Confucius' youth and the development of his philosophy

¶ … CONFUCIUS' YOUTH LIFE ON HIS PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORK

Confucius' Youth and his Philosophical Works

According to the Analects Confucius suffered the loss of his father at a very tender age of 3 years (Wilson, 2002). Although raised in a slight sense of struggle, his single mother provided education through private education and home schooling. Confucius learned history, poetry, and rituals among other arts. Instead of playing with other children in school Confucius is said to have carried out some sacred rituals that were not just empty gestures. The rituals learned in schools related to order and harmony both on earth and the cosmos. In the ancient China's view of the world, the rituals were essential for life on earth to continue (Bonevac, Phillips, & Stephen, 2009).

In Confucius' youth time, China was slowly transcending from a state of stability to a state of chaos and a ruthless cycle war. Tribal invasion from the west and rebellion among the Lords splinted the Chinese empire to independent states. The collapsed and disintegrated Chinese society acted as a catalyst for Confucius groundbreaking philosophy. It is seen that as Confucius entered adulthood, he comes to the realization of an existent disparity between the ancient ideals and the reality of life. The comparison depicted that there was a conflict in the current status of affairs depicted by the chaos that surrounded the society. When in employment Confucius observes turmoil and suffering among the people of China. To seek solutions to the conflict Confucius left his hometown abandoning his family and a job with the government (Bonevac et al., 2009).

While on his journey of exploring and understanding the nature of things Confucius comes across a society of people who had renounced the civilized society and chosen to live with nature. From the interactions with this society, Confucius observes that the developed world had imposed artificial means into the natural way of life. This observation indicated that people had diverted to artificial ways of life ignoring the spontaneous forces in the universe. In order to achieve harmony Confucius observes that it is not necessary for people to live as birds and beast in the wilderness, rather seek harmony through a perfectly ordered society. This observation led Confucius to engage in a systematic philosophical inquiry on restoring harmony in the society (Bonevac et al., 2009).

Confucius' Philosophical Framework

The core framework in Confucius philosophy is observing a morally upright way of life by embracing the path of learning and self-cultivation. This acted as a guide to the society to do good as they would wish others to do to them. The philosophy sought to bread in the society humanity that comprised of righteousness, justice and wisdom (Bonevac et al., 2009). According to Confucius, every person in the society should be given equal opportunities to education disregarding their backgrounds. The philosophy of Confucius sought to root out from the society evil and corrupt rulers who misused their power and authority. The rulers of the society ought to show respect, love firmness, integrity and compassion to their followers in order to earn the honor to rule them. Confucius believed that a good ruler does not necessarily come from a particular lineage rather it is one who earns the society's trust and upholds humanity in leadership (Bonevac et al., 2009)