To know the meaning of Tian/Heaven of Confucius, we need to study his words. From the Analects, we can find many quotes that Confucius mentioned Tian, below are a few of them….
1 子曰：「不然，獲罪於天，無所禱也。」
Confucius said, “No so. He that sins against Tian/Heaven, there is nothing to pray for.”
So we can see that Tian is something that you can sin against and Tian will judge and punish the violators. Tian has moral standards for right or wrong and Tian will judge and punish.
2 夫子矢之曰：「予所否者，天厭之！天厭之！」
Confucius said with conviction,” If I have done anything wrong, let Tian hate me. Let Tian hate me!”
This shows Confucius is calling upon the righteous Judge Tian to vindicate him.
3 子畏于匡。曰：“文王既没，文不在兹乎？天之将丧斯文也，后死者不得与于斯文也；天之未丧斯文也，匡人其如予何？”
Confucius was trapped in a place called 匡。 He said, “After King Wen died. Was not I the one who propagates the cultural heritage ?” If Tian wanted to terminate the cultural heritage, then I would not have such cultural heritage. Hence, I know Tian does not want to terminate the heritage, and so what can the people do to me?”
So we can see Confucius believes in the Purpose of Tian for his life. The purpose of the will of heaven for each and everyone is a key concept of Confucius's teaching.
子曰：吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲不踰矩。
When 15, I aspire to learn, and by 30 I can be independent and successful, by 40 I am not confused by choices opened, by 50 I know Tian's will, and by 60 I can understand others' hearts from what they say. At 70, I can follow my heart and violate not any rule (i.e. the rules are internalized and acted out naturally)
4 子曰：「不怨天，不尤人；下學而上達。知我者其天乎！」
Confucius said, “Don’t blame Tian, and Don’t blame people. Learn humbly and achieve understanding and success. The one that knows me well is only Tian!”
5 论语-陽貨子曰：「天何言哉？四時行焉，百物生焉，天何言哉？」
陽貨: 子曰：「予欲無言。」子貢曰：「子如不言，則小子何述焉？」子曰：「天何言哉？四時行焉，百物生焉，天何言哉？」
孔子說：「我想不說話。」子貢說：「您如果不說話，誰教我們呢？」孔子說：「天說過什麽？天不說話，照樣四季運行，百物生長，天說過什麽？」
Confucius said, “Does Tian speak? The seasons come and go, all things live and grow, does Tian speak?”
So, what do you think Tian is?
I must say the closest English word and concept for Tian is God.
And Confucius’ God has the following attributes:
A God that judges and punishes.
A God that has a moral standard of right and wrong. Sin is a violation of His laws.
A God that has a calling, or a purpose for everyone’s life. ie. everyone was created with a purpose in life.
A God that understands the people.
A God that reveals Himself through the creation. The nature of God can be seen in the nature that He created.
So we know Confucius’ Tian is very close to the God of the Bible - A Creator with a heart for the people whom He created. He gave them purpose and care for them. He gave them a moral standard for living and living well with one another. It is then not surprising that the teachings of Confucius, of Lao Zi, and the Root source I-Ching are actually very Biblical！
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