His ideals have become intrinsically entwined with the national identity of China and the civilization of East Asia. The individual known in the West as Confucius was born Kongqiu in B. His family may once have been aristocratic, but they apparently fell on hard times, because he took menial jobs as a young man.
Confucius showed a zeal for academics early on. He studied music, mathematics, the classics, history, and more. He was especially entranced by the early years of the Zhou dynasty — B.
Confucius believed that education and reflection led to virtue, and that those who aspired to command others must cultivate discipline and moral authority in themselves. He strove to rise through the government ranks, but he tended to offend others with his forceful personality, using his position as a bully pulpit for preaching good governance.
He eventually was appointed to the influential post of minister of crime in the state of Lu but fell from favor through his aggressive reform efforts. He tried for years to reenter public service in order to improve it from within, but he found far greater success as a teacher instead.
Confucius broke with tradition in his belief that all human beings could benefit from education. He attracted a wide circle of followers, who knew him as Kongfuzi Master Kong. Those pupils recorded his words in The Analects, a collection of ethical concepts.
As stated in The Analects, Confucius believed that social harmony would naturally follow from the proper ordering of individuals in relation to one another, with the family unit as the basic building block of society. He therefore stressed the cultivation of personal qualities such as benevolence, reciprocity, and filial piety as essential to the formation of well-educated, conscientious individuals who would benefit society through public service.
Confucius was largely ignored in his own day. When he died in B. The Chinese insist all they are doing is promoting Chinese language and Chinese culture. But because of the controversies these institutes have provoked, you have to wonder whether this is actually intensifying the distrust between the West and China? Some very prominent universities in the United States, like the University of Chicago and Pennsylvania State University, have dropped their relationship with Confucius Institutes.
But for our wedding she wanted to add in a traditional Korean ceremony called a paebaek , when we would bow in front of her parents, and afterward they would give us their blessing and toss walnuts and dates into the skirt of her dress to encourage fertility. I found this a little uncomfortable. So I decided to raise my concerns with my wife. The reason this was so important to her is that filial piety, respect for your parents, is one of the most basic Confucian virtues. So, on my wedding day, I had to get a bowing lesson from my brother-in-law.
A few hours later, I found myself with my forehead pressed to the floor with all my friends looking on. It shows the continuing power of Confucian ideas. He still has a dramatic effect on the lives of nearly a quarter of humanity.
What we know is in bits and pieces scattered across various historical records of somewhat suspect quality. What we think we know is that he was born to a family of low-level officials. His father died when he was quite young, and he was raised by a single mother.
But we know very little about his childhood. What we do know is that he turned himself into an expert on the literature and history and poetry of an earlier age in China, and with that he created his own doctrine. The purpose of the doctrine was to restore peace and order.
The time in which he lived was a time of war and conflict in China between numerous feudal states, and he believed he had devised a doctrine of virtue that could bring prosperity back to China. In his own life, unfortunately, he failed in that vision, because he could not find the dukes and kings to adhere to his ideas.
But where he did succeed was as a very successful teacher. But it is interesting that, even though he considered the family to be so important, we know so little about his own family.
There are a few mentions in The Analects of a son and a daughter. Part of the reason may be the way the records were left. The Analects is really a collection of snippets of conversation that Confucius had with his disciples. But it is odd that a guy who thought the family was the foundation of society spent most of his time with his students, whom he was clearly very close with. They will best know the preferred format.
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Ancient China is responsible for a rich culture, still evident in modern China. From small farming communities rose dynasties such as the Zhou B. E , Qin B. E , and Ming C. Each had its own contribution to the region. During the Zhou Dynasty, for example, writing was standardized, iron working refined, and famous thinkers like Confucius and Sun-Tzu lived and shared their philosophies.
Learn more about the history and rich culture of Ancient China with this curated resource collection. From the mythic origins of the Chinese dynasties to the eventual fall of the last imperial house, Chinese emperors have long fought to maintain control over one of the most enduring empires on Earth. The rise and fall of various imperial families oversaw waves of innovation and cultural advancement. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.
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