s and inferiors and stresses mutual obligations, such as correct example on the part of the former and loyalty on the part of the latter. Individualism is subordinated to harmony within a group; the family was traditionally the paramount social group. It has a strong emphasis on order, stability, hierarchy and filial piety. It is male-centric and elitist in nature. A clear social hierarchy emerged in Imperial Chinese society with the Emperor and his immediate family at the top. Under him were the 'scholar gentry', who became the administrative elite. Below was the warrior caste , followed by the land - owners (whose sons made up the warrior caste), then followed by the peasantry and finally, at the bottom were the merchants. Over time, the social philosophy of Confucianism merged into a kind of civic-religion that has existed in East Asian societies to the present time.In government, Confucianism supports "enlightened authoritarian rule" by a centralized bureaucracy, not popular democracy. In traditional Confucian societies, government was supposed to be the reserve of an educated bureaucracy, namely the 'scholar gentry'. In Confucian philosophy, a central tenet is the 'mandate of heaven' given to the emperor or leader which can be lost but not in tandem with existing social order. As such Confucianism in it original form can never really be revolutionary.Having outlined the basic tenets of Confucianism, how was it adapted applied to Northeast Asia in a contemporary sense? We can examine this by tracing the 're-invention of Confucianism' within each of the above mentioned Northeast Asian states individually. At the same time we can examine what the social philosophy of Confucianism can and has offered these states in aiding and improving the industrialization and modernization processes. It is appropriate to begin with China as Confucianism is an indigenous product of the country. Confucianism in China is also the most complex and cont...
