In JapanIt has been a long history of 1750 years ever since Confucianism was introduced in

In Japan

It has been a long history of 1750 years ever since Confucianism was introduced into this country. Confucius' teachings are in every field of the social life in Japan. Its influence on the people's moral concepts and views about education are the deepest in Japan.

It was in the 16th year of Mikado (285 A. D. ) that Confucius' teachings began to be introduced to Japan. In the year the suggestion of a Korean envoy was adopted and Wang Ren, a Chinese court academician was sent to Japan to present to the Mikado ten copies of Lun Yu (The Analects of Confucius) and a copy of an Article of a Thousand Words (Qian Zi Wen). Wang Ren's arriving at Japan is generally regarded as the beginning of Confucianism being spread in the country. Confucius' teachings were accepted by both the government and the public. Confucianism quickly took its roots among the people and developed constantly. Combined with the conditions in Japan Confucianism has gradually be come part of the national culture of the country.

During the time of Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty Japan sent many students to China to study Confucianism. Under the influence of Confucius' theory about a unified domain, Japanese successfully carried the DAIKA Reform. after which Japanese society started to transit from a slavish society to a feudal society. The person pulling strings behind the scenes of the reform. was a great Confucianist who had studied in China for 20 to 30 years. During the 200 years after the reform. Japan had sent to China 19 groups of envoys. The country did its utmost to import the culture of Tang dynasty, develop national education based on Confucianism, spread the thought of the sage, set up universities and hold ceremonies in memory of Confucius. In the years of EDO Confucius' teachings were unprecedentedly popular. The ruling class people took the lead in reading the classical books of Confucianism, setting up education based on Confucianism, building Confucius' Temples. Education was developed, people of talents came forth in large numbers and the academic circle reached to its flourishing time. The major schools include School of Yonego, School of Yang Ming, School of Mito, School of Kogaku, School of Eclecticism, School of Textual Research.

Since the beginning of 20th century, especially in the late thirty years, among countries except China the study of Confucianism is best developed in Japan. Not only that Confucianism influenced Japanese society in the past 1 000 years, it also has great effect on the people at present time.

In Italy

China is one of the birth places of human civilization. As the kernel of the traditional culture of ancient China, Confucius' teachings greatly influenced not only the historical development of Oriental society, but also the social life of some European countries. Confucius' influence on Italy has something to do with the missionaries who came to China to do missionary work. In 1582, the Society of Jesus sent Matteo Ricci to China. In order to do their missionary work well he studied Confucianism very hard. Matteo Ricci was the first person who used Confucianism to express Christianity. He arrived in Beijing in 1601 and lived there for years. He published the Latin version which were the earliest classical books of Confucius translated into European Language. Matteo Ricci had made some contributions to the cultural exchange between the East and the West, so in Italy he was called "the first man who facilitated the flow of culture between China and Western countries", "Learned Western Confucianist' and "Christian Confucius". The study of Confucius in today's Italy has made some progress and several groups of books about Confucius have been published.

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