Confucius
Confucius, the famous thinker and educator of ancient China, is known abroad in a latinized form of his title of respect "Kong Fuzi", or "kong the Sage". He was born in Qufu, Shandong Province in 551 BC, and died in 479 BC.

As a young man, Confucius had been to many of the principalities of the time, advocating his political views and seeking to have his service accepted by the princes in administering their states. But his views and opinions seemed to have fallen on deaf ears and consequently Confucius made up his mind to devote all his energies to education.

Confucius was the first man in the history of Chinese education to start a private school to accept common people as pupils. He taught his students politics, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics with the aim of promoting all-round development. Confucius often lectured to his students on the theme of "benevolence", preaching the importance of loving others. Legend has it that Confucius had 3,000 students throughout his lifetime, 72 of who became well known for their excellence. Through educational work, Confucius succeeded in propagating his political views. Eventually he and his students emerged as an independent school of thought, the Confucian school which exerted a tremendous impact on feudalist China that lasted thousands of years.

Confucius lived until he was seventy-three and his death was deeply mourned by his students. After his death, his disciples wrote down their memories of conversations with him, which were later brought together as the Analects.

Confucianism
Confucianism is a major system of thought in China developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius and his disciples, and concerned with the principles of good conduct, practical wisdom, and proper social relationship. The keynote of Confucian ethics is ren (benevolence).

Confucianism has influenced the Chinese attitude toward life, set the patterns of living and standards of social value, and provided the background for Chinese political theories and institutions. Confucianism has always fitted naturally into the ancient Chinese pattern of close family ties and absolute rule. This system of belief exalts mainly those virtues that fit a static and ideally gentle world. Confucianism spread from China to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam and has aroused interest among occidental scholars.

Although Confucianism became the official ideology of the Chinese rulers, it has never existed as an established religion with a church and priesthood.

The principles of Confucianism are contained in nine ancient Chinese works handed down by Confucius and his followers. These teachings can be divided into two groups: the Five Classics and the Four Books. The Five Classics consist of the following works: the Yijing (Classic of Changes), Shujing (Classic of History), Shijing (Classic of Poetry), Liyi (Classic of Rites), and Chun Qiu (Spring and Autumn Annals). The Four Books consist of Lunyu (The Analects of Confucious), Daxue (The Great Learning), Zhongyong (The Doctrine of the Mean) and Mengzi (The Book of Mencius).