Confucius

. Mencius spoke frequently and highly of the well-field system. There are also many temples dedicated to him which have been used for Confucianist ceremonies. In contrast to the sayings of Confucius which are short and self-contained, the Mencius consists of long dialogues, with extensive prose. In China, there are many temples where one can find representations of Buddha, Lao Zi and Confucius together. The Mencius (also spelled Mengzi or Meng-tzu), a book of his conversations with kings of the time, is one of the four books that form the core of orthodox Confucian thinking. It is still a major destination for cultural tourism, and many Chinese people visit his grave and the surrounding temples. Mencius' interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty.

Soon after Confucius' death, Qufu, his hometown, became a place of devotion and remembrance. Mencius argued that human beings are born with an innate moral sense which society has corrupted, and that the goal of moral cultivation is to return to one's innate morality. The Kongs are related by marriage to a number of prominent Confucian families, among them that of the Song dynasty prime minister and martyr Wen Tianxiang 文天祥. He even argued that it was acceptable for people to overthrow or even kill a ruler who ignored the people's needs and ruled harshly. One of the most common titles is Duke Yansheng (衍聖公 Yǎnshèng gōng), which means "overflowing with sainthood." The latest descendant is K'ung Te-ch'eng (孔德成 Kǒng Déchéng) (born 1920), who is of the 77th generation and a professor at National Taiwan University; he married Sun Qifang, the great-granddaughter of the Qing dynasty scholar-official and first president of Beijing University Sun Jianai, whose Shouxian, Anhui, family created one of the first business combines in modern-day China that included the largest flour mill in Asia, the Fou Foong Flour Company 福豐麵粉廠. A follower of Confucianism, Mencius argued for the infinite goodness of the individual, believing that it was society's influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – which caused bad character. They were honored with the rank of a marquis thirty-five times since Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, and they were promoted to the rank of duke forty-two times from the Tang Dynasty to 1935. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.

Confucius' descendants were identified and honored by the imperial government. He expressed his filial devotion when he took an absence of three years from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. They built upon and expanded his ethico-political system. He served as an official during the Warring States Period (403–221 BCE) in the State of Qi (齊 qì) from 319 to 312 BCE. Mencius and Xun Zi are his two great followers, one on each "side" of his philosophy, perhaps simply described as optimism and pessimism. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. Confucius' philosophical school was first continued by his direct disciples and by his grandson Zisi. He was an itinerant Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism.

See main article : Disciples of Confucius. Mencius (most accepted dates: 372–289 BCE; other possible dates: 385–BC/302 BCE), also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou (鄒國), now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng (邹城市), Shandong province, only thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south of Qufu, Confucius' birthplace. Therefore, tyrannicide is justified because a tyrant is more a thief than a king (but attempted tyrannicide is not). This was built upon by his disciple Mencius to argue that if the king was not acting like a king, he would lose the Mandate of Heaven and be overthrown. In discussing the relationship between a son and his father (or a subject and his king), he underlined the need to give due respect to superiors; this demanded that the inferior must give advice to his superior if the superior was considered to be taking the wrong course of action in a given situation.

Even in facial expression, one sought always to achieve this. He argued for according language with truth—thus honesty was of the most paramount importance. While he supported the idea of the all-powerful Emperor, probably because of the chaotic state of China at his time, his philosophies contained a number of elements to limit the power of the rulers. If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will become good." (Translated by James Legge) This "sense of shame" is somewhat an internalization of duty, where the punishment precedes the evil action, instead of following it in the form of laws as in Legalism.

"If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame. He explained this in one of the most important analects: 1. He argues that the best government is one that rules through "rites" and people's natural morality, rather than using bribery and force. Confucius' political thought is based upon his ethical thought.

An early version of the Golden Rule: “What one does not wish for oneself, one ought not to do to any one else; what one recognizes as desirable for oneself, one ought to be willing to grant to others.” (Confucius and Confucianism, Richard Wilhelm). Virtue under Confucius is based upon harmony with others, very different from the Aristotelian view of virtue being personal excellence. To live by rén one used another Confucian version of the Golden Rule: he argued that you must always treat your inferiors just as you would want your superiors to treat you. To live by rén was even better than living by the rules of yì.

His moral system was based upon empathy and understanding others, rather than divinely ordained rules. Ren can best be translated as human heartedness. Just as lǐ flows out of yì, so yì flows out of rén (仁). Since they took care of you for the first three years of your life you must reciprocate by living in mourning for three years.

An example of living by yì is how you must mourn your father and mother for three years after their death. Yì is based upon reciprocity. This means that rather than pursuing your own selfish interests you should do what is right and what is moral. While doing things because of lǐ, your own self-interest, was not necessarily bad, you would be a better, more righteous person if you base your life upon following yì.

Yì can best be translated as righteousness. To Confucius, yì (义 [義]) was the origin of lǐ. Generally attempts to obtain short term pleasure are bad while those that in the long term try to make your life better are generally good. These can be either good or bad.

Lǐ to Confucius became every action by a person aiming at meeting the person's surface desires. He redefined lǐ to refer to all actions committed by a person to build the ideal society. Confucius redefined lǐ, arguing that it flowed not from heaven but from humanity. It was believed that lǐ originated from the heavens.

While Confucius grew up, lǐ (礼 [禮]) referred to three aspects of life, that of sacrificing to the gods, social and political institutions, and daily behavior. The Confucian theory of ethics is based on three important concepts:. He also looked nostalgically upon earlier days, and urged the Chinese, particularly the politicians, to model themselves on earlier examples — although whether or not older rulers had governed by Confucian standards is dubious. He expressed the well-known principle, "Do not to others what you do not want done to yourself" (the Golden Rule).

