, transliterated Kong Fuzi or K'ung-fu-tzu, literally "Master Kong", traditionally September 28 551–479 BC) was a famous Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy deeply influenced East Asian life and thought.His philosophy emphasised personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values gained prominence in China over other doctrines, such as Legalism or Daoism during the Han Dynasty. Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism. It was introduced to Europe by the Jesuit Matteo Ricci, who was the first to Latinise the name as "Confucius".
His teachings are known primarily through the Analects of Confucius, a short collection of his discussions with his disciples, which was compiled posthumously.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius]