Life Through the Eyes of Confucius

K'ung-fu-tzu, better known as Confucius, was an ancient Chinese thinker and philosopher. His ideals were used to create the religion and philosophy known as Confucianism, which has influenced the lives of the majority of people in China, as well as many other Eastern Asia countries. He lived a life of both wealth and poverty, and became more legendary after his death. Despite that, his life was still very eventful.

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “the sources for Confucius’ life are later and do not carefully separate fiction and fact. Thus it is wise to regard much of what is known of him as le g0endary.” Although his life may have been only a legend, his mere existence, still shaped the moral decisions of many, whether he was fictional or not. Without him, Eastern Asian culture, and possibly world-wide culture, would not be the same as it is today.

A lot of Confucius’ life has been depicted in the Records of the Grand Historian, written by Sima Qian, who was a Han dynasty court historian. He identified Confucius’ ancestors as part of the Royal State of Song. Issues were going on in Song, so his great-grandfather had to flee, traveling to a place called Lu, located in Southeast Shandong. That is where his great-grandfather raised a family and where Confucius was born. He and his family were struck with poverty, now without aid from what could be deemed as “royalty.” To start out with basically nothing other than family and to conform into someone known throughout the world is implausible (Riegel).

He would have truly suffered at an early age, if he could fully comprehend what had happened. At the age of three, his father passed away, and his mother was forced to raise him on her own. Twenty years lat...

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...owed Confucius, whether literally or through the practice of Confucianism, so they clearly trusted him. He is also known as a founder, or at least a practitioner, of the Golden Rule: “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.” One word that depicts this is “reciprocity,” as used by Confucius.

Confucius summarizes his life, “At 15 I set my heart on learning; at 30 I firmly took my stand; at 40 I had no delusions; at 50 I knew the Mandate of Heaven; at 60 my ear was attuned; at 70 I followed my heart’s desire without overstepping the boundaries of right.” He went from having little to having all he could ask for. He’s lived through turmoil and tranquility. While there’s no doubt that the majority of his life is unknown to be true, it is quite clear that Confucius’ very existence influenced Chinese ideology as well as general life for the better.