Confucius

Confucius: The Man behind the Legend

Confucius was born in 551 BCE during the Chou dynasty in northwest China.  His father died when he was the age of three and he was left to live in poverty with his mother.  Confucius grew up in a harsh time when rival warlords were fighting.  Everything was focused on war.  Mass executions took place and people were consumed by war being used as soldiers, growing food for soldiers or making goods for soldiers.  Where was the meaning?  What were they fighting to preserve?  It was in this time of hardship and despair that Confucius had an epiphany.  He realized that society could be held together by goodness and only goodness. 

Confucius Philosophy is a Way of Life

Confucius then developed some basic principles of a good society by blending his ideas with those of traditional Chinese.  The first was that society would be in harmony as long as everyone performs their duties.  The second principle was that if the ruler is good, then people will follow his example.  The third is that humanity is the center of Heaven and Earth.  The fourth was that family is the foundation of society.  The fifth was that respect and authority are keys to goodness.  And lastly; Confucius believed you should not ask more from people than they can give.  Confucius eventually goes to work in the government; he hopes that in this position he can use his ideas in fostering a better way of life for the Chinese people.  Another of his philosophies was for a subordinate to point out his or hers superior's mistakes.  When he does this in his job, his superior's feel insulted and he is fired.  He then spends the remainder of his life as a wandering teacher dying in 479 BCE.

            At this point in time the Qin Dynasty had been conquered.  I had managed to stay in the government business, but not in architecture.  I was now working in the Han Dynasty and had been put in charge of society structure and relationships.  I had been doing some research on philosophy; traveling around the region, listening to people’s personal guidelines on how to have a good society.  Times were hard and we needed some structure on how to treat one another.  I eventually came across the concept of Confucianism.  I had never met Confucius himself, but his ideas and philosophies seemed valid and a good foundation for our new society.

Confucianism Makes Leaves a Mark in History

I then began to pursue my new goal; to make Confucianism the official state philosophy of the Han Dynasty.  Eventually, after a lot of debates and discussion, my goal was reached.  Confucianism was now the way of life in China.  This includes using a civil service test to select the most suited government officials.  There are two branches of Confucianism; Mohism and Legalism.  Mozi or Mo Di was the first to spread Mohism.  The main concept of Mohism is universal love.  They believe that forgiveness and equality are key to a good society.  Mohist are against campaigns of conquest and obedient to superiors.  Legalism on the other hand consists of standardized laws and considers human nature to be inherently evil.  Legalists believe that when you are born you are born evil and must be shown what is right and good.  They severely punish bad behavior as well as reward behavior that is good for the state.  I personally was a Mohist believing that forgiveness and nonviolence is best, but there are many other opinions to consider when building a government.