Confucius (c. 551 BC – 479 BC) was a famous Chinese thinker, teacher, and social philosopher whose teachings, preserved by his disciples in the work known as the *Analects*, profoundly influenced the thought and culture of East Asia.
He was born around 551 BC in the small state of Lu, in present-day Shandong Province in northeastern China. At that time, China was divided into competing states and troubled by political instability. The Zhou Dynasty, which had united the country for centuries, had weakened after invasions and internal conflicts, creating an atmosphere of social and moral decline.
Confucius lost his father at the age of three, and little is known about his early education. By the age of nineteen he was married and had a son and two daughters. Shortly after his marriage, he worked for the influential Ji family, first as a warehouse keeper and later as a supervisor of fields and livestock. At the age of twenty-two he began teaching the children of aristocratic families and soon gained a reputation as an outstanding educator.
In 517 BC he visited the royal capital, where he studied the treasures of the royal library and devoted himself to the study of music, which flourished at the court. According to tradition, he may have met Lao Tzu, the legendary founder of Taoism.
At the age of fifty, his abilities were finally recognized, and he was appointed to a high governmental position comparable to that of a minister. His reforms, however, earned him many enemies among the aristocracy, who opposed both his rise and his ideas. Eventually he was forced into exile. During the following years, he traveled through neighboring states, spreading his teachings and seeking rulers willing to put his principles into practice.
At the age of sixty-eight, Confucius returned to his homeland, accompanied by about seventy disciples who had followed him during his journeys. He spent his final years teaching and editing classical texts. He died on November 21, 479 BC.
Confucius' philosophical tradition was preserved and expanded by his students, who spread his ideas throughout China. By the 2nd century BC, Confucianism had become the foundation of Chinese education and political thought. Confucius advocated self-discipline, moderation, compassion, and respect for social harmony. He sought to define the ideal path of virtuous living, and his most famous principle, often called the Golden Rule, was: “Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you.”
