Learning and learning from time to time is not only enjoyable, but also enjoyable to have friends coming from afar. In the morning, the sound of Lang Lang’s reading came from here, and the students were reading the Analects. Although the Analects only had 11705 words, it is known as the first book in China. It not only influenced Chinese history, but also the world, and even half of the legend of the Analects governing the world. The Analects of Confucius is a classic that radiates the life temperature of Confucius, a world cultural celebrity, and condenses the essence of Confucius’ political opinions, ethical thoughts, moral concepts and Confucius’ disciples’ thoughts. It is one of the main classics of Chinese traditional culture.
Yang Chaoming, Dean of the Confucius Institute in China: The principle of being a human being and the wisdom of handling things in the Analects have been precipitated into a common psychology of our Chinese nation, forming a foundation for our lives.
Qian Xun, a professor at the Department of History at Tsinghua University: Before this, there was a thought that was primarily based on this destiny, and Confucius’ value, as reflected in the Analects, was that he began to establish a completely humanistic ideological system based on human beings. Therefore, since then, Chinese culture has taken a new path after Confucius.
In 551 BC, a baby was born in this dark and narrow cave. Because the middle of the head was concave, similar to Mount Nichu, the child was named Qiu. Because he ranked second in his family, he was named Zhongni. Later generations changed the name of Niqiu Mountain to Nishan to avoid his name taboo, and because of him, Qufu in Shandong became a pilgrimage destination. He is the founder of the Confucian school – Confucius.
Confucius was born into a declining aristocratic family, and his ancestors can be traced back to Duke Min of Song during the Western Zhou Dynasty. Song was the vassal state of Wei Ziqi, the illegitimate brother of King Zhou of the last Shang Dynasty. In 710 BC, during the domestic power struggle, the defeated Kong family fled to the state of Lu. According to legend, Luyuan Village, located near Nishan in the southeast of Qufu, Shandong Province today, was the location of the Zuoyi of the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period. There is still a stone tablet in the village commemorating Confucius, which was erected by Kang Youwei in 1924. Confucius’ father, Uncle Liang He, was the magistrate of Zouyi in the state of Lu in his early years. He married Yan Zheng, the mother of Confucius. When Confucius was three years old, his uncle Liang He passed away. Confucius followed his mother to live in the imperial palace in the capital city of Qufu. Confucius spent most of his life here.
Director of the Confucius Institute of China – Yang Chaoming: Therefore, it can be imagined that Confucius grew up in this environment under the guidance of his mother when he was young. Therefore, this orphan and widowed mother, it should be said to be very difficult. Once, the Tai Zai of the State of Wu asked Confucius’ student Zigong, “Your master is a saint, isn’t he? How could he have so many skills?” Confucius heard about it and said, “I am humble even if I am young, so I can despise many things.”. During the Spring and Autumn period, physical labor such as farming was only done by ordinary civilians and slaves, and was looked down upon by the nobility as despicable. Confucius said that when he was young, he lived in poverty and did these heavy tasks, which is why he mastered many skills in this area. It is precisely because of this that Confucius fully experienced the suffering of the lower class and understood their demands. Under the earnest guidance of his mother, Confucius was diligent and eager to learn from a young age. When he played games in his childhood, he would always set up a table, set up ceremonial appearances, and learn etiquette. From the age of 15, Confucius swore to improve his social status through learning. At that time, the main contents that aristocratic children learned were ritual, music, archery, imperial examination, calligraphy, and mathematics, which were known as the six skills of the Six Arts. Rites refer to various etiquette and regulations, including behavior and restraint. Sound is a dance related to etiquette, shooting is archery, imperial driving is driving, books are writing, numbers are calculation, including divination. The Six Arts are the skills that nobles must master in their career. Among them, Confucius valued and was most proficient in ritual.
