Special Sub-Topic: Background of Confucianism Click Here To Play: Background of Confucianism

Confucius is also known by what name?

Kongzi. Confucius is a Latinized name, but in Chinese he is known as Kongzi, or Kongfuzi, which signifies that he is a teacher. He was born Kong Qiu, and also is known by the stylized literary name Kong Zhongni!

The most famous disciple of Confucius was who?

Mengzi. Mengzi was Confucius' most famous disciple, author of the "Mengzi," one of the four most important books of Confucianism.

Confucius believed we should all try to achieve what?

Ren. Ren (sometimes known as ru), which is a difficult term to define, basically means a benevolence or a perfect sense of propriety, although many people will disagree with me on that definition. Confucius felt that ren was the key.

Confucius aspired during his lifetime to be which of the following, but only once, and only briefly, achieved the goal?

A government official. Confucius wrote about the principles that were required of a sage king, but he never aspired himself to have such power. In the end, he would have been happy with a permanent position in the government, but this is something he was only once, briefly, able to achieve. He was a teacher though, perhaps the greatest in Chinese history.

The chief work attributed to Confucius, but not actually written by him, is known as what?

The Analects. When you read Confucius, there is a 90% chance you're reading the Analects, which contains little stories and snippets of Confucius' thoughts. What Confucius has in common with Jesus Christ and Socrates is that they are three major thinkers from whom we do not have a sample of writing (the authors of the Gospels wrote Jesus' story, Plato wrote about Socrates, and Confucius' disciples wrote about him).