Confucius



Confucius

Introduction

Confucius (552-479 BCE) was the most important philosopher and teacher in early China and among the most influential people to have ever lived. Confucius's teachings, called Confucianism, remain embedded in Chinese and Asian cultures, and his genius is recognized around the world more than 2,500 years after his death. He is known in Chinese as Kong Qiu (Zhongni); greatest Chinese teacher and philosopher. The name Confucius is the Latin rendering of Kong Fuzi ("Master Kong"). Confucius was born in the little feudal state of Lu, near modern Qufu (Shandong Province).

Discussion

Little can be established about his life, forebears, or family, although legends, some of very early origin, are abundant and colorful. The biography in Sima Qian's Shi ji (Historical Annals, second century BCE) is unreliable. The Lunyu (Analects), a record of Confucius's conversations with his disciples, likely compiled in the third century BCE, is probably the best source, although here, too, apocryphal materials have crept in. The Analects may be supplemented by the Zuo zhuan, a commentary to the Chun qiu (spring and Autumn Annals; also third century BCE), and by the Mengzi (Mencius; second century BCE). [1]

In all these accounts, fact and legend are difficult to separate. The Zuo zhuan makes Confucius a direct descendant of the royal house of the Shang dynasty (c. 1766-1123 BCE), whose heirs were given the ducal fief of the state of Song by the succeeding Zhou dynasty (1111-256 BCE). According to this account, three to five generations prior to the sage's birth, his forebears moved to the neighboring state of Lu. His father is said to have been a soldier and a man of great strength; his mother, to have been a woman much younger and not the first wife. Some accounts make Confucius the issue of an illegitimate union. Tradition has it that at his birth dragons appeared in his house, and a unicorn (lin) in the village. These may command as much belief as the description of Confucius that endows him with a forehead like that of the sage-king Yao, shoulders like those of the famous statesman Zichan, the eyes of Shun, the neck of Yu, the mouth of Gaoyao, the visage of the Yellow Emperor, and the height of Tang, founder of the Shang dynasty. [2]

Of Confucius's childhood and youth, we hear little even from legends, except for references to the early loss of his father, followed later in his youth by the death of his mother. His favorite childhood game was reportedly the setting up of sacrificial vessels and the imitation of ritual gestures. He married young; some accounts allege that he later divorced his wife, although that cannot be proved and is unlikely to be true. He is also supposed to have visited the capital of the Zhou dynasty (present-day Luoyang) and to have met Laozi, from whom he sought instruction. But this report as well appears to be unfounded.

In the Analects, Confucius says that he was of humble status. Perhaps he came from the minor aristocracy, ...