Professor Luo Chenglie from Qufu Normal University: There are three hundred types of Zhou rituals and three thousand types of ceremonial rituals, mainly five types: auspicious, inauspicious, military, jia, and bin. Jili is like coming of age or celebrating the Chinese New Year. Fierce is the funeral ceremony, the etiquette for those who die, military ceremony is to come before the war to pledge allegiance, and after the war, to offer prisoners and celebrate victory. Auspicious, inauspicious, and military. Jia is a wedding ceremony, where guests and feudal lords are invited to pay their respects to the emperor. When the emperor sees you, he calls you Jian, and many people call you Chao. Among these five rituals, each one is divided into many, many, and many. Finally, it is called the Zhou ritual of three hundred, and the ritual of three thousand. Confucius advocated this ritual.
Confucius was born and raised in the state of Lu, which was the fiefdom of Duke Zhou of China. During Duke Zhou’s regency, he established the Western Zhou civilization based on the patriarchal system, the ritual system, and the rule of virtue. The descendants of Duke Zhou have inherited and practiced the Western Zhou civilization for generations, not only making Lu the eastern center of Western Zhou civilization, and the feudal state that preserved the most Zhou rituals during the Spring and Autumn period, but also cultivating the Lu culture with regional characteristics of respecting ethics, tradition, simplicity, heaviness, and richness. During the Spring and Autumn period, the Zhou ritual had gradually declined in many vassal states, while it remained prevalent in the state of Lu. In 540 BC, Han Xuanzi of the State of Jin went on an envoy to the State of Lu, and upon seeing it firsthand, he couldn’t help but exclaim that all the Zhou rituals were in Lu.
The unique conditions allowed Confucius to browse the ancient books and cultural relics related to the Zhou ritual in the collection of the State of Lu. Confucius even went to the Eastern Zhou and asked Laozi, the then governor of the Zhou dynasty, about the ritual. Confucius was bathed in the spring breeze and rain of Lu culture, absorbing nutrients and cultivating his character. In the social and cultural environment of Lu, Confucius gradually grew from a young man who had experienced hardships in life since childhood to a knowledgeable youth who admired three generations, adhered to Zhou rituals, cared about the people’s suffering, and had the ambition to inquire about politics. Confucius entered society with great ambition, intending to give his political ideals a try.
Professor Luo Chenglie from Qufu Normal University: Confucius was known for his ancestral teachings of Yao and Shun, as well as the charter of civil and military affairs, in order to restore normal social order. Therefore, he proposed the concept of ritual, which was originally an object offered to ancestors. Later, it became an object for interpersonal communication, and later became an ideological thing, which is the courtesy and etiquette between people.
The Analects of Confucius recorded Confucius’ requirements for daily etiquette, stating that red and purple cloth was not used for underwear or casual wear. In summer, one should wear a single garment indoors and always put on an outer garment when going out. Processing food should be meticulous, the finer the better, and avoid eating food that is cut improperly. In 481 BC, Yan Yuan, the most esteemed disciple of Confucius, passed away, which made Confucius very sad. But when Yan Yuan’s father Yan Lu requested Confucius to sell the car and buy a coffin for the actor, Confucius disagreed. He replied that when his son Kong Li died, he did not sell his car to buy a coffin because he had served as a lower ranking official in the state of Lu, and according to etiquette, he had to ride in a car instead of walking.
These actions of Confucius appeared to be outdated, rigid, and inhumane at that time and now. In fact, he never rigidly followed the ritual system, and compared to these superficial forms, Confucius valued the sincerity in his heart when performing rituals. He said: Rites are too extravagant, it’s better to simplify them, funeral ceremonies, and extravagant arrangements, than to excessively mourn oneself.
Professor Luo Chenglie from Qufu Normal University: Some people say that Confucius was stubborn, and now that society has changed, old rituals are still used. It’s not like that. Confucius once said, “Li Yun Li Yun, jade and silk Yun Zai”; Le Yun Le Yun, Zhong Gu Yun Hu Zai, when you talk about etiquette, is it just a gift of jade and silk? Mainly to show respect for the person you worship; Le Le Le, is it just a system of striking bells and drums to complete this ritual.
