Confucius (Kong Qiu)

551–479 BC · Chinese teacher, editor & philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period

Confucius (Kong Qiu; also Kongzi, “Master Kong”) was a teacher and thinker of the state of Lu whose ideas on virtue, ritual, and benevolent conduct became the foundation of the Confucian tradition. His teachings survive chiefly in the Analects (Lunyu), a collection of sayings and dialogues compiled by his disciples after his death. Here his disciple Fan Ch’ih asks the meaning of ren — benevolence or humaneness — and Confucius answers with the terse core of his ethics: ai ren, love people.

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“Fan Ch'ih asked about benevolence. The Master said, 'It is to love all men.'”

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