Confucius Paper :: essays research papers

According to tradition, Confucius was born in the bow of Lu (present-day Shandong Province) of the noble Kung clan. His original name was Kung Chiu. His father, com troopsder of a district in Lu, died three years after Confucius was born, leaving the family in poverty, but Confucius even received a fine education. He was married at the season of 19 and had one son and two daughters. During the four years now after his marriage, poverty compelled him to become a sevant for the chief of the district in which he lived. His mother died in 527 BC, and after a period of wail he began his career as a teacher, usually traveling closely and instructing the small body of disciples that had gathered around him. His fame as a man of learning and character and his reverence for Chinese ideals and customs soon fete through the principality of Lu.Living as he did in the aid half of the Zhou (Chou) dynasty (1027?-256 BC), when feudalism degenerated in China and conspiracy and transgression were constant, Confucius deplored the contemporary disorder and lack of moral standards. He came to believe that the alone remedy was to convert people once more to the principles of the sages of antiquity. He wherefore lectured to his pupils on the ancient classics. He taught the great value of the power of example. Rulers, he said, can be great only if they themselves lead free lives, and were they willing to be guided by moral principles, their states would sure become well-heeled and happy.Confucius had, however, no opportunity to put his theories to a public test until, at the age of 50, he was appointed magistrate of Chung-tu, and the next year minister of abhorrence of the state of Lu. His administration was successful reforms were introduced, justice was fairly dispensed, and crime was near eliminated. So powerful that Lu became the ruler of a neighboring state maneuvered to secure the ministers dismissal. Confucius left his office in 496 BC, traveling about and teachi ng, in vain hoping that some other prince would allow him to undertake measures of reform. In 484 BC, after a fruitless search for an ideal ruler, he returned for the last time to Lu. He spent the remaining years of his life in retirement, writing commentaries on the classics. He died in Lu and was buried in a tomb at Ch-fu, Shandong.