In fact, Confucius was not only a staunch defender of Zhou Li’s values of nobility, inferiority, and discrimination, but also reformed and developed Zhou Li. Confucius broke the limitation that Li could not be inferior to the common people and advocated that everyone should be treated equally with Li. Emphasizing that benevolence is the core of propriety, respecting oneself and restoring propriety is benevolence, and demanding that benevolent people love others.
Qian Xun: Confucius placed his hope in governing the country and pacifying the world, resolving the chaotic situation at that time, and improving people’s quality.
Director of the Confucius Institute in China – Yang Chaoming: Confucius once said, “A person who is not benevolent is like a gift.”; People who are not benevolent, such as joy? If a person does not have the conscious literacy to abide by etiquette, then what should be done about the order of etiquette and music.
Professor Luo Chenglie from Qufu Normal University: If one person cannot cause trouble, there will be interpersonal relationships between two people? How to deal with interpersonal relationships? Let’s use benevolence to solve them. Confucius highly valued and cared about people. Once, a stable in the state of Lu caught fire. Upon hearing this, Confucius quickly asked if anyone had been injured, but did not inquire about the horses. Confucius highly valued the benevolence of his beloved. Guan Zhong of the state of Qi enjoyed etiquette beyond his own identity and was regarded by Confucius as a person who did not know etiquette. However, Guan Zhong assisted Duke Huan of Qi in establishing a hegemonic government, respecting the king and suppressing the barbarians, maintaining the stability of the vassal states of China and the stability of the ordinary people. Therefore, he was recognized as benevolent as he was. In Confucius’s view, if one cannot embrace benevolence, take kinship as the starting point, and expand to love others, that is, love the masses. Love, as a general term for social groups, violates benevolence and makes it impossible to talk about etiquette.
Director of the Confucius Institute in China – Yang Chaoyang: The original intention of this benevolence is actually to cultivate oneself, to cultivate oneself, to reflect on oneself. Only by reflecting on oneself can one consciously do what should be done. So Confucius had a saying, he said: benevolent people are great, and kinship is great. He said that benevolence is the benevolence of us, who are human beings. As long as we are human beings, we should have love. So, the expression of love is kinship, and kinship is filial piety, which is filial piety to our parents.
Confucius envisioned the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties as a proxy, feeling a sense of pain that is not as good as before. He believed that before the Three Dynasties, there was a great harmony society where the world was public. Starting from the Xia Dynasty, the great Tao disappeared and entered a society where the world was home. The gentlemen represented by Xia Yu, Shang Tang, Zhou Wenwang, Wu Wang, Cheng Wang, and Zhou Gong standardized a well-organized and stable society through etiquette, which can be called a moderately prosperous society. In Confucius’s view, the only thing that can be restored now is a moderately prosperous society, and the Datong society has already passed. However, in the late Spring and Autumn period when Confucius lived, with the abandonment of the ritual system, such a moderately prosperous society also disappeared almost completely.
Director of the Confucius Institute in China – Yang Chaoyang: Therefore, Confucius hoped to reorganize the order of ritual and music. This order of ritual and music has obviously existed since the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, especially since the Duke of Wen, Wu, and Zhou. This is China’s ritual and music society.
The Zhou ritual established by Duke Zhou was a standard for maintaining the social hierarchy and political structure of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it was no longer suitable for the social conditions of the late Spring and Autumn period. In the late Spring and Autumn period, not only did the Emperor of Zhou decline, but the struggle for hegemony among the feudal lords also came to an end. Powerful lords such as Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin successively took on the role of hegemons, commanding the feudal lords. The King of Zhou only followed their orders as a nominal co lord. With the progress of the war for hegemony, the officials of various countries gradually took control of the country’s politics, and the monarch became a puppet in the hands of the officials. With the rise of the officials, the retainers who were originally only responsible for their family affairs also began to stir up the wind and rain in the country’s political life. The collapse of propriety and music, the thundering of war, and the involvement of feudal states such as Lu, Jin, and Qi in the struggle for power from private families to public families.
