Formal Confucian Education

Formal education before Confucius's time was mainly through government-run schools. However, when Confucius was around thirty years of age, in 522 BCE, he opened a private school of his own. Confucius was the first truly private instructor of this time period.

In this school, students were taught Confucianism in small groups led by a teacher or master in his home. Confucian schools were very strict and disciplined, and had a set curriculum. Students studied five classic Chinese texts: The Classic of Changes (also known as the I Ching), The Classic of Poetry (also known as the Book of Odes), The Classic of Rites, which described many old rituals and ceremonies, The Classic of History, which captured many speeches and writings from the early Zhou period, and the Spring and Autumn Annals (also sometimes called the Lin Jing), which represented several hundred years of summarized history from the State of Lu, Confucius's home province. Students were also taught martial arts, Zhou rituals in practice, and artistry.

Confucian schools, in addition to being strict, give us some of our legacy of high stakes testing today. These schools, which were a bit like finishing schools in that they taught many important social values and were primarily socializing institutions, were very linked to government exams. People had to pass a government administered exam to become a public servant, and the pressure to pass the exam was very intense. Many people who went through the Confucian schools did not pass the exam, which led to a pool of educated people who found employment elsewhere, such as in writing or poetry.

Confucian schools were very popular, and were often used as finishing or polish schools by the wealthy or the socially ambitious. It is estimated that close to three thousand students were enrolled in Confucius's own private school during his life time. Many of these students became disciples of Confucius, and continued on in his tradition with private schools of their own. Even today, modern Confucian schools exist and may be gaining in popularity again!

Sources

The Confucian School from Indiana University.

Ancient Education from TravelChinaGuide.com

Confucian Schools by ClearHarmony.net

Chinese Education powerpoint by Stan Garrad.

Sun Tzu

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
~Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Although Sun Tzu was not a close companion of Confucius, these two historical figures are believed to have coexisted around the same period in Chinese history. Like Laozi, Sun Tzu (also sometimes called Sunzi) is not known with certainty to be a real historical figure, but has one very important work attributed to him. Sun Tzu's famous work was The Art Of War, a book on military strategy that is sometimes described as a Taoist work.

Sun Tzu does not appear to have the same direction to Confucius as Lao Tzi did, and the two figures are not known to have met. Furthermore, Sun Tzu focused mainly on miliary strategy, having been a general in Wu province, while Confucius deliberately did not lecture at all on military strategy or war, claiming not to know anything about it. Below are two quotes attributed to Confucius on the subject of war:

To lead an uninstructed people to war is to throw them away.
~Confucius

When music and courtesy are better understood and appreciated, there will be no war.
~Confucius

As is evident from these quotes, Confucius had rather different opinions on war than Sun Tzu did. Lionel Giles points out complications with this argument in the forward he wrote to The Art Of War, however. He notes that many modern scholars take Confucius's declaration that he was "unversed in military matters" to mean that military matters were not worthy of study, and that he was a pacifist. However, Giles also cites other authors who point out that Confucius may have merely been saying that with military strategists like Sun Tzu, there was no need for a sage like himself to become an expert in warfare.

Below are a few interesting quotes from The Art Of War:

A leader leads by example not by force.
~Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
~Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?
~Sun Tzu, The Art of War


Sources

Forward to The Art Of War by Lionel Giles.

The Art Of War full online text.

Sun Tzu fron Sonshi, an online resource companion for The Art of War.

Lao Tzu

The 6th BCE century philosopher Lao Tzu (or Laozi) is often associated with Confucianism, as he was reputed to have met with Confucius to discuss rites and passages. He is famous in his own right for founding Taoism and writing the Tuo Te Ching. Taoism or Daoism, along with Buddhism and Confucianism, is one of the three "pillars" of Chinese thought.

Unfortunately, little is known about Lao Tzu--or at least not much is known that can be verified with any great historical accuracy. Much of our knowledge of him comes from the Historical Records of Ssu'ma Ch'ien, who documented him around 100 BCE. Ssu'ma Ch'ien noted that Lao Tzu came from Qu Red village in Li District, Ku Prefecture, from Chu Land. It is also known that he was an archivist for the Royal Court during the Chou dynasty, and that he was visited by the scholar Confucious. Finally, it is very likely that he became disenchanted with his situation and left for the West, after dictating the Tuo Te Ching.

Taoism and Lao Tzu's teachings are not very compatible with Confucianism. While Confucius was interested in society and bringing order to social life, Lao Tzu preached the practices of nondoing and wu, or emptiness. Lao Tzu's philosophy seems to suggest that we should withdraw from the world and become reclusive, and Lao Tzu would not likely have shared the same interests as Confucius in the rites they allegedly discussed.

Two quotes below have been attributed to Lao Tzu:

The Sage

Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveys his instructions without the use of speech.

The Ruler

Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties their minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens their bones. He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and without desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from presuming to act (on it). When there is this abstinence from action, good order is universal.

As is clear from the quotes, Taoism is often in conflict with Western ideologies as well as Confucian teachings.

Sources:

From "The Way of Perfect Emptiness": Quotes; Biography; Confucius Meets Lao Tzu

Laozi from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, entry written by Alan Chan.

Informal Education in Confucian China

It's hard to say; "Confucian China" - that is, the age in which Confucianism played a culturally significant role in the society = spans a couple millenia. The range of educational institutions and levels of education span as broadly as the number of kingdoms and dynasties.

"Women and Confucian cultures in premodern China, Korea, and Japan" (p. 137) comments that during the Qingli era (1041 - 48), schools were very prevalent, but not only formal, government-run schools in metropolitan areas, but also smaller, informal "back-street" schools throughout rural areas and villages. The "confucian method" was still the same - recitation and study, but in less formal arrangements: "family schools, study centres, and reading groups."

Creation, a novel by Gore Vidal

This is a historical fiction in which a fictitious character explores the "known world" and meets many different influential figures of the time (5th Century BC), including Confucius. It is not available online, but here are two places you can get it:

UBC Holdings

VPL Holdings

Confucius' Disciples

This is based on the Wikipedia article, which is itself excerpted from The Chinese Classics by James Legge.

By the time of his death, Confucius had some 70 "master" disciples. One of the most important contributions that his disciples made was to collect and record his sayings, as he never wrote anything himself (at least, that is still in existence and of public knowledge today). Works such as "The Analects" (translated to mean "Discussion over Confucius' Words") were compiled by many disciples and second-generation disciples of Confucius. Several prominent students of his opened schools of their own, thereby expanding the early influence of his philosophies.

The Life of Confucius

Confucius was a philosopher, bureaucrat, and teacher. As a conservative, he considered himself a "transmitter who invented nothing." By the end of his life, he had taught some 3000 students, although the influence of his teaching reverberates through Chinese history to this day, even in education.

Confucius greatly valued education as a means of moral development, as morality itself had great importance to him. He promoted a balance between study and reflection: “He who learns but does not think is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.” Study, for Confucius, meant repetition of elders and recitation of classics.

His own method of instruction was quite informal, and involved casual discussions with his students (who later wrote down his sayings).

Sources:
Stanford Encyclopedia