Confucius
<~His Life and Times~>
His Life and Times

Over two thousand years ago, in the remote countryside of China, a man with a sparse white beard and 
narrow twinkling eyes walked down a dirt path in the warm afternoon sun. He carried a gnarled walking 
stick, fashioned from a willow tree. His garments were simple and worn, but clean. The man's face was 
weathered and dark from many months of being outdoors, and his feet were tough and calloused from years 
of travel. He walked with strength and purpose, but he did not walk quickly. Still, his companions found 
it hard to keep up with him. They walked a few feet behind, partly from weariness, partly from respect. 
They said nothing, but silently they wondered among themselves - where were they now? Where was he 
leading them? When would they stop to rest? 

This part of China seemed almost deserted. They had passed a few empty fields, a few abandoned houses, 
but they had not seen any people the entire day. There was only the chirping of birds, the occasional 
rustle of a breeze through the trees, and the scurry of a lizard in the underbrush. But now something 
else broke the silence - was it a cry? Was it animal or human? Yes, it sounded like a woman weeping. 
Their teacher heard it first, for he paused, listened, and looked up ahead to the curve in the road. 
There they saw a peasant woman, kneeling beside a fresh grave, her head in her hands, sobbing. The 
teacher approached the woman and they followed.

"Why do you weep so?" he asked her. The woman looked up, startled at first, and then seeing the 
compassion in the man's eyes, she told her story. There was a tiger in this country, she said, a very 
dangerous tiger. He had killed her father-in-law. Then he had killed her husband. And now he had killed 
her only son. "Why then do you live in this savage place?" asked the man. "Because," she replied, "here 
there is no cruel government."

The old man turned to his followers. "My children," he said "always remember that oppressive government 
is worse even than a tiger."

Then he nodded towards the road, took up his stick, and the walk continued.

His disciples bowed their heads in acknowledgment and continued behind him, their teacher, this wise man 
whom they called Master Kung, whom the world now knows as Confucius.

For many many years, in the period between about 520 and 470 B.C., Confucius wandered the cities and 
countryside of China, observing its people and politics, and teaching his principles of noble living and 
right government. His words of wisdom are still being quoted a full 2500 years after his death. 
Confucius is the most famous philosopher and teacher China ever produced, and among the greatest 
teachers in all of history.

Confucius was not a "spiritual teacher" and he founded no religion, although many of his principles 
certainly align themselves with most people's spiritual ideals. Instead, he was a very practical 
teacher, working in and for the world, with a particular interest in government and political systems. 
He shunned the hermits and ascetics of ancient China, saying his community was not the "community of 
animals and birds" but of men. Confucius was an early activist - but he fought not with weapons or even 
with passive resistance. He fought instead with knowledge.

Confucius never saw himself as a prophet, as others have since. He didn't really bother himself with 
questions of God, or life and death, or heaven and hell. He said he could not understand death until he 
understood life. He was less interested in people's relationship with their Creator and more interested 
in people's relationships with each other. He established certain standards and codes that would ensure 
these relationships were harmonious ones. Instead of questions of theology, he addressed questions of 
ethics. In so doing he formulated an ethical system that shaped and influenced much of Asia for over two 
millennia. His ideas have dominated Chinese society and politics for most of its history, and have had a 
large influence too on Korea, Japan, and IndoChina.

The teachings of Confucius are now embodied in what is called Confucianism. It can't precisely be called 
a religion but it can be called a philosophy, or even a lifestyle. As a philosophy it focuses chiefly on 
the need to develop character and responsibility, or to put it simply, on becoming a "good" person. It 
has no clergy and teaches no worship; instead it offers a guide to morality and fair government. 

The Chinese government made Confucianism its official state philosophy. Chinese schools made it the 
basis of their curriculum. Chinese parents made it the foundation of the family structure. And 
individuals used it as a model for personal attitude and behavior. From two centuries B.C. to the early 
twentieth century it was the single most important force in Chinese life. Today, it is so well 
integrated into the nature of Chinese culture, and so well blended with other influences such as 
Buddhism and Taoism, that it's sometimes difficult to tell where one leaves off and the other begins.