In the late Spring and Autumn period, the political power of the State of Lu fell into the hands of the three noble families of Ji Sun, Shu Sun, and Meng Sun, who were known as the Three Huans. The state government was controlled by the Ji family, who had the greatest power among the Three Huans. The state of Jin was controlled by the families of Fan, Zhongxing, Zhi, Zhao, Wei, and Han. The Jin monarch had already been neglected, and the six major families were vying for power and power, engaging in conflicts with each other. The state politics of Qi fell into the hands of the Qing official Chen Shi, and the politics of other vassal states also fell into the hands of the Qing official. In 517 BC, Duke Zhao of Lu attempted to eliminate the powerful minister Ji Pingzi, but was instead expelled by the Ji family. He constantly requested the support of the Qi and Jin states, hoping to return to his home country, but his wish was never fulfilled. Seven years later, Duke Zhao of Lu died in a foreign land, and his crown prince was unable to inherit the throne. In 504 BC, the head of the Ji family, Ji Huanzi, was kidnapped by the family leader Yang Hu, and Lu Zheng fell into the hands of Yang Hu for three years.
According to the Zhou ritual, the family of officials could only enjoy music and dance performed by sixteen people, while the ruling minister of the state of Lu, Ji Sun, performed the music of sixty-four people that only the emperor could enjoy in his home. Confucius was very angry about this and said that if such a thing can be tolerated, there is nothing else that cannot be tolerated. The decline of the emperor and the loss of the feudal lords brought about the abandonment and replacement of traditional Zhou rituals. This is a widely circulated story. Confucius and his disciples met a woman who was crying bitterly at the grave near Mount Taishan Mountain. Confucius asked his disciples to ask her why she was crying so bitterly. The woman replied, “Previously, my father-in-law was bitten to death by a tiger, my husband was bitten to death by a tiger, and now my son is bitten to death by a tiger.”. Confucius asked her, “Why don’t you leave here?”? The woman replied, “There is no tyranny here.”. Confucius told his disciples that tyranny is even more ferocious than a tiger. Confucius detested the tyranny that was stronger than the tiger, the destruction and usurpation of the Zhou ritual, and the war and brutality brought about by various struggles for power and profit. He believed that it was the corruption of the ritual system and the invasion from top to bottom that caused the dark and chaotic situation at that time.
Lingxingmen Zhougong Temple in Qufu, Shandong
While harshly criticizing the collapse of ritual and music, as well as the thunderous uproar, Confucius held great reverence for Duke Zhou and the social system of the Western Zhou Dynasty. He said that it was gloomy and literary, and I followed Zhou. He believed that the hierarchical etiquette society created by Duke Zhou was the most ideal form of state after the disappearance of the Great Way, and Duke Zhou was his lifelong role model. Confucius also believed that as long as there was room for him to display his ambitions, he could rebuild an ideal society like the Western Zhou Dynasty. However, Confucius had a very bumpy career, having served as a drummer, as well as a bookkeeper and livestock manager for the aristocratic Ji family. I was determined to enter the aristocratic society but couldn’t get it, so I began to gather and give lectures, waiting for the opportunity to enter politics.
