East Zhou Dynasty 2 - Confucius 东周 2 - 孔子

Confucius Confucius

Confucius’s Life Confucius (孔子) was born in 551 B.C. in Lu (Shandong Province now) and died in 479 B.C. Confucius was a teacher and had thousands of students. Gradually he became famous. Confucius created Confucianism and went to many countries (within China) to propagandize his theory, which wasn’t dominating yet at that time.

Key Points of Confucianism 仁 (kindness, Ren) is the most important component in Confucianism. The government should be kind to people, “Cruel governing is harsher than tigers”. 礼 (ceremony or formality, Li): There are rules for all the ceremonies and how to be a certain role, e.g. how to be a son, how to be a father, how to be an official, etc. 中庸: Literally it means “middlebrow, average” but the real meaning is “moderation” Loyalty to government and the royal family, e.g. 孔鲤. “If an emperor wants an official to die, he has to die; if a father wants a son to die, he has to die.” This is a reason why Confucianism later on was picked by governor to be the dominating theory and everyone needed to learn it. http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/tzD5CBhIHvg/