucian political thought is compatible with liberalism. Tongdong Bai, for instance, argues that while Confucian political thought departs from the "one person, one vote" model, it can conserve many of the essential characteristics of liberalism, such as freedom of speech and individual rights. In fact, both Daniel Bell and Tongdong Bai hold that Confucian political meritocracy can tackle challenges that liberalism wants to tackle, but cannot by itself. At the cultural level, for instance, Confucianism, its institutions, and its rituals offer bulwarks against atomization and individualism. At the political level, the non-democratic side of political meritocracy is — for Bell and Bai — more efficient at addressing long-term questions such as climate change, in part because the meritocrats do not have to worry about the whims of public opinion.


title: Confucianism

text: Joseph Chan defends the compatibility of Confucianism with both liberalism and democracy. In his book "Confucian Perfectionism", he argues that Confucians can embrace both democracy and liberalism on instrumental grounds; that is, while liberal democracy may not be valuable for its own sake, its institutions remains valuable — particularly when combined with a broadly Confucian culture — to serve Confucian ends and inculcate Confucian virtues.


title: Confucianism

text: Other Confucians have criticized Confucian meritocrats like Bell for their rejection of democracy. For them, Confucianism does not have to be premised on the assumption that meritorious, virtuous political leadership is inherently incompatible with popular sovereignty, political equality and the right to political participation. These thinkers accuse the meritocrats of overestimating the flaws of democracy, mistaking temporary flaws for permanent and inherent features, and underestimating the challenges that the construction of a true political meritocracy poses in practice — including those faced by contemporary China and Singapore. Franz Mang claims that, when decoupled from democracy, meritocracy tends to deteriorate into an oppressive regime under putatively "meritorious" but actually "authoritarian" rulers; Mang accuses Bell's China model of being self-defeating, as — Mang claims — the CCP's authoritarian modes of engagement with the dissenting voices illustrate. Baogang He and Mark Warren add that "meritocracy" should be understood as a concept describing a regime's character rather than its type, which is determined by distribution of political power — on their view, democratic institutions can be built which are meritocratic insofar as they favour competence.


title: Confucianism

text: Roy Tseng, drawing on the New Confucians of the twentieth century, argues that Confucianism and liberal democracy can enter into a dialectical process, in which liberal rights and voting rights are rethought into resolutely modern, but nonetheless Confucian ways of life. This synthesis, blending Confucians rituals and institutions with a broader liberal democratic frame, is distinct from both Western-style liberalism — which, for Tseng, suffers from excessive individualism and a lack of moral vision — and from traditional Confucianism — which, for Tseng, has historically suffered from rigid hierarchies and sclerotic elites. Against defenders of political meritocracy, Tseng claims that the fusion of Confucian and democratic institutions can conserve the best of both worlds, producing a more communal democracy which draws on a rich ethical tradition, addresses abuses of power, and combines popular accountability with a clear attention to the cultivation of virtue in elites.


title: Confucianism

text: The works of Confucius were translated into European languages through the agency of Jesuit missionaries stationed in China. Matteo Ricci was among the very earliest to report on the thoughts of Confucius, and father Prospero Intorcetta wrote about the life and works of Confucius in Latin in 1687.


title: Confucianism

text: Translations of Confucian texts influenced European thinkers of the period, particularly among the Deists and other philosophical groups of the Enlightenment who were interested by the integration of the system of morality of Confucius into Western civilization.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucianism influenced the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who was attracted to the philosophy because of its perceived similarity to his own. It is postulated that certain elements of Leibniz's philosophy, such as "simple substance" and "Pre-established harmony," were borrowed from his interactions with Confucianism.


title: Confucianism

text: The French philosopher Voltaire, Leibniz's intellectual rival, was also influenced by Confucius, seeing the concept of Confucian rationalism as an alternative to Christian dogma. He praised Confucian ethics and politics, portraying the sociopolitical hierarchy of China as a model for Europe.


title: Confucianism

text: From the late 17th century onwards a whole body of literature known as the Han Kitab developed amongst the Hui Muslims of China who infused Islamic thought with Confucianism. Especially the works of Liu Zhi such as "Tiānfāng Diǎnlǐ" () sought to harmonise Islam with not only Confucianism but also with Taoism and is considered to be one of the crowning achievements of the Chinese Islamic culture.


title: Confucianism

text: Important military and political figures in modern Chinese history continued to be influenced by Confucianism, like the Muslim warlord Ma Fuxiang. The New Life Movement in the early 20th century was also influenced by Confucianism.


title: Confucianism

text: Referred to variously as the Confucian hypothesis and as a debated component of the more all-encompassing Asian Development Model, there exists among political scientists and economists a theory that Confucianism plays a large latent role in the ostensibly non-Confucian cultures of modern-day East Asia, in the form of the rigorous work ethic it endowed those cultures with. These scholars have held that, if not for Confucianism's influence on these cultures, many of the people of the East Asia region would not have been able to modernise and industrialise as quickly as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and even China have done.


