[23] In 500 BC, Hou Fan—the governor of Hou—revolted against his lord of the Shu family. The brief account in this record prompted writers in later centuries to speculate about how Confucius might have behaved in this situation. He was born in the state of Lu in the middle of the sixth century BCE, a time that the philosopher Karl Jaspers has famously called “The Axial Age,” as it was the time not only of Confucius, but also of Plato, the Buddha, Zoroaster, and the Hebrew prophets. Updates? His original name was Kong Qiu or Zhong Ni. Now they were gaining the upper hand, and some were so brazen as to openly compete with their ruler for wealth and women. A handful of younger disciples—who make their appearances rather forcefully at the beginning and the end of the work—could have initiated the project, but it took another 200–300 years of tinkering—with some passages being omitted and others appended or modified—before the text settled into its present form. Confucius was not He espoused the well-known principle "Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself", the Golden Rule. [58] Even though the Ji family had practices with which Confucius disagreed and disapproved, they nonetheless gave Confucius's disciples many opportunities for employment. [54] Sima Niu, in contrast to Yan Hui, was from a hereditary noble family hailing from the Song state. Confucius was born in or around 551 BC in or near the city of Qufu, in what is modern day Shandong, into a poor but noble warrior family. He was born in a period of religious and cultural turmoil, with the great Zhou dynasty in decline and being replaced by petty fiefdoms fighting for supremacy. "[98] The DNA testing was originally proposed to add new members, many of whose family record books were lost during 20th-century upheavals, to the Confucian family tree. Unfortunately, such searches often led to imaginative conjectures about Confucius, as in the account by a writer of the 3rd century BCE in which Confucius described himself as a yellow chi (homeless dragon) swimming in the turbid water but drinking from the clear. He was born in the state of Lu in 551 BC. People who lack the feeling of commiseration have only themselves to blame; they must have let go of their inborn nature, Mencius observed, and left their hearts morally barren (Mencius, 6A:8). He also established ethical, moral, and social standards that formed the basis of Confucianism. Confucius, in this writer’s mind, could have chosen to live like a true dragon and never leave his pristine pool, but he preferred to be a chi. His father was a soldier named Kong He who died when Confucius was three years old. Confucius was born on 28 Septemeber 551 BCE in Lu, China, a province of the Zhou dynasty – near modern day Qufu. Few people knew how to reform themselves in Confucius’s time, and there was nearly no one among their rulers for them to look up to. Confucius said, "Those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men. Each warlord ruled a feudal state. [73][74] The Hanlin Academy rank of Wujing boshi 五經博士 was awarded to the southern branch at Quzhou by a Ming Emperor while the northern branch at Qufu held the title Duke Yansheng. Official annals and other historical sources of the late Spring and Autumn Period rarely mention his name because he did not play a conspicuous role in the political world. In fact, he barely existed in that world, since most of his life was spent either in preparation for such a career or in exile. Xunzi, who followed Mencius by about a century, severely criticized his predecessor. [59], No contemporary painting or sculpture of Confucius survives, and it was only during the Han Dynasty that he was portrayed visually. They either approached him directly for advice or used his disciples as intermediaries. The Shiji stated that the neighboring Qi state was worried that Lu was becoming too powerful while Confucius was involved in the government of the Lu state. [56] In fact, the disciple Zilu even died defending his ruler in Wey. Confucius’s disciples were considerably younger than him. Yan Hui was Confucius’s favourite, and, when he died before his time, Confucius was so bereft that other disciples wondered whether such a display of emotion was appropriate. Confucius's descendants in Quzhou alone number 30,000. In one, a military officer, Huan Tui, tried to ambush Confucius as he was passing through the state of Song. Confucius (born 551 BC, died 479 BC) was an important Chinese educator and philosopher. “Asking questions,” he said, “is the correct practice of the rites” (Analects, 3:15). September 28 is widely observed in East Asia as Confucius’s birthday. It is a record of his life in fragments, collected into 20 sections. He later credited this seclusion with giving him time for deep thought and intense study of history. Still, Confucius was patient, waiting four years before he was granted an audience. Even though later scholars did not find all his stories believable and saw logistical problems in his account of Confucius’s travels, they were willing to overlook such questions because of Sima Qian’s rare talent for improving the records imaginatively and reconstructing the interior lives of his subjects. Confucius was born in 551 B.C., in Zou, Lu state, near present-day Qufu, China, during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Yet, with patience and attentiveness, it is possible to glean from the gathered pieces flashes of Confucius’s genius and the elements of his humanity. (Book) : Burgan, Michael : "Born in 551 BC, Confucius was a young man when he set his heart and mind on learning as much as he could. Confucius also stressed the importance of maintaining some emotional distance from matters that require judgment, but Xunzi placed more emphasis on the mind’s potential. In 2013 a DNA test performed on multiple different families who claimed descent from Confucius found that they shared the same Y chromosome as reported by Fudan University. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In South Korea, a grand-scale memorial ceremony called Seokjeon Daeje is held twice a year on Confucius's birthday and the anniversary of his death, at Confucian academies across the country and Sungkyunkwan in Seoul. It is believed that Confucius was born in Zou, Lu state (near present-day Qufu, Shandong Province) in 551 B.C. As a child, Confucius was said to have enjoyed putting ritual vases on the sacrifice table. To one such man, a prime minister of the state of Qi who aspired to follow the great kings of the past but had not yet taken the first step, Xunzi said, “For you [to harbour such ambitions] is analogous to lying down flat on one’s face and trying to lick the sky or trying to rescue a man who had hanged himself by pulling at his feet” (Xunzi, Chapter 16, “On Strengthening the State”). [31] Thus, Confucius could not achieve the idealistic reforms that he wanted including restoration of the legitimate rule of the duke. Successors of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi in the subsequent Yuan dynasty (1206–1368) would go further by including the Mencius in government examinations, thus making his relationship with the state even tighter. Confucius was born in a poor family in the year 551 B.C. The duke indulged himself in pleasure and did not attend to official duties for three days. Confucius believed in ruling by example, if you lead correctly, orders by force or punishment are not necessary.[41]. Confucius When was Confucius born? After his return, Confucius did not seek any position in the Lu government. Just as the legendary sage emperor Shun (c. 23rd century BCE) told the director of music to teach the children poetry—to let the poems become their voice—so that “the straightforward shall yet be gentle, the magnanimous shall yet be dignified”—Confucius, too, hoped that the Odes would become his son’s speech, because such utterances are always appropriate and so will “never swerve from the path” (Analects, 2:2). [54], Confucius did not charge any tuition, and only requested a symbolic gift of a bundle of dried meat from any prospective student. The Han dynasty Records of the Grand Historian records that it had already become a place of pilgrimage for ministers. [16] His mother would later die at less than 40 years of age. “At 70,” he said, “I followed what my heart desired without overstepping the line” (Analects, 2:4). [34] He left the state of Lu without resigning, remaining in self-exile and unable to return as long as Viscount Ji Huan was alive.[33]. Confucius was born in the state of Lu at a time when local rulers failed to pay homage to the emperor of a declining Chou dynasty. It awaits the person with knowledge and awareness and skills in deportment to put it into motion, for every occasion is different. To develop one's spontaneous responses of rén so that these could guide action intuitively was even better than living by the rules of yì. A disagreement between these two political philosophies came to a head in 223 BC when the Qin state conquered all of China. A plan to steer the families toward self-ruin backfired. Confucius did not believe in the concept of "democracy", which is itself an Athenian concept unknown in ancient China, but could be interpreted by Confucius's principles recommending against individuals electing their own political leaders to govern them, or that anyone is capable of self-government. If you guide them with exemplary virtue and keep them in line with the practice of the rites, they will have sense of shame and will know to reform themselves” (Analects, 2:3). Yet he held his office for only a few years. Confucianism was part of the Chinese social fabric and way of life; to Confucians, everyday life was the arena of religion. For these reasons, according to many commentators, Confucius's teachings may be considered a Chinese example of humanism. Died in 479 B.C.E. Little is known of Confucius’ childhood. According to the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee (CGCC), he has two million known and registered descendants, and there are an estimated three million in all. The development of state temples devoted to the cult of Confucius was an outcome of his gradual canonisation. Accordingly, followers of Confucius either held on to certain aspects of his teachings with a tighter grip or realized the need to adapt what he had said to the political reality of their times. The music Confucius loved best was the ancient music known as shao. His teaching and philosophy greatly affected people around the world and remain influential today. His real name was K'ung Ch'in Chung-ni- K'ung being the family name, Ch'in his first name, and Chung-ni being the name given to him at reaching full age. But the Duke of Zhou was royalty and Confucius was a professional bureaucrat, which meant that he had limited political authority. [39] Rén is the virtue of perfectly fulfilling one's responsibilities toward others, most often translated as "benevolence" or "humaneness"; translator Arthur Waley calls it "Goodness" (with a capital G), and other translations that have been put forth include "authoritativeness" and "selflessness." He died at the age of 73 on the 11th day of the fourth lunar month in the year 479 BCE. There were a lot of problems which caused a lot of strife and wars between various members of the society and there was no end in sight for any of this. … [49], The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes Confucius was a Divine Prophet of God, as were Lao-Tzu and other eminent Chinese personages. Mencius, for his part, wanted to go much further by using his theory of human nature as the basis of an entire moral philosophy. Confucius wanted to teach his disciples to be gentlemen-君子. … Confucius' life as a child was sad. 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