Confucius ancient China was trapped in a
ruthless cycle of war. Tribal
Eastern sage Confucius. He had a
mission. But many people at that
time did not agree with him. His
vision was modelled on the power
of the past and the family. He
believed that education could
transform both individuals and
society. He is talking about your
state of mind. Your feelings. But
Confucius was declared an enemy
of communism. So now, he should
be out of favour. But that hardly
seems to be the case. This is the
longest continuous civilisation in
the world, and Confucius has a
huge role in that. It's so amazing to
be so close to them. My heart is
beating! In BC, an elderly
exsoldier from the ancient state of
Lu faced a grave predicament. His
family line was in danger of
ending. He needed a son to
continue his name, someone who
would be able to perform the vital
rituals to honour him and his
ancestors. The old man took a
young wife. We are told that she
went to a sacred mountain and
prayed hard for a boy. The son she
bore would be known as Master
Kong. In Chinese, Kong Fuzi. In
the West, we call him Confucius.
Confucius was born into one of the
most advanced civilisations in the
world. The ancient Chinese were
innovators in art metal work,
agriculture and weaponry. And
from around BC, 0000they
developed a sophisticated political
system. A network of vassal lords
who bore allegiance to one king.
But by the time Confucius was
going up, stability had turned to
chaos. This was an age when all of
the cosmos, were considered
essential goals if life on Earth was
invasions from the west, along
with rebellion amongst the lords,
splintered the empire into
independent states. All vying for
power. Spurred on by a kind of
arms race, now that cast iron meant
that
weapons could be mass produced,
families attacked families. This
was total war. This collapse in
society would become the catalyst
for Confucius' groundbreaking
philosophy. The oldest record of
Confucius' life and ideas, the
Analects, were compiled about a
century after his death. These
fragments of his conversations,
along with other later histories,
give us clues to his life story. We
are told that Confucius was just
three when his father died. Old
aristocracy, he had fallen on hard
times one of the victims of the
turmoil of the age leaving
Confucius' mother to raise her son
on her own in a kind of genteel
poverty. Interestingly, it seems that
education was Confucius' lifeline.
Somehow, probably through a mix
of private teachers and
homeschooling and, you suspect,
the sheer grit and determination of
his mother, Confucius was taught
history, poetry and ritual. While
other children played with toys,
he's said to have acted out sacred
rituals by laying out cups and
bowls. Now, these weren't just
empty gestures, a bit of spiritual
theatre. The kinds of rituals that
Confucius learned played a crucial
role in the ancient Chinese world
view. A world view in which order
and harmony, both on Earth and in
to continue. The ancient rites that
young Confucius knew were
performed here, at the Temple of
Heaven in Beijing, right up until
the th century. The Chinese had a
particular religious outlook which
meant that these rituals weren't
directed towards a deity. There is
no creative god. There's nothing
like the idea of a supreme power
that dreams everything into being.
What it posits instead is this notion
that there are two cosmic forces.
They're not even really divine,
they're just natural forces, a bit like
gravity in a sense. And on the
temple here, you have perhaps the
most common, the most powerful
symbols of these two great forces.
And that is the dragon, the
heavenly force. And the phoenix is
the female, the cold, the earthly
force. And they are locked in
perpetual struggle. They try to
overcome each other. And it's this
incredible dance of power out of
which all life pours. So what's
humanity's role in all of this?
We're fundamental to this. You've
got these two great cosmic forces
and our role is to keep the balance,
and we do this through ritual. And
that's what this kind of temple
complex was built for. This is
where the ruler would come to
make offerings to rebalance these
two forces. And it wasn't just for
the rulers, it took place in every
single temple, every local shrine,
right down to the household.
Sounds like a potent and a
pervasive world view that
Confucius is being brought up
with. Absolutely. It's the only
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world view he knows. As he
reached adulthood, it looks as
though Confucius grew to
appreciate the gaping disparity
between the ancient ideal of order
and the reality of life subject to the
chaos that raged all around him.
His search for a solution to that
intractable problem at the very
heart of Chinese society would
prove to be his life's work.
