Explore the Life of
Confucius

The Biography of Confucius

Throughout his life, Confucius encountered opportunities and challenges.

At the age of three, his father, Shuliang He (叔梁紇), died. His mother, Yan Zhengzai (颜徵在), moved to Qufu with the young Confucius to earn a living and secure his studies.

Confucius married at the age of nineteen and had a son at twenty. Subsequently, he served as a minor official in the State of Lu, managing grain warehouses and grazing animals.

In his youth, Confucius became famous in Lu for his extensive knowledge of ritual and music, and he even attracted the attention of the ruling class.

In middle age, his educational career began with the initiation of Private School Education. He gathered large numbers of students for lectures. It is recorded that Confucius had as many as 3000 disciples.

At the age of fifty-five, Confucius began traveling through different states with his disciples to spread his political ideas and teachings. However, his ideas were not adopted by rulers in these states.

In his later years, Confucius returned to Lu. He decided not to seek an official position but to devote himself to education, continuing to teach and lecture.

Solar Calendar	Age	Experiences
551 BCE	–	On September 28, Confucius was born.
549 BCE	3	His father, Kong He (also called Shuliang He), died, and his mother, Yan Zhengzai, moved to Qufu with him.
535 BCE	17	His mother died.
533 BCE	19	Confucius married Qiguan (亓官氏), a native of the State of Song.
532 BCE	20	Confucius was dissatisfied with the dictatorship of Three Huan (三桓)1 and left the Lu (鲁) State for the Qi (齐) State, which was his first recorded political activity.
522 BCE	30	Confucius began to establish private schools.
518 BCE	34	Confucius traveled to Luoyi (洛邑; the capital city of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty) to see Laozi (philosopher in the Spring and Autumn Period, founder of Taoism).
516 BCE	36	Confucius was dissatisfied with the dictatorship of Three Huan and left Lu State for Qi (齐) State, which was his first recorded political activity.
515 BCE	37	Scholar-bureaucrats of the State of Qi intended to frame Confucius, so Confucius had no choice but to return to Lu.
501 BCE	51	Confucius was appointed as Zhongdu Zai (中都宰)2.
500 BCE	52	Confucius was promoted to Minor Sikong (小司空)3 and Grand Sikou (大司寇)4.
499 BCE	53	Great Rule of the State of Lu (鲁国大治) When Confucius was the Grand Sikou of the Lu, he performed well in governance by ensuring stability and prosperity. Hence, later generations referred to his duration as the “Great Rule of the State of Lu.”
498 BCE	54	To diminish the power of Three Huan, Confucius initiated a political action of “Destroying the Cities of the Three Huan” (隳三都)5, but it failed.
497 BCE	55	Surrounded by his disciples, Confucius embarked on a 14-year tour of different states. From the Lu, he traveled to the State of Wey (卫), Song (宋), Qi, Zheng (郑), and Jin (晋).
484 BCE	68	Ji Kangzi (季康子)6 welcomed Confucius back to Lu, and Confucius finished his tour. In the same year, Confucius began writing The Spring and Autumn Annals.
481 BCE	71	His disciple Yan Hui died of overwork. In the same year, Confucius stopped revising The Spring and Autumn Annals.
479 BCE	73	On April 11th, Confucius passed away due to illness.

Thought and Propositions

As the founder of Confucianism, Confucius is revered by the world as a sage. His ideas, widely passed down and studied by later generations, become an important part of Chinese culture.

1. Confucius as a thinker

As a great thinker, Confucius has a profound system of thoughts covering eleven aspects such as morality, education, politics, law, literature, economics, and philosophy.

The moral thought system undoubtedly shapes the core of these systems. All other thoughts are based on moral thoughts and are expanded and developed based on this basis.

Each thought becomes a system in itself and is interrelated, forming a well-structured and richly interconnected whole.

Moral Thoughts of Confucius

Confucius constructs a complete system of thought on “morality.” In this system, Confucius elaborates on three basic moral principles: Ren(仁), Yi(义), and Li(礼), the core of Confucianism.

Ren

Ren is the core of Confucius’s moral thought, encompassing three primary levels:

• “Self-love,” which means cherishing and respecting one’s own life.

• “Filial piety and fraternal duty,” i.e., love for one’s parents, siblings, spouse, and children.

• “Loving others” means loving everyone in society and filling the world with love.

In Confucius’s moral thought, Ren is a moral sentiment and practice. He advocated cultivating one’s inner self and fostering benevolence to achieve harmonious social relationships.

Li

Li is an important part of Confucius’s moral thought. It refers to various rituals, ceremonies, and moral norms. According to Confucius, Li is the key to maintaining social order and harmony in interpersonal relationships.

Li includes specific ritual ceremonies, such as sacrifices, weddings, and funerals, and a wide range of social moral norms and codes of conduct, so Confucius emphasized that people should follow its standards and requirements.

Yi

In Confucianism, Yi (righteousness) is a moral principle that guides people’s actions and decisions. According to Confucius, Yi is a legitimate standard for regulating human behavior. It is based on the sense of justice and righteousness in human nature and embodies the pursuit of morality and ethics.

In summary, Confucius’s moral thought centers on Ren and includes important concepts such as Yi and Li. These ideas emphasize the importance of personal moral cultivation and social harmony.

Other thoughts of Confucius

In addition to moral thought, Confucius also has unique insights and propositions in 10 areas, including political, legal, philosophical, educational, literary, economic, aesthetic, logical, military, and psychological thoughts.

In politics, Confucius advocated the idea of governing with virtue.

In laws and regulations, he emphasized using virtue and Li as the main instruments of the government rather than penalties.

In philosophy, Confucius believed that Tian (天; the supreme power over lower gods and humans) is the master of all things.

In education, he stressed the application of knowledge to practice.

In literature, Confucius pointed out the nature of literary works in standardizing people’s behaviors and the edifying effect of poetry.

In economics, the idea of enriching people was proposed.

In aesthetics, Confucius demanded that we should examine the aesthetic art from the perspective of Ren.

Concerning logic, Confucius’s thoughts about logic featured dialogues and debates. He valued the Doctrine of Mean, the cause-and-effect relationship, and practices and actions.

In military affairs, Confucius mentioned military rule by Li.

In psychology, Confucius believed that there are different stages in the development of the human body and mind.

As can be seen from the above, all these thoughts are supported and developed based on moral thoughts.

For Confucius, morality is the basis for building a harmonious society, perfecting one’s personality, and realizing one’s values.

2. Confucius as an educator

Confucius was the most successful private schooler during the Spring and Autumn Period, breaking the monopoly of official education.

He had over 3,000 disciples, including the famous “Seventy-two sages of Confucianism.” Many of them made outstanding achievements in virtue, oratory, politics, and literature, thus perpetuating Confucianism’s splendor.

For example, Yan Hui was known as the “Restoration of the Sage” (复圣), and his conduct and moral values were highly regarded. Zi Lu (子路) and Zi You (子游) both held important state positions, while Zi Gong (子贡) was a great merchant.

Therefore, his educational philosophy and teaching methods were groundbreaking at the time and profoundly impacted education’s development in later generations.

In terms of the scope of enrolment, Confucius founded private schools and implemented the principle of “teaching without discrimination.” He set no prerequisites for students to learn. As long as students strived to learn, Confucius would teach them all.

As for the teaching content, Confucius proposed the idea of “teaching students according to their aptitudes.” According to students’ different endowments, personalities, strengths, qualities, experience, and other specific conditions, they can receive personalized training and education for an all-round development to become both moral and talented people.

Regarding teaching methods, Confucius practiced heuristic education and emphasized enlightenment. He also emphasized the combination of learning and thinking and the application of knowledge to practice.

Concerning the purpose of teaching, Confucius considered that “A good scholar will become an official.”

He wanted to cultivate gentlemen in politics with cultivated moral characters. Therefore, Confucius also stressed that moral cultivation must be given priority in school education.

3. Confucius as a politician

Confucius’s political thought is complex and complete. Through inheritance and development by later generations, Confucianism has become one of the orthodox ideas of Chinese feudal society. It not only played a driving role in shaping its political, economic, and cultural patterns but also had a far-reaching influence on East Asia and some European countries.