title: Confucianism

text: For example, the impact of the Vietnam War on Vietnam was devastating, but over the last few decades Vietnam has been re-developing in a very fast pace. Most scholars attribute the origins of this idea to futurologist Herman Kahn's "World Economic Development: 1979 and Beyond".


title: Confucianism

text: Other studies, for example Cristobal Kay's "Why East Asia Overtook Latin America: Agrarian Reform, Industrialization, and Development", have attributed the Asian growth to other factors, for example the character of agrarian reforms, "state-craft" (state capacity), and interaction between agriculture and industry.


title: Confucianism

text: After Confucianism had become the official 'state religion' in China, its influence penetrated all walks of life and all streams of thought in Chinese society for the generations to come. This did not exclude martial arts culture. Though in his own day, Confucius had rejected the practice of Martial Arts (with the exception of Archery), he did serve under rulers who used military power extensively to achieve their goals. In later centuries, Confucianism heavily influenced many educated martial artists of great influence, such as Sun Lutang, especially from the 19th century onwards, when bare-handed martial arts in China became more widespread and had begun to more readily absorb philosophical influences from Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. Some argue therefore that despite Confucius's disdain with martial culture, his teachings became of much relevance to it.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucius and Confucianism were opposed or criticised from the start, including Laozi's philosophy and Mozi's critique, and Legalists such as Han Fei ridiculed the idea that virtue would lead people to be orderly. In modern times, waves of opposition and vilification showed that Confucianism, instead of taking credit for the glories of Chinese civilisation, now had to take blame for its failures. The Taiping Rebellion described Confucianism sages as well as gods in Taoism and Buddhism as devils.


title: Confucianism

text: In the New Culture Movement, Lu Xun criticised Confucianism for shaping Chinese people into the condition they had reached by the late Qing dynasty: his criticisms are expressed metaphorically in the work "Diary of a Madman", in which traditional Chinese Confucian society is portrayed as feudalistic, hypocritical, socially cannibalistic, despotic, fostering a "slave mentality" favouring despotism, lack of critical thinking and blind obedience and worship of authority, fuelling a form of "Confucian authoritarianism" which persists into the present day. Leftists during the Cultural Revolution described Confucius as the representative of the class of slave owners.


title: Confucianism

text: In South Korea, there has long been criticism. Some South Koreans believe Confucianism has not contributed to the modernisation of South Korea. For example, South Korean writer Kim Kyong-il wrote an essay entitled "Confucius Must Die For the Nation to Live" (, "gongjaga jug-eoya naraga sanda"). Kim said that filial piety is one-sided and blind, and if it continues, social problems will continue as government keeps forcing Confucian filial obligations onto families.


title: Confucianism

text: Confucianism "largely defined the mainstream discourse on gender in China from the Han dynasty onward." The gender roles prescribed in the Three Obediences and Four Virtues became a cornerstone of the family, and thus, societal stability. The Three Obediences and Four Virtues is one of the moral standards for feudal etiquette to bind women. Starting from the Han period, Confucians began to teach that a virtuous woman was supposed to follow the males in her family: the father before her marriage, the husband after she marries, and her sons in widowhood. In the later dynasties, more emphasis was placed on the virtue of chastity. The Song dynasty Confucian Cheng Yi stated that: "To starve to death is a small matter, but to lose one's chastity is a great matter." Chaste widows were revered and memorialised during the Ming and Qing periods. This "cult of chastity" accordingly condemned many widows to poverty and loneliness by placing a social stigma on remarriage.


title: Confucianism

text: For years, many modern scholars have regarded Confucianism as a sexist, patriarchal ideology that was historically damaging to Chinese women. It has also been argued by some Chinese and Western writers that the rise of neo-Confucianism during the Song dynasty had led to a decline of status of women. Some critics have also accused the prominent Song neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi for believing in the inferiority of women and that men and women need to be kept strictly separate, while Sima Guang also believed that women should remain indoors and not deal with the matters of men in the outside world. Finally, scholars have discussed the attitudes toward women in Confucian texts such as Analects. In a much-discussed passage, women are grouped together with "xiaoren" (, literally "small people", meaning people of low status or low moral) and described as being difficult to cultivate or deal with. Many traditional commentators and modern scholars have debated over the precise meaning of the passage, and whether Confucius referred to all women or just certain groups of women.


title: Confucianism

text: Further analysis suggests, however, that women's place in Confucian society may be more complex. During the Han dynasty period, the influential Confucian text "Lessons for Women" ("Nüjie"), was written by Ban Zhao (45–114 CE) to instruct her daughters how to be proper Confucian wives and mothers, that is, to be silent, hard-working, and compliant. She stresses the complementarity and equal importance of the male and female roles according to yin-yang theory, but she clearly accepts the dominance of the male. However, she does present education and literary power as important for women. In later dynasties, a number of women took advantage of the Confucian acknowledgment of education to become independent in thought.