Fortunately, conditions across the
ancient world were nourishing new
ways of thinking. Improvements in
agriculture, increased trade, and
growing urbanisation meant that
some in society were less tied to a
life of subsistence, creating the
opportunity for men like Socrates,
the Buddha and Confucius to
develop their ideas. The scale of
change economic and
technological is reflected in
archaeological remains, like this
monumental grain store. Advances
in technology from the Iron Age
onwards led to an increase in
agricultural yields that were stored
in massive pits like this.
Suddenly, for ordinary people,
because they had enough food, life
just wasn't a grinding cycle of a
kind of hand to mouth existence.
Obviously, stores like this
provided grain, but they also gave
another great gift time to think.
When Confucius was about, we're
told he landed a bureaucratic job
managing grain stores like this.
But his mind was occupied by the
turmoil of the day. Looking around
him, it seemed obvious to
Confucius that humanity needed
help. And how he responded is
considered a first in Chinese
history.
He began to engage in systematic
philosophical enquiry. One thing I
like about Confucius is the sense
that you get that he had a kind of
natural curiosity, that he felt
compelled to explore, and to try to
understand the world. And in his
early age, he decided to leave his
home state of Lu, and get on the
road. Travelling west, he would
have eventually met the great
Yellow River. I think we have to
imagine him at this point in his life
as a kind of ethnographer, going
from one place to another with
open eyes and an open mind,
gathering together experiences and
encounters. The Analects describe
Confucius meeting people who had
renounced civilised society and
lived amongst nature. These
recluses were the forerunners of
Daoism, that other great belief
system of ancient China. They
believed in something known as
the Way.
Could you explain to me what
exactly the Way is? Is it possible
for humans to influence or control
the Way? The Daoists believed
that developed society diverted us
from the Way. Society was
artificial, something people
imposed on the natural
spontaneous way of the universe.
Only by reconnecting with the
forces of nature could we achieve
harmony once again. Confucius
reacted to Daoist belief with a kind
of frustrated indignation.
"We can't go and live with the
birds and the beasts." Am I not a
man among men? "If the Way
prevailed in the world, there would
be no need for me "to change it."
Confucius' search for solutions to
the problems of his day took on a
more practical, political dimension.
For him, the Way wasn't an
intangible cosmic force. Instead, he
saw it as the harmony that could be
brought about by a perfectly
ordered society, something
attainable by human action. It was
a claim the Daoists thought the
height of arrogance. This critical
dispute is embodied in one
legendary encounter. Confucius is
said to have come here, the city of
Luoyang. As he was studying in
the state archives, he met an older
man and they struck up a
philosophical discussion. As
Confucius got up to leave, the old
man chastised him. "Put away your
proud air and many desires, your
insinuating habit and wild will.
These are of no advantage to you."
The enigmatic old man was none
other than Laozi, credited as the
founder of Daoism. Whether it's
true or not, this pairing with such a
great figure reveals the iconic
status Confucius would later reach.
And it tells us something else. That
setting in the archive gives us a
clue to Confucius' methods. For
him, solutions to contemporary
problems lay in a close study of
what had gone before. The past
was a kind of reservoir of truth.
Ever since he was a boy, he had
been schooled in ancient texts.
Now, as a man, they became the
inspiration for, and the very
foundation of his philosophy.
Recent discoveries have shed new
light on these classic texts of
Chinese history bamboo slips
which contain the earliest evidence
of Confucius's words. They were
found in the tomb of an old noble
2
man. And they date back to when
Oh, these were dated to the
roughly years after Confucius. It
says something like, "Set your
mind on the way and be virtuous.
Do everything in accordance with
humanity." Not only the earliest
words of Confucius but beautiful
words too. And they were so
amazing because they provide us
new information on early classics
that were very important to
Confucius himself. And, for
example, this particular slip
mention about the classics he
would have read. The Book Of
Odes ritual and music. But The
Book Of History is very important,
because it recorded figures such as
the Duke of Zhou, and early kings
of the Western Zhou that was
about years before Confucius'
time. And these men were able to
lead a society of harmony.
Confucius found in the words of
The Book Of History what he was
looking for an ideal model where
social and political harmony had
prevailed, engineered by the
almost superhumanely sage rulers
of the early Zhou dynasty, in
particular, the Duke of Zhou.
