Confucius, Biography Of An Extraordinary Philosopher

Despite the fact that Confucius was born in the 4th century BC, even today, more than two millennia later, it is still cited as a source of wisdom. And it is not for less, his thinking had a universal and totally timeless perspective. What he did, fundamentally, was to build and preach a series of values ​​that were desirable and necessary for the smooth running of society.

To understand the magnitude of the greatness of this philosopher, suffice it to say that he is one of the few Eastern thinkers  who has decisively penetrated Western philosophy. It is known, for example, that several of Confucius’ ideas have been embodied in the famous I Ching , a very popular book in the Western world.

In fact, there is no doubt that Confucianism exerted a great influence on Christian doctrine. Many of the values ​​that are proclaimed in Christianity are a derivation of Confucian philosophy.

For this reason, he can be considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time, to the point that, today, we still have much to learn from him.

The origin of Confucius

Confucius was born in 551 BC, in a small village in China in Lu County, which today is called Shan-tong.

It was the result of the second marriage of his father, who was already in his 60s, and of a very young  and very poor woman. Its original name was K’ong Fu-tseu, but when it was Latinized it was left as “Confucius”.

Confucius’ father already had nine daughters from his first marriage, but he did not want to die without having a male child. For this reason, he made the arrangements with a poor, widowed man, who gave him his youngest daughter, only 13 years old. She was the mother of the philosopher, who lost his father at the young age of 3.

On the paternal side, K’ong Fu-tseu came from a noble lineage. His ancestors included a half-brother of the last emperor of the Shang dynasty and a relative who was the Duke of Shung.

Despite this, the death of her father  left her mother with great financial difficulties. Still, she took care to give him an excellent education, complemented by the fact that the child showed self-taught tendencies from a very young age.

Official and thinker

It is said that Confucius was a great lover of books  from his earliest years and that he performed the complex rituals of his time alone. It is also said that his appearance was not very handsome, due to his large head. On the other hand, his clear intelligence and his ease of speech gave him other types of charms.

When he was 19 years old, he married a young woman about whom practically nothing is known. They had a male child named Po Yu and soon after the woman left the philosopher, possibly to return to her parents’ home.

Nor is much known about the son of Confucius, but instead his son, the philosopher’s grandson, was one of the great glories of Confucianism . His name was: K’ong Ch’i.

The first position that Confucius had was that of mayor of granaries, an office in which he acquired the fame of a wise and honorable man. His mother died and he mourned for three years, as stipulated at the time.

After this period, he devoted himself more eagerly to philosophy and, from that time, his first disciples date, among whom were two ministers of the imperial court.

An eternal teaching

The number of disciples of the philosopher was growing, but the duke of his native town was overthrown and Confucius was forced into exile. The next 15 years were spent traveling until he was able to return to his country, which was ravaged by conflict and corruption.

Prosperity reigned, and therefore, jealous of his power, the nobles began to plot against him. Disappointed, Confucius went on a trip again with his disciples. They wandered back and forth for the next 13 years, and Confucius proclaimed that he wanted to find an exemplary prince, but never found one.

Saddened again, he decided to return to his land. It is said that one day some hunters caught a very strange animal and the philosopher interpreted this as a sign that he was going to die. So it was, and Confucius was buried on the banks of the Sze River and his disciples mourned for 3 years.

The cult of the philosopher began very early in China and he remained as the highest spiritual leader of that nation until the 20th century.