Fashion for everything Chinese appears in Europe from time to time, starting from the XVII century. This is especially true for philosophical views. It seems to some that it was in the Celestial Empire that all the best that human culture was rich was born, while others disprove these views, arguing that a country isolated from the outside world was not able to create anything of value.
The sayings of Confucius are often cited as an argument during disputes, not always philosophical. They are capacious, concise, easy to remember, really suitable for many cases as an illustration of a wide variety of situations: everyday, political, and even economic.
Who was Confucius? His sayings are collected in a single book, Conversations and Judgments (or “Lun Yu”), written by his students. Consequently, the sage was a teacher.
Kun Fu-Tzu (the name Confucius sounds like this in the original, there are other variants of transcription of Kun Qiu, Kun-tzu, Kun Fu-Tzu) was born a very long time ago (around 551 BC) and is very far away, in ancient Chinese kingdom of Lu (Shandong province in the east of modern China).
The word "Tzu" means "teacher." It was not easy to deserve such a prefix at the age of twenty, but Confucius succeeded. An illegal descendant of a noble official and his concubine, he lived carefree childhood, but after the death of his father he had to think about his daily bread. At first, Kun Qiu tried the official path, but she did not like him. Confucius's sayings regarding issues of state structure are apparently based on his personal experience. So, he explained the successful implementation of government orders by their reasonableness, and the disobedience of subjects by the absence of such.
The desire for self-improvement and education came to light at Kun Qiu at a young age. Some sayings of Confucius are autobiographical in nature. So, the philosopher recalls that when he was 15 years old, he wanted to study, at 30 he established himself in his aspiration, at 40 he got rid of doubts, at 50 he understood that this is the will of heaven, at 60 he learned to listen, and only at 70 he knew measure when following the dictates of the heart.
Catholic scholars have repeatedly tried to draw parallels between the teachings of the ancient Chinese sage and religious dogmas. The sayings of Confucius really resonate with the Old Testament rules. So, to the student’s question about the appropriateness of responding kindly to evil deeds, he replied: “Then what is the answer to good?” But Kun Fu-Tzu did not create his religion, although theosophical attributes were ascribed to his teaching, and they even came up with the name “Confucianism”.
Knowing himself and the world around him, a person understands his place. One should not seek fame; one must strive to comprehend people. Only the uncorrected error remains the error. In order to rightfully be called a teacher, you need to cherish the old, but also look for a new one. "For three years, follow my father’s path after his death, this is the veneration of parents." These and other Confucius sayings about life seemed to the inhabitants of his village too simple-hearted, they obviously wanted to hear something more ornate, worthy of a teacher and a philosopher, and he saved the phrases more difficult in perception for imperial ears.
Kun Fu-Tzu introduced special concepts into the philosophical dictionary, each of which denoted a whole spectrum expressing the essence of relations with the outside world. The search for an unshakable middle, he considered the most important task facing a person throughout his life.
