Confucianist History Confucianism, a religion of optimistic humanism, has had a monumental impact upon the life, social structure, and political philosophy of China The founding of the religion goes back to one man, known as Confucius, born a half millennium before Christ ǯ (commonly pronounced Confucius in English) was born in 551 bc, the youngest of eleven children, in what is now Shantung Province “His parents, while not wealthy, belonged to the superior class His father was a warrior, distinguished no less for his deeds of valor than for his noble ancestry.”1 Confucius was, in fact, a relatively ordinary person; his family was from the lesser aristocracy that had fallen on extremely hard times when he was born His father died when Confucius was only three years old Instructed first by his mother, Confucius then distinguished himself as a passionate learner in his teens He was a contemporary of the Buddha (although they probably never met) and lived immediately before Socrates and Plato It is important to understand life in China at the time of Confucius in order to develop a better appreciation of the reforms he was attempting to institute The age in which Confucius lived was characterized by social anarchy The in terminable warfare had degenerated toward the undiluted horror of the period of the Warring States Instead of nobly holding their prisoners for ransom, conquerors put them to death in mass executions Soldiers were paid upon presenting the severed heads of their enemies Whole populations unlucky enough to be captured were beheaded, including women, children, and the aged We read of mass slaughters of 60,000, 80,000, 82,000, and even 400,000 There are accounts of the conquered being thrown into boiling cauldrons, and their relatives forced to drink the human soup. It is easy to see how the need arose for someone like Confucius to provide answers for how the people should live together harmoniously. Although the conduct of ~ 227 ~