Confucius
From World's Chinese Wiki
Confucius (Chinese: 孔夫子, most frequently referred to as Kongzi 孔子, traditionally September 28, 551 – 479 BC) was a famous Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced East Asian life and thought.
His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity, these are commonly known in Analects of Confucius as the Way. These values gained prominence in China over other doctrines, such as Legalism or Daoism during the Han Dynasty, during the reign of Han Wudi, . Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism.
His teachings are known primarily through the Analects of Confucius, a collection of "brief aphoristic fragments", which was compiled many years after his death. Modern historians do not believe that any specific documents can be said to have been written by Confucius, but for nearly 2,000 years he was thought to be the editor or author of all the Five Classics such as the Classic of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals.
During his time, education was only for the privileged few, but he was able to bring education to the masses thus cultivating many famous philosophers during and after his time.