I was shocked to know Americans generally believe Confucianism is NOT a religion?

I was shocked to know Americans generally believe we Chinese are mostly Buddists. A guy even showed a link to prove it. So, if Confucianism is a religion, then most East Asia countries, including China, Japan, and S.Korea are Confucianist societies. If not, we are Buddist societies? Encyclopedia down here never tell me I have been living in a Buddist nation and I have never met a Buddist in my life. So, what is the American standard to define a belief system as a "religion" Oh, Confucianism has been in E Asia for 2500 years.

Generally the West defines religion as a belief in the afterlife or some deity.

Generally, Confucianism is thought of as a philosophy. I, however, disagree. It is just as much a religion as Buddhism. I consider them both religions, each having life philosophies to follow.

I'm not surprised, they are Buddhist. Does Confucianism have a deity, I don't know a lot about it but if, like Buddhism, it doesn't, it too should not be considered a religion

It would not be the first time common knowledge was wrong! Thank you for letting us know.

Confucianism is one of the oldest "religions" even though it does not have the same central focus as the monotheistic religions like Judaism and Christianity hold dear

I was taught in my World History class that it was a religion. I don't stereotype all Asian countries to be a certain religion, nor should you stereotype all Americans into believing a certain thing.

American schools are notoriously bad at teaching it's children about other countries. These beliefs are born from ignorance and nothing else.

I think it the stupidity of their religion,

So what are you saying? That they are all Confucianisms down in China?

I wouldn't categorized all Americans as thinking that, but... Whatever religion is most practiced is what the country is said to be. America was known as a christian nation, I don't know if it still is, but there are a lot of people here that are not christian, yet we were categorized as that.

I don't really think that most people in the West really think about it at all, truth be told.

Quite frankly it is not.

It is an ethical system.

To be eligible to be a religion requires metaphysical answers, not just ethical ones. Otherwise, how is it any more a religion than a political view?

Also, the encyclopedias in China are heavily censored so of course they do not tell you that it is a Buddhist country because the Communists hate religion of all types. Thus, my point is pr oven that if they can consider it Confucian it is because they do not consider it a religion.

I was shocked when travel ling in the US I was asked how I got there from Australia! Was it by bus or plane? How come I spoke American so well? Did I learn it at school?

The world at large regards many Americans as not only incredibly insular but very ignorant of what goes on elsewhere.

That's a surprise to me, too. I was a high school social studies teacher and we always taught the East Asian religions of Buddhism. Confucianism, and Daoism as belief systems, contrasting them with the monotheistic religions of the middle east. I always taught that the the basic underlying concept of all Chinese culture was the teaching of Confucius. But, as I said when I quit teaching, just because I taught it, doesn't mean anyone bothered to remember! And that in itself, is because we are not brought up with the Confucian values about the worth of education and right thinking.

Many Americans or Westerners think that a religion means a belief in a god, and don't see it as a set of beliefs and rituals. This is one of the contrasts I wrote about above. They see Asian religions as a "philosophy". To someone above, who said it is an ethical system because it doesn't have metaphysical answers. In Confucianism, there is a fundamental relationship between the actions of people, those of "earth", and those of "heaven". What people do affects everything. The Dynastic Cycle is a good example of this in action.

I don't think Confucious intended what was started to be a religion, but it has. Then you have Neo-Confucianism which is a combination of Confucianism and Buddhism. You can also see Daoism in it as well.