Political Figures
Confucius
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Chinese thinker traditionally dated to the fifth and sixth centuries BCE, 551 to 479 BCE, whose political thought, recorded by his disciples in the Analects, held that good government rests on the ruler's own moral example rather than on coercion, and on the rectification of names, ensuring that titles, roles and duties genuinely match reality, beginning with the ruler's own conduct. Foundational to the tradition of statecraft that carries his name across East Asia.
Facts
Birth Year551 BCE is the birth year given for Confucius in the Gongyang Commentary, the traditional source for the date, and the figure used as the standard reference point across general reference works including Britannica even though, as this atlas's own description of him already notes, precise biographical details from this period rest on later anecdote rather than contemporary record. No alternative year carries comparable currency, so 551 BCE is recorded as the atlas's representative value for his traditional dating rather than as a historically certain fact. Cross-Tradition Connections
Founded
Confucianism, Ideologies Confucius's teachings on rule by moral example and the rectification of names, recorded by his disciples in the Analects, became the foundation of the East Asian statecraft tradition that carries his name.
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