Confucius: More than two thousand years ago

More than two thousand years ago, in a land where rivers shaped civilizations and dynasties rose and fell like the turning of seasons, a man walked the villages and courts of China with a vision. His name was Confucius—known in Chinese as Kong Fuzi, or “Master Kong.” Confucius as Chinese Philosopher and Symbol of Traditional Culture. Because of the wide range of texts and traditions identified with him, choices about which version of Confucius is authoritative have changed over time, reflecting particular political and social priorities. Learn about Confucius, the fifth-century BCE Chinese thinker whose influence on East Asian culture is immense. Explore his ethical views, his role as a transmitter of Zhou traditions, and his mythical and historical portrayals. Confucius, China’s most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, whose ideas have profoundly influenced the civilization of East Asia. Confucius’s life and teachings were an expression of self-cultivation, of the ability of human effort to shape its own destiny.