Confucius also made great contributions to the art of teaching itself. He's known as the first teacher 
in China who strived to make education available to all people, no matter what their social or economic 
class. And he was the first to make teaching a true vocation and a way of life. 

Taken together, his contributions are phenomenal - they penetrated the fabric of every area of Chinese 
life, reached out into all of eastern Asia, and lasted through twenty five centuries of enormous 
political and social change. Yet nobody would have been more surprised by this than Confucius himself.

In his own lifetime, Confucius saw none of his plans and dreams realized. He was a man who lived with 
disappointment, whose efforts always seemed frustrated, and whose goals were always just a little out of 
reach. It was his destiny only to plant the seeds - the harvest followed later.

The life of Confucius was filled with challenge from the very beginning. He was born about 551 B.C. in 
the modern Shandong Province, which was then a feudal state. It was an extraordinary time to be born. 
The sixth century was a period of remarkable spiritual renewal throughout the ancient world - it was the 
time of Buddha, the great spiritual Master from Nepal; Mahavira, the founder of Jainism in India; the 
philosophers Pythagoras, Solon and Aeschylus in Greece; the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah in the Near 
East; and in China, Lao-tzu - genius of the Tao.

Yet in the midst of all this human brilliance and creativity, there was immeasurable human suffering. In 
China it was a tumultuous period of history referred to as "the era of warring kingdoms." China was 
divided into rival feudal states whose conflicts killed tens of thousands of Chinese. The people were 
also burdened with heavy taxes and worked to exhaustion. Famine and starvation were epidemic. This human 
suffering deeply affected Confucius - it is why he later developed programs of massive political and 
social reform.

We know very little about Confucius' life - if there were any records of it they have long since 
disappeared. We do know he came from an aristocratic background but his family had lost its fortune and 
he was raised in poverty. It gave him just the blending he needed - an understanding of the nobility and 
a compassion for the poor. He was given a traditional name - Ch'iu, and a formal name -Chung-ni. Since 
the family name was K'ung he was later known as K'ung Fu-tzu, or Master Kung. It was western 
missionaries who would give him the name Confucius hundreds of years later, but this name has no meaning 
to the Chinese. 

The hardship in Confucius' life began early. His father died when he was only three years old and he was 
raised by a loving mother. He was self-motivated and like many great achievers in history, he educated 
himself, reading Chinese classics and spending hours of thought over them. Like all learners, Confucius 
was a curious man, always asking questions and seeking explanations. He lived moderately, never 
overindulging in life's pleasures but not living a life of austerity either. He was said to be self-
confident but kind, cheerful but thoughtful. He liked to play the lute, sing, fish, and ride in his 
chariot. He sought masters who could teach him the arts of ritual, music, archery, calligraphy and 
arithmetic.

At first, he eked out a living as a caretaker of state parks and granaries. He managed stables and kept 
accounting books. But due to his vast knowledge he was offered several government posts. He became what 
we would call today a "bureaucrat," but he was a bureaucrat with a mission. He was becoming increasingly 
distressed by the corruption and indifference of the government to the suffering of the Chinese people. 
And he was becoming more and more committed to change. In later years, Confucius advanced to become 
Minister of Justice in his own state, a position he hoped would give him more influence. To his dismay, 
it didn't. 

In fact every position he held lasted for only a brief time. Each one resulted in conflicts with his 
superiors. He repeatedly confronted a system unresponsive to his ideas, and people resistant to change. 
So he would take to the road in search of a new position and a new ruler who might listen to him.

As Confucius traveled he became more and more aware of the problems in Chinese society. He saw first 
hand that the heavy taxes on the peasants were financing a lavish life style for the royals, and paying 
for the endless wars between feudal barons. Meanwhile the people themselves were starving. It was the 
same dramatic split between the classes - the wealthy few who had everything and the masses of poor who 
had nothing - that leads over and over in history to revolution, war, and transformation. Confucius 
began to dream of revolution too, but a revolution that would take place in the minds and hearts of the 
Chinese rulers. He envisioned a new rulership of fairness, peace and benevolence. 

