Confucius

Kong Qiu, known as Kongzi, “Master Kong”, and in the West as Confucius, was born in 551 BCE in the state of Lu, in present-day Shandong, into a family of minor nobility that had fallen on hard times. He sought office as an adviser to rulers, believing that government by virtue and ritual could restore the order of the early Zhou dynasty, which he idealized. He held office in Lu only briefly, and spent years travelling among the states without finding a ruler who would put his teaching into practice.

He was more successful as a teacher. Tradition credits him with many disciples, whom he taught regardless of their birth, and with editing the classics of poetry, history and ritual. His sayings and conversations were collected by his followers in the Analects (Lunyu), the main source for his thought. He died in 479 BCE.

His teaching became the basis of the Confucian tradition, developed by Mencius and Xunzi, made the official learning of the state under the Han dynasty, and reshaped by the Neo-Confucians. For two thousand years it formed the moral and political culture of China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan.