CONFUCIUS

As China sinks into civil war 2,500 years ago, the scholar Confucius sets out to teach his compatriots a new morality. Even today, many millions of people in Asia follow its teachings

Profile: Confucius

Name: Confucius

Nationality: Chinese

Life data: 551 BC To 479 BC Chr.

Quote: "The way is the goal."

Thinking about God, the Chinese philosopher Confucius thought it was a waste of time. His teachings deal only with people and how they should deal with each other.

CONFUCIUS: SMART MAN ON THE MOVE

Incredible! How can that be? Full of anxiety, the duke of the Chinese province of Qi paces up and down. He is worried about what he learns from Lu, the hostile neighboring state. For a long time, he was considered weak because of the country's turmoil. The prince of Lu? A loafer!

But then a certain Confucius was hired as Minister - and within three years, Lu rose to the dangerous competitor! Qi has already lost a few areas to the neighbors, and Lu is said to have become a paradise: throughout the country, the duke's spies report, there are no more thefts!

He thinks of a cunning. He sends his neighbor 80 pretty dancers. They should distract him from work. And indeed: The prince of Lu loses the desire for politics. "Get lost!" He hisses to Confucius as he tries to remind him of his duties.

Once again, the smart man has to go on a hike. All over China, no ruler wants to listen to him for a long time! At this time no one suspects that he will one day become one of the most influential thinkers in history; that his philosophy encompasses the whole of Asia; that even today the children in the Chinese schools learn his wisdom.

WHO WAS CONFUCIUS?

The philosopher was born in 551 BC in the Principality of Lu, now Shandong Province, as the child of an impoverished noble family. At a young age, he beats as a small official. Sometimes he oversees barns, sometimes a cattle herd.

China, the giant empire, was torn at that time. For centuries, the provincial princes have been at war with each other. Gangsters exploit the chaos and bully the population.

How can you create order? Many experienced men in the country are dealing with this question. The ruler should educate his subjects by severe punishment - say one. No, others say modern life is to blame for everything! People should live in nature again, as they used to. After all, there were no wars.

Confucius, who studied the ancient Chinese scholars, considers both views wrong. He is convinced that order will come by itself when people in China remember to act morally. If everyone is friendly and dutiful, there is no dispute!

Nice and good. But how do people suddenly become a good man? Quite simply, finds Confucius: through learning! Everywhere he goes, the philosopher picks up students. Rich he teaches against payment, poor peasants free. He teaches them the old customs, writing and arithmetic - all that is needed to serve as a civil servant to a prince.

Most of all, Konfuziu teaches how to act virtuously: to keep his promises and to think every day about whether you were really diligent and friendly. Or that envy and dissatisfaction are unnecessary emotions. Because both could be easily eliminated. You just have to be proficient and learn more. "Make sure you get better, then you will be successful!" Says Confucius to Nörglern.

THE TEACHINGS OF CONFUCIUS

Confucius lives almost at the same time as the famous Greek philosophers around Socrates. But his teaching differs in important ways. So he deals only with the everyday life of the people. Think about gods? For Confucius pure waste of time. Some experts see this as a reason that until today in China, none of the major religions could prevail.

Confucius also holds little of general rights for the people. "The prince is prince. The servant is a servant," he teaches. That is, the subjects must obey when the ruler gives them an order. When he himself is a minister in Lu and a naughty official makes him angry, he lets him be executed.

One would think that every prince likes to hire such a thinker. But Confucius is also strong among the powerful, demanding that they be role models and take care of their subjects. Once when a minister complains about thieves, Confucius tells him: "If you were not so greedy yourself, then people would not steal anything!"

The rulers do not like to hear that. No wonder that Confucius nowhere stays long.

The philosopher finds recognition only after his death. His disciples have written down Teacher's teachings and spread them throughout the land. Through this book called "Lunyu" we know about Confucius. When China is united around the year 200 BC, rulers elevate its teaching, Confucianism, to a kind of religion. Until today, not much has changed in the worship of the great thinker.