Confucianism

===In 17th-century Europe===
[[File:LifeAndWorksOfConfucius1687.jpg|thumb|''Life and Works of Confucius'', by [[Prospero Intorcetta]], 1687]]

The works of Confucius were translated into European languages through the agency of [[Jesuit China missions|Jesuit missionaries stationed in China]].{{refn|group=note|The first was [[Michele Ruggieri]] who had returned from China to Italy in 1588, and carried on translating in Latin Chinese classics, while residing in Salerno.}} [[Matteo Ricci]] was among the very earliest to report on the thoughts of Confucius, and father [[Prospero Intorcetta]] wrote about the life and works of Confucius in [[Latin]] in 1687.<ref name="Windows into China">"Windows into China," John Parker, p. 25, {{ISBN|0-89073-050-4}}</ref>

Translations of Confucian texts influenced European thinkers of the period,<ref name="Mungello">{{Cite journal |last=Mungello |first=David E. |author-link=David Emil Mungello |year=1971 |title=Leibniz's Interpretation of Neo-Confucianism |journal=[[Philosophy East and West]] |publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]] |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=3–22 |doi=10.2307/1397760 |jstor=1397760}}</ref> particularly among the [[Deism|Deists]] and other philosophical groups of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] who were interested by the integration of the system of morality of Confucius into [[Western culture|Western civilization]].<ref name="Windows into China" /><ref>[[John M. Hobson]] (2004), ''[[The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation]]'', [[Cambridge University Press]], pp. 194–195, {{ISBN|0-521-54724-5}}</ref>

Confucianism influenced the German philosopher [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]], who was attracted to the philosophy because of its perceived similarity to his own. It is postulated that certain elements of Leibniz's philosophy, such as "simple substance" and "[[Pre-established harmony]]", were borrowed from his interactions with Confucianism.<ref name="Mungello" /> 
{{see also-text|''[[Monadology]]''|[[Monad (philosophy)]]}}
The French philosopher [[Voltaire]], Leibniz's intellectual rival, was also influenced by Confucius, seeing the concept of Confucian rationalism as an alternative to Christian dogma.<ref name="epc">{{Cite book |last=Feng Lan |title=Ezra Pound and Confucianism: Remaking Humanism In The Face of Modernity |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8020-8941-0 |page=190}}</ref> He praised Confucian ethics and politics, portraying the sociopolitical hierarchy of China as a model for Europe:<ref name="epc" />
{{blockquote|text=Confucius has no interest in falsehood; he did not pretend to be prophet; he claimed no inspiration; he taught no new religion; he used no delusions; flattered not the emperor under whom he lived{{nbsp}}...|sign=[[Voltaire]]<ref name="epc" />}}