Confucius

One of the most famous people in ancient China was a wise philosopher named Confucius (circa 551-479 BC). He sometimes went by the names Kong Zi though he was born - Kong Qiu - styled Zhong Ni. He was born in the village of Zou in the country of Lu.

This Chinese man was a well-known leader in philosophy and he also made many wise phrases and theories about the law, life, and the government. Philosophy is a kind of a system of ideas and thoughts that talk about the human's behavior, the rules that you should follow to make a successful life, and about the government.

In other words, it's about thoughts and theories that teach other people lessons about principles, or rules, about life and it also teaches you a moral (sort of like the morals that are at the end of a fable). Confucius is famous for his philosophy because he made many wise sayings in ancient China that helped many people learn about nature, the world, and the human behavior. He also helped the government and the emperor by teaching them lessons on how the emperor should rule his kingdom successfully.

Confucius was born in a poor family in the year 551 B.C., and he was born in the state of Lu. His original name was K'ung Ch'iu. His father, commander of a district in Lu, died three years after Confucius was born; leaving the family in poverty; but Confucius nevertheless received a fine education. He was married at the age of 19 and had one son and two daughters.

He worked as a keeper of a market. Then he was a farm worker who took care of parks and farm animals. When he was 20, he worked for the governor of his district.

The entire teaching of Confucius was practical and ethical, rather than religious. He claimed to be a restorer of ancient morality and held that proper outward acts based on the five virtues of kindness, uprightness, decorum, wisdom, and faithfulness constitute the whole of human duty. Reverence for parents, living and dead, was one of his key concepts. His view of government was paternalistic, and he enjoyed all individuals to observe carefully their duties toward the state. In subsequent centuries his teachings exerted a powerful influence on the Chinese nation
 
Confucius had one overwhelming message: if we are to achieve a state of orderliness and peace, we need to return to traditional values of virtue. The keynote of Confucian ethics is ren, variously translated as "love", "goodness", "humanity", and "human-heartedness". Perhaps it is best expressed in the Confucian version of the Golden Rule, which is always phrased in the negative:" Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you". Ren also has a political dimension; if the ruler lacks it, it will hardly be possible for the subject to behave humanely. This, in fact, is the basis of the entire Confucian political theory: it presupposes an autocratic ruler, who is then exhorted to refrain from acting inhumanely towards the subjects. An inhumane ruler runs the risk of losing the "Mandate of Heaven", that is, the right to rule. But a ruler who reigns humanely and takes care of the people is to be obeyed strictly; for the very fact of this benevolent dominion shows that the ruler has been mandated by Heaven.