In 501 BC, Yang Hu’s attempt to seize the position of the head of the Jisun family failed and he fled to the state of Jin. Confucius, who was known to be in his prime, finally had the opportunity to serve. The following year, he was appointed as the Minister of Works of the State of Lu and later as the Grand Minister of War. Confucius planned to destroy all the walls of the fiefdoms of the Three Huans and weaken their power. This action violated the interests of the Three Huans. In the state of Lu, where the monarchy had long been lost, failure was inevitable. In 497 BC, Confucius, who was unsuccessful in the state of Lu, began a 14 year career of official travel with the ambition of rebuilding the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. During this period, he went to the states of Wei, Cao, Song, Zheng, Chen, Cai, and Chu, experiencing ups and downs and hardships. He was besieged in Kuangyi and detained in Puyi, offending the powerful officials of Song. He left Song hastily and was trapped between Chen and Cai. In Zheng, he and his disciples dispersed and looked around hastily. The Zheng people who saw him described him as a homeless dog.
He briefly served in Wei and Chen, but was not highly valued. At the age when most people were enjoying their lives, Confucius still pursued his ideals. He took the revival of the Zhou dynasty as his responsibility and claimed to be a person from the east, west, north, and south. Zhou traveled to other countries in search of his own place of use. However, despite the vastness of the world and the ups and downs along the way, he couldn’t find a small space for him to showcase his skills. In an era of intense power struggles and significant changes in political structure between and within vassal states, Confucius’ theories of revitalizing monarchic authority, loving righteousness and forgetting benefits, benefiting the people with virtue, and neglecting taxation did not arouse the interest of officials who held real power and were busy competing for power and benefits. In 484 BC, after 14 years of wandering outside, Confucius, who was 68 years old, returned to the state of Lu. Political disappointment and the arrival of old age made him cut off his desire for career advancement. From then on, he focused on educational activities.
In the late Spring and Autumn period, there was a group of people in society who had noble lineages, received education, and could be called nobles, but were very poor. Their actual social situation was similar to that of ordinary civilians, and the descendants of such dilapidated nobles formed the impoverished gentry class. Confucius was one of them. With such a gentlemanly background, he did not bring any actual social status to Confucius. His once humble life honed his will and broadened his horizons. Confucius widely accepted students, regardless of their background, and declared that anyone who could offer ten pieces of dried meat as a gift for meeting would be his student.
Director of the Confucius Institute in China – Yang Chaoming: So Confucius, he wanted to govern through the Three Dynasties period. The so-called Three Dynasties period refers to the Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou dynasties. This (education) is called learning in the government, and the so-called learning in the government. Education is actually monopolized by the government. So at this time, how to cultivate talents and how to cultivate social management talents? Regarding Huai people, they are thinking about such issues, and Confucius is clearly one of the representatives.
Confucius evaluated his disciple Ran Yong and said, “Yong can also lead to the south.”. To the south, at that time, it implied the position of monarch. In the era of Confucius, hereditary power was considered the only qualification to be the emperor or feudal lords, and all levels of bureaucracy were controlled by hereditary nobles. American sinologist Gu Liya said: “This sentence has extraordinary significance. Confucius’ comments on this disciple were not hasty praises, but declared one of the most important transformative political principles.”.
Professor Qian Xun from the Department of History at Tsinghua University: In Confucius’ Analects, the goal of a gentleman is an ideal personality. The difference between a gentleman and a villain lies not in their status, but in their morality, cultivation, and character.
Director of the Confucius Institute in China – Yang Chaoming: The original intention of a gentleman is actually a general term for aristocratic men and politicians. From the text, it can be seen that this gentleman is holding something in his hand: Yin, the thing he is holding is actually a scepter, and the mouth below is giving orders. Therefore, the original intention of a gentleman is a general term for rulers and aristocratic men, and later it refers to moral nobility.
It was not until the emergence of the Analects that the gentleman gained more moral significance. Confucius set many moral standards for him, such as loyalty, trustworthiness, kindness, firmness, and so on. Regardless of birth, meeting these standards is a gentleman.
Yang Chaoming, Dean of the Confucius Institute in China: So, the connection between the original intention of a gentleman and its extended meaning is a connotation of Confucius’ education. That is to say, because of your high status, you have great responsibility. Since you are this esteemed person, you should be a noble person. Therefore, as a manager, you should be morally noble. So Confucian political speakers are also righteous; If his body is not upright, he may command but not follow, but if his body is upright, he will act without command.