When his brother, King Wu, died,
the Duke could have seized the
throne.
But it's reported that instead he
acted loyally, ruling as a regent for
his nephew, the king's son. And
then, when the boy grew up, fairly
and faithfully, he handed over the
reins of power. Whether these
accounts were entirely true is a
moot point, but Confucius saw
huge potential in them. This golden
age was robust evidence that social
order was possible. By following
the practices and the examples of
the early Zhou, by reviving the
past,
there could be solutions to the
problems of the present. It is the
great thing about golden ages,
they're very comforting. We
believe that if humanity was
capable of wonderful things in the
past, we can achieve them once
again. Confucius believed that
early Zhou society was the ideal
manifestation of his concept of the
Way. To recreate that harmony,
society needed to return to their
high standards. Especially in terms
of ritual. Confucius was convinced
that the ancient rites had been
corrupted. In order to restore the
golden age, he would have to
reinstate proper ritual. Here, in
Confucius' hometown of Qufu, is a
temple dedicated to the master. It's
the ultimate place of pilgrimage for
many of his devotees. Mr Kong
traces his ancestry back to
Confucius and often leads rituals
that his illustrious relative set such
store by. HE CALLS OUT But
ritual here has always meant more
than just ceremony. It's an all
encompassing ethos that shapes
every aspect of people's behaviour,
including what we might call
etiquette and customs. It seems that
Confucius threw himself into
understanding and perfecting the
rites of the early Zhou.
Confucius was nothing if not a
stickler for detail. We hear he
wouldn't even sit on a mat unless it
was dead straight. But there seems
to have been a kind of beauty in his
precision. Just listen to these
wonderful words describing him.
"His expression was serious, his
step brisk. When with his clasped
hands he bowed to his colleagues
on left and right, his robes moved
evenly in front and back. His
hurrying advance was a glide."
Confucius set out to transmit the
importance of proper ritual,
promoting his ideas right across
the land. One account describes his
rather hostile reception from a
government advisor from the state
of Qi. "Confucius lays such stress
on appearance and costume,
elaborate etiquette and codes of
behaviour that it would take
generations to learn his rule. One
lifetime wouldn't be enough." To
this day, Confucius is often
criticised for his pedantic
attachment to intricate forms of
antiquated ritual. But what his
critics didn't understand is that he
had discovered something radically
new within these ancient rites,
something which marked a critical
shift in his thinking. When
Confucius' was in his mids, his
mother died. For three years, he
dutifully carried out ancestral rites
in her honour. But he would
breathe new life and new meaning
into these traditions. Ancient
Chinese believed that the ghost and
spirits continue to exist after the
ancestors die. So it's important to
offer them food and wine in these
kind of vessels. In particular, those
made of very expensive bronze.
And everyone would be really
engaging in the ritual to continue a
kind of relationship they had
before. Do we know what
Confucius thought about all of
this? Well, Confucius still believed
that ancestors were still very
important part, but he started to
3
shift emphasis towards the living,
by saying that it meant that it's
important for us to develop this
kind of reverence and the proper
relationship while they are still
alive. As he said in the Analects
very clearly, that if you don't know
how to serve the living, how would
you know how to serve the dead?
He's saying actually focus first on
the here and now and on those who
are still around you in the day
today before you start to think
about those who are long dead.
You are so right. It's no longer just
about objects like this. It's about
your state of mind, your feelings,
your love and sincerity from inside
that you would have towards these
people around you. Confucius
realised that ritual brought out
positive emotions in us. But his
really big revelation was that this
could permanently change who we
are. Habitually performing the
rituals of history, with the right
attitude and sincerity, could
transform our mindset. Virtuous
feelings could make virtuous
beings.
Ritual for him was not just the way
you do things, exactly follow the
traditional and this and the rules,
but even more importantly, you've
got to have something inside.
You've got to have a reverence,
respect, because this was the way
to cultivate your inside of
goodness, the inside of this kind of
and the qualities. And the whole
person would be transformed on
the inside.