title: Confucianism

text: Joseph A. Adler points out that "Neo-Confucian writings do not necessarily reflect either the prevailing social practices or the scholars' own attitudes and practices in regard to actual women." Matthew Sommers has also indicated that the Qing dynasty government began to realise the utopian nature of enforcing the "cult of chastity" and began to allow practices such as widow remarrying to stand. Moreover, some Confucian texts like the "Chunqiu Fanlu" have passages that suggest a more equal relationship between a husband and his wife. More recently, some scholars have also begun to discuss the viability of constructing a "Confucian feminism".


title: Confucianism

text: Ever since Europeans first encountered Confucianism, the issue of how Confucianism should be classified has been subject to debate. In the 16th and the 17th centuries, the earliest European arrivals in China, the Christian Jesuits, considered Confucianism to be an ethical system, not a religion, and one that was compatible with Christianity. The Jesuits, including Matteo Ricci, saw Chinese rituals as "civil rituals" that could co-exist alongside the spiritual rituals of Catholicism.


title: Confucianism

text: By the early 18th century, this initial portrayal was rejected by the Dominicans and Franciscans, creating a dispute among Catholics in East Asia that was known as the "Rites Controversy." The Dominicans and Franciscans argued that Chinese ancestral worship was a form of idolatry that was contradictory to the tenets of Christianity. This view was reinforced by Pope Benedict XIV, who ordered a ban on Chinese rituals, though this ban was re-assessed and repealed in 1939 by Pope Pius XII, provided that such traditions harmonize with the true and authentic spirit of the liturgy.


title: Confucianism

text: Some critics view Confucianism as definitely pantheistic and nontheistic, in that it is not based on the belief in the supernatural or in a personal god existing separate from the temporal plane. Confucius views about Tiān 天 and about the divine providence ruling the world, can be found above (in this page) and in Analects 6:26, 7:22, and 9:12, for example. On spirituality, Confucius said to Chi Lu, one of his students: "You are not yet able to serve men, how can you serve spirits?" Attributes such as ancestor worship, ritual, and sacrifice were advocated by Confucius as necessary for social harmony; these attributes may be traced to the traditional Chinese folk religion.


title: Confucianism

text: Scholars recognise that classification ultimately depends on how one defines religion. Using stricter definitions of religion, Confucianism has been described as a moral science or philosophy. But using a broader definition, such as Frederick Streng's characterisation of religion as "a means of ultimate transformation," Confucianism could be described as a "sociopolitical doctrine having religious qualities." With the latter definition, Confucianism is religious, even if non-theistic, in the sense that it "performs some of the basic psycho-social functions of full-fledged religions."


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and politician who predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali language films. He is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards for his acting performance.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty made his acting debut with the art house drama "Mrigayaa" (1976), for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor. Chakraborty played Jimmy in the 1982 film "Disco Dancer", which was commercially successful in India and the Soviet Union, the first film in India to gross Rs.100 crore. Besides "Disco Dancer", Chakraborty is also remembered for his performance in films such as "Surakksha", "Sahhas", "Wardat", "", "Boxer", "Pyar Jhukta Nahin", "Pyari Behna", "Avinash", "Dance Dance", "Prem Pratigyaa", "Mujrim", "Agneepath", "Yugandhar", "The Don", and "Jallaad". In 1991, he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Krishnan Iyer Nariyal Paniwala in the film "Agneepath".


