Confucius Essays (2309 words) - Confucianism, Chinese Philosophy

Confucius The history of Chinese civilization spans thousands of years and encompasses countless ideas, beliefs, and societal and political doctrines. However, from a modern standpoint one distinct perspective prevails above the rest in the manner and degree it has influenced the development of China. For the previous 2,000 years the teachings of Confucius, and the systems of thought and behavior that have evolved from them, have had significant effects on Chinese thought, government institutions, literature and social customs. Confucianism has served a primary role as a social and moral philosophy and as practiced by many, especially in the educated upper classes, Confucianism had definite religious dimensions. The teachings of Confucius served to unite a developing society, binding together various aspects of civilization and culture into one coherent body that functions under common values and attitudes. Confucius sought a type of all encompassing unity for the world and for his people; his wisdom was intended to serve as guide. In the Analects, a compendium of Confucian teachings, Confucius said, 'Be of unwavering good faith and love learning. Be steadfast unto death in pursuit of the good Way. Do not enter a state which is in peril, nor reside in one in which the people have rebelled. When the Way prevails in the world, then show yourself. When it does not, then hide. When the Way prevails in your own state, to be poor and obscure is a disgrace; but when the Way does not prevail in your own state, to be rich and honored is a disgrace.' (Analects 4.5) This lesson serves well as a paradigm for Confucian thought; it shows the direction that Confucius aspired toward, and the proper methods for the journey. Before endeavoring to understand Confucianism and its connection with China, it is necessary to develop and understanding of China in the pre-Confucius era, in which this philosophy evolved. The most ancient evidence of Chinese religious and social civilization dates back to the Shang dynasty, circa 1500 B.C.E. In this early agricultural society, there is evidence of some of the basic fundamentals of most Chinese religious thought; the pursuit, establishment, maintenance and enjoyment of harmony in the earthly world. During the Zhou dynasty (1122 - 771 B.C.E.), the path initiated by the Shang was sustained and expanded upon. The Zhou quest for harmony and order led to the development of some extremely crucial concepts that would directly effect the development of Confucianism. It was in this era that the notion of Tian, the force that can be best understood as heaven, first came to light. This later led to the conception of the idea of the Mandate of Heaven (Tian-ming) from which rulers derived all power and sense of legitimacy, due to the accordance of their behaviors with the norms of morality and ritual correctness. In connection with this, the relatively stable feudal society of Zhou era was responsible for the emergence of the tao. This principal made cosmic order and harmony possible; the tao can be thought of as the road or path from which come perfect unity, harmony and order. This idea played a critical role in the development of Confucianism and dramatically affected the course of Chinese development. In the eighth century B.C.E., the Zhou dynasty began to fall apart as barbarous tribes invaded from the west. This led to the disintegration of Zhou rule and the creation of a number of contending smaller states hoping to re-unify China under a new dynasty. This serious breach in the structure of society and the disharmony that prevailed led to new movements of thought. The sages of this time felt strong aspirations to find solutions to the numerous problems that surrounded them. It probably is for this reason that the six-century B.C.E. was characterized by distinct progress in Chinese thought, and became known as the age of the hundred philosophers. Foremost in this era, Confucius was born. Kung Fu-tzu was the given name of the great moral philosopher and teacher, Confucius is merely a romanized version of this. He is thought to have been born in the principality of Lu, in what is now Shantung Province, in Northeast China. This is the only information about Confucius that is known to be unyielding fact; almost all of the biographical information on this man is derived from the Life of Confucius by the historian Szema Ch'ien. Nearly all the data contained in this book is held to be accurate, being derived from dependable oral traditions. Confucius is said to have embarked on his quest for knowledge, order and harmony