Meanwhile, he continued to educate himself, until eventually he became one of the most learned men of 
his time. His education was part of his search for answers to social problems. He felt solutions could 
be found in the past - in the principles and actions of great leaders, customs, and societies that had 
come before.  As the quality of life disintegrated in China, people lost respect for the established 
standards of behavior. Confucius felt the loss of tradition and ritual was a threat to society and would 
eventually lead to the destruction of civilization. He studied the old ways in hopes he could apply them 
to new problems. He conducted his own private search for "roots," trying to understand why certain 
rituals, such as worship of ancestors, reverence for Heaven, and mourning ceremonies, had survived for 
so many centuries. These ways had now lost their vitality but he felt if they were revitalized, they 
could bring order and harmony back to the disintegrating Chinese culture. Surely if he read enough, if 
he learned enough, if he talked enough, he could convince people to live again by the ancient principles 
that had once served them so well. 

He passed his learning on to his disciples, saying: "If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as 
continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others."

Soon, the road became a way of life for Confucius. He walked and walked, looking for more knowledge and 
understanding, and looking for people he could influence with his ideas. He joined an emerging category 
of "wandering scholars" - an ancient version of our modern day consultants - who traveled from kingdom 
to kingdom, offering their advice and services to local and regional governments. Lao Tzu, famous 
founder of Taoism, was another such scholar working for the government at this time; he held a position 
as state archivist. In this ancient period of Chinese history, government positions offered similar 
benefits to those of today - people liked them because they provided steady, lifelong employment to 
those who qualified. Confucius liked them because he believed this is where change could manifest.

Confucius' point of view as an advisor was quite simple. He felt that the fundamental problem of his 
country was that the government was more interested in the needs and pleasures of its rulers than the 
welfare of its subjects. He proposed numerous reforms including reduced taxes, milder punishments, and 
the avoidance of needless wars. The government wasn't interested.

While Confucius was forming his political ideas, he was also gathering around him groups of young people 
who were active in the service of the state. Like Socrates would do a hundred years later, Confucius led 
these students in discussions about principles of right and wrong, of personal good and greater good. 
The method he used was informal conversations in small groups. The general subject was what we would 
call "ethics." The goal was to apply these ethics to government and statecraft. Confucius guided his 
students through an intensive course in history, poetry and music, so they could understand the cultural 
foundation of their time and place. They tried to identify the values and qualities in ancient 
traditions that could be applied to their own problems. As a teacher he was said to be gentle and open, 
welcoming different ideas, and encouraging independent thought. But he insisted his students have a 
grounding in the classics, now called the Confucian Classics, because after his death they became the 
main curriculum for all the schools in China. These classics included the I Ching (or Book of Changes), 
books on history, poetry, rituals and ceremonies, and books of commentary. Taken together, these 
classics are a thorough course in all the principles that formed Chinese society. It is believed 
Confucius may have edited many of them.

Whether Confucius himself wrote any books is unknown. Some say he did, but it's almost impossible to 
prove or disprove. The book which records all those famous "Confucius said..." sayings is called the 
Analects or "Conversations" and was written by his students after his death. Here are some excerpts:

<~Confucius Said~>
Confucius said: 

"He who requires much from himself and little from others, will keep himself from being the object of 
resentment."

"To go beyond is as bad as to fall short."

"The real fault is to have faults and not to amend them."

"By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart." 

"Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished."

"What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the mean man seeks is in others."

There are hundreds of these wise and pithy little sayings in the Analects, many of which the Chinese 
have known by heart for generations and generations.

Confucius spent most of his life trying to find an administrative post that offered him the power to 
implement his ideas. He was in his fifties when he landed the title Minister of Justice, one he felt 
would surely give him some influence. Again, his hopes were dashed. There was no authority behind the 
title, and he resigned in despair. 

