The Revival Of Confucian Ethics - 1269 Words

Ashley Beteta Professor Lee Seung Ah Korean 40, Discussion 1B 10 December 2015 A Need for the Revival of Confucian Ethics South Korea’s education system has been viewed as a success as 93% of students graduate from high school. Furthermore this has caused countries around the world to praise Korea’s educational curriculum and the results it has produced by â€Å"rank[ing] at the top of the Programme for International Student Assessment survey results in reading, mathematics and science. South Korea is also one of the highest educated nations in the world† (ICEF 2014). Hence, it’s achievements have also been brought to attention by the United States president Barak Obama in 2009 as he compared South Korea’s education with America’s by†¦show more content†¦The success of the Korean educational system is credited to being influenced through Confucianism, resulting in the â€Å"educational fever† that has encompassed South Korea. When Confucianism was introduced during the Chosà »n Dynasty (1392-1910) it originally served as a way to maintain power for the upperclassmen. However, Confucianism began to replace the influence of Buddhism, leaving in its place, â€Å"a national ideology and religion, largely determined politics, economy, society, culture, and education† (Lee 3). In other words, Confucian ideals began to form the basis of Korean society during the Chosà »n Dynasty, which continued into Japanese colonialism (1910-1945) and remnants of it are still present today better known as Neo-Confucian. These ideals helped Koreans survive the turmoil it experienced as it was colonized, liberated, went through the Korean War and the 1997 IMF crisis. Since education had only accessible for the elite during the Chà ´sun dynasty, its association with this drove Koreans to embed education as way to achieve upw ard social mobility. However, social mobility through education is no longer as attainable as it was a few decades ago due to the overpopulated amount of students seeking higher education and competitive job market. Subsequently, Neo-Confucianism is beginning