Confucius

Also known as Confucio, Konfuzius

Confucius (), born Kong Qiu, was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the philosophy and teachings of Confucius. His philosophical teachings, called Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, harmonious social relationships, righteousness, kindness, sincerity, and a ruler's responsibilities to lead by virtue.

OverviewAI-generated

Confucius, born Kong Qiu in 551 BCE in Qufu, was a philosopher, teacher, and writer from the state of Lu. He was the son of Shuliang He and the father of Kong Li. His native name was Kong Fuzi, and he spoke Old Chinese and Chinese. He died in 479 BCE at the Si River from natural causes and is buried in the Cemetery of Confucius.

He is the author of works including The Analects of Confucius, Lunyu Huajie, Songben Lunyu Zhushu, and Lun ngu. His students included Zilu, Zengzi, Yan Hui, and Duanmu Ci. He is described in sources such as the Records of the Grand Historian, the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition.

Synthesized by Vinony from 40 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, Crossref, Europeana Sparql, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born: September 28, 551 BCE
Died: 479 BCE
Works: 307

Top works

論語話解
Confucio
宋本論語註疏
Luận ngữ
The analects of Confucius

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Origin: New Zealand

Discogs

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 4,448
Total plays: 23,689

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

The Analects
· 2018 · cited 22x
A study of attitudes towards learning Chinese as foreign language in Ghanaian universities: A comparative study of University of Ghana and University of Cape Coast
· 2020 · cited 1x
The Analects
· 1999 · cited 1x
RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN ANCIENT CHINA (LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS IN DIACHRONIC ASPECT)
· 2022 · cited 1x
Applying Convolutional Neural Network Model and Auto - expanded Corpus to Biomedical Abbreviation Disambiguation
· 2016 · cited 1x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“He that in his studies wholly applies himself to labour and exercise, and neglects meditation, loses his time, and he that only applies himself to meditation, and neglects labour and exercise, only wanders and loses himself.”
“Men do not stumble over mountains, but over molehills”
“Man has three ways of acting wisely. First, on meditation; that is the noblest. Secondly, on imitation; that is the easiest. Thirdly, on experience; that is the bitterest.”
“It is not truth that makes man great, but man that makes truth great.”
“It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.”
“The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Chinese.y: Húng Jí
Chinese.wuu: Khon-tzy
Philosopher.name: Confucius
Philosopher.region: Chinese philosophy
Philosopher.image: Confucius Tang Dynasty.jpg
Philosopher.caption: Depiction of Confucius by Wu Daozi, 8th century CE
Philosopher.birth_name: Kong Qiu
Philosopher.birth_place: Zou, Lu
Philosopher.death_date: (aged 71–72)
Philosopher.death_place: Si River, Lu
Philosopher.resting_place: Cemetery of Confucius, Lu
Philosopher.school_tradition: Confucianism
Chinese.child: yes
Chinese.pic: Kongzi (Chinese characters).svg
Chinese.piccap: "Confucius ()" in seal script (top) and regular script (bottom) characters
Chinese.picupright: 0.4
Chinese.c: 孔子
Chinese.l: "Master Kong"

via Wikipedia infobox

Works in European collections

10 objects attributed to Confucius, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

Confucius sinarum philosophus, sive scientia sinensis latine exposita

Untitled

~49 min read

Encyclopedic overview

24 sections

Contents

Name
Life
Early life
Political career
Exile
Return home
Philosophy
Ethics
Politics
Music and poetry
Legacy
Teaching and Disciples
In the West
Visual portraits
Fictional portrayals
Memorials
Descendants
Criticism
During the Cultural Revolution
References
Citations
Bibliography
Further reading
External links

Confucius considered himself a transmitter for the values of earlier periods which he claimed had been abandoned in his time. He advocated for filial piety, endorsing strong family loyalty, ancestor veneration, and the respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives. Confucius recommended a robust family unit as the cornerstone for an ideal government. He championed the Silver Rule, or a negative form of the Golden Rule, advising, "Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself."

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Confucius” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.