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Yes it can be. Confucianism has everything other religions do, it's just that Confucian doctrine places emphasis on ethical behavior and filial piety.
Isn't a religion by default a philosophy? Doesn't it have guidelines of how one should live their life? I see religion as a spiritual philosophy.
No, not according to my Chinese history university professor and I don't think it is either. I believe it's more of a political philosophy.
Response to OP.
Religion is defined as "
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods."
Let's see if this holds up for Confucius.
-Do people believe in Confucius?
Well, sort of. They believed his teachings.
-Do people worship Confucius?
Not really, no. It's more of honoring him.
I think there's a lot of Venn-style overlap here.No, not according to my Chinese history university professor and I don't think it is either. I believe it's more of a political philosophy.
Religion can also be defined as: "A set of beliefs manifesting an ethic among adherents." A lot depends on how you define something.Religion is defined as "
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods."
In order to be considered a religion...
I am not aware of any general consensus among scholars of religion on what the requirements for a religion must be.