Firstly, Li and Ren are the core of Confucius’s political thought and the representative ideas of Confucianism.

The ‘rule of virtue’ (德治) and ‘rule of Li’ (礼治) are not just strategies for governing a country, but they embody the ethical foundation of Confucius’s political thought. These principles aim to deeply root morality and propriety in the hearts and minds of the people, fostering a conscious adherence to social order and rules.

In Confucius’s political thoughts, people should strictly observe hierarchy. He deemed the nobles as rulers and the ordinary people as the ruled and emphasized the boundaries between the two.

Confucius’s highest political ideal was not just about establishing a Great Community (大同), but it was an aspiration for the whole world to become a community. This ideal, where everyone gains property, power, rights, respect, and opportunities through realizing social justice and harmony, reflects the profound idealism of Confucius’s political thought.

Finally, Confucius’s lower political goal was to build a prosperous society. According to him, an ideal prosperous society should focus on improving people’s living standards and social welfare so that they can lead stable and harmonious lives. Confucius thought the ruler should introduce moral education and a system of rituals and music to achieve the ideal state.

Books

As the founder of Confucianism, Confucius left many valuable Confucian texts for future generations. These texts are study materials for Confucian scholars and important references for their in-depth study and development of Confucianism.

He revised six books, The Book of Songs, The Book of Documents, The Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial, The Classics of Music, The Book of Changes, and The Spring and Autumn Annals, which were collectively called the “The Six Confucian Classics” by later generations.

He also composed some poems, most of which are included in The Collection of Yuefu Poems (乐府诗集).

In addition to his poetic compositions, Confucius’s sayings and opinions were also recorded by his disciples and their disciples. They compiled them into an important document, The Analects of Confucius. This collection of quotations has become an important source for the study of Confucius and his disciples.

Confucius’s main family relationships

As society’s basic unit, the family plays an important role in a person’s growth and career development. When we study Confucius profoundly, his family members are inevitably involved. Analyzing his family members can help us better understand his life and thoughts.

Name	Chinese Name	Relationship with Confucius	Details
Kong Fangshu	孔防叔	Great grandfather	a native of Liyi (present-day Xiayi County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province) in the State of Song during the Spring and Autumn Period
Bo Xia	伯夏	Grandfather	a native of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period
Shuliang He	叔梁纥	Father	Also named Kong He, erudite and capable of writing and martial arts.
Yan Zhengzai	颜徵在	Mother	Strong and courageous; died of overwork.
Lady Qiguan	亓官氏	Wife	a native of the State of Song in the Spring and Autumn Period
Kong Li	孔鲤	Son	His courtesy name is Bo Yu, and he died before Confucius.
Kong Ji	孔伋	Grandson	His courtesy name is Zisi (子思), one of the five sages of Confucianism.
Kong Bai	孔白	Great Grandson	A native of Lu in the Warring States Period

The Influence of Confucius

As one of the founders of traditional Chinese culture, Confucius’s thoughts are the core of the Confucian school of thought, which has profoundly influenced Chinese culture for 2,500 years. Many great thinkers and scholars, such as Mencius and Zhu Xi (朱熹), are followers and successors of Confucius.

In addition, Confucius’s thought is not only an important source of Eastern philosophy and ethics but has also had a profound influence on Western thought. Being an essential part of Chinese civilization, Confucianism has become an indispensable bond in international cultural exchange.

The Confucius Cultural Festival in China is organized annually to commemorate this great thinker and educator. During the Festival, people promote Confucius’s ideas and spirit through various activities, such as the Confucius Hometown Tour (a planned tour organized by schools or students), the Confucius Temple Ritual Tour, and the Literary and Artistic Gala.

Besides, more schools worldwide are promoting Chinese and Confucianism worldwide. For example, Confucius Institutes have been established in the United States, Canada, and Australia to spread the teaching of Chinese and Confucianism. These institutions offer language courses, cultural activities, and lectures to facilitate the exchange and understanding of Chinese and Western cultures.