(551–479 BCE), Chinese philosopher. Confucius, whose family name was Kong and personal name was Qiu (stylized as Zhongni), is recognized as China's greatest teacher. He was eventually given the title "Kong the Grand Master" (Kong Fuzi), which has been Latinized as Confucius. He was born in the state of Lu (in Shandong Province), during the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BCE). His father died when he was three; by seventeen, he supported his mother. Confucius married at nineteen, had two daughters and a son, and held a minor office in Lu. He dedicated his life to teaching, but believed he was called to reform the decaying Zhou culture. At the age of fifty-one, Confucius was promoted to magistrate and subsequently to minister of justice. Discouraged by conditions in Lu, at the age of fifty-six, Confucius and his closest disciples traveled to other states in search of a worthy ruler to implement his teachings. After almost thirteen years, Confucius returned to Lu to teach. Tradition claims that he wrote or edited the Five Classics (Shujing, Shijing, Yijing, Chunqiu, and Liji) and the now-lost classic of Music. Of the traditional three thousand students, only seventy-two mastered his teachings, and only twenty-two were close disciples.
After his death, Confucius's reputation underwent a process of apotheosis. By the time of Mencius (371–289 BCE), he was called a sage. Emperors of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) made offerings at his tomb, which became a shrine and later a temple. He was given the imperial title "duke" in 1 CE, "foremost teacher" in 637, "king" in 739, and "perfect sage" in 1013. By 1906, the ritual for the "emperor on high" was performed in the name of Kong Fuzi.
Details of Confucius's life and teachings are found in the Four Books; among them, the Analects is most important. With typical "Chinese" humility, Confucius claims in the Analects to be a transmitter, not an innovator. This is certainly not the case, but it displays the importance of maintaining historical precedent, namely, following the example of the ancient sages for self-cultivation, to sacrifice personal needs and wealth for the good of the community and to rule by virtue rather than law.
Confucius was an innovative teacher. His school was open to all serious students, even commoners, transforming aristocratic values into collective moral values. His methods went beyond vocational training, emphasizing moral cultivation, which institutionalized the literati class and influenced Chinese history.
An undated portrait of Confucius. (BETTMANN/CORBIS)
Confucius emphasized literacy (wen) and demanded that his students be enthusiastic, serious, and self-reflective. His teachings are of a practical nature. He held that all persons, but especially the ruling class, must develop their moral integrity by practicing ritual action (li) to express person-to-person-care or humanity (ren) to become a consummate person (junzi). Empathy (shu), defined in the Analects as "never do to another what you do not desire," summarizes his teachings in one word. With the renewed interest in Confucius even in the People's Republic of China, his teachings continue to influence Chinese and Asian cultures.
Further Reading
Ames, Roger T., and Henry Rosemont Jr., trans. (1998) TheAnalects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation. New York: Ballantine.
Dawson, Raymond. (1981) Confucius. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hsiao Kung-chuan. (1979) A History of Chinese PoliticalThought. Trans. by F. Mote. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
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