What Everyone Needs to Know Q&A: Today marks the celebration of Confucius' birthday. Confucius (551ā 479 b.c.e.) was a teacher and philosopher who lived during the Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (1045ā 256 b.c.e.), in what is known as the Spring and Autumn Era (722ā 476 b.c.e.). None of Confuciusās writings have survived, and his views come down to us via a text produced after his death called the Analects. To celebrate his birth, we want to know:
What were Confuciusās core ideas?
The vision of morality sketched out in the _Analects _emphasizes the importance of three thingsā education, ritual, and relationshipsā that are hierarchical yet provide benefits to both superior and inferior parties. Education was important because it was by studying the classical texts that a person could learn about and begin to emulate the actions of the most virtuous figures of past ages, including the legendary sages Yao and Shun (who lived long before the founding of the Zhou Dynasty) and figures such as the Duke of Zhou (who lived just a few centuries before Confucius). Ritual, which included a variety of social interactions such as greetings, was imporĀtant because it was a physical acting- out of the best practices of earlierā and, to Confuciusās way of thinking, purerā ages. And relationships in which there was a clear distinction beĀtween higher and lower ranks were valued, since in these the responsibilities of each side were clear.
[Page 4, China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to KnowĀ®, Third Edition by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom and Maura Elizabeth Cunningham]
Image Credit: āKonfuziusā by Ash Crow. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
