Confucius and Human Nature

Confucius was an extremely influential figure in Chinese culture.He was born around 551 B.C.E. and lived a long and full life before his death around 479.He is thought to have been the first man in China to devote his life to teaching and the first to encourage education for all people.As with many great figures from antiquity, little about his life is known for certain and the few facts that we do have available have become intermingled with myth.One fact is certain-his work and example became a cornerstone of Chinese thought.His texts were taught in the Chinese schools and were the basis of their civil service examinations from 1313 until 1905.Confucius has sometimes been dubbed the Socrates of the east and there are many similarities in their teachings.Both emphasized the importance of education and the role which it plays in the building of one's character.This building of character can be viewed as t he growth of virtue upon the matrix of human nature.This paper will discuss the concept of human nature in Confucian thought.Confucius only once directly addressed human nature, much to the chagrin of his followers who were eager to hear more of his thoughts upon the subject.Tzu-kung said, Our Master's views concerning culture and the outwards insignia of goodness, we are permitted to hear; but about Man's nature and the ways of Heaven he will not tell us anything at all. 1 He only once spoke directly about the nature of humanity, in Analects book XVII, verse 2. "The Master said, By nature, near together; by practice far apart.2 Humans are born with more-or-1 Confucius, The Analects of Confucius, trans.Arthur Whaley (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), 110.All citations are taken from this work.Hereafter they will appear in a book, verse, page format.