Confucius and His Teachings Sec. #2

The life of Confucius Confucius was called Kong Fu Zi or Master Kong by the Chinese He was born in 551 B.C. to a noble but poor family He lost his father at the age of 3 and his mother raised him by herself He became a teacher

Later on in Confucius’s Life Confucius wandered about North China looking for a ruler who would follow his teachings Confucius was not successful and returned home disappointed He died in 479 B.C.

The Teachings of Confucius Confucius wanted to pass ways to help the leaders change to bring peace, stability and prosperity to their kingdoms After his death, his students gathered up his sayings and published a philosophy or system of beliefs and values and the philosophy was called Confucianism

The Ordering of Society Confucius’ goal was to give order to society Proper behavior would bring order and peace People should know their place in the family and society People should respect above and below them

Correct Behavior Ruler to ruled Father to son Husband to wife Brother to younger brother Friend to friend People in authority must set a good example “Do not do unto others what you would not want done to yourself.”

The Impact of Confucius Confucianism affected Chinese government The civil service was formed to allow everyone to work for the government as long as they passed the exam based on the teachings of Confucius