Confucius (551 - 479 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher and teacher of the Spring and Autumn period whose ideas on ethics, family and government became the foundation of Confucianism, one of the most influential traditions in East Asian history. [1]
Life
Confucius was born around 551 BCE in the state of Lu, in what is now Shandong province. He lived during a period of political fragmentation and served for a time as a government official, but is remembered chiefly as a teacher who gathered a circle of disciples. [1]
Teaching
Confucius emphasised personal virtue, proper conduct within the family and society, respect for tradition and ritual, and the cultivation of benevolence, which he held to be the basis of good government. He taught that rulers should lead by moral example rather than by force. [1][2]
The Analects
He left no writings of his own. His teachings survive mainly in the Analects, a collection of sayings and dialogues compiled by his followers after his death. Through this and later texts his thought was transmitted across the centuries. [2]
Influence
Confucius died in 479 BCE. Confucianism later became the official state philosophy of imperial China and deeply shaped the culture, education and administration of China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. He is honoured as one of the most important thinkers in world history. [3]
