Born: 551 B.C.
Place of birth:In the state of Lu
Major works:Analects (said to have had editorship of many works, but it is the one known commonly as the analects which is agreed to best represent his thoughts.)
Confucius, or Master K'ung, lost his father when he was of the age of three. This led him to be raised by his mother, meaning due to the time in which he lived, that he would have a life that began with poverty and hardship ahead of him.
Beyond that, his early years could be best described as uneventful.
Upon turning, approximately, the age of fifteen he decided to pursue a life of being a scholar. To this end he went for a career in the goverment of Lu, eventually landing a job as the chief of police for their department of justice.
In short time, though, he resigned and moved on to teaching. With students in tow he made a tour of China, hoping to share his skills with the local rulers, and found the ways of government during these tours to be disappointing. The governments themselves declined his assistance.
After a time, he gave up his governmental aspirations and his job as teacher, spending the closing years of his life editing those books, which over time, came to be known as the "Confucian Classics."
His year of death is placed as 479 B.C.
It is important to note that even though his governmental aspirations came to nought, as a teacher he was highly respected and sought after. His honesty and integrity were well remembered by his students, seventy of which became well-known scholars. It is said that he has taught over three thousand.
His words and thoughts were spread throughout China by his students, eventually becoming the national ideology in the second century A.D. during the Han dynasty.
He has become honored as "The Ultimate Sage Teacher."
