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Confucius

551 BCE - 479 BCE/Confucianism
RitualVirtueFamilyOrderFilial Devotion

Teacher of ritual order and humane conduct

Confucius was born in the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period, likely into a family of declining noble status that gave him both cultural ambition and firsthand knowledge of political disorder. He worked as a teacher and adviser and traveled among regional courts looking for rulers willing to govern through virtue rather than force. The sayings preserved in the Analects present a philosophy centered on ren, ritual propriety, moral education, and filial devotion. His thought became the foundation of Confucianism and shaped East Asian ethics, education, and statecraft for centuries.

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Anchor Work

Analects

400 BCE/0 excerpts

The Analects gathers sayings and conversations attributed to Confucius and his disciples, preserving the core of the Confucian tradition that emerged in response to political disorder in ancient China. Its brief exchanges revolve around self-cultivation, ritual, humane conduct, and rule by moral example.

Ritual ProprietyMoral CultivationFilial Devotion

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Analects

400 BCE / 0 excerpts

Ritual ProprietyMoral CultivationFilial Devotion

The Analects gathers sayings and conversations attributed to Confucius and his disciples, preserving the core of the Confucian tradition that emerged in response to political disorder in ancient China. Its brief exchanges revolve around self-cultivation, ritual, humane conduct, and rule by moral example.

Signature Themes

Recurring conceptual territory

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