Confucius’ Thought

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Confucius，whose given name is Qiu，styled himself Zhongni（551-479B.C.），was born in Zouyi，the State of Lu（now to south-eastern Qufu，a city in Shandong Province）.As founder of the Confucianism，he was a great philosopher and educator in the end years of the Spring and Autumn Period.His forefathers were nobles in the State of Song，later the whole family was moved to the State of Lu.When Confucius was very young，his father died，so the family began to decline.He developed a firm and persistent character owing to the early years’experience of frustrations.

Confucius’ Thought

Confucius was the first thinker in China’s intellectual history to consider moral standard as the first and highest criterion of man’s behaviour and government.

The core of morality，according to him，is humanity（humaneness or benevolence）.

“To be humane is to be a man，”he said.This shows that in his view it is the quality of humanity that makes a man a man.He pointed out that humanity meant to“love other men”；to”help others to be established when one wishes to be established oneself；and help others to be successful when one wishes to be successful oneself”；and“not to impose on others what one does not desire oneself”.

About the Analects

The Analects is a book compiled after discussions by his disciples，and probably his disciples’disciples，who had taken notes of what their master and his main disciples had talked about.

The book is faithful and reliable because it is based on the notes taken by the students of what their teacher had said.At the same time，it is only natural if there are in it some repetitions and inconsistency in wording，because it is a collection of the notes taken by different students.

In the book there are all together about 490 sayings of Confucius and his main disciples.These are divided into 20 sections，in about 12700 words.They discuss a wide range of subjects:morality and rites，government and law，education and learning，knowledge and practice，music and poetry，the gentleman’s qualities and the small man’s weaknesses，the will of Heaven and destiny，the mean，the way of self cultivation，and the right attitude toward ghosts and spirits.In addition，there are a few entries describing Confucius’personality and lifestyle.In size it is a small book，but it contains immeasurable wisdom.It was like a torch that lit up the path of the Chinese people for centuries，because，in spite of its limitations，it distinguished between right and wrong.The Chinese people’s appreciation of the book and Confucius is poetically expressed in the following two lines written by a scholar of the Song Dynasty:“Had Heaven not produced Zhongni （Confucius），there would be eternal night.”