Confucianism Values and Those of Pre-Hispanic Indigenous Cultures

Abstract

This article presents a comparative analysis of some concepts of pre-Hispanic indigenous communities living in currently Latin America, and their similarities with Confucian values, explored in terms of worldview, relationship with nature and of ethics. An exercise of this order is justified because the current world shows that it is plenty of the individualism that marks the moral crisis of the West. A transcultural understanding is an omnipresent requirement, and it is now essential more than ever to find solutions to the reigning moral crisis. In particular, three prominent Confucian values are examined: Tian , Ren , and Yi , in relation to Pachamama, Sumak Kawsay, and Minga respectively. In the pre-Hispanic case, these are concepts originated mainly in countries such as Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, southern Colombia and with other denominations in Central America, mainly in Guatemala. Likewise, these values represent the ethos of four great pre-Hispanic societies: the Incas, the Quechuas, the Aymaras and the Mayas. The study emphasizes significant correspondences between these models of thought, highlighting the importance of harmony, solidarity and ethics in both traditions. The concept of Tian as the reverence for Pachamama reflects a comprehensive vision of the universe, where nature and the cosmos are considered interconnected, and the human being is the mirror and reflection of the macrocosm in which it is inserted. Both Ren and Sumak Kawsay highlight the importance of cultivating human relationships based on altruism and the value of otherness and therefore the importance of mutual dependence as a value, promoting collectivism, balanced and equitable societies. The principle of Yi and that of Minga underline the importance of collaboration, righteousness and solidarity for the benefit of the common good. To work on Confucius thought evidences the existing ignorance in the Western Hemisphere about both Chinese thought and, in consequence, its similarities with the thought of pre-Hispanic cultures still alive in Latin American countries. Chinese and Western scholars have to improve the level of knowledge about those issues and their key implications for facing a world as convulsed and full of planetary challenges as the one humanity faces today.