By Ernie Tadla

Confucius, the most influential man in Chinese history, was born out of wedlock in 551 BC, five and a half centuries before Jesus. His father had nine daughters and one crippled son. At age seventy, he mated with another woman, who was 15, hoping to get a healthy son. His father died when Confucius was three and his mother raised him in poverty.

He rose in the state government to the position of Justice Minister, but around age fifty, resigned and embarked on a twelve-year odyssey around China. When he returned home, he spent his last years teaching and writing. He died at seventy-two.

One of his deepest teachings and most difficult for Westerners to understand is the power of example instead of strict rules of behavior. Here we see again the interplay between the right brain and left-brain: high context vs. low context style of communication. This indirect way of his teaching still permeates China culture.

When his stables burnt down, Confucius said, “Was anyone hurt?” He did not ask about the horses. At that time, a horse was worth ten times as much as a stableman. By not asking about the horses, he demonstrated his priority, which was human beings. He made his points by indirectness, through casual reference, slight mention, and innuendo, even a slight nod.

He championed strong family loyalty, respect for elders and ancestor worship.

Among the important ethical concepts are:

1. Short-term pleasure is bad, while trying to do the proper things at the right time is better.
2.  His moral system is based on kindness, empathy and understanding others, rather than divinely ordained rules. Virtue is based upon harmony with other people. This was the root of face and guanxi.

And so this man, who lived 550 years before Jesus, developed a code of behavior on how to treat others. This is not a religion. There are no god, no churches, no bible, no priests, and no dogma, just rational reasons how people and government should behave. Confucius remains the dominant Chinese philosopher, both morally and politically. His ideas are the official moral code and political doctrine of the state.

Politically, his ideas have been and are taught in all public services courses for civil servants, bureaucrats and potential leaders. The government supports and promotes Confucianism as an example for the conduct of government. It was his view that the way to change society is through education. He advocated happiness for the common people rather than pleasure for their rulers, reduction of taxes, mitigation of severe punishments and the avoidance of wars. 

If you wish to do successful business in China, you had better have an understanding of the people and their cultural background.

Simply put, Confucianism is:
• to love others
• to honor one’s parents
• to honor elders
• to do what is right instead of what is advantageous
• to practice “reciprocity”
• to not do to others what you would not want done to you
• to rule by moral examples instead of by force and violence

The influence of these beliefs can be seen in every-day Chinese society. At work, there is a Confucian emphasis
• on interdependent relationships,
• on consensus, and
• on respect for hierarchy.

Once I became aware of this important part of the Chinese culture, I understood so much more clearly why they acted, behaved and did things the way they did. It was enlightening. Here are some of his authentic quotations: