Confucius (moral, Kingdom, tradition, followers, missionaries)

[Bright-ness' Shadow]

confucius

The Chinese philosopher and social reformer, Kong Zi, (Wade-Giles - K'ung-fu-tzu; or Pinyin - Kongfuzi; see also - Kong Qiu), or Master K'ung, is best known by the Latin form of his name, Confucius, which was bestowed by Jesuit missionaries centuries after his death.

Confucius was apparently born about 551 BC in the Watch Tower (Queli) district of Qufu, then the capital of the state of Lu of the Zhou kingdom. He is believed to have worked as a minor civil servant and teacher under the Zhou Dynasty.

The tradition he left was not originally intended as a philosophical learning, as much as a "Way of the Gentleman", and in Chinese "Confucianism" is better rendered as "The School of the learned". Confuciansim itself is a system of honour codes and moral assumptions for the educated upper classes of Chinese society, principally formed by Confucius, Mencius (Mengzi), and Xunzi.

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themes

Confucianism generally stressed the virtues of truthfulness, loyalty, learning - and moderation in eating and drinking. Confucius believed in a modest, regular life, and urged his followers not to be extremists. He considered war to be a profound evil, and urged his followers to avoid it through negotiation.

The key to the whole Confucian philosophy, a moral and ethical code as much as a religion in itself, was: 'Do unto others as you would be done by' - a key Foundationist ideal.

http://www.comparative-religion.com/confucianism/