But, I mean, that sounds really
radical. So he's saying you need to
do things properly, but they're not
just a mechanical action. It affects
who you are inside, sort of
psychologically? Yes, yeah, I think
this exactly. Not only just bring
order to the social and life, but also
this to create a new psychological
under this meaning there and tried
to cultivate this good human
qualities. Yeah. I mean, it's
interesting cos he doesn't sell
himself as an innovator, but he
was. Yes, he was, I think.
Confucius said, you know, he was
the only transmitter that
transmitted the ancient culture to
today, to the future. But actually,
what he did was innovation. These
new things that are really coming
from his reinterpretation of
something that already exists, such
as the ritual. Nourishing virtue lay
at the core of Confucius' vision.
And he saw transformative
opportunities in everyday rituals
how we speak, how we dress and
how we eat. But one that was
particularly close to his heart was
music. He's said to have played the
zither and the sounding chimes.
This was a time and place where
music was all around, played on
totally wonderful things like this
monumental set of bells that date
to just after Confucius' death.
Music was played to accompany
ritual in temples and homes, so if
you listen to these, then you'll be
hearing the sounds that would have
surrounded Confucius during his
lifetime. Confucius was convinced
that music had the power to
harmonise, to transform and
perfect an individual. Basically,
this is art as therapy, years before
we invent the phrase. This practical
application of philosophical ideas
in day to day life is something that
really marks out Confucius, as well
as those other game changing
philosophers the Buddha and
Socrates. As a philosopher, you
don't just indulge in abstract
musings, you develop a robust
delivery mechanism for your
theories. Ideas have to have
traction, and they have to have
tangible impact. Confucius was a
practical man. He had been spurred
into action by the bellicose times
into which he was born. His
philosophy would only truly be a
success if he it could affect change
on a grand scale. Confucius came
to think this that shaping and
cultivating moral individuals was
the key to creating a stable social
and political order. By figuring out
what made a good person, you
could make a good society. And so
his mission was this to teach
people how to be virtuous in a
world of political disorder and
moral decay. Confucius had given
himself a mountain to climb.
How to instil virtue in society,
when society's moral contract was
so broken was Confucius' big
challenge. He was to find
inspiration from a familiar and
enduring institution. The family.
Confucius noted how families are
organised along hierarchical lines,'
with fixed responsibilities. From
birth, we learn our place within
key relationships. Recognising
your place within these
relationships and fulfilling your
mutual responsibilities within that
hierarchy taught essential moral
values. From the family, we
developed a sense of loyalty, of
honesty, of duty, of respect, of
filial responsibility. Basically, to
4
love those around us. Confucius
saw that the concept of family was
a potent model and a potential
solution for society's ills. The
family showed how authority could
be both exercised and submitted to,
fairly and productively. Not
through intimidation, but through
mutual assent. The moral values
learnt in the family affection and
care directed downwards, and
loyalty and obedience directed
above had the potential to
transform everyone. But Confucius
saw that arguably their greatest
value lay in relation to the glaring
problem at the heart of society the
waywardness of its rulers. This
magnificent sword embodies what,
for Confucius, was the
fundamental problem with Chinese
leadership. This was made when
Confucius was alive, and it tells us
all about itself. He wasn't
puritanical. He enjoyed the good
things of life, swimming in rivers,
singing with friends and he
understood the need for worldly
goods. But he did not think that
good men should devote their time
and energy to the pursuit of
personal gain. And he didn't
believe in immoderate action,
anywhere, anytime, from anyone.
In Confucius' opinion, kings who
commissioned swords like this
often abandoned virtue if it got in
the way of worldly success. He
saw the way to transform society
was to instil the values at work in
the family in the rulers of his day.
To understand the power they
wielded, you only need look at the
way they were honoured in death.
This ruler, from around the time of
Confucius, was buried along with
expensive chariots and sacrificial
horses. What kind of connection
did Confucius see between the
relationships that he'd observed
between father and son and the
family, and what's going on here?
