This chapter begins by
discussing Confucianism as a way of “Becoming-in-the-World” for those
Asian countries where its ideas were traditionally interrelated and intellectually
intertwined with local sociopolitical systems. Next, the trajectory of
Confucianism from its origins in China to its transplantation in Korea will
be outlined, where we find interactions with other traditions that had deep
roots there, including Buddhism, which had been supported by the royal
family on the peninsula. It will then detail how Confucianism was eventually
recalibrated in China during the Song dynasty (960–1279), especially through
the writings of the philosopher Zhu Xi (1130–1200), leading to the emergence
of Neo-Confucianism, later used de rigueur in Korea for political purposes
to overturn the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392) and to establish the Chosŏn
dynasty (1392–1910).