philosophies of confucious

China’s most influential scholar was Kongfuzi, known in the West as Confucius. Confucius was born in the village of Zou in the country of Lu in 551 B.C., a poor descendant of a deposed noble family. As a child, he held make-believe temple rituals; as a young adult, he quickly earned a reputation for fairness, politeness and love of learning, and he was reputed to be quite tall. He traveled extensively and studied at the imperial capital, Zhou, where he is said to have met and spoke with Lao Zi, the founder of Daoism.

Upon his return to Lu, he gained renown as a teacher, but when he was 35, Duke Zhao of Lu led his country to war, was routed and fled to the neighboring country of Qi; in the disorder following the battle, Confucius followed. Duke Zhao frequently came to him for advice, but upon counsel of one of his ministers, he decided against granting land to Confucius and gradually stopped

Edwards, Paul. Encyclopedia of Philosophy. vol.III. Great Britain: Macmillan, Inc

After Confucius died in 479 B.C., his teachings were collected in a work called the Analects. Being a collection of remembered dialogues recorded by his disciples and their pupils, there is clearly a question about the accuracy of the statements in the Analects. In addition, the concise style of these dialogues is open to a wide variety of interpretations.

Though they are largely considered the great Satans of Chinese history, the group of philosophers and administrators known as the Legalists and followers of Hanfeizi represent a first in Chinese government: the application of a philosophical system to government. And despite their dismal failure and successive demonization throughout descendants the philosophical and political innovations they practiced had a lasting effect on the nature of Chinese government

Classical Chinese Philosophy 4Feb.2003.www.geocities.com/tokyo/springs/6339/philosophy.html

Confucius spent the next five years wandering China with his disciples, finding that his presence at royal courts was rarely tolerated for long before nobles would begin plotting to drive him out or have him killed. He was arrested once and jailed for five days, and at 62 he was pursued, along with his disciples, into the countryside by a band of soldiers sent by jealous nobles, until he was able to send a messenger to the sympathetic king of a nearby country, who sent his own soldiers to rescue them. Once again, Confucius was to be given land but was denied it upon counsel of another high minister. After further wanderings, he eventually returned to Lu at age 67. Although he was welcomed there and chose to remain, he was not offered public office again, nor did he seek it. Instead he spent the rest of his years teaching and, finally, writing which became known as, the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, and other ancient classics, as well as editing the Spring and Autumn Annals, the court chronicle

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