Concerning Confucius
Confucius

As for Confucius, the wise old man of the Chinese, his story is a simple one. He was born in the year 550 B.C. He led a quiet, dignified and uneventful life at a time when China was without a strong central government and when the Chinese people were at the mercy of bandits and robber barons who went from city to city, pillaging and stealing and murdering and turning the busy plains of northern and central China into a wilderness of starving people.

Confucius, who loved his people, tried to save them. He did not have much faith in the use of violence. He was a very peaceful person. He did not think that he could make people over by giving them a lot of new laws. He knew that the only possible salvation would come from a change of heart, and he set out upon the seemingly hopeless task of changing the character of his millions of fellow men who inhabited the wide plains of eastern Asia. The Chinese had never been much interested in religion as Christians understand that word, although they believed in devils and spirits as many religions contain. But they had no prophets and recognized no "revealed truth." Confucius is almost the only one among the great moral leaders who did not see visions, who did not proclaim himself as the messenger of a divine power; who did not, at some time or another, claim that he was inspired by voices from above.

He was just a very sensible and kindly man, rather given to lonely wanderings and melancholy tunes upon his faithful flute. He asked for no recognition. He did not demand that anyone should follow him or worship him. He reminds us of the ancient Greek philosophers, especially those of the Stoic School, men who believed in right living and righteous thinking without the hope of a reward but simply for the peace of the soul that comes with a good conscience.

Confucius was a very tolerant man. He went out of his way to visit Lao-Tse, the other great Chinese leader and the founder of a philosophic system called "Taoism," which was merely an early Chinese version of the Golden Rule.

Confucius bore no hatred to anyone. He taught the virtue of supreme self-possession. A person of real worth, according to the teaching of Confucius, did not allow himself to be ruffled by anger and suffered whatever fate brought him with the resignation of those sages who understand that everything which happens, in one way or another, is meant for the best.

At first he had only a few students. Gradually the number increased. Before his death, in the year 478 B.C., several of the kings and the princes of China confessed themselves his disciples. When Christ was born in Bethlehem, the philosophy of Confucius had already become a part of the mental makeup of most Chinese people. It has continued to influence their lives ever since. Not however in its pure, original form. Most religions change as time goes on. Christ preached humility and meekness and absence from worldly ambitions, but fifteen centuries after Golgotha, the head of the Christian church was spending millions upon the erection of a building that bore little relation to the lonely stable of Bethlehem.

Lao-Tse taught the Golden Rule, and in less than three centuries the ignorant masses had made him into a real and very cruel God and had buried his wise commandments under a rubbish heap of superstition which made the lives of the average Chinese one long series of frights and fears and horrors.

Confucius had shown his students the beauties of honoring their Father and their Mother. They soon began to be more interested in the memory of their departed parents than in the happiness of their children and their grandchildren. Deliberately they turned their backs upon the future and tried to peer into the vast darkness of the past. The worship of the ancestors became a positive religious system. Rather than disturb a cemetery situated upon the sunny and fertile side of a mountain, they would plant their rice and wheat upon the barren rocks of the other slope where nothing could possibly grow. And they preferred hunger and famine to the desecration of the ancestral grave.

At the same time the wise words of Confucius never quite lost their hold upon the increasing millions of eastern Asia. Confucianism, with its profound sayings and shrewd observations, added a touch of common sense philosophy to the soul of every Chinese person and influenced his entire life, whether he was a simple laundryman in a steaming basement or the ruler of vast provinces who dwelt behind the high walls of a secluded palace.

In the sixteenth century, the enthusiastic but rather uncivilized Christians of the western world came face to face with the older creeds of the East. The early Spaniards and Portuguese looked upon the peaceful statues of Buddha and contemplated the venerable pictures of Confucius and did not in the least know what to make of those worthy prophets with their far away smile. They came to the easy conclusion that these strange divinities were just plain devils who represented something idolatrous and heretical and did not deserve the respect of the true sons of the Church. Whenever the spirit of Buddha or Confucius seemed to interfere with the trade in spices and silks, the Europeans attacked the "evil influence" with bullets and grapeshot. That system had certain very definite disadvantages. It has left us an unpleasant heritage of ill-will which promises little good for the immediate future.

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read and/or listen to the lesson.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary terms.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Answer the review questions.

Synopsis

Confucius, born in the year 550 B.C., was a peaceful Chinese philosopher. Confucius believed in right living and righteous thinking for the peace of the soul that comes with a good conscience. He valued stoicism, self-possession, and honoring one's parents and past ancestors. His influence as a teacher grew over time, until the kings and princes of China turned to him for wisdom. The Christian figure of Jesus Christ similarly preached humility and meekness and absence from worldly ambitions. Another Chinese philosopher, Lao-Tse, taught the Golden Rule. (Nothing but good comes to him who loves others as he loves himself.)

Vocabulary

Stoicism: A school of philosophy popularized during the Roman Empire that emphasized reason as a means of understanding the natural state of things, or logos, and as a means of freeing oneself from emotional distress.
Self-possession: Calmness and composure, especially when under stress.
Philosopher: A scholar or expert engaged in or contributing to philosophical inquiry, seeking truth through reasoning rather than observation.
Prophet: 1) Someone who speaks by divine inspiration. 2) Someone who predicts the future.
Idolatrous: Worshipping idols or false gods.
Heretical: Contrary to mainstream or accepted opinion.
Grapeshot: A cluster of small iron balls, put together in canvas bag in order to be used as a charge for a cannon.
Golden Rule: The principle that one should treat other people in the manner in which one would want to be treated by them.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Lesson

  • After you read the lesson, narrate the lesson aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Study the Lesson Picture(s)

  • Study the lesson picture(s) and describe how they relate to the lesson.

Activity 3: Map the Lesson

  • Find China on the map of Asia.
  • Recite aloud the names of the countries bordering China.

Activity 4: Complete Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Coloring   

Click the crayon above. Complete pages 22-23 of 'World History Activities for Fourth Grade.'

Review

Question 1

Who was Confucius?
1 / 5

Answer 1

Confucius was an ancient Chinese philosopher that believed in right living, righteous thinking, stoicism, and honoring one's parents and ancestors.
1 / 5

Question 2

What is self-possession?
2 / 5

Answer 2

Self-possession means remaining calm under stress.
2 / 5

Question 3

What is the name of the rule meaning 'treat others as you wish to be treated?'
3 / 5

Answer 3

The Golden Rule means 'treat others as you wish to be treated.'
3 / 5

Question 4

Which Christian figure, akin to Confucius, taught humility and meekness and absence from worldly ambitions?
4 / 5

Answer 4

Jesus Christ taught humility and meekness and absence from worldly ambitions.
4 / 5

Question 5

Was Confucius born before or after Jesus Christ?
5 / 5

Answer 5

Confucius was born around 550 years before Jesus Christ.
5 / 5

  1. Who was Confucius? Confucius was an ancient Chinese philosopher that believed in right living, righteous thinking, stoicism, and honoring one's parents and ancestors.
  2. What is self-possession? Self-possession means remaining calm under stress.
  3. What is the name of the rule meaning 'treat others as you wish to be treated?' The Golden Rule means 'treat others as you wish to be treated.'
  4. Which Christian figure, akin to Confucius, taught humility and meekness and absence from worldly ambitions? Jesus Christ taught humility and meekness and absence from worldly ambitions.
  5. Was Confucius born before or after Jesus Christ? Confucius was born around 550 years before Jesus Christ.