ABSTRACT
The wise words and doctrines attributed to Confucius and his followers informed the moral, social and political structure of Chinese life for two and a half thousand years, from some time in the sixth century BCE until the overthrow of the Ch’ing dynasty in 1911. Almost all the institutions of imperial China, its customs, purposes and aspirations, were founded on Confucius’ conceptions of the virtuous individual and the virtuous society. Until the early years of the twentieth century, almost every aspect of Chinese education was designed in accordance with Confucian principles. The Confucian writings known as the Four Books were required reading for the Chinese civil service examinations first set up in 1313 and not abolished until 1905.
