COFUCIUS

"NEVER DO TO OTHERS
WHAT YOU WOULD NOT LIKE
THEM TO DO TO YOU." -
CONFUCIUS

Who is Confucius?
Confucius or Zhongni was China’s most famous teacher,
philosopher, and political theorist, whose ideas have
profoundly influenced the civilizations of China and other
East Asian countries. His home was in Lu, a regional state of
eastern China in what is now central and southwestern
Shandong province. Like other regional states at the time, Lu
was bound to the imperial court of the Zhou dynasty
through history, culture, family ties and moral obligations.
Confucius was candid about his family background. He said
that, because he was “poor and from a lowly station,” he
could not enter government service as easily as young men
from prominent families and so had to become “skilled in
many menial things". He found employment first with the
Jisun clan, a hereditary family whose principal members had
for many decades served as chief counselors to the rulers of
Lu. A series of modest positions with the Jisuns—as keeper of
granaries and livestock and as district officer in the family’s
feudal domain—led to more important appointments in the
Lu government, first as minister of works and then as
minister of crime.
 COFUCIUS

"NEVER DO TO OTHERS
WHAT YOU WOULD NOT LIKE
THEM TO DO TO YOU." -
CONFUCIUS

DID YOU KNOW?

The Spring and Confucianism, therefore,

Autumn Annals had to be created from
second-hand accounts and
(Lin Jing or Lin
the most reliable
He was teaching in King), which told
documentation of the
his school that the history of Lu,
ideas of Confucius is
Confucius started and the Book of considered to be the
to write. Two Changes ( Yi Jing Analects although even
collections of or Yi king) was a here there is no absolute
poetry were the collection of evidence that the sayings
Book of Odes treatises on and short stories were
actually said by him and
(Shijing or Shi king) divination.
often the lack of context
and the Book of Unfortunately for
and clarity leave many of
Documents (Shujing posterity, none of his teachings open to
or Shu king). these works individual interpretation.
outlined Confucius'
philosophy.
 COFUCIUS

"NEVER DO TO OTHERS
WHAT YOU WOULD NOT LIKE
THEM TO DO TO YOU." -
CONFUCIUS

HIM AND CONFUCIANISM

CHINESE PHILOSOPHY, AND PARTICULARLY CONFUCIANISM, HAS

ALWAYS BEEN CONCERNED WITH PRACTICAL QUESTIONS OF
MORALITY AND ETHICS. CENTRAL TO CONFUCIANISM IS THAT THE
MORAL HARMONY OF THE INDIVIDUAL IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO
COSMIC HARMONY; WHAT ONE DOES, AFFECTS THE OTHER. FOR
EXAMPLE, POOR POLITICAL DECISIONS CAN LEAD TO NATURAL
DISASTERS SUCH AS FLOODS. AN EXAMPLE OF THE DIRECT
CORRELATION BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL AND THE MORAL IS
EVIDENCED IN THE SAYING, 'HEAVEN DOES NOT HAVE TWO SUNS
AND THE PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE TWO KINGS'. A CONSEQUENCE
OF THIS IDEA IS THAT, JUST AS THERE IS ONLY ONE COSMIC
ENVIRONMENT, THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE WAY TO LIVE AND ONLY
ONE CORRECT POLITICAL SYSTEM. IF SOCIETY FAILS IT IS BECAUSE
SACRED TEXTS AND TEACHINGS HAVE BEEN MISINTERPRETED;
THE TEXTS THEMSELVES CONTAIN THE WAY BUT WE MUST
SEARCH FOR AND FIND IT.
 COFUCIUS

"NEVER DO TO OTHERS
WHAT YOU WOULD NOT LIKE
THEM TO DO TO YOU." -
CONFUCIUS

CONFUCIUS AND BUSINESS

To Confucius, the ideal person is a scholar bureaucrat, not a successful entrepreneur. His (or her)
priority should be on serving society at large, not on making personal gains and profit. It has been
argued that Confucian values such as obedience, respect for authority and emotional control are not
naturally compatible components of a common entrepreneurial standard, however these and other
Confucian values can play a positive role in entrepreneurial prosperity for China and the rest of the
world if applied correctly.

Confucian entrepreneurs can be defined as those who apply traditional Chinese cultural values in
respect to maintaining the moral beliefs of Confucianism in all aspects of business practice. Though
sometimes Confucianism is viewed as hostile to entrepreneurship, it has played a vital role in the
study of Confucian entrepreneurs “as it initially meant intellectuals and has served as a set of
political ideas practiced within a hierarchy of ethical obligations to family and community.”
Confucian values were applicable to positive interpersonal relations in business practice and in the
workplace, in regards to successful human resource management in particular. These values
included: trustworthiness, humanness, etiquette, harmony and tolerance of others. These values of
interpersonal relations can generate a more successful human resource management. Business
philosophy can be guided by Confucian values of long term orientation, resistance to corruption, and
nurturing of guanxi (relationships), which can be utilised for improvement of networking and
developing positive business connections. Confucian values can aid in the creation of entrepreneurs
who are true leaders of society, and who hold a sense of righteousness and de (moral power).
Confucius believed that leaders were expected to rule in a way that is just and moral. This view of
practice could have the potential to create entrepreneurs who perform ethical business practice.
Under Confucian values, if businesses are governed righteously, they will succeed. Although it can be
maintained that there are a number of Confucian values that may not necessarily impact positively
on entrepreneurship development – for example, lack of initiative and innovation, if righteousness
and profitableness are balanced equally, moral values can be reached and play a positive role in
shaping and maintaining ethical business practice. This, in turn, will create profitable business and
most importantly, ethical obligations to family and society can also be achieved.