Religious Confucianism in the context of Ritual and music system

Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius in the Hundred Schools of Thought era (c. 500 BCE), Confucianism integrates philosophy, ethics, and social governance, with a core focus on virtue, social harmony, and familial responsibility.

Confucianism emphasizes virtue through self-cultivation and communal effort. Key virtues include ren (仁, "benevolence"), yi (義; "righteousness"), li (禮; "propriety"), zhi (智; "wisdom"), and xin (信; "sincerity"). These values, deeply tied to the notion of tian (天; "Heaven"), present a worldview where human relationships and social order are manifestations of sacred moral principles. While Confucianism does not emphasize an omnipotent deity, it upholds tian as a transcendent moral order.

The Temple of Heaven (simplified Chinese: 天坛; traditional Chinese: 天壇; pinyin: Tiāntán) is a complex of imperial religious Confucian buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest. The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world's great civilizations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."

Righteousness is the quality or state of "being morally right or justifiable", rooted in religious or divine law, with a broader spectrum of moral correctness, justice, and virtuous living as dictated by a higher authority or set of spiritual beliefs.

Rectitude, often a synonym for righteousness, is about personal moral values and the internal compass that guides an individual’s decisions and actions. It can be found in Indian, Chinese, and Abrahamic religions and traditions, among others, as a theological concept. For example, from various perspectives in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Confucianism, Taoism, and Judaism. It is an attribute that implies that a person's actions are justified, and can have the connotation that the person has been "judged" as living a moral life, relative to the religion’s doctrines.

Righteousness is the quality or state of "being morally right or justifiable", rooted in religious or divine law, with a broader spectrum of moral correctness, justice and virtuous living as dictated by a higher authority or set of spiritual beliefs.

Rectitude, often a synonym for righteousness, is about personal moral values and the internal compass that guides an individual’s decisions and actions. It can be found in many religions and traditions as a concept, for instance in Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity, Confucianism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, etc. It is an attribute that implies that a person's actions are justified and can have the connotation that the person has been "judged" as living a moral life, relative to religious doctrines.