Confucius
...ucation was critical to a successful society and soon many people would start to agree with him. Confucius’s life was important because others gained his knowledge later in time and he played a major part in China’s society. Confucius was born in 551 BC, traditionally on September twenty eighth. Most of his life however, is shrouded in legends and myths. He held a job as Minister of Crime in Lu, but he was likely only a minor official (317.) Throughout his life Confucius had over 3,000 students. When he was 60, he tried to convince rulers of other states that they should rule by his ways and standards, but unfortunately he returned several years later without completing his mission. He later returned to teaching his students (317.) Confucius died in 479 BC. Seventy two is a number that is sacred to Confucists. He had seventy two disciples and was seventy two when he died. Confucius’s teachings were designed to make good guidelines for rulers. However, they soon became applicable to everyday life. The idea of Filial Piety or the idea of absolute respect to your ruler in return for good government soon became a reasonable idea for parents too. In return for the child’s unconditional respect, the parents were obligated to feed, clothe, and shelter, their children. However, if the parent or ruler was not giving back good government or parenting, it was acceptable to disobey or revolt (Miller 18.) After Confucius passed away, his disciples created a book called the Analects. It contained a compilation of his teachings, however, it was poorly written because there were few context clues (18.) Confucius also thought of the concept of the 5 Relationships; ruler – subject, father – son, husband – wife, elder brother - younger brother and one more, which was the only relationship that both were peers, friend – friend. The first four relationships were unequal or they could be substituted superior – inferior (19.) The superior person (ruler, father, husband, elder brother) was supposed to lead by example and be a good, upstanding citizen and help out the inferior one. In return the inferior person (subject, son, wife, younger brother) should always pay respect to the superior person as long as they are helping the inferio...