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: He later won two more National Film Awards for his performances in "Tahader Katha" (1992) and "Swami Vivekananda" (1998). Chakraborty has appeared in more than 350 films, including Bengali, Hindi, Odia, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Punjabi pictures. He is the record holder in the Limca Book of Records for 19 movie releases as lead actor in the year 1989 and the record is still unbroken in Bollywood as of July 2022.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty owns the Monarch Group, which has interests in the hospitality and educational sectors. He has also started the production house Paparatzy Productions. In 1992, he, along with Dilip Kumar and Sunil Dutt, set up a trust to help needy actors called Cine & T.V Artistes Association (CINTAA). He was also the Chairperson of Film Studios Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union, which takes care of the welfare of cine workers and resolves their demands and problems. The television show "Dance India Dance" where Chakraborty is the Grand Master has already been entered in the Limca Book of Records and the Guinness World Records. Chakraborty played a crucial role of mediator between Pranab Mukherjee of the Indian National Congress and Mamata Banerjee, winning the Mukherjee the support of Banerjee's party, the All India Trinamool Congress, in the 2012 Indian presidential election. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 7 March 2021, ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty was born on 16 June 1950 into a Bengali Hindu family in Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India to Basanta Kumar Chakraborty and Shanti Rani Chakraborty. He studied at Oriental Seminary and then earned his B.Sc. degree in Chemistry from Scottish Church College in Kolkata. After that, he attended and graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He was a Naxalite before entering films, but tragedy struck his family when his only brother was electrocuted and killed in a freak accident. He returned to his family and left the Naxalite fold, even though this posed a grave risk to his own life. During his days as a Naxalite, he became friends with Ravi Ranjan, a popular Naxal figure, known to his friends as "Bhaa" (the ultimate saviour). Bhaa was known for his manipulational skills and oratory abilities.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty made his Bollywood debut with Mrinal Sen's National Award winning film "Mrigayaa" (1976), for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. After playing a few minor roles in films such as "Do Anjaane" (1976) and "Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan" (1978), his first major successful film was the 1978 film "Mera Rakshak". During those days Chakraborty was supported by his "Nadi Theke Sagare" co-star Debashree Roy. He rose to stardom with the low budget spy film "Surakshaa" (1979), directed by Ravikant Nagaich. The film was so successful that many movies starring Chakraborty in the lead were launched. His combination with Deepak Bahry also happened for the first time in 1979 with "Tarana" and they would go on to collaborate on many hit films together in the 1980s such as "Humse Badhkar Kaun", "Hum Se Hai Zamana" and "Woh Jo Hasina". Another important film for Chakraborty in the late 1970s was "Prem Vivah", directed by Basu Chatterjee.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty made an impact on Hindi cinema in the 1980s with the "brand of impossible heroics and made-for-the-front-row lines." He starred in over 110 releases in this decade in several films of various genres such as action, family drama, romance and comedy. Chakraborty played Bheema in the super-hit multi-starrer "Hum Paanch" (1980). He played dual roles for the first time in "Taxi Chor" (1980) and later played dual roles in 19 films.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: In 1982, he shot to superstardom with his most recognisable leading role in the musical "Disco Dancer", which extended Chakraborty's popularity across India and into Russia and established him as a dancing star. The film's director Babbar Subhash teamed up with Chakraborty again with the cult musical films "Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki" (1984), "Dance Dance" (1987) and "Commando" (1988) which were also successful. His 1985 superhit movie "Pyar Jhukta Nahin" reconfirmed his top star status. That same year, he was also appreciated for his role as Javar in the JP Dutta film, "Ghulami". Chakraborty also became India's highest tax payer in 1986. Chakraborty's most successful family dramas included "Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye" (1983), "Ghar Ek Mandir" (1984), "Swarag Se Sunder" (1986) and "Pyaar Ka Mandir" (1988). His comedies included "Shaukeen" (1982) "Pasand Apni Apni" (1983) and "Baat Ban Jaye" (1986) and action films such as "Jagir" (1984), "Jaal" (1986), "Dilwala" (1986), "Muddat" (1986), "Watan Ke Rakhwale" (1987), "Jeete Hain Shaan Se" (1988), "Waqt Ki Awaz" (1988), "Ilaaka" (1989), "Daata" (1989) and "Guru" (1989). These films remain his most commercially successful films to date. His performances never won any award in 1986 and 1987 as the "Filmfare Awards" were never announced due to technical reasons. As Chakraborty always had a high number of releases, sometimes it affected the business of his own films, as happened in 1989, where he had a record 19 films, including super hits like "Ilaaka", "Mujrim", "Prem Pratigya" and "Daata", and hits like "Ladaai", "Guru" and "Bees Saal Baad".


