By no means did Confucius change the culture of the Chinese the way Fukuzawa Yukichi changed the culture of the Japanese, but we can still give him credit for challenging the Chinese people to be more versatile. (Yukichi).
Religion.
I noticed in my notebook that when we discussed Chinese religion, I marked three religions down: Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. I now realize that I was incorrect. Confucianism has a lot to do with religion, but it has a lot to do with other things as well. So instead of a religion, I should have recorded Confucianism as a state of mind or a group of ideas.
Confucius had no problems with any religions. He did not believe one religion was the "true" religion. He didn't say one was better than the other. Confucius supported all religions. (Cotterell) The main two, Buddhism and Daoism, were what a vast majority of Chinese belonged to at the time. Confucius agreed with the ideas behind both religions. He supported the Buddhist enlightenments. The reason I think he supported enlightenment is because it gave people the chance to pause and meditate on their lives and what sort of things he or she could do to make the country a better place. Confucius probably supported Daoism because he felt that nature was a precious thing to have, and in order to live, humans had to find some kind of balance between nature and themselves. This proves how open-minded of a human being Confucius was. Most people, if they are not set with anything else, can still be satisfied with one true religion.
Politics.
Confucius was not a political man, but I think he stressed political freedom. He wanted people to think for themselves. The less government control, the more people are free to practice religion, get an education, and communicate to others their feelings about specific issues. Confucius, being an educated man himself, knew the value of a good education. He also knew how important it was for citizens to discuss their concerns with one another.
