Confucius
551–479 BCE · China
“What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.”
Peak-work percentile in the canon.
The lineage through Confucius
Inspired(1)
who Confucius shaped
- Thoreau carried Confucius to the cabin — Walden quotes the Analects and the Confucian classics ten times over
- He had already edited 'Sayings of Confucius' for The Dial in 1843, excerpting forty-plus passages, and rendered the lines himself from a French translation
- The Analects' counsel — on what true knowledge is, on virtue bending lesser men like grass before the wind — becomes part of Walden's moral spine
Portraits
Tightly cropped head-and-shoulders crop of the Wu Daozi standing portrait, the cleanest face-forward variant of the single most-reprinted Confucius likeness; useful where a vertical full-figure does not fit.
Wu Daozi, 750
Half-length album-leaf portrait of Confucius in red ceremonial robes and ceremonial cap, the lead leaf of the 120-figure album.
Frontal portrait of Confucius seated in dark robes, his characteristic long beard and bun reduced to a contemplative icon.
Kano Michinobu, 1784
Standing portrait of Confucius in flowing scholar's robes, beard sweeping to the chest, hands clasped in formal greeting.
Seated portrait of Confucius in green and red robes against a plain ground, gouache on paper.
Famous Quotes
“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.”
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
“Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.”
“At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right.”
About Confucius
Chinese philosopher and teacher whose ideas on ethics, governance, and social harmony became the foundation of Confucianism. Born in the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period, he spent much of his life as an itinerant teacher and political advisor. The Analects, compiled by his disciples after his death, remains one of the most influential texts in East Asian culture.