Q 01/05

Which Chinese word, older than Confucius himself, names the tradition the West calls Confucianism?

A) Ru

B) Dao

C) Fa

D) Mo

Answer · why

A) Ru

Ru. It first meant specialists in ritual, and since the Chinese name never mentions Confucius at all, some scholars now write 'Ruism' instead.

Q 02/05

Which Confucian virtue is usually translated 'benevolence' or 'humaneness'?

A) Xin

B) Ren

C) Li

D) Yi

Answer · why

B) Ren

Ren. Asked by a student what it meant, Confucius once answered simply 'love all men', but he gave other students other answers, so the Analects never ...

Q 03/05

The character for the Confucian virtue ren joins 'two' to the sign for what?

A) Heart

B) Person

C) Tree

D) Roof

Answer · why

B) Person

Person. Two people side by side: the graph is commonly read as saying that this virtue exists only between people, never in one alone.

Q 04/05

Which Confucian virtue means 'propriety' or 'rites'?

A) Zhi

B) Xin

C) Shu

D) Li

Answer · why

D) Li

Li. The word began with formal ceremonies such as offerings of food and wine to ancestors, then stretched to cover etiquette and ethics in general, do...

Q 05/05

Han Confucians grouped ren, yi, li, zhi and xin under what collective name?

A) The Five Constants

B) The Five Relations

C) The Five Rites

D) The Five Phases

Answer · why

A) The Five Constants

The Five Constants. Mencius had named four cardinal virtues and Han scholars made it five; the list is a different thing from the Five Relations, the ...