philosopher, and political activist in ancient China, and the founder of
the Confucianist school. He lost his father at the age of three and grew
up under his mother’s care. At thirty-two, he was engaged in teaching
the ancient rituals to the sons of a minister. At thirty-three, he went
to Lo Yang, the imperial capital, where he studied the customs and
traditions of the Zhou empire. According to Sima Qian ( 1994 ), the
most reputable official historian in ancient China, this empire was
dissected into numerous warring states of various sizes; its capital
remained solely a religious center. It was in Lo Yang that he met Laozi,
the founder of Daoism, and learned from him.
When Confucius was thirty-four, the prince of Lu, threatened by
powerful rivals among the local nobilities, was forced to flee to a
neighboring state. At the age of thirty-five, Confucius retired from
his official office. For the next fourteen years, he traveled from state to
state and presented his political ideas to different state rulers or kings.
Though he did not succeed in promoting his political philosophy to
the rulers, Confucius was esteemed as a great teacher and philosopher
of history. By the age of forty, he had set up an academy to popularize
Confucianism (Sima, 1994 ). The number of his students exceeded
3,000. In his career as a teacher, he advocated ‘‘education without
discrimination’’ and carried out school education among common
people, which used to be a privilege of the ruling class.
We can understand and appreciate the primary ideas of Confucianism
by reading theAnalects(orConfucian analects), which his disciples
compiled. The book recorded what Confucius had said and done, and
it is the official literature for studies of Confucian thoughts, which
includes his ideas of leadership.
Another person who made a significant contribution to Confucianism
was Mencius. Mencius (372–289 BCE) was a disciple of Zi Si who
was also a great philosopher and a grandson of Confucius. In China,
Mencius was called ‘‘the Second Sage,’’ orMeng Zi, withzimeaning
master. Like Confucius, Mencius was active in the politics of his times
and spent his life moving from one feudal court to another trying to
find rulers who would take his political advice. And, like Confucius, he
was largely unsuccessful in this endeavor. At last, he was invited to
meet with Prince Hui and was instrumental in promoting the welfare
of his people through his wise measures of reform. After the death of
the prince, Mencius retired to private life, and spent his last years
teaching his disciples, and preparing with them the bookMencius
32 Xin-hui Yang, Yan-qin Peng, and Yueh-ting Lee