Framed poster - Confucius - The Worlds Teacher - Political and Spiritual Master - Confucianism - China
"Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?"
Image Source: The Classic of Filial Piety (a Confucian classic ) - digitally restored by the author and most damage was removed.
Framed poster, printed on thick, durable, matte paper.
The matte black frame is made from wood.
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Confucius - World Teacher, Political
and Spiritual Master -
Confucianism - China
Confucius (or Kongzi) was a Chinese
Teacher, philosopher and Spiritual
Master who lived in the 6th century
BCE and whose thoughts,
expressed in the philosophy of Confucianism,
have influenced Chinese culture
right up to the present day.
His school was revolutionary as it was
the 1st to accept students from all
classes, with no concern for status
(noble, wealthy etc.). Before school
was only for the Noble classes.
Authors Note - Raul: One key point
is that rarely have such elevated
Masters teaching reach the masses.
But Confucius teachings and example
did reach the masses in China and
all over the world. His emphasis on
LEARNING, morality and the virtues
is surely a basis of the economic progress
in these countries as it became a
guiding light for many businessmen,
intellectual and the so-called
common man. When the opposite
happens and corruption and illiteracy
abound, then poverty abounds.
In between the lines we can see of
man of extreme sensibility, humility
and love for all beings. He was
revolutionary is his statement that
Noble deeds not Noble birth give
one honor, the Mothers and family
Love of more value than gold!
So true even today.
Physically he suffered a lot due to
poverty, rejection due to a large
body (6-9 feet tall) with some rare traits,
and he was an illegitimate child.
He loved his Mother deeply, but she
died early in his life, and he
became an orphan.
Confucius was educated at schools
for commoners, where he studied and
learned the Six Arts: Rites (禮),Music
(樂),Archery (射),Charioteering (御)
Calligraphy (書) and Mathematics (數).
He is considered the FIRST teacher
and his teachings are usually
expressed in short phrases which are
open to various interpretations.
Chief among his philosophical
ideas are the importance of a virtuous
life, filial piety and ancestor worship.
The Importance of Study - his main
lesson:
In the Analects, Confucius presents
himself as a "transmitter who invented
nothing". He puts the greatest emphasis
on the importance of study, and it
is the Chinese character for study
(學) that opens the text.
Far from trying to build a systematic
or formalist theory, he wanted his disciples
to master and internalize older classics,
so, that their deep thought and thorough
study would allow them to relate the
moral problems of the present to
past political events. This was a very
similar preparation to
Lao Tzu - the study of the classics.
Key Meeting: Confucius seeks Lao Tzu
Confucius and Lao Tzu were both seekers
of spiritual truth and were also
contemporaries. Lao Tzu was 20 years
Confucius' senior. In his early 30s
Confucius paid a visit to Lao Tzu, who
was the famous author (later on)
of the "Tao Te Ching" and a
renowned philosopher in China.
At the time of the visit, Lao Tzu was
the curator of the National Archives
in the bustling Chinese capital of Luoyang.
The two men shared concerns about their
country's crumbling social order, but
offered very different solutions.
When their legendary meeting took
place, Lao Tzu cautioned Confucius,
"Get rid of your arrogance and your
ambition." Confucius was so impressed
by Lao Tzu, he described him as "a
dragon riding the winds and clouds
in the sky." Thus, we can conclude
that here Confucius met his Master.
His teachings emphasized is the
necessity for benevolent and frugal
rulers, the importance of inner moral
harmony and its direct connection
with harmony in the physical world
and that rulers and teachers are
important role models for wider society.
He led a very active political life,
influencing kings and leaders via his
immense reputation to educate their
followers, and thus increase their value.
This was revolutionary and it is so today.
Confucius' Early life
Confucius is believed to have lived
from c. 551 to c. 479 BCE in the
state of Lu (now Shandong or Shantung).
It was whilst he was teaching in his
school that Confucius started to write.
Confucianism
Chinese philosophy, and particularly
Confucianism, has always been concerned
with practical questions of morality
and ethics. How should man live in
order to master his environment,
provide suitable government and
achieve moral harmony?
Central to Confucianism is that the
moral harmony of the individual is
directly related to cosmic harmony;
what one does, affects the other.
Mencius & Xunzi
The thoughts of Confucius were
further developed and codified by
two important philosophers, Mencius
(or Mengzi) and Xunzi (or Hsun Tzu).
Whilst both believed that man’s sense
of morality and justice separated
him from the other animals,
Mencius expounded the belief that
human nature is essentially good
whilst Xunzi, although not of an
opposite position, was slightly
more pessimistic about human
nature and he, therefore, stressed
the importance of education and
ritual to keep people on the
right moral track.
Confucianism expounded the
importance of four virtues which we
all possess: benevolence (jen),
righteousness (i), observance of
rites (li) and moral wisdom (te). A
fifth was later added - faith.
According to the Zuozhuan, Confucius
returned home to his native Lu when
he was 68, after he was invited to do
so by Ji Kangzi, the chief minister of Lu.
The Analects depict him spending his
last years teaching 72 or 77 disciples and
transmitting the old wisdom via a set
of texts called the Five Classics.
During his return, Confucius sometimes
acted as an advisor to several government
officials in Lu, including Ji Kangzi, on
matters including governance and
crime. Burdened by the loss of both
his son and his favorite disciples,
he died at the age of 71 or 72. He
died from natural causes. He had
crossed China several times - probably
over 2,000 miles, in his quest to
unify China and end corruption.
He had before his death over 2,000
disciples of which about 100 were
advanced. They must have a great
devotion to him since his teachings
spread far and wide, while in his life
rulers tended to ignore him as a
form of protection.
Following his death in 479 BCE,
Confucius was buried in his family’s
tomb in Qufu (in Shandong) and, over
the following centuries, his stature
grew so that he became the subject
of worship in schools during the
Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)
and temples were established in
his name at all administrative
capitals during the Tang Dynasty
(618-907 CE).
Throughout the imperial period an
extensive knowledge of the fundamental
texts of Confucianism was a necessity
in order to pass the civil service
selection examinations. Educated
people often had a tablet of Confucius’
writings prominently displayed in
their houses and sometimes also
statues, most often seated and
dressed in imperial costume to
symbolize his status as
‘the king without a throne’.
Authors note - Raul:
Together with Chinese Philosophy
and Lao Tzu i studied Confucius
early in life. I preferred Lao Tzu teachings
as more universal in todays life, but
no doubt Confucius extended Lao Tzu
wisdom far in time and space.
Morality seems outdated but in fact
experience shows that without this
foundation there will be
no lasting achievement.
Very similar to Ramakrishna
and Vivekananda or Christ and
Peter, the original Masters were not
into building religions or changing
the world - but more focused on
changing hearts. But one item that
is paramount is Confucius emphasize
on LEARNING! That was true then
and is true now.
There are endless resources on the
web and print and videos on Confucius.
Some powerful videos of his life:
Biography (Bio) - Vimeo - Confucius: Words of Wisdom (1998)
https://binged.it/2K2JGND
https://youtu.be/x0ToLOSqvVQ
BBC:
https://youtu.be/gdzbgW_ueNw
Words of Wisdom - audiobook (3hrs):
https://youtu.be/WzX8p37bL74
Summarized from the Ancient History Encyclopedia
https://www.ancient.eu/Confucius/
by Mark Cartwright - published on 2012
and Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius
and https://www.theclassroom.com/similarities-confucius-lao-tzu-10034866.html
By Susie Zappia