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: He made his debut in Bengali cinema with Arabinda Mukhopadhyay's "Nadi Theke Sagare" (1978) which was a major success at box office. In the 1980s he shot three blockbusters — "Kalankini Kankabati" (1981) directed by Uttam Kumar, "Troyee" (1982) by Goutam Mukherjee and "Anyay Abichar" (1985) by Shakti Samanta.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty had another 100 plus releases in this decade too, starting with "Agneepath", which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. Films such as "Shandaar", "Gunahon Ka Devta", "Pyar Ka Devta", "Trinetra" and "Mere Sajana Saath Nibhana" followed. In 1992, the critically acclaimed Bengali film "Tahader Katha" won him his second National Film Award for Best Actor. In this period he decided to take a break from Mumbai. He shifted his entire family to Ooty and he constructed "The Monarch" Hotel. Chakraborty then decided to do movies only to be shot at Ooty and nearby locations and he provided discount rates to the film crew to stay in his hotel as well. This strategy paid off as numerous films starring Chakraborty were launched every week, so he shifted his focus from mainstream Hindi cinemas to low-budget movies. "Dalaal" was released followed by other low-budget films such as "Phool Aur Angaar", "" and "Shapath", which created a market for low-budget productions.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Jallad won him the Filmfare Best Villain Award and Star Screen Award Best Villain for the year 1995. His economical film production was popular as Mithun's Dream Factory. Even he could not do Mani Ratnam's Tamil film "Iruvar" as his character had to crop his hair, which would have affected his other 15 films at that time. By this time, Chakraborty held the record for appearing in the most Hindi films as a hero. A third National Award followed in 1998, this time as the Best Supporting Actor, for his portrayal of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in G. V. Iyer's "Swami Vivekananda". Once again, the overdose of Chakraborty releases affected the business as 1998 and 1999 itself had almost 30 releases. Meantime, he paid more taxes than anyone else in the country in the mean period for 5 continuous years, from 1995 to 1999. This decade proved Chakraborty as a businessman more than a star as low-budget filmmakers were given their due by Mithun. He operates hotels in Masinagudi and Ooty in Tamil Nadu, Mysore, Siliguri and Kolkata. After his Bollywood career took a back seat, he concentrated more on Bengali films. He also appeared in Goutam Ghose's "Gudia" in 1999 as well as Rituparno Ghosh's "Titli" in 2002.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Mithun's Dream Factory films still continued to hold the audiences. He featured in Prasanta Bal's period drama "Hindustani Sipahi" (2002), based on veteran actor and dramatist Utpal Dutt's Bengali play "Ferari Fauj". Chakraborty also made a comeback to the mainstream Hindi film industry in 2005 with the film "Elaan". After a few supporting roles in films such as "" (2005) and "Dil Diya Hai" (2006), he starred in Mani Ratnam's film "Guru". He was also acclaimed for his villainous role in Kalpana Lajmi's "Chingaari" (2005). His 2009 movie "Zor Lagaa Ke...Haiya!" won multiple International awards and "Chal Chalein" was appreciated by critics for its bold theme. The critically acclaimed "Phir Kabhi" with Dimple Kapadia had a première through a "direct to home" (DTH) release in September 2009 and won as many as six awards in as many categories at the Los Angeles Reel Awards of 2009.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: In 2006 he starred in the movie "MLA Fatakeshto" and its sequel "Minister Fatakeshto" in 2007 both of which were blockbusters. In 2008, he collaborated again with Buddhadeb Dasgupta for "Kaalpurush" and later appeared in films "Shukno Lanka" and "". His performances in "Mrigaya", "Tahader Katha", "Kaalpurush" and "Titli" won him National Film Awards and nominations. His debut Bhojpuri film "Bhole Shankar" is considered the biggest Bhojpuri film. Similarly, his Odia film "Ae Jugara Krushna Sudama" in which he co-starred with Odia icon Uttam Mohanty was also a huge success. The last Bengali hits for Chakraborty were "Handa and Bhonda", "Nobel Chor" and "Le Halwa Le".


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty's other films include "Veer", (2010) with Salman Khan and "Golmaal 3" (2010), with Ajay Devgn and in 2012, he did 3 films with Akshay Kumar, "Housefull 2", "OMG – Oh My God!" and "Khiladi 786". His home production "Enemmy" (2013) was with his son Mimoh Chakraborty and actor Sunil Shetty and he also did Anthony D'Souza's "Boss" (2013) with Akshay Kumar. Later in Subhash Ghai's "Kaanchi..." (2014), he played an evil politician wearing facial prosthetics that won him critical acclaim. "Kick" with Salman Khan earned more than 375 crore worldwide. Chakraborty also had "Entertainment", "Hawaizaada" and Anil Sharma's "Genius" as other releases and in 2019, "The Tashkent Files" directed by Vivek Agnihotri became a sleeper hit.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty's Telugu film "Gopala Gopala" with Daggubati Venkatesh, Shriya Saran, Pawan Kalyan, Bengali film "Herogiri" along with actor Dev and "Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka", the Tamil film and its Telugu version "Malupu" were released successfully along with Debaditya Bandopadhyay's Bengali film "Naxal", while his long delayed film "" has been officially released and became a success at the box office.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty's Bengali film, the science fiction "Jole Jongole" was released in February 2017 and the long delayed "Hason Raja" has been resumed with Chakraborty paired opposite Raima Sen. He has also made his Kannada debut with "The Villain" starring Shiva Rajkumar and Sudeep .


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: The delayed horror film "12 'O' Clock" directed by Ram Gopal Varma was released in January 2021. Chakaraborty's first web series Bestseller for OTT platform Amazon Prime released on 18 February 2022.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: His latest film "The Kashmir Files" was released worldwide on 11 March 2022 and has been blockbuster at the box office.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: After the success of the Bengali competitive dance reality show "Dance Bangla Dance", Chakraborty developed the concept of Dance India Dance, an Indian dance competition show that airs on Zee TV in India, produced by UTV Software Communications and has become India's largest dance-based reality show. The contestants get a chance to perform before a panel of judges composed of Terrence Lewis, Remo D'Souza and Geeta Kapoor. The selection of the season's Top 18 live show finalists are overseen by head judge Chakraborty. The show has won several television awards for most popular dance reality show. Chakraborty was also the Grand Master of "Dance India Dance Li'l Masters" as well as the host of the reality show "Dadagiri Unlimited" on Zee Bangla channel. He replaced Sourav Ganguly as the host of the show. Chakraborty hosted the Bengali version of "Bigg Boss" and "Rannaghore Rockstar" on ETV Bangla. Chakraborty made his acting debut on TV with the comedy show "The Drama Company".


