Eastern Philosophy · China & Japan
Confucius
The teacher whose ideas shaped East Asia for 2,500 years: humaneness (ren), ritual (li), the exemplary person (junzi), filial piety, rectifying names and government by virtue, and how the Analects became the basis of China's civil service exams.
Step 1 of 6 · Overview30 min read ·
Key idea
Prereqs: none. Next: Laozi & Daoism; Mencius & Xunzi. Sources: *The Analects* (trans. Edward Slingerland or D.C. Lau); Bryan Van Norden, *Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy*; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 'Confucius'.Next: 1. Life and setting