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Ancient Philosopher: Confucius |
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Kong Zi (Kong Tze) was born about 551 B.C. in northern China in what is now Shantung. He was known by the Chinese as Kong fu zi (Kung fu tzu) (Grand Master Kung), which has been westernized to Confucius. Confucius was the first private teacher in China and the first to devote his whole life to teaching. His teachings were both political and social in nature and strongly supported the institutions that provided his society with order-family, hierarchy, and seniority. He believed that each person had a place and a duty to perform within the society, that individuals were the masters of their own destinies, and that all people were to be respected. Confucius was known as the "Great Sage" and his philosophical teachings influenced China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. While religious in nature, Confucianism is a philosophy of life and has never been an institutionalized religion.
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Contemporay Literature 