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty appeared as co-judge in the Star Jalsha's "Dance Dance Junior", also judged by Tollywood actors, Soham and Srabanti Chatterjee.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: He is now appear as a co-judge with Karan Johar and Parineeti Chopra on the reality show titled "", which is premiere on Colors TV from January 2022.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty joined as a Member of Parliament after he was nominated for the Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament elections by the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee for her All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the West Bengal Rajya Sabha Assembly Polls which were held on 7 February 2014. On 26 December 2016, he resigned as a Rajya Sabha MP. Chakraborty joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 7 March 2021, ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kailash Vijayvargiya.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty was the ambassador of Panasonic electronics for India back in the late 1980s. Now he is the face of GoDaddy, an internet domain registrar and web-hosting company. He was also the face of Channel 10, a unit of Bengal Media Pvt. Ltd. owned by Saradha Media Group, and he later said "Saradha didn't pay my dues" as its branch Saradha Chit Fund collapsed. Chakraborty is also the face of Manappuram Gold Loan for West Bengal state.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: He first married actress Helena Luke in 1979, but after 4 months of marriage the couple separated and filed for a divorce. He then married actress Yogeeta Bali in 1979.


title: Mithun Chakraborty

text: Chakraborty and Yogeeta have four children- Mimoh, Ushmey Chakraborty, Namashi Chakraborty and an adopted daughter Dishani Chakraborty. In the 1980s, he was romantically linked to the actress Sridevi, whom he met on the sets of "Jaag Utha Insan", and it was rumored that the two were married. However, when Chakraborty refused to leave his wife, Yogeeta Bali, Sridevi ended the romance and Chakraborty remained with his wife.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem, Y2K scare, millennium bug, Y2K bug, Y2K glitch, Y2K error, or simply Y2K refers to potential computer errors related to the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates in and after the year 2000. Many programs represented four-digit years with only the final two digits, making the year 2000 indistinguishable from 1900. Computer systems' inability to distinguish dates correctly had the potential to bring down worldwide infrastructures for industries ranging from banking to air travel.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: In the years leading up to the turn of the century (millennium), the public gradually became aware of the "Y2K scare", and individual companies predicted the global damage caused by the bug would require anything between $400 million and $600 billion to rectify. A lack of clarity regarding the potential dangers of the bug led some to stock up on food, water, and firearms, purchase backup generators, and withdraw large sums of money in anticipation of a computer-induced apocalypse.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Contrary to published expectations, few major errors occurred in 2000. Supporters of the Y2K remediation effort argued that this was primarily due to the pre-emptive action of many computer programmers and information technology experts. Companies and organizations in some countries, but not all, had checked, fixed, and upgraded their computer systems to address the problem. Then-U.S. president Bill Clinton, who organized efforts to minimize the damage in the United States, labeled Y2K as "the first challenge of the 21st century successfully met", and retrospectives on the event typically commend the programmers who worked to avert the anticipated disaster.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Critics pointed out that even in countries where very little had been done to fix software, problems were minimal. The same was true in sectors such as schools and small businesses where compliance with Y2K policies was patchy at best.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Y2K is a numeronym and was the common abbreviation for the year 2000 software problem. The abbreviation combines the letter "Y" for "year", the number 2 and a capitalized version of "k" for the SI unit prefix kilo meaning 1000; hence, "2K" signifies 2000. It was also named the "millennium bug" because it was associated with the popular (rather than literal) rollover of the millennium, even though most of the problems could have occurred at the end of "any" century.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: "Computerworld"s 1993 three-page "Doomsday 2000" article by Peter de Jager was called "the information-age equivalent of the midnight ride of Paul Revere" by "The New York Times".


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The problem was the subject of the early book "Computers in Crisis" by Jerome and Marilyn Murray (Petrocelli, 1984; reissued by McGraw-Hill under the title "The Year 2000 Computing Crisis" in 1996). Its first recorded mention on a Usenet newsgroup is from 18 January 1985 by Spencer Bolles.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The acronym Y2K has been attributed to Massachusetts programmer David Eddy in an e-mail sent on 12 June 1995. He later said, "People were calling it CDC (Century Date Change), FADL (Faulty Date Logic). There were other contenders. Y2K just came off my fingertips."


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The problem started because on both mainframe computers and later personal computers, storage was expensive, from as low as $10 per kilobyte, to in many cases as much as or even more than US$100 per kilobyte. It was therefore very important for programmers to minimize usage. Since computers only gained wide usage in the 20th century, programs could simply prefix "19" to the year of a date, allowing them to only store the last two digits of the year instead of four. As space on disc and tape was also expensive, these strategies saved money by reducing the size of stored data files and databases in exchange for becoming unusable past the year 2000.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: This meant that programs facing two-digit years could not distinguish between dates in 1900 and 2000. Dire warnings at times were in the mode of:


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The Y2K problem is the electronic equivalent of the El Niño and there will be nasty surprises around the globe.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Options on the De Jager Year 2000 Index, "the first index enabling investors to manage risk associated with the ... computer problem linked to the year 2000" began trading mid-March 1997.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Special committees were set up by governments to monitor remedial work and contingency planning, particularly by crucial infrastructures such as telecommunications, utilities and the like, to ensure that the most critical services had fixed their own problems and were prepared for problems with others. While some commentators and experts argued that the coverage of the problem largely amounted to scaremongering, it was only the safe passing of the main event itself, 1 January 2000, that fully quelled public fears.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Some experts who argued that scaremongering was occurring, such as Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, have since claimed that despite sending out hundreds of press releases about research results suggesting that the problem was not likely to be as big as some had suggested, they were largely ignored by the media. In a similar vein, the Microsoft Press book "Running Office 2000 Professional", published in May 1999, accurately predicted that most personal computer hardware and software would be unaffected by the year 2000 problem. Authors Michael Halvorson and Michael Young characterized most of the worries as popular hysteria, an opinion echoed by Microsoft Corp.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The practice of using two-digit dates for convenience predates computers, but was never a problem until stored dates were used in calculations.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Business data processing was done using unit record equipment and punched cards, most commonly the 80-column variety employed by IBM, which dominated the industry. Many tricks were used to squeeze needed data into fixed-field 80-character records. Saving two digits for every date field was significant in this effort.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: In the 1960s, computer memory and mass storage were scarce and expensive. Early core memory cost one dollar per bit. Popular commercial computers, such as the IBM 1401, shipped with as little as 2 kilobytes of memory. Programs often mimicked card processing techniques. Commercial programming languages of the time, such as COBOL and RPG, processed numbers in their character representations. Over time, the punched cards were converted to magnetic tape and then disc files, but the structure of the data usually changed very little.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Data was still input using punched cards until the mid-1970s. Machine architectures, programming languages and application designs were evolving rapidly. Neither managers nor programmers of that time expected their programs to remain in use for many decades, and the possibility that these programs would both remain in use and cause problems when interacting with databases - a new type of program with different characteristics - went largely uncommented upon.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The first person known to publicly address this issue was Bob Bemer, who had noticed it in 1958 as a result of work on genealogical software. He spent the next twenty years trying to make programmers, IBM, the government of the United States and the International Organization for Standardization aware of the problem, with little result. This included the recommendation that the COBOL picture clause should be used to specify four digit years for dates.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: In the 1980s, the brokerage industry began to address this issue, mostly because of bonds with maturity dates beyond the year 2000. By 1987 the New York Stock Exchange had reportedly spent over $20 million, including "a team of 100" programmers on Y2K.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Despite magazine articles on the subject from 1970 onward, the majority of programmers and managers only started recognizing Y2K as a looming problem in the mid-1990s, but even then, inertia and complacency caused it to be mostly unresolved until the last few years of the decade. In 1989, Erik Naggum was instrumental in ensuring that internet mail used four digit representations of years by including a strong recommendation to this effect in the internet host requirements document . On April Fools' Day 1998, some companies set their mainframe computer dates to 2001, so that "the wrong date will be perceived as good fun instead of bad computing" while having a full day of testing.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: While using 3-digit years and 3-digit dates within that year was used by some, others chose to use the number of days since a fixed date, such as 1 January 1900. Inaction was not an option, and risked major failure. Embedded systems with similar date logic were expected to malfunction and cause utilities and other crucial infrastructure to fail.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Saving space on stored dates persisted into the Unix era, with most systems representing dates to a single 32-bit word, typically representing dates as elapsed seconds from some fixed date, which causes the similar Y2K38 problem.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Storage of a combined date and time within a fixed binary field is often considered a solution, but the possibility for software to misinterpret dates remains because such date and time representations must be relative to some known origin. Rollover of such systems is still a problem but can happen at varying dates and can fail in various ways. For example:


