Photograph by H. Edward Kim
Tea is poured during a Confucian ceremony in front of ancestral tombs in Kyongju, South Korea.
During his life the Chinese philosopher K'ung Fu-tzu (551-479 B.C.), or Confucius, developed a code of living that valued
goodwill, duty, manners, wisdom, and trustworthiness.
Confucius believed that these are things that humans can control. Destiny controls much else.
He emphasized the importance of family feeling—a family that works together makes for a happier household and a better society. Hence, the most important duty is to honor your parents.
Confucius also believed that the success of a society depended on the moral quality of its leaders. Good government, he taught, depended on educated, courteous, and virtuous officials.
Although the philosopher died in 479 B.C., his teachings, compiled in a book called The Analects, were increasingly influential in the centuries after his death.
The philosopher's followers formed a school of Confucianism that espoused his ideal of honest and morally responsible leadership. Confucianism took hold under the rulers of China's Han dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 23). The expansion of the Han empire allowed Confucianism to spread into Southeast Asia.
The Confucian ethical system of social relations still underlies the modern state in China, Korea, Singapore, and elsewhere.