He championed strong familial loyalty, ancestor worship, and respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives, and used the family as a basis for an ideal government. Confucius's principles gained wide acceptance primarily because of their basis in common Chinese opinion. Although Confucianism is often followed in a religious manner by the Chinese, argument continues over whether to refer to it as a religion because it makes little reference to theological or spiritual matters (God(s), the afterlife, etc.). Main article: Confucianism.

In the centuries after his death, Mencius and Xun Zi both wrote a prominent book on these, and with time a philosophy has been elaborated, which is known in the West as Confucianism. Confucius' teachings have been turned later into a corps de doctrine by his numerous disciples and followers. Duties are always balanced and if a subject must obey his ruler, he also has to tell him when he is wrong. Both are mutual communication between someone's humanity and his social context, both feed social relationships, like the five prototypes: between father and son, husband and wife, prince and subject, elder and youngster, and between friends.

He added that rites are not only the way to arrange sacrificial tools, and music is not only the sound of stick on bell. While rites, in short, show off social hierarchies, music unifies hearts in shared enjoyment. Confucius also heavily emphasized what he calls "rites and music," referring to these social conventions as two poles to balance order and harmony. Thus, when one sees a little bit of the greater picture, according to many ancient or recent Eastern and Western commentators, Confucius' teaching can be considered a noteworthy Chinese variant of humanism.

When one knows that in his time horses were perhaps ten times more expensive than stablemen, one can understand that, by not asking about the horses, Confucius demonstrated his greatest priority: human beings. What seems a matter of tiny importance has been long commented on and shows another of the Confucian specificities that have to be underlined. A good example is found in this famous anecdote:. That is why his teachings need to be examined and put into context for access by Westerners.

This kind of "indirect" way to achieve a goal is used widely in his teachings, where allusions, innuendo, and even tautology are common ways of expressing himself. His ethics may be considered one of the greatest virtue ethics. One of the deepest teachings of Confucius, and one of the hardest to understand from a Western point of view, may have been the superiority of exemplification over explicit rules of behavior. And he wanted the ruler to reach perfection himself, thus spreading his own virtues to the people instead of imposing proper behavior with laws and rules.

He wanted rulers who were devoted to their people. Therefore, Confucius is often considered a great proponent of conservatism, but a closer look at what he proposes often shows that he used (and maybe twisted) past institutions and rites to push a new political agenda of his own: for example, he wanted rulers to be chosen on their merits, not their parentage. In these times of division, chaos, and endless wars between feudal states, he wanted to restore the Mandate of Heaven that could unify the "world" (i.e., China) and bestow peace and prosperity on the people. Far from trying to build a systematic theory of life and society, he wanted his disciples to think deeply for themselves and relentlessly study the outside world, mostly through the old scriptures relating past political events (like the Annals) or past feelings of common people (like the Book of Odes).

In this respect, he is seen by Chinese people as the Greatest Master. In the Analects, where one can find the most intimate descriptions of him, Confucius presents himself as a transmitter who invented nothing and his greatest emphasis may be on study, the Chinese character that opens the book. When he was about sixty, he returned home and spent the last years of his life teaching an increasing number of disciples, trying to share his experiences with them and transmit the old wisdom via a set of books called the Five Classics. At about age fifty, seeing no way to improve the government, he gave up his political career in Lu, and began a twelve-year journey around China, seeking the "Way" and trying unsuccessfully to convince many different rulers of his political beliefs and to push them into reality.

After several years, disapproving of the politics of his Prince, he resigned. As a young man he was a minor administrative manager in the State of Lu and rose to the position of Justice Minister. As a child, he is said to have enjoyed putting ritual vases on the sacrifice table. His social ascendancy links him to the growing class of Shì (士), between old nobility and common people, which later became the prominent class of literati because of the cultural and intellectual skills they shared.

His father died when he was three and he was brought up in poverty by his mother. His father was seventy and his mother only fifteen at his birth. He was born into a once noble family who had recently fled from the State of Song. According to traditional belief, Confucius was born in 551 BC (during the Spring and Autumn Period, at the beginning of the Hundred Schools of Thought philosophical movement) in the city of Qufu in the Chinese State of Lu (now part of present-day Shandong Province and culturally and geographically close to the royal mansion of Zhou).

. These contain an overview of his teachings. The Analects is a short collection of his discussions with disciples, compiled posthumously. Used since then as the imperial orthodoxy, Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a vast and complete philosophical system known in the west as Confucianism.

These values gained prominence in China after being chosen among other doctrines such as Legalism or Taoism during the Han dynasty. His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, and justice and sincerity. After much travelling around China to promote his ideas among rulers, he eventually became involved in teaching disciples. Living in the Spring and Autumn period (a time when feudal states fought against each other), he was convinced of his ability to restore the world's order, and failed.

Confucius (traditionally September 8? 551 BC–479 BC) was a famous thinker and social philosopher of China, whose teachings have deeply influenced East Asia for centuries. He is also commonly known as 萬世師表, Wànshìshībiǎo, "the Model Teacher of a Myriad Ages" in Taiwan. 先師, Xiānshī, "the First Teacher". 至聖, Zhìshèng, "the Greatest Sage";.

至聖先師, Zhìshèngxiānshī, meaning "The Former Teacher who Reached Sainthood" (comes from 1530, the ninth year of the Jianing period of the Ming Dynasty);. His most popular posthumous names are