Confucius

kon-fu'she-us (550-478 B. C.), a Chinese religious teacher. His Chinese name was Kung, to which fu-tse', meaning reverend doctor, was added. Confucius is the Latinized form of Kung-futse'. He was of royal descent, but was raised in poverty by his mother. He was educated for office in the learning of China. His first official commission was that of inspector of the grain markets. He taught school for a time. One remark of his is worth remembering. "When I have presented," said he, "one corner of a subject, and the pupil cannot, of himself, make out the other three, I do not repeat my lesson." At an early age he began to visit the various provinces, preaching a system of morals to which he won many adherents. Confucius is credited frequently with the authorship of the nine classics which form the canonical books of the Chinese. Although, as compiler, commentator, or teacher, he left his impress upon all of these, he wrote but one, Spring and Autumn Annals, the last of the Five Classics. His disciples drew up his teachings and sayings in what are known as the Four Books, which, with the Five Classics, make up the nine canonical books. Confucius made no pretense to divinity. He taught a simple, plain code of practical ethics, remarkable for an almost total want of theology or creed. "To give one's self earnestly to the duties due to man, and, while respecting spiritual things, to keep aloof from them, that may be called wisdom," said he. He has an immense following in the Orient. The adherents of Confucius, chiefly in China and Japan, are estimated at no less than 256,000,000. See Chinese Empire; Literature; Chinese