Well, he looked at the fact that if
you had a good father, he could
bring up a good son. And a good
son could then respect the father,
and this could work. So he said
"Well, look, if it works at this
level, let's just take it to the top." If
the ruler views those beneath him
as his children and treats them with
love but with firmness, with
compassion but with integrity, then
it would it roll down through the
system. And the Confucianist
could say, "Look, you see the
ruler's "living like this, you should
live like this." And literally, it
would roll down, like the clouds
from the mountain and bring
blessing to everyone. So, for him,
might in and of itself wasn't a
problem, but if you had might, then
you also had to have a kind of
philosophical responsibility to your
people? Yes. Confucius continued
the Zhou tradition that a ruler has
the right to rule because heaven
has clearly given them the power
and the authority. And that's why
the top, top ruler was called the son
of heaven. However, that mandate,
that right to rule, can be taken
away by heaven. And a sign that
heaven has taken it away is natural
disasters, massive earthquakes,
floods. Confucius said if a ruler
becomes corrupt and people are
suffering through this cruelty, then
the people have the right to rebel.
And so Confucius, at one level,
tells you respect, honour, duty,
loyalty. And he also said, "And if
that fails, you have the right to
overthrow."
Confucius' tactic was very direct.
He set out to influence those in
power by getting a governmental
post. One snag was his personality.
He was often seen as arrogant, too
blunt in the way he delivered his
advice. But he also faced a bigger
problem. With enemy armies
numbering as many as , camped on
their borders, and disloyal sons
plotting behind their backs,
perhaps it's no surprise that the
rulers of the day failed to take
Confucius seriously. Cultivating
moral character and virtuous
actions in such precarious times
was just not a priority. With
rejection upon rejection,
Confucius' faltering political career
looked set to fail and his ideas in
danger of being lost to history. But
he was tenacious and resourceful.
In his early, it looks as though he
decided to change his strategy. He
gathered together a few belongings
and hit the road once again to
continue his moral crusade. Only
this time, he wasn't alone. He was
travelling together with a group of
devoted students. His ability to
attract motivated young men put
his mission to transform self and
society back on track. By all
accounts, Confucius possessed a
kind of compelling, raw charisma.
Now, combine that with
intellectual rigour, with bold,
exciting new ideas and inspiring
moral instruction, and you've got a
potent mix. Whilst Confucius had
failed alone, a band of around
students could infiltrate the
corridors of power at many levels
5
and in many states. They could be
a moral vanguard to advise and
instruct rulers on how to rule
virtuously. And for this vital role,
Confucius was scrupulously
meritocratic accepting students
even from the poorest of
backgrounds. In the Analects,
Confucius said, "I have never
refused instruction "to anyone, if,
of his own accord, he comes to
me." This in itself was a truly
innovatory moment marking an
historic shift. He was urging that
Chinese society should no longer
be governed by an hereditary elite,
people who owed their positions
simply to their bloodlines. Rather,
it was those who were most
virtuous, most concerned about the
wellbeing of others, who should
lead.
His way was open to people from
any background to rise to positions
of authority. Confucius shared his
groundbreaking commitment to a
kind of egalitarianism with
Socrates and the Buddha. Their
solutions were, in theory, available
to everyone. But, to a greater or
lesser extent, when it came to
women, they all seemed to have
struggled. None of them were
exactly model family men. The
Buddha left his wife and child.
Socrates treated his young wife
pretty cursorily. But at least those
two included women in their
thinking and suggested they could
be part of a solution to society's
problems. However, when it comes
to Confucius, it seems he had next
to no time for the female of the
species. The ultimate goal for
Confucius' students was to become
a junzi. Now, this wasn't a title he'd
made up. Just as with ritual, he
took something traditional and
gave it a potent new twist. Junzi
was an aristocratic word meaning a
son of the lord, denoting qualities
that could only belong to a
privileged social elite. Now, as part
of his shift towards a moral elite,
Confucius appropriated it and
changed it to mean the ultimate
moral person, a superior man. A
new kind of gentleman, in its most
literal sense.
For Confucius, education was
crucial. Drawing on his own life
experience, he saw an unswerving
commitment to critical learning as
the path to self-cultivation. He
likened the process to polishing
jade, crafting one's virtuous
character, to become the perfect
moral person. You had to know
The Book Of History to live by the
example of the sage kings and to
enact correct ritual. But what was
essential was to be morally alive to
your environment. To understand
how to behave intuitively in any
situation. To think for yourself.
