孔子

Confucius

Confucianism · person

Confucius is associated with a practical ethics of ren (仁, humane conduct), li (礼, appropriate form), yi (义, rightness), shu (恕, reciprocity), learning, and the cultivation of the junzi (君子). The Analects preserves sayings and dialogues associated with him alongside other voices; it is a received compilation, not simply a book he personally authored.

What Are the Key Facts About Confucius?

  • Tradition: Confucianism
  • Chinese: 孔子
  • Category: Person
  • Definition: Confucius is associated with a practical ethics of ren (仁, humane conduct), li (礼, appropriate form), yi (义, rightness), shu (恕, reciprocity), learning, and the cultivation of the junzi (君子).

What Cards Are Related to Confucius?

The Golden Rule

What you do not wish, do not do to others

Virtue Is Never Alone

Goodness draws neighbors

The Morning Way

To hear the Way in the morning and die in the evening

To Learn and to Practice

Is this not a pleasure?

Review the Old to Know the New

Then you can teach

To Know What You Know

And to know what you do not

Three People Walking

One of them is your teacher

Three Questions Every Day

Zengzi's daily self-examination

See the Worthy, Look Within

Two mirrors, one practice

The River Flows

Time passes like this, never ceasing

Demand More of Yourself

Blame others less, and resentment fades

Establish Others First

The positive golden rule

Do Not Yield

When rightness is at stake, even to your teacher

Care for All

The old at peace, friends trusted, the young cherished

The Measure Is Rightness

Not profit

Unjust Wealth

Like floating clouds

Words and Deeds

The noble person is ashamed when words outrun actions

The Real Mistake

An error uncorrected

Hearsay

Repeating what you heard on the road

Like an Eclipse

Everyone sees the noble person's mistake

Haste Makes Waste

Small gains block great achievements

Sharpen Your Tools

Preparation is not procrastination

Foresight

Without it, trouble is near

Help Others Succeed

The noble person completes what is good in others

Three Kinds of Friends

The helpful and the harmful

Blame No One

Not heaven, not others, just the long study upward

Nature and Habit

Born close. Grown apart.

Three Cautions

What to guard against at each stage of life

The Idle Belly

A full stomach and an empty mind

Broaden the Way

It is people who enlarge the Way, not the Way that enlarges people

The Winter Pine

Only when the year grows cold do we see it

Three Virtues

Wisdom, compassion, courage

The Struggle Before the Light

Do not teach until they are ready

Broad Learning, Firm Purpose

Ask closely. Reflect near at hand.

Words and People

Do not judge a person by their words, nor discard words because of the person

What Concepts Are Related to Confucius?

Ren
Textually related
The received Analects records Confucius discussing Ren in several question-and-answer scenes
Junzi 君子
Conceptually related
The received Analects records Confucius discussing the junzi in passages such as 4.11, 4.16, and 7.26; this does not claim that he alone authored the compilation or invented the term.
Li 禮 / 礼
Interpretively related
Confucius taught Li as ritual propriety and social harmony
Shu
Interpretively related
The Analects records Confucius answering about Shu in 15.24; this is a textual association, not a complete definition
Xiao
Interpretively related
Analects 1.2 discusses Xiao in relation to Ren in Youzi's saying; the passage should not be attributed to Confucius
Golden Rule 己所不欲勿施于人
Textually related
The Analects records Confucius stating the negative reciprocity maxim in two different scenes
Mencius on Human Nature 性善论
Interpretively related
Confucius's teachings on human nature were developed by Mencius
Mencius on Human Nature 性善论
Interpretively related
Mencius developed Confucius's teachings on inherent human goodness
Mencius 孟子
Historically related
Mencius was a later Confucian thinker who developed a distinctive account of human nature and moral cultivation within the Confucian tradition.
Xunzi 荀子
Interpretively related
Xunzi was a later Confucian thinker whose received text emphasizes learning, ritual, and deliberate moral formation.
Great Learning 大学
Interpretively related
The Great Learning is rooted in Confucius's philosophy
Mozi 墨子
Interpretively related
Mozi criticized and challenged Confucius
Analects 论语
Conceptually related
The Analects are the compiled sayings and deeds of Confucius (Kongzi) recorded by disciples.

Frequently Asked Questions About Confucius

Who was Confucius?

Confucius (551–479 BCE), known in Chinese as Kongzi, was a Chinese teacher and philosopher whose sayings were preserved in the Analects. He taught self-cultivation, ritual propriety (li), and humane conduct (ren) as the basis of a stable society.

What is Confucius best known for?

He is best known for founding the Ru (Confucian) tradition and for ideas such as ren (humaneness), li (ritual/propriety), and the cultivation of the junzi ('exemplary person'). His influence shaped East Asian ethics and statecraft for two millennia.

Did Confucius write the Analects?

No. The Analects is a collection of sayings and dialogues attributed to Confucius and his disciples, compiled after his death rather than authored by him directly.

What is the Confucian 'golden rule'?

Confucius expressed a negative form of the golden rule in the Analects: 'Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself' (shu, linked to the passage in Analects 15.24).

Further Reading