Confucius

Good day, my name is Confucius, and I am a great philosopher of ancient China.  I was born in 551 B.C. in Northwest China, into the classical age of the Chou Dynasty.  When I was only three years old, my father died, and I was left to suffer through great poverty under my mother's care.  My young years were filled with war, death, controversy, and trouble, and this was very hard for me to deal with.  Around the age of twenty-five or so, I began to concoct the universal principle of "Goodness".  I believe that if people are good, society will hold together well and war will cease.  I also met a young man named Lao Zi, and together we shared our great ideas.

The five main concepts of my newfound principles, which I hope will someday be known as Confucianism, are:

-Society is in harmony if everyone carries out his or her duties
-The people will follow the ruler's character, and therefore the ruler must be good
-Humanity is the center of heaven and Earth
-Respect and authority towards yourself and others
-Family is the basis of society

After I came up with what I thought were some very valuable ideas, I wanted to get involved in government as soon as possible.  I received a government position and tried to share my ideas, but I do not believe that the people were ready for such concepts.  People do not like change, and I was soon fired.  Since then, I have lived as a wandering teacher trying to spread my great views across China.

Sincerely,

Confucious

After Confucious's death in 479 B.C., people began to come around and realize that the principles of Confucianism were actually genious.  During the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was blended with traditional Chinese views and officially established as a series of philosophies.