Literature & Ideas
Peerless
Confucius
551 β 479 BC
The philosopher whose ethics of family, duty and good government shaped China for two thousand years
Peerless is level 1 of 4 in the China Hall of Fame: changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
A teacher from the state of Lu whose sayings, gathered by his followers as the Analects, became the moral and political foundation of Chinese civilisation.
Confucius taught that a well-ordered society rests on personal virtue, respect within the family, sincerity and rulers who govern by example rather than by force. He held only minor office in his lifetime and spent years travelling between states in search of a ruler who would put his ideas into practice.
His disciples recorded his teachings in the Analects. Under the Han dynasty Confucian learning became the basis of state education, and for most of the next two thousand years the imperial examinations that chose China's officials were built on the Confucian classics.
His disciples recorded his teachings in the Analects. Under the Han dynasty Confucian learning became the basis of state education, and for most of the next two thousand years the imperial examinations that chose China's officials were built on the Confucian classics.
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