Similarly, Confucius and his disciples gave many moral meanings to the title of scholar, which used to be the exclusive title of a low-level aristocrat. For example, a scholar aspires to the Tao, is upright and righteous, kills himself to become virtuous, and cannot be distracted by a comfortable life. Only when he behaves like a true gentleman can he be called a scholar.
Director of the Confucius Institute in China – Yang Chaoming: Confucius cultivated talents, but in reality, he cultivated a scholar and a noble character. Confucius once said: A scholar aspires to the Tao, but he is ashamed of those who are wicked in clothing and food, yet he is not content with discussion. He said that a scholar must have pursuit and belief. If he is a person with pursuits and beliefs, then he will not dwell too much on the trivial matters of life. If he doesn’t dress well or eat well, he will lose face.
According to history, there were three thousand disciples under Confucius, of which seventy-two were particularly outstanding. Many of them came from humble backgrounds and became vassals of high-ranking officials through their own abilities. During the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods, the vassals of imperial officials were mainly held by lower aristocrats at the level of scholars. However, in the late Spring and Autumn period, some people from humble backgrounds, relying on their own abilities, became the vassals of imperial officials, rose to the ranks of scholars, and thus showed their talents in national politics. They rely not on their own background, but entirely on their political abilities. The disciples of Confucius are the pioneers of such scholars. The flourishing of Xingtan Lectures may have been imagined by painters, but as the first person in Chinese history to establish private schools, Confucius was the first person in Chinese history to take education as a profession and popularize academic knowledge. His academic activities opened up the atmosphere of preaching and lobbying in the Warring States period, and he learned specialized political knowledge like disciples of Confucius, in order to enter national politics and become a social atmosphere. The class of literati composed of dilapidated nobles and the class of literati who later became commoners merged together, ultimately becoming a powerful political force during the Warring States period.
The essential items in political life during the Spring and Autumn period, such as “Poetry”, “Book”, “Rites”, “Yi”, “Music”, and “Spring and Autumn”, were compiled and revised by Confucius into the main content of teaching.
China has a tradition of using the interpretation and annotation of scriptures to develop its own ideas, so the Six Classics played a very important role in the formation of China’s ruling ideology. That is to say, the origin of China’s history of Confucian studies should be attributed to the Six Classics. This “Six Classics” actually existed before Confucius, and his job was to organize it, which was an important contribution to the inheritance of Chinese culture
In the last four years of Confucius’ life, blows came one after another. In 483 BC, Confucius’ only son, Kong Li, passed away. Due to his poor family background, he could only be buried lightly. 481 BC. Confucius’ favorite disciple Yan Hui passed away, and Confucius cried bitterly, saying: Heaven mourns, heaven mourns. In 480 BC, Zilu, the most trusted disciple of Confucius, died in the Civil War of the Wei Dynasty. When he died, he was chopped into meat sauce, which was extremely tragic. Confucius burst into tears and asked his family to pour out the meat sauce in the kitchen, afraid of associating it with Zilu.
There are many disciples of Confucius, and there are also close disciples, such as Yan Zi and Yan Hui, such as Zilu, such as Zigong, such as Zizhang, and so on. Each of these disciples has their own unique characteristics, and their understanding of Confucius may also be emphasized. However, these people have developed a deep emotional connection with Confucius through their daily interactions.
