Nowadays, most Chinese recognize Confucius as the great thinker and educator in Chinese history; as one of the great representative figures of Chinese civilization. Why is he so recognized? The most important reason is that Confucius was the conscious inheritor of the culture of the Xia (21st century BC-16th century BC), the Shang (16th century BC-11th century BC), and the Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-256 BC) which existed before him, and that he passed on this deep-rooted culture to future Chinese generations.
Therefore, we can say that the greatness of Confucius lies in his bequeathing an ancient culture, codified and filtered through his own work and that of his disciples to future generations.
Zhu Xi, the most famous Song Dynasty (960-1279) Confucian master, once commented, “Without Zhongni, all of history would have been endless night.” That is to say, without Confucius Chinese culture would be like water without a source; like trees without roots.
The Confucian Temple, located in the Dongcheng District of Beijing, is still known as the Imperial College. For centuries, since Beijing was formally established as China’s capital, it served as the place where scholars from the whole country gathered. The street that skirts the Beijing Confucian Temple is named Chengxian Street (meaning the street that leads to virtue). In recent years, the local government has founded a Chinese national culture school (called Guoxueguan in Chinese), educating pre-school children from all parts of Beijing in the essential aspects of Chinese culture and Confucian tradition.
Parents believe it is enormously beneficial for their children to learn about traditional Chinese culture; they see the benefit of their kids learning ethical principles before they formally begin school.
According to the management of the school, through the influence of Chinese national culture, the children studying here not only enhance their interest in traditional culture, but also strengthen their memory, intellect, and visual awareness, and what is more nurture from childhood virtues such as respecting the old and teachers while caring for the young and treating others generously.
Meanwhile, the parents of the children commonly hold that the education offered in the school is superb; and the children will absorb the teachings which will allow them in the future to become good and valued human beings.
In China, the most famous quotation attributed to Confucius is: “‘Is it not pleasant to learn with constant perseverance and application? Is it not pleasant to have friends visit from faraway places? Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no unease though men may take no note of him?’”
A popular children’s book is Analects of Confucius. Compiled by his disciples, this book records the numerous sayings of Confucius. For countless years the thoughts and wisdom of Confucius have been communicated to countless numbers of people through this book As Chinese scholars in ancient times were wont to say: “Half of Analects of Confucius is enough to govern the whole country.” This gives us some idea of the extraordinary influence of the book.
The central idea Confucius wanted to express in Analects of Confucius is the way in which a man can become a good and upright man, most importantly in terms of his relations with others. He maintained that in practicing the rules of propriety, a natural ease should be cultivated. The purpose of propriety or in the other words, the whole ritual system, was to effect a harmonious situation among people. Thus if a governor of a state could demonstrate to the common people how best to conduct themselves so as to treat others well, the society could not fail to be a smooth running entity.
In the 512-part Analects of Confucius, the Chinese character used most frequently by Confucius (105 times) is “Ren.” This character can perhaps best be translated as “benevolence.” Confucius himself regarded it as a holy character and during all his life only five times did he use it to describe someone: two were his disciples and the other three were historical figures. It is surely worth exploring what qualities of character are defined by the concept of “Ren” since Confucius attached such great importance to it.