Confucius' students joined their
master, moving across wartorn
China to try to influence its errant
rulers. They were attacked, beaten
and almost starved. But these
testing times sharpened their
education. The challenges they
faced forced them to engage in
urgent moral debate. They
proposed solutions to their
problems and then interrogated
those, provoking the intense
intellectual discussions between
master and students that you find
in the Analects. They asked
questions like, "Should the junzi
accept office in degenerate times?”
"Can you serve a corrupt master if
you think you can make a
difference?" Confucius encouraged
this opened, freethinking
discussion.
Yet his students still looked to him
for definitive answers. Ultimately,
they wanted to know what was the
essence of goodness? For
Confucius, there was one all
embracing virtue, the most
essential to cultivate and yet the
most difficult to attain. Something
called ren. Ren is a very splendid
word idea, but what does it
actually mean?
What quality does it imply? Well,
many people tried to translate it
differently. It's been translated as
human heartedness, as good or
goodness, but we prefer now to use
the word simply humanity.
Because virtually all Confucian
values are linked to this notion.
Courage with ren, then its real
courage rather than just simply
bravery. Justice with ren, then it's a
humane justice rather than just
harsh punishment. Wisdom with
ren, then it's being wise not just
being smart. And is this something
that you achieve, or is looking for
ren a constant quest?
Every person, by definition of
being a person, embodies ren. In
other words, every human being's
capable of sympathetic response to
the external world. But at the same
time, to realise ren fully, which
means human flourishing in the
most comprehensive sense of the
term, that requires learning. And
learning, of course, it's not simply
the acquisition of knowledge or
internalisation of skills, but
basically learning to build one's
6
character. And in that sense, it's
like the highest ideal. At the same
time, it's a minimum requirement
to be human. Do you think that
Confucius felt that he'd achieved
ren? And the interesting thing is
many students or followers of
Confucius also said no.Ren
requires continuous process of
struggling. Even to the end of your
life, this is still a task incomplete.
So no matter what, the struggle to
be fully human continues. There's
something in Confucian
philosophy a core message, that I
find really, genuinely inspiring. It's
his golden rule taken from the
Analects. One student said, "Is
there a single word that "I should
use as a rule to live my life by?"
The master replied, "That would be
empathy, perhaps.
What you do not wish for yourself,
don't do to others." It's this focus
on human relations and being
compassionate that I think comes
closest to defining what Confucius
meant by the term ren. I do love
this about all three of the
philosophers whose stories I'm
investigating. They made it clear
that none of us operate in isolation.
It isn't that man is the measure of
all things, but man's relationship
with man. Confucius continued to
travel, and to teach into his later
years. But only a handful of his
students went on to hold political
office. When Confucius was , he
fell ill. Unable to fulfil his mission,
his final words seem defeated and
bitterly disappointed. "No
intelligent monarch arises. "There
is none who will make me his
master. "It is my time to die."
Confucius was buried here, in his
hometown, Qufu. The great
transformation he had worked for
his entire life had not been
fulfilled.
But his devoted students planted
trees around his grave and kept his
dream alive. For years, Confucius'
ideas continued as just one of
many Chinese schools of thought.
Competing with the likes of
Daoism, it was unable to effect real
change in a chaotic world. But
once China was reunited under all
powerful emperors, stability
changed the political landscape.
The first emperor of the Han
Dynasty was convinced by his
principal advisor that ruling by
brutality had served his
predecessor badly. Allying himself
with Confucianism and its ideal of
rule by virtue would lend to his
dynasty greater legitimacy. Many
of the values that Confucius set
great store by the importance of
education, a shared cultural
heritage, an ethical government
had seemed an irrelevance during
the chaos of his lifetime. But these
would prove hugely effective in
holding the new empire together.
Successive emperors
enthusiastically took up Confucian
ideas, and education was central.
