Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Confucius

Confucius (551 — 479 bce) was China’s most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist whose ideas have profoundly influenced the civilizations of China and other East Asian countries.Confucius was born near the end of an era known in Chinese history as the Spring and Autumn Period (770–481 BCE). His home was in Lu, a regional state of eastern China in what is now central and southwestern Shandong province.His philosophical teachings, called Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, harmonious social relationships, righteousness, kindness, sincerity, and a ruler’s responsibilities to lead by virtue.He advocated for filial piety, endorsing strong family loyalty, ancestor veneration, and the respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives.The Analects is the work most closely associated with Confucius. It is a record of his life in fragments, collected into 20 sections.The sections contain descriptions of his character, deportment, and moments of his life in exile or at home in Lu; bits of conversations he had with his disciples and other people he knew; and remarks spoken in his voice but often in the absence of a context.

Confucius taught that one’s individual desires do not need to be suppressed, but that people should be educated to reconcile their desires via li, rituals and forms of propriety, through which people could demonstrate their respect for others and their responsible roles in society.

More about Confucius and his life can be found at https://www.worldhistory.org/Confucius/.