Confucius: Words of Wisdom

Confucius: Words of Wisdom

2005, Biography  -   48 Comments
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Ratings: 6.70/10 from 43 users.

Confucius: Words of WisdomConfucius had a hard life, and he had intimate knowledge of the sufferings of his people. He lived in an era that saw constant warfare between competing warlords and the casting of shadows upon the impressive Chinese civilization that came before.

Confucius wanted above all else to change Chinese society of his time and to rescue his nation and her people from the suffering and misery that stalked the land at that time. He was the son of an elderly great warrior and his concubine, and he apparently inherited the unbecoming looks of his father.

After his father's death, he and his mother were rejected by the family, but great poverty did not stop Confucius from constantly seeking to learn and grow. In time, he started a school and welcomed students of all means, from the sons of leaders to the sons of penniless workers, teaching the importance of hard work, education for all, and a disregard for class and wealth in the measure of a man.

He dreamed of finding a leader who would take him on as his advisor and, in this manner, bring about the great changes to society which he sought. For a time, he served as the governor of his home province and, for a few short years, put his teachings into practice with much success. He attracted enemies, though, and soon found himself wandering the countryside in exile.

He kept seeking a leader who could save China, but Confucius' truth did not appeal to those capable of instituting change in society. He died thinking his great mission was a failure, never knowing just how immense an influence he would have on future generations of men and women, particularly those in Asia.

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kobe
kobe
3 years ago

Wonderful documentary. I enjoyed every second of it!

Sheila Kuna
Sheila Kuna
3 years ago

I wonder what he would be saying about the current Chinese flu spreading around.

ruthslater
ruthslater
12 years ago

Well it seems confucius's message didnt take hold , china still has some of the worst human rights violations in the world , Tibet ? would question how much china listens to confucius. not that any other countries are any different.Confucius was a very wise man but as he says at 60 years old he learned to bow to immovable truths , well he should have realized then , and he says again "heaven is in control " . I thnk he realizes then ... we have absolutly no control .

Angelica Guerrero
Angelica Guerrero
12 years ago

They left the part out in the written introductory of this documentary where he espoused misogynistic ideals.

vastawake
vastawake
12 years ago

One very, very commonly repeated mistake is that Lao Tzu is the founder of Taoism. Lao Tzu's work the Tao te Ching was one of the first Taoist texts written around 300BC however, the Taoist principles as well as the I Ching divination system, Taoist alchemy & medicine, and living with the natural order of the universe in nature, Taoist meditation, as well as the Yin and Yang principles were being practiced by Taoist sages as early as 10,000BCE. However, it is understandable that many modern scholars simply misquote a commonly held misconception because of the fact that this spiritual tradition has always been shrouded in mystery. Many of the earlier Taoist sages were hermits and saw no point in keeping records as they were men of magic and the original renaissance men. It seems that many, many, many people including university scholars haven't done their research on this topic very well. If you actually go to Northern China, there are Taoist temples there that predate the supposed life of Lao Tzu, and the writting of his book the Tao te Ching (wonderful work by the way). But since time is actually only perceived as linear by most and is more like an ocean, the debate of which came first, the chicken or the egg can seem a bit futile. Loving the Taoist traditions as I do, I just liked the part where Lao Tzu meets Confuscious and tells him to be careful to not offend so many people with his words. I agree with the last part of the post below mine that you can invade a land and people mind's and hearts without a harsh word, a gun or a bomb... I think the world is ready for this...

anuragawasthi
anuragawasthi
12 years ago

It is Neither the outside wrold nor the chinese themselves know what process they are going throu,It can be termed as a extreme Nationalism on one hand in urban China and extreme feeling of dejection in Rural China.

The Leadership is aware of the danger it faces from the growing young Urban educated population,as all its economy is export oriented its domestic consumption is still very low. so if We go in for a double dip recession there will be uprising in China and given the track history of its politburo they will curtail it with Iron hand on one side and on other hand they may invade India on some pretex to keep country united..............as Chinese still cannot digest the fact that their centuries of wisdom and philosophy could not stand the philosophy of Buddhism from India.....................there is a saying

""India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border."

Top_Quark
Top_Quark
12 years ago

Some seem to have a beef with China’s recent meteoric economic rise. Just can’t digest it eh…. won’t be long before their Govts too can’t bear it any longer and clash with China to stop it.

Yes progress comes at a cost; China’s at questionable human rights & pollution mainly due to the use of coal. America’s progress came at the cost of millions of African slaves’ lives over 400 years and still using lives in Iraq to fuel the war machine to feed the greed of 4% of the world’s population that is using 25% of the energy resources and creating a hole in the ozone layer and global warming. Rest of the developed West is not much different to USA in energy consumption/pollution statistics but with slightly better HR records.

China has had a civilization a thousand years before the Greeks became even literate. And they are an inherently peaceful people; don’t expect them to start invading other countries to pillage their wealth even when they have the power to do so.

Watch Michael Wood’s "Legacy: The Origins of Civilizations" in the history section here or read the book by the same name.

steamknife
steamknife
12 years ago

As a Taiwanese-Australian citizen, I've been travelling between two cultures and know the dramatic differences between the eastern and western world.

In my point of view, there are people who seem to be less fortunate to the middle class in the west. We must take into account that it is our human nature to focus on negative aspects more than positive ones simply because it's controversial and controversial issues are interesting (interesting things doesn't need to be positive). The media often exploit this nature to influence people's minds and some messages may crossed the line to become the so called "propaganda". I think everyone should very well understand.

We need to realise that we cannot observe the foreign world with mere personal judgement and media information.

My family has been influenced by China's Confucianism and the west's individualism. Frankly, we are not confused and am able to automatically determine their benefits. I must say that I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to absorb both cultures.

adilrye
adilrye
12 years ago

I don't see how it's propaganda...it's just telling us at the end how Confucius has influenced East Asian societies...
it's amazing to think, his social philosophy (without even invoking the concept of the divine) has had such a tremendous impact on billions of people.
Also, propaganda generally isn't true...no one is lying by saying Confucius has had a major impact in East Asia.

Anyway, great documentary.

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

An interesting doc. A bit of Chinese propaganda though, at how well china is doing now.