Confucius' Social Contributions

Throughout his life, Confucius was diligent in learning, courageous in exploring, innovative, daring to think, speak and act, and contributed to the manners, morality, thought, civilisation and education of mankind.

There was no written history in China before 841 BC, so in order to pass on the ancient culture and civilisation, Confucius spent a lot of time and effort compiling the Poems, the Book, the Rites, the Music, the Yi and the Spring and Autumn - the Six Classics.

In order to express his political ideas, Confucius then concentrated on collating the old cultural and ancient texts according to his own views, compiling the six Confucian classics - the Book, Rites, Music, Poetry, Yi and Spring and Autumn - and using these compilations as teaching materials for teaching his disciples.

The Book, also known as the Shang Shu, written by Confucius, was a compilation of political literature from previous generations. Confucius obtained more than 3,000 texts from the royal court of the Zhou dynasty, from which he selected a hundred texts in the genres of canon, moxie, training, enjoining, vow and decree, which had a normative effect on the morality of human speech and behaviour and were sufficient for the development of education, and compiled them into the Shang Shu. This is Confucius' contribution to culture.

The Rites, referring to the Shi Rites, or Rites of Passage, is a book about the various rituals of the crown, fainting, drinking, shooting, hiring, hajj, funeral and burial, and sacrifices that a scholar and scholar should master. Confucius believed that rites were the basis for one's growth and advancement, and that rites were an important basis for realising the return of the world to benevolence and the establishment of the individual. After a long period of collection and practice, Confucius summarised the changes in rituals over three generations and selected the Zhou rituals that could correct the world's customs for transmission. Confucius once said, "The Zhou oversees two generations, and I have taken from the Zhou." Thus, Confucius took the essence and removed the dross, taking the Zhou rites as the centrepiece and drawing on the strengths of all manners to compile the Rites. This is Confucius' contribution to ritual and morality.

The Book of Music, or the Book of Music, is the ancient song. Confucius was a great musician, and Confucius studied the qin with his teacher Xiangzi, not only to learn its score, but also to achieve the goal of experiencing it. Confucius studied music to the point of obsession. After hearing the sound of Shao, Confucius developed a strong interest in learning music, as he was immersed in the beautiful melodies of Shao, and was fascinated by Shao music and loved it to the core. Confucius used to spend his days playing the zither and singing like a man possessed, often forgetting to dance with his hands and feet. For three months in a row, he sang it over and over again in his sleep, and when he ate, he also tried to understand the rhythm of Shao music, so that even the food in his mouth was tasteless. This is why it is said that "Confucius heard Shao music and did not know the taste of meat for three months. Confucius was thirty years old when he set up his own school and taught his students.

At the age of thirty, Confucius set up a school and gave apprenticeships. "Confucius sang all the three hundred and five Psalms in order to harmonise them with Shao, Wu, Ya and Ode, so that the rites and music could be described. "Confucius attached great importance to the role of music in understanding public sentiment, cultivating sentiment and guiding social morale. He spent a lot of energy collecting and studying music, and finally gained a deep appreciation of the laws of music, saying, "Music its knowable: the beginning is made, open and close as well; from it, pure as well, sparkling as well, deduce as well, to become." Confucius used music as one of the lessons to be taught. This was also Confucius' contribution in music.

The Poems, also known in future generations as the Poetic Edda, is an anthology of poetry from previous generations. After Confucius collated and censored it to form the version of the Shi Jing that has been handed down to this day, also known as the Three Hundred Poems, it opened a new chapter in the history of Chinese literature and had an extremely wide and far-reaching impact on the literary creation of later generations. Confucius was the first person to start a new chapter in the history of Chinese literature. Confucius collected more than 3,000 poems, collated them, selected those that were conducive to the administration of ritual and justice, and compiled them into the Poems. For each poem, Confucius set it to music and sang it in harmony with the sounds of Shao, Wu, Ya and Song.