The poetry, arts, and music of the
early Zhou were revived as a
means of cultivating the goodness
and virtue within. School children
learnt the Confucian canon by
heart, meticulously writing it out in
their best calligraphy. Knowledge
of The Book Of History and rituals
of the Zhou Dynasty became a
prerequisite to be part of the civil
service. Confucian education and
Confucian texts became a years of ubiquitous Confucian
powerfully integrative force in
Chinese history. And of course it
was very useful for rulers to have
all that emphasis on obedience and
respect and topdown structure.
Even those who didn't get to go to
school learnt his words. It's
actually why we've developed that
rather crass form "Confucius says,"
because for centuries, right across
China, people WERE all quoting
Confucius.
# Confucius say a boy A girl, a
moon
# Make wedding bells ring out In
month of June
# Confucius say when love come
Don't delay
# So, honey, hold me tight
# Tonight's the night
# Remember what Confucius say.
But all that changed in the th
century. Confucianism came under
attack. In , students who wanted
China to modernize and become
democratic condemned Confucius
for holding them back. But it was
Chairman Mao's Cultural
Revolution that tried to annihilate
all vestiges of his legacy. His Red
Guard destroyed statues, temples
and texts. They even came here, to
his burial place. In a telegram to
Chairman Mao, they wrote, "We
have dragged out the statue of
Confucius. "We have torn down
the plaque extolling the teacher of ,
generations. We have levelled
Confucius' grave. We have
destroyed." It is really chilling
coming here to see how a raging,
rigid form of an ideology tried to
obliterate the memory of a man of
ideas. CHILDREN READ
TOGETHER But thousands of
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education, particularly the exam
system, had embedded his
principles deep within Chinese
culture. By the start of the st
century, the government began,
once again, to embrace his ideals.
Today, Confucianism is
undergoing a renaissance. And
education remains at the forefront.
This is a Confucian school in
Qufu. Pupils from the ages of six
to study the Confucian texts and
classical arts here. It just one of
around , schools in China that
teaches Confucian values and
philosophy.
It is just fascinating seeing these
kids being brought up with an
ancient philosophy at the heart of
everything that they think
and say and do. And actually, they
seem to be having a great time. It's
also even more incredible, though,
if you think that just a few decades
ago, Confucius was considered an
enemy of the state and none of this
would have been allowed to
happen. Or if it did, it would've
had to have happened in secret,
behind closed doors and at the risk
of really severe punishment. In
modern China, greater
individualism is seen to have
undermined a collective sense of
right and wrong. Confucius'
resurgence can be explained by the
desire for a clearer sense of moral
purpose. But I wonder if
Confucius' appeal is very simple.
He tells us that whatever our
character, whatever situation we're
born into, being good, living a
good life is a possibility. And that
the root to goodness is wisdom.
Now, that means that as a species,
in our finest form, we are all determined who we are now. Their
philosophers in the true sense of message was inspiring and
the word lovers of wisdom. challenging. That the world isn't
Across this series, I have examined unknowable, unchangeable. By
the ideas of three inspiring minds. engaging with it fully, we can lead
Confucius said a ritual is a way to better and more meaningful lives.
bring out the inside good qualities, We have agency. Our minds can
like benevolence, like reverence. shape the world. If the mind of
And if more people possess good Confucius has made you think,
qualities and they become real then explore further with The Open
human, then their social life, University to discover how great
family life, or community life will minds have influenced our world
become peaceful. But, ultimately, today.
what do they have to teach us in
the here and now? Although these
were ideas that were developed
centuries ago, do you think they
have as much relevance to our
world as they did to ancient China,
ancient Greece, ancient India?
They were confronted with a world
in disintegration. Little rationality.
Little compassion. And we are in a
world that's much more serious.
Because it's not simply the human
world is in trouble, the planet is in
trouble. And we have in our power
the destruction
of all civilisations, including the
planet itself. So a change has to be
made. Not just a change of a
political system or economic
system these are absolutely
necessary but a change of mindset.
And the retrieval of the wisdom of
Socrates, of Buddha and Confucius
is not a question of relevance, it's a
question of human survival. These
extraordinary thinkers aren't
remote historical figures. They're
pioneers of human consciousness
whose ideas have informed and
enriched the lives of countless
people to this day. Their radical
responses to the social upheaval of
their age have, in many ways,
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