Confucius
551–479 BC 13 entries
Biography
Confucius, in Chinese Kong Fuzi or Master Kong, was a Chinese philosopher, teacher and political thinker. He was born in the state of Lu, in today’s Shandong province, at a time when China was divided into rival states. He held minor offices in Lu and perhaps a higher post, and then spent many years travelling from state to state in search of a ruler who would govern by his principles. He found none, and he returned home to teach.
He taught that a good society rests on respect for parents and ancestors, on ritual and propriety, and on rulers who lead by moral example rather than by force. His sayings and conversations were gathered by his disciples in the Analects. After his death his teaching grew into Confucianism, which for some two thousand years shaped the education, government and family life of China and much of East Asia.
- Quotes 13