The poems are divided into three categories: wind, elegance and ode, according to their nature and musical tune. Wind is a folk song. Ya is a song for noblemen's entertainment. Ya is also divided into daya and xiaoya, with daya being more subdued and xiaoya more elegant in tone. Ode is the music of the temple rituals, with a sluggish rhythm and three sighs. Confucius said: "Poetry can be used to raise, to observe, to group and to complain. To serve one's father in the near future, to serve the king in the far future, and to know more about the names of birds, animals, grass and trees." The meaning is: learning poetry can improve one's talents, make good relationships with people, express thoughts and feelings, serve one's parents and the king well, and grow in insight. This is Confucius' contribution in poetry.

The Book of Changes, also known as the Zhou Yi. The Book of Changes was originally an ancient book of divination, and it is said that King Wen of Zhou collated it and interpreted it into 64 trigrams and 384 lines, which became the Book of Changes. Confucius began studying the Book of Changes at the age of forty, and read it so many times that even the cowhide string used to weave the bamboo slips was worn out many times. Confucius interpreted and expounded on the Book of Changes and wrote the Ten Wings. Through the elaboration of the Ten Wings, the Zhou Yi was not limited to divination, but crossed over into the realm of philosophy and became the basis of all reasoning. The Book of Changes was originally a book of divination (shì) and divination. Confucius made the book of divination and divination the source of the Way, the source of Chinese philosophy. Confucius's book, I Chuan (The Book of Changes), was transformed from a divination book to a book of virtue and righteousness. The concepts of "the sky is healthy, the gentleman is self-improvement; the earth is kun, the gentleman is virtuous" have become the ideological basis of human beings' "seeking change and upward mobility" and a valuable asset of Chinese philosophy. Confucius was the first person to transform the I Ching into a philosophy and to spark a revolution in I Ching. Confucius' commentary on the I Ching enhanced its wisdom and developed its philosophical and moral value. This was Confucius' philosophical contribution.

The Spring and Autumn Annals is a chronological history book. Confucius sent Zi Xia and fourteen others to the royal court of the Zhou dynasty to seek out books on the history of one hundred and twenty states. Confucius used the Spring and Autumn Annals, the chronicle of the state of Lu, as a basis, and wrote or trimmed the history in the spirit of honouring the royal family of Zhou and summarising the laws of historical development of the three generations, finally completing a chronicle of 242 years from the year of Lu Yin A.D. (722 B.C.) to the 14th year of Lu Ai Gong (481 B.C.). Confucius focused on the praise and blame of the historical records and on the correction of names, using them as a tool to preserve the ways of the king and to punish evil and persuade good. Confucius attached great importance to this book, saying: "The only one who knows me is the Spring and Autumn Annals! The only one who sins against me is the Spring and Autumn Annals!" The Spring and Autumn Annals is a brief and informative account of two hundred and forty-two years of history in just over ten thousand words. The Spring and Autumn Annals created and laid the foundation for the development of Chinese historiography for over two thousand years, and Confucius pioneered the revision of history, being the first person to lay the foundation for Chinese historiography. Confucius took the effort to compile the Spring and Autumn Annals, which is a contribution to Confucius' historiography.

In addition, the most well known is the contribution of Confucius in education. Confucius founded the first private school in China, and is renowned for setting up an altar to teach and educate people.

Confucius ran the school as a politician ran the school. The six textbooks he selected and set up - Poetry, Shu, Ritual, Music, Yi and Spring and Autumn - were designed to cultivate talent in many areas. Confucius focused on the education of "literature, conduct, loyalty and faith" and divided his disciples into "virtue", "speech", "government" and "literature". "He divided his disciples into four subjects: 'virtue', 'speech', 'government' and 'literature', and achieved new achievements.

