Famous for his many sayings, Confucius was a Chinese philosopher whose teachings are well known and higlhy influential, particularly to the Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese cultures. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Background Info. Born in Qufu(present day Shadong Province), Confucius was born during the time of a philosophical movement known as Hundred Schools of Thought. He was born into a poor family, which consisted of his old aged father and late teenage mother. Due to his father passing when Confucius was three, his mother was forced to raise Confucius on her own. Although he grew up in poverty, Confucius enjoyed his childhood and later at the age of nineteen, married Qi Quan(the mother of his first child Kong Li). Before becoming Justice Minister at the age of fifty-three, he had many other mediocre occupations such as a shephard and book-keeper. Confucius resigned from his position due to conflicts, whereby he traveled around small kingdoms in China and expressed his political beliefs.

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His Philosophy

Confucius' teachings emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, and sincerity. He did not praise those that were knowledgeable of rules because he believed this would be in conflict with skilled judgement and morals. Categorized as Confucianism, his beliefs and values have been higly influential on Asian cultures. Many of his teachings have become tradition and his concepts have become the basic strucutures of doctrines such as Taoism and Legalism. One of his teachings puts an emphasis on studying and learning because he believed that everyone should think on their own and the only way to achieves this is by studying and learning. Many of his teachings and concepts can be found in Analects of Confucius ,a collection that was compiled years after his death. Confucianism is still commonly practiced and there are currently many newly formed schools teaching Confucius' philosophy.

(A picture of children practicing kung fu at a private, Confucianism school)

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Examples of His Sayings

"Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes." "Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it." "Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses." "Respect yourself and others will respect you." "Study the past if you would define the future."

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Video about Confucius
This video gives a more in depth analysis about Confucius and his philosophy.


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Song relating to his teachings

I chose this song not only because I like the way that it sounds, but because of the message it is giving. Throughout the song, the many negative aspects of life in today's society such as terrorism are revealed, whereby the Black Eyed Peas ask "Where is the Love?" The song was written to influence people to think and act morally and justly, which resemble the teachings of Confucius.

"What's wrong with the world, mama
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin'
In the USA, the big CIA
The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all"

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References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Confucius
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qKmLx2S9Nnc
http://boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/07/31/china_turns_again_to_ancient_ethics/