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The date of 4 January 1975 overflowed the 12-bit field that had been used in the Decsystem 10 operating systems. There were numerous problems and crashes related to this bug while an alternative format was developed.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Even before 1 January 2000 arrived, there were also some worries about 9 September 1999 (albeit less than those generated by Y2K). Because this date could also be written in the numeric format 9/9/99, it could have conflicted with the date value codice_1, frequently used to specify an unknown date. It was thus possible that database programs might act on the records containing unknown dates on that day. Data entry operators commonly entered 9999 into required fields for an unknown future date, (e.g., a termination date for cable television or telephone service), in order to process computer forms using CICS software. Somewhat similar to this is the end-of-file code codice_1, used in older programming languages. While fears arose that some programs might unexpectedly terminate on that date, the bug was more likely to confuse computer operators than machines.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Normally, a year is a leap year if it is evenly divisible by four. A year divisible by 100 is not a leap year in the Gregorian calendar unless it is also divisible by 400. For example, 1600 was a leap year, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not. Some programs may have relied on the oversimplified rule that "a year divisible by four is a leap year". This method works fine for the year 2000 (because it is a leap year), and will not become a problem until 2100, when older legacy programs will likely have long since been replaced. Other programs contained incorrect leap year logic, assuming for instance that no year divisible by 100 could be a leap year. An assessment of this "leap year problem" including a number of real-life code fragments appeared in 1998. For information on why century years are treated differently, see Gregorian calendar.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Some systems had problems once the year rolled over to 2010. This was dubbed by some in the media as the "Y2K+10" or "Y2.01K" problem.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The main source of problems was confusion between hexadecimal number encoding and binary-coded decimal encodings of numbers. Both hexadecimal and BCD encode the numbers 0–9 as 0x0–0x9. BCD encodes the number 10 as 0x10, while hexadecimal encodes the number 10 as 0x0A; 0x10 interpreted as a hexadecimal encoding represents the number 16.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: For example, because the SMS protocol uses BCD for dates, some mobile phone software incorrectly reported dates of SMSes as 2016 instead of 2010. Windows Mobile is the first software reported to have been affected by this glitch; in some cases WM6 changes the date of any incoming SMS message sent after 1 January 2010 from the year 2010 to 2016.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The most important occurrences of such a glitch were in Germany, where up to 20 million bank cards became unusable, and with Citibank Belgium, whose digipass customer identification chips failed.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Known as the Y2K22 bug. The maximum value of a signed 32-bit integer, as used in many computer systems, is 2147483647. Systems using an integer to represent a 10 character date-based field, where the leftmost two characters are the 2-digit year, ran into an issue on 1 January 2022 when the leftmost characters needed to be '22', i.e. values from 2200000001 needed to be represented.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Microsoft's Exchange server was one of the most famous and significant systems affected by the Y22 bug. The problem caused emails to be stuck on transport queues on Exchange Server 2016 and Exchange Server 2019, reporting the following error:


title: Year 2000 problem

text: “The FIP-FS “Microsoft” Scan Engine failed to load. PID: 23092, Error Code: 0x80004005. Error Description: Can't convert “2201010001” to long.”


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Many systems use Unix time and store it in a signed 32-bit integer. This data type is only capable of representing integers between −(2) and (2)−1, treated as number of seconds since the epoch at 1 January 1970 at 00:00:00 UTC. These systems can only represent times between 13 December 1901 at 20:45:52 UTC and 19 January 2038 at 03:14:07 UTC. If these systems are not updated and fixed, then dates all across the world that rely on Unix time will wrongfully display the year as 1901 beginning at 03:14:08 UTC on 19 January 2038.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Several very different approaches were used to solve the year 2000 problem in legacy systems. Several of them follow:


title: Year 2000 problem

text: When 1 January 2000 arrived, there were problems generally regarded as minor. Consequences did not always result exactly at midnight. Some programs were not active at that moment and problems would only show up when they were invoked. Not all problems recorded were directly linked to Y2K programming in a causality; minor technological glitches occur on a regular basis.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Problems were reported on February 29 2000, Y2K's first Leap Year Day, and 1 March 2000. These were mostly minor.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Some software did not correctly recognize 2000 as a leap year, and so worked on the basis of the year having 365 days. On the last day of 2000 (day 366) these systems exhibited various errors. These were generally minor.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Since 2000, various issues have occurred due to errors involving overflows. An issue with time tagging caused the destruction of the NASA "Deep Impact" spacecraft.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Some software used a process called date windowing to fix the issue by interpreting years 00-19 as 2000–2019 and 20–99 as 1920–1999. As a result, a new wave of problems started appearing in 2020, including parking meters in New York City refusing to accept credit cards, issues with Novitus point of sale units, and some utility companies printing bills listing the year 1920.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Although only two digits are allocated for the birth year in the Bulgarian national identification number, the year 1900 problem and subsequently the Y2K problem were addressed by the use of unused values above 12 in the month range. For all persons born before 1900, the month is stored as the calendar month plus 20, and for all persons born in or after 2000, the month is stored as the calendar month plus 40.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's most important cabinet ministers were ordered to remain in the capital Ottawa, and gathered at 24 Sussex Drive, the prime minister's residence, to watch the clock. 13,000 Canadian troops were also put on standby.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: The Dutch Government promoted Y2K Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) to share readiness between industries, without threat of antitrust violations or liability based on information shared.


title: Year 2000 problem

text: Norway and Finland changed their national identification number, to indicate the century in which a person was born. In both countries, the birth year was historically indicated by two digits only. This numbering system had already given rise to a similar problem, the "Year 1900 problem", which arose due to problems distinguishing between people born in the 20th and 19th centuries. Y2K fears drew attention to an older issue, while prompting a solution to a new problem. In Finland, the problem was solved by replacing the hyphen ("-") in the number with the letter "A" for people born in the 21st century (for people born before 1900, the sign was already "+"). In Norway, the range of the individual numbers following the birth date was altered from 0–499 to 500–999.