How to Query Editors with Magazine Article Ideas

How to Query Editors with Magazine Article Ideas Any trip to the local Books-a-Million or Barnes and Noble will prove just how many magazines there are in circulation. Add to this the increasing number of free publications that are regional-based and youll see the number of opportunities there are available for freelance writers to get their name out there and start building a portfolio of published work. Many of these magazines work with a small, full-time staff of copyeditors and interns, while hiring writers on a freelance basis; and most are willing to pay anywhere from $75 to $150 for a feature-length article.If you have begun the process of querying magazine editors with article ideas, one of the best ways to do so is to query with an article that you have already written and that hasnt been published elsewhere. This article should be the epitome of the type of article that the magazines readership would be interested in reading and should reflect your best work as a journalist or commentator in order to get your foot in the door of working on a consistent basis with that particular magazine.So whats the perfect article for a first-time query?A first-time query to a magazine for which you would like to write should reflect the style and topic that the readers of that magazine have come to expect. Of course, the only way to know this is to pick up a copy of that particular magazine over the span of a few months and see what type of feature articles are typically run by the editor. This is the best way to know what type of writing attracts the attention of the editor and what the readers of that particular publication expect.Lets say, for example, that you are interested in travel writing and are querying a regional travel magazine that focuses on travel in the Deep South portion of the United States. You look through the magazine for several months and find that the feature articles are generally about specific places in the South that are prime tourist destinations, such as Charleston, West Virginia and Atlanta, Georgia. Knowing that the magazine doesnt want to repeat features it has already published, and using the information you have gleaned from reading the articles from the past several months, you decide to write an article about historical music destinations within the Deep South, particularly Memphis, Tennessee (The home of the Blues and Rock-n-Roll) and Nashville, Tennessee (The home of Country Music).Once you decide on this topic, its best to look back through the past year of issues to see if the magazine has featured another article based on the same idea. Its usually easy to do this- especially if the magazine has online issues or archives. If you find that the topic is indeed one that hasnt been written about lately in that particular publication, but still a topic that would be of obvious interest to the magazines readership, then consider it a green light to start researching and writing about that particular topic.But will I be working for free?This is a question that plagues many freelancers, especially when they are first getting started. If you spend all that time researching a magazines readership and past publications, in addition to the time spent researching and writing about the topic- what if the editor still turns it down?This is a very real concern and a situation that you should expect to happen more than once or twice. However, there are two ways to look at this to avoid seeing it as a problem, per se. First, you should realize that this effort on the front end is a way of showing your ability to this particular editor and will not be the typical way of conducting business with him or her in the future if your article is published. Most editors will continue to send assignments to freelance writers with whom they have worked with in the past, after the proverbial ice is broken with that first publishing effort.Second, keep in mind that even if this particular magazine or editor chooses not to publish your article after it is fin ished, there are plenty of other magazines out there that connect with readers looking for information about your topic. You now have a fully written and polished piece that is available to any editor who likes it, so all you have to do is locate other publications that might be competitors with the one you initially contacted and query those editors with the same article. Eventually, if your article is well-written, an editor will pick it up- and thats one more magazine for which youve managed to get your foot in the door as an established freelance writer.An editor likes my work- now what?Once you come across an editor that likes your style of writing and topic choice, when the article runs and everything is said and done, send a quick email to let him or her know how much you appreciate the opportunity. Within this email, be sure to state that you are available for any freelance writing assignments that he or she might have in the future and that you would appreciate it if the ma gazine would keep you in mind for future work. The likelihood is high that the editor will contact you again in the near future to give you an assignment, particularly if the magazine uses freelancers often.

Strategic management 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic management 2 - Essay Example McDonald’s vision and goals would be studied for their efficacy in achieving its goals and objectives. McDonald’s is the largest chain of fast food restaurants that operates around 32000 outlets across the globe. Its mission and vision statements are key elements of its business strategy. McDonald’s vision statement wants it to become the best fast food outlet. The corporate vision clearly describes its future perspectives as to what it plans to achieve in long term. Its corporate strategy primarily relies on creating value through customer satisfaction and is intrinsically linked to its vision. It helps to achieve its vision by promoting strategic plans that would enhance its value and make it the best fast food restaurant. Bateman and Snell (2009) assert that organizational vision becomes the major motivation element for the workforce to excel. The corporate objectives of McDonald’s are developed so as its vision is aligned with its value through plans and actions that promote its goals and objective. The process of developing a mission statement is highly pertinent for an organization because it defines as to what and how the business intends to operate. The broad framework of mission statement provides firms with strong incentives and plans to focus on strategies that would help it to achieve its vision. The strategies encourage the firms to become flexible and evolve effective plans to meet the challenges of changing times. Mintzberg (1990) believes that businesses need to exploit the current choices to meet the transforming values and trends in the customers’ preferences. Indeed, the business objectives and mission are inherently linked to changing demands of the customers and therefore must constantly strive to be flexible. The mission statement of McDonald’s is to become the favorite place of the customers for their fast food (McDonalds, 2012). Hence,