Confucius

Confucius (c. 551 BCE), born Kong Qiu in Zou, China, belonged to the shi class and was raised in poverty by his mother. After mastering the Six Arts and marrying at nineteen, he worked in modest administrative roles before rising to Minister of Crime in the state of Lu. Disillusioned by corrupt leaders, he resigned to spend years traveling central China, returning at sixty-eight to teach thousands of disciples. Emphasizing ancient classics, humanist ethics, and moral self-cultivation over religious dogma, his teachings were compiled posthumously in The Analects, establishing him as East Asia’s supreme sage.