Confucius

Confucius (c. 551–479 BCE) was a world-famous educator, thinker, and philosopher and has been hailed as the greatest teacher in Chinese culture for more than two thousand years. He laid the philosophical foundation for Confucianism, which later became the political philosophy governing Chinese imperial dynasties. He believed education was the best method to transform individuals into moral beings, which is the basis for creating a harmonious society. He believed that everyone could learn to be good and become a junzi (君子) or a gentleman. He thus became the first teacher to provide private education to individuals from all classes and social backgrounds. Confucius adopted the innovative ideas of heuristic teaching and taught each student differently according to their personality and talents. He thus compiled and edited books and literature of his day that became the foundations of Chinese cultural, historical, literary, and philosophical traditions. Like the modern educational ideals, Confucius emphasized esthetic and physical educations. Today, his education ideals still dominate the educational philosophy in areas influenced by Chinese culture.