World Religions › The Axial Age › Confucianism
Confucius
551–479 BC· Founder, prophet or teacher· Chinese, Japanese & Korean
Mostly agreed by scholarsMost historians agree; some details uncertain.
A Chinese teacher and sometime official whose ideas on virtue, family duty and good government became Confucianism.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
Kong Qiu, honored as Kongzi ('Master Kong'), was born in the state of Lu, in today's Shandong. He held office briefly, traveled for years seeking a ruler who would heed him, and taught many students. He taught that order flows from virtuous rulers and proper conduct: ren (humaneness), li (ritual propriety) and filial piety toward parents and ancestors. He called himself a transmitter of ancient Zhou ways, not an innovator. Students collected his sayings in the Analects.
Why it matters
For two thousand years his ideas shaped government, schooling and family life in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam; Korea's Joseon dynasty (1392–1897) was among the most Confucian states ever.
Life, legacy and sources
The Analects, compiled by his disciples and their followers after his death; Sima Qian's biography (c. 100 BC); his family temple and cemetery in Qufu, tended by descendants for over 2,000 years.
Questions and debates
Whether Confucianism is a religion or a philosophy is debated, and how much of the Analects records Confucius himself versus later disciples is uncertain.
Connections (2)
▸Confucius founded ConfucianismMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Confucius taught a circle of students who preserved his sayings and spread his ideas. Later thinkers, Mencius and Xunzi, built them into a school. In 136 BC Han Emperor Wu made the Confucian classics the basis of official learning, and later imperial exams made his teaching the ideology of the Chinese state.
When and where
State of Lu, China, around 500 BC; spread by disciples, then adopted by the Han dynasty from about 136 BC.
How do we know?
The Analects, the books of Mencius and Xunzi, and Han records such as Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian document the school's growth.
Questions and debates
Confucius saw himself as reviving Zhou traditions, not founding anything; 'Confucianism' is partly a Western label for the Ru, or scholars', tradition.
▸Confucius taught a version of The Golden Rule across faithsHistorical record
The connection
Asked for one word to guide a whole life, Confucius answered shu, 'reciprocity': 'What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.' This negative form, sometimes called the Silver Rule, is among the earliest recorded versions of the Golden Rule.
When and where
China, around 500 BC; recorded in Analects 15.24 and 12.2, compiled by his followers after his death.
Historical evidence
The saying appears twice in the Analects, one of the best-attested texts of early China.
Questions and debates
Whether the Analects preserves Confucius' exact words is uncertain, and scholars debate whether the negative and positive forms of the rule mean the same thing.