Confucius was just one of these traveling teachers who thought his ideas, could eventually bring the political conflict and wars in China to an end. During his lifetime, Confucius was never able to put his ideas into practice. He died thinking himself a failure. His ideas, were remembered by his followers, and later recorded after his death in what is called the Analects. Confucianism is a philosophy, not a religion. Although he talks about the gods, it's not in the aspect of religion, but how he accepts the religions on his time. And to his philosophy there are 3 main moral concepts: Jen, Li, and De.
The first of the 3 morals is Jen, meaning, becoming a person. Humanity or Jen is what ties one together with another. Basically it's the responsibilities of fulfilling one's obligations to family and the community. This concept is best signified by what is called the silver rule of Confucianism: Do not do to others, what you do not want them to do to you. It is called the silver rule in comparison to the golden rule of Christianity: Do unto others as you would want them to do to you. I assume the rulers used this moral to keep their empire organized and together.
The second moral is Li or the rights. They helped to guide someone who may be unsure of what would be the right way to act in certain circumstances. The rulers used this moral in two ways. They were guidelines of proper conduct and also behavioral guidelines. This would keep their empire very proper.
The final moral is De. De is the moral of virtue or excellence. It is the combination of Li and Jen. Those two are the beginning stages of De. Virtue is the ultimate goal of Confucianism. It was the solid foundation of a ruling or leadership. De was determined by action not contemplation. Confucius saw it as the final moral. .
Confucianism was used to its full potential in many empires. The philosophy of Confucianism was very important to all of the rulers of the Qin dynasty and many other dynasties that used it.
