WHAT CONFUSCIUS TAUGHT

Teachings of Confucius

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Information about the Confucius teachings.

This article is about the Teachings of Confucius

What are the main teachings of Confucius? Confucius expounded a system of social and political philosophy which he conveyed to a group of disciples. His teachings and sayings were later collected by the disciples of Confucius in a book known in the West as the Analects. Confucius was also traditionally believed to have been the author or at least the editor of the classic Confucian texts called the Five Classics. The Teachings of Confucius Confucius said that he was not an innovator and that all of his teachings were merely rediscoveries of what had been true in the past. Society was said to have deviated from an earlier Golden Age, and it was his task to guide it back to its proper condition. Appeals to ancient authority were probably customary at the time, and it is not true that Confucius was merely relating ideas which had existed before. In fact, there is reason to believe that much of what Confucius taught was revolutionary at the time, as witnessed by the fact that after his death Chinese emperors attempted to suppress the spread of Confucianism by burning his books and executing Confucian scholars. However Confucianism and the teachings of Confucius eventually prevailed, and Confucianism eventually received Imperial sanction and came to be adopted as the state "religion" (the word religion is in quotes because there is debate whether Confucianism is actually a religion or is simply a system of philosophy.) The privileged position of Confucianism within Chinese society lasted for many centuries, until the Communist takeover, and had a profound influence on the development of China. The teachings of Confucius are focused on two interrelated areas: Social Teachings, which deal with the proper behaviour of the individual in society and to his fellow men, and Political Teachings, which deal with the art of governance and the proper relationship of the Ruler to the ruled. He viewed education as central to achieving proper conduct both within Society and in Government.