Eng2800: The Ancient World

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The philosophy of Confucius emphasized personal and governmental morality. In the book, he repeatedly stresses the concept of goodness or humanity (Ren).He thought that only a person of superior moral character (JunZi) could be an ideal ruler. He believed that if a ruler led his people by setting  good examples to them, that orders would be deemed unnecessary because others will follow the proper actions of their ruler. He spent his whole life looking for a perfect ruler, but he never found one.

discussion questions:

Confucius emphases a ruler should rule by means of virtue (de), rather than by the use of policies or physical punishments. Do you agree with him? If so, why do we need laws and rules in society today?Are Confucius’s ideas on the governance realistic or idealistic?​

-Xianhui Xu