Miles of walking behind him, hundreds of nights without food and shelter, Confucius had still not found 
the post he sought. He never did. Yet while he looked east and west and north and south for the career 
that eluded him, there was a different career in front of him all the time. He had, inadvertently, 
become the first person in China to make a living as a philosophical teacher. He was also the first to 
devote his teachings to radical political reform.

The principles of political reform he taught were also principles he lived. He served not just as a 
teacher to his students but as a role model. There was, for instance, that hot afternoon on the plains 
of China, when they had been walking for hours without food and water. The country was dry and barren. 
Their throats were parched, their lips cracked, and when they breathed it felt as if they inhaled only 
dust. Then, a disciple who had kept his eyes vigilantly to the ground saw something. It was water! A 
hidden rain puddle, sheltered by the rocks. Euphoric, he filled his rice bowl with the precious clear 
liquid and offered it to Confucius. The teacher looked at him. Then he looked at the others. And then he 
emptied the bowl on the ground. "It would be too much for one," he said, "too little for all. Let us 
continue our walk." 

And so he walked, on and on, for years and years, in quest of an opportunity. At 67, when all his dreams 
of finding an influential post and a cooperative ruler had vanished, Confucius returned home. His 
followers had asked him to come and resume his teachings, and since this seemed the only way in which he 
could serve, he went. In spite of his disillusionments, he was not a sad man, and the twinkle in his 
eyes never dimmed. When a student told Confucius that he'd had trouble describing him to another, 
Confucius said: "Why did you not simply say something to this effect: he is the sort of man who forgets 
to eat when he engages himself in vigorous pursuit of learning, who is so full of joy that he forgets 
his worries, and who does not notice that old age is coming on?"

Confucius taught another five years until he died at the age of 72. He died in joy and he died in 
disappointment, thinking he had failed in his heart's desire, but proud of how he'd lived. Shortly 
before his death he summed up his life this way:

"At 15 I set my heart on learning; at 30 I firmly took my stand; at 40 I had no delusions; at 50 I knew 
the Mandate of Heaven; at 60 my ear was attuned; at 70 I followed my heart's desire without overstepping 
the boundaries of right." 

By the time he died, Confucius had taught a total of 3,000 disciples, all from different backgrounds and 
different states, and of many different ages. Seventy-two of them had mastered the classics and were 
considered close disciples. It was they who would carry his teachings into posterity. It was they who 
would prove that far from being a failure, he had contributed more to China than almost any other person 
in history. 

<~His Teachings~>
His Teachings

The contribution of Confucius is in his teachings and what they tell us about the potential of human 
growth and learning. At the heart of those teachings was an adage that sounds very familiar to us in the 
West. It reads: "Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you" - an early version of the 
Golden Rule of the Christians. But Confucius was too wise to leave his sayings open to interpretation. 
He prescribed exactly what one should and shouldn't do others, whether one was an individual or a 
government. He established a set of rules for the way a nation and its people should think and conduct 
themselves. These rules were all based on what he considered the five basic social relationships: 
husband and wife; father and son; brother and brother; friend and friend; and ruler and subject. In all 
these relationships, there had to be LI - honor or propriety. LI is sort of a catchword for an ideal 
standard of behavior, that includes many qualities. To Confucius this meant something particular in each 
of the five basic relationships: In a marriage LI meant justice from the husband and obedience from the 
wife. In ancient China, of course, the woman's role was very restricted and traditional. Confucius 
seldom addressed himself to women or girls or to their potential for contribution. When he talked about 
parents and children, he focused mostly on father and son because, again, male roles were held in 
greater esteem than female roles. In this case he said LI meant the father must love the son and the son 
must respect the father. LI between brothers and friends meant there was always to be consideration, and 
the younger should always defer to the older. And finally, in the matter of government, LI referred to 
benevolence from rulers and loyalty from subjects. If all these relationships operated well, it followed 
to Confucius that society in general would operate well - that a good husband, brother, father and 
friend would inevitably be a good citizen, and that a good ruler would then rule over good subjects.