In 479 BC, Confucius wrote a song by himself. Mount Tai was in decline, Mount Liangshan was in decline, and philosophers were in decline. After hearing this, his student Zigong rushed to visit him. He said to Zigong, “Why did you come so late? The emperor of the world is not happy, and no one listens to me. I am about to die.”. Seven days later, Confucius passed away at the age of 73. Throughout his life, Confucius always followed the example of Duke Zhou and hoped to make achievements in politics and culture like Duke Zhou. However, due to his untimely circumstances, he spent most of his life in turmoil. However, Confucius demonstrated the courage to adhere to his ideals, not for himself, and to do what he knew was impossible. After Confucius passed away, his disciples took the initiative to mourn for him for three years, and Zigong even mourned for six years. At that time, only children were allowed to serve as parents, and courtiers were allowed to mourn for the monarch for three years. However, in the situation where the ritual system was abandoned, few people could achieve a three-year mourning. Confucius conquered the students with his personal charm, making them disseminators and practitioners of his own theories.
Yang Chaoyang, Dean of the Confucius Institute of China: This reflects a kind of emotion between teachers and students, and the emotion between Confucius and his disciples has become a model for handling teacher-student relationships in traditional Chinese culture.
The Analects of Confucius, consisting of 20 chapters and 492 chapters, mainly records the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples. It is a collection of essays in the form of quotations and is also a major document for understanding Confucius’ thoughts. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi combined it with “Mencius”, “Great Learning”, and “The Doctrine of the Mean” into four classic works of the Confucian school. The core of Confucius’ political ideology is benevolence and propriety, advocating benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith. The Analects of Confucius has had a significant impact on the cultural identity, psychological quality, and moral behavior of the Han ethnic group.
Director of the Confucius Institute in China – Yang Chaoyang: In the words of Mr. Liang Shuming, Confucius concentrated all of his previous Chinese culture in his hands, and most of the Chinese culture after Confucius emerged from him. Obviously, the Analects represents some of Confucius’ views on life, society, and self-cultivation. Therefore, it is said that it is a crystallization of our ancient culture.
Professor Qian Xun from the Department of History at Tsinghua University: Now we are talking about the four major civilizations of the world, Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. These four civilizations were generally formed during this period. Therefore, from this perspective, we can say that Confucianism is on par with those three major religions, and is now one of the four greatest civilizations that have had the greatest impact on humanity. Therefore, Confucius is not only the sage ancestor of the Chinese people and a model for all ages, but also one of the representatives of the entire human civilization.
Fang Keli, member of the academic department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: Confucius’ ideology means that for over two thousand years, it has had a great impact on the development of Chinese history. At the same time, it has also spread to neighboring countries such as South Korea, North Korea, and the entire East Asian region. In fact, Confucius’ ideology is dominant throughout East Asia, where Confucianism holds a dominant position.
Confucius was not only a great thinker, but also a great educator. Scholars have said that since ancient times, the number of teachers has been countless. However, like Confucius, teachers who changed the course of human history solely based on their personal identity and relying solely on teaching young people are few and far between. The disciples of Confucius and his successors also began to enroll students, and by the Warring States period, Confucianism had developed into one of the most prosperous schools of thought among the hundred schools of thought. After Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty deposed the hundred schools of thought that only revered Confucianism, Confucianism entered the court and the village, becoming the mainstream ideology of ancient Chinese society and the axis of traditional culture. Confucius is not only a major representative of Chinese civilization, but also has made outstanding contributions and profound influence on world civilization.
In 430 BC, Li Li, the highest political and military official in the upper regions of the Wei state, issued a new decree that in lawsuits, the people must first engage in archery competitions. Whoever shoots accurately will win the lawsuit. In today’s seemingly absurd laws and regulations, the local people quickly became skilled archers in the specific historical environment of the time. In the subsequent war against Qin, the army on the upper ground shot Qin soldiers upside down. Later, due to his outstanding political achievements in the upper ground, Li Li was promoted to the position of Prime Minister of Wei and began to preside over nationwide reforms. With the support of Marquis Wen of Wei, Li issued a series of laws and regulations, making Wei a new and powerful superpower in the early Warring States period. In the early Warring States period, he occupied a dominant position, deeply shaking other feudal states. The rulers of various countries no longer followed the rules and began to reform one after another. The action triggered the first grand national reform in Chinese history,