Confucius' Impact on Our World

In his lifetime, Confucius never knew the impact that he had made on China and indeed, the rest of the world. Confucius was a man who lived a simple life, teaching all the people he could his ideals and moral code, a code which many people adopted years after his death known as Confucianism. Though Confucius never wrote down a single word of his beliefs and teachings, we can understand and know his thoughts from the books his disciples wrote, the Analects, and in understanding his life and beliefs, we can see what an impact this great man left on the world.

Not too many facts are known about Confucius' life, but it is estimated that he was born in 551 B.C., in the area which is known today as the Shandong province. His given name was Kong Qui, and his parents died while he was still a child. When Confucius grew to be a man, he adopted his name which is derived from the Latin Konfuzi, which means Great Master Kong. In my opinion, Confucius was the single most influential philosopher in all of Chinese history and left the biggest mark on China and the world. His ideas did not gain popularity until after his death, (479 B.C.), but the Chinese society and that of neighboring countries accepted and made his ideals a part of everyday life, from about 100 B.C. to present day.

Confucianism is not so much a religion, but more of a philosophy, or a moral code for living and good government. At certain points in Chinese history, Confucianism has affected and been incorporated in nearly every aspect of life. Education, government, behavior, and how the people should live their lives are all connected and Confucianism provided a code and a guide to have effective government and education, and lead a happy, successful life. During Confucius' lifetime, China was in a constant state of war, political change and the people of China stopped respecting the leaders and behavior that for generations had been the norm. Confucius in a sense opened China's eyes as to how to live their lives incorporating the old customs and the new. He stated that an ideal person was one of good moral character. The ideal person was reverent in worship, and respected his leader, ancestors and father. The ideal person also however, needed to think for himself, and was required to "take as much time and trouble to discover what was right as lesser men take to discover what will pay." Confucius also encouraged the leaders of China to live their lives in this manner, and to set a good example and be role models for the people, believing the country would run that much smoother.

In 200 B.C., two new religions emerged in Chinese culture, Buddhism and Taoism, which were exact opposites to Confucianism. Buddhism and Taoism stress the need for the individual, and for the individual to live in harmony with nature and their environment. Confucianism however, mainly deals with the needs of the people, standards for living, and providing that moral code that people so desperately need. Between 200 and 600 A.D., believers and followers of Confucianism rapidly declined, as people discovered and followed the two other mainstream religions. Buddhism and Taoism answered the peoples questions about suffering and death, and provided a comfort for those seeking to know what happened after life, something that Confucianism for the most part, ignored.

For many years, Confucianism was not a philosophy supported by the majority of the population, but it made it's comeback in the 1100's, when a man named Zhu-Xi started a movement known as the Neo-Confucianism movement. Zhu-Xi developed a different branch of Confucianism, known as the rational wing, which not only built on Confucius' ideals and moral code for living, but incorporated the relationship between man and nature. During this time, another branch was developed as well, which was called the intuitional-wing and it built on Confucius' teachings but also dealt with meditation and enlightenment. Nowadays, China is a communist country, using a mixture of both Confucianism and Western beliefs, though the government does not support true Confucianism.

In understanding what little we know about Confucius and his way of life, we can further understand his teachings. His teachings focus on how mankind can improve, how we can live better lives, how we can teach our children to improve the society we live in today. Confucius was the most important Chinese philosopher of all time, and his teachings need to be recognized and comprehended today, as they have the ability to enact change, something this world urgently needs.