Confucius also offered advice to individuals. He had a description of what he considered to be the 
SUPERIOR MAN. The Superior Man was brave, unselfish, wise, and accomplished. He was what Westerners 
might call "a true gentleman." His socio-economic class mattered little - what mattered was his 
character. He thought for himself, but he followed the rules of social conduct. He studied himself as 
hard as he studied other subjects taking, as Confucius said, "as much trouble to discover what was right 
as lesser men take to discover what will pay." The Analects, the book of Confucius' sayings, are filled 
with references to the Superior Man and how he thinks, feels, and behaves. As in: "The superior man is 
anxious lest he should not get truth; he is not anxious lest poverty should come upon him." Or: "The 
superior man is easy to serve and difficult to please."

Ideally to Confucius, the greatest gentlemen of all and the most superior men would be the rulers. Their 
examples would inspire everyone else to lead the same worthy lives. The virtuous behavior of a ruler, 
said Confucius, has far more impact than laws or punishment. 

This quality of virtue that Confucius hoped to see in China's rulers and citizens is something he called 
JEN. It's a difficult word to translate because it means many things at once. Jen is love and 
benevolence. Jen is loyalty and righteousness. And it is wisdom and morality. Overall, Jen can probably 
be summed up as excellence of character.

Jen and Li, along with all of Confucius's principles, gradually became firmly embedded in Chinese 
society. He was venerated for many hundreds of years for the profound effect he had on Chinese thought 
and behavior. Yet he himself never considered himself a hero or even a sage. He said that all he really 
excelled in was his love of learning. Even that learning, he said was "a lower level of knowledge," 
because it didn't come to him directly from God. It came from he himself, an ordinary human being with 
an extraordinary dedication to learning.

Confucianism was expanded, modified, and adapted over the centuries, until the time of the Communist 
Revolution, when it was banned, mostly because it looked to the past rather than the future. Today, as a 
school of thought and as a practice, Confucianism no longer exists in China. But its principles do. They 
are everywhere - in patterns of society, education, family, individual behavior, and even in government 
- the very government that once condemned it still exhibits a Confucian influence that separates it from 
similar governments elsewhere.

September 28, the day popularly believed to be Confucius's birthday is still widely celebrated in Asia. 
In Taiwan it's a national holiday called "Teacher's Day."

One of the greatest gifts Confucius gave the world is the principle that all people - no matter what 
class, education, or nature - can elevate themselves. Every individual has the potential to become, in 
Confucius' language, a "gentleman" and a "sage." They have only to take responsibility for it, to 
educate themselves and always remain open to new learning, and to abide by certain standards of moral 
conduct. This was a social breakthrough in its time - a time when the class system of China was rigid 
and unforgiving, and people were either born to privilege or born to despair. Confucius rejected the 
status quo. He offered instead an aristocracy of character. This aristocracy was available to everyone 
and, in his utopian view, would lead to material well-being and harmony among all. In his mind, learning 
and teaching never existed to serve the individual only - the purpose of learning was to transform 
society.

The beauty of what Confucius taught is in this sense of communal learning and growth. He believed in the 
perfectibility of all persons. And he believed that the perfection of one individual helped us all to 
become perfect.  

His work in trying to convey that message of hope was strenuous and even dangerous. He suffered 
unemployment, homelessness, starvation, and sometimes even threats on his life. He experienced 
disappointment after disappointment and never gave up. When one ruler wouldn't listen he tried another. 
If one position offered no hope, he found a new position. He died thinking his words had been unheard 
and his work had been incomplete. 

Yet by the 700's in China, all candidates for government work had to take a civil service exam based on 
Confucian ideas. There was no one who did not recognize his name, few who could not quote his words. 

Confucius himself had once said:

"There are cases in which the blade springs, but the plant does not go on to flower. There are cases 
where it flowers, but no fruit is subsequently produced."

One could add to that: "There are cases where the fruit is produced in a different season."