What is even more valuable is that Confucius advocated the principle of "teaching without discrimination", allowing all people to enjoy the right to education equally. Confucius had as many as 3,000 students, of whom 72 were proficient in the six arts, the most famous of whom were Yan Hui, Min Liao, Ran Gong, Ran Qiu, Zhong Yu, Zai Yu, Duan Mu Zhi, Yan Yan Yan and Bu Shang. He educated his students in four subjects: virtue, speech, government, and literature, and set up six types of courses: rites, music, archery, royalty, calligraphy, and mathematics. He himself never tired of learning, and he never tired of teaching his students. He did not enlighten his students until they wanted to understand but could not, and he did not enlighten them until they wanted to speak but could not. He would not teach a student a truth that could not be deduced from it to other truths. Confucius asked his students to "know what they know, but not to know what they don't know", and to stop the vices of speculation, arbitrariness, stubbornness and self-righteousness, and to be especially cautious about fasting, war and disease. Confucius seldom spoke to his students about merit, nor did he speak of weirdness, violence or rebellion; he advocated diligent revision, "If you learn from the past and know the new, you can be a teacher." Think more, "To learn without thinking is reckless, to think without learning is dangerous." Be unashamed to ask questions and seek advice widely, "If three people walk, there must be a teacher for me."

Confucius' contribution to social etiquette and morality is also worthy of attention. Confucius was born to rectify social morality and ethical thinking, having lived at the end of the Spring and Autumn period when rites and music were in ruins and morality was lost. He not only taught his students how to be good, learn culture and skills and proposed the methods of "cultivating one's moral character, preparing one's family, ruling one's country and pacifying the world", but also proposed the "Ten Traditional Chinese Virtues" ( The Ten Traditional Chinese Virtues (the "Ten Chinese Virtues") - "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, trust, loyalty, filial piety, diligence, fairness and prudence" - are the ethical and moral concepts. Confucius is the foremost moral teacher in China and the world.

Confucius always valued physical exercise. Therefore, his contribution to sports cannot be ignored. The two compulsory subjects were "archery" and "imperial", two of the six subjects Confucius taught. "Archery is the practice of shooting arrows and imperialism is the practice of driving. Confucius attached great importance to archery, and he himself was very good at it. Confucius once won a competition with a nobleman in archery and driving on horseback. In order to keep fit, Confucius not only reminded his students of the importance of physical exercise, but he also focused on the ways of health and wellness. Confucius encouraged a diet based on vegetarianism, and he also advocated a healthy lifestyle of occasional fasting for health.

In his educational work, Confucius also focused on developing students' aesthetic skills and educating them in beauty. Aesthetic education is education that cultivates one's aesthetic ability, aesthetic sentiment and aesthetic interest. Confucius was the first teacher to include aesthetic education alongside moral education, intellectual education and physical education. From "Zi said to Shao: 'Be beautiful, and be good. We can see from this that Confucius' teaching of poetry and music not only cultivated students' moral qualities and political skills, but also cultivated students' sentiments and improved their aesthetic cultivation and aesthetic interests.

Finally, it is worth mentioning: the political contributions of Confucius. Although his political career was relatively short and his tenure as an official was accompanied by some hopelessness and disappointment, Confucius nevertheless achieved some political success. Confucius advocated a politics based on morality, benevolent government. Confucius advocated mutual respect, mutual love and mutual assistance among people, spreading truth, goodness and beauty among people, focusing on the harmony of families and neighbours, social harmony, people living and working in peace and stability in the country, etc. Confucius put forward the political idea of "the benevolent one loves people". Confucius's ideas of "prosperity" and "commonwealth" are always worthy of consideration and action by mankind. He hoped that one day mankind would be able to distribute property equally, so that the poor would no longer be poor and the homeless would have a home to return to. Confucius' ideas of "benevolent government and moral rule" have provided useful lessons for future generations in educating the world, stabilising society and governing the country.

Although Confucius has passed away, his ideas will live on forever. Confucius hopes that one day people will be able to live together in harmony on the basis of mutual respect, love and mutual assistance, and enjoy all powers in a completely equal manner, and that one day the people of the earth will be able to build a paradise on earth where they can be well fed, clothed, live in peace and work in harmony and love.