According to Chinese tradition, Confucius ( 孔子 551 BC–479 BC ) was a famous thinker and social philosopher of China, whose teachings have deeply influenced East Asia for centuries. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius was born in 551 BC in the city of Qufu ( 曲阜 ) ， who was born into a noble family. As a young man he was a minor administrative manager in the State of Lu ( 鲁国 ) and rose to the position of Justice Minister. After several years, disapproving of the politics of his Prince, he resigned. At about age fifty, seeing no way to improve the government, he gave up his political career in Lu, and began a twelve-year journey around China, seeking the "Way" and trying unsuccessfully to convince many different rulers of his political beliefs and to push them into reality. When he was about sixty, he returned home and spent the last years of his life teaching an increasing number of disciples, trying to share his experiences with them and transmit the old wisdom via a set of books called the Five Classics ( 五经 ) .

During the period of division, chaos, and endless wars between feudal states, Confucius wanted to restore the Mandate of Heaven that could unify the China and bestow peace and prosperity on the people. Therefore, he is often considered a great proponent of conservatism, but a closer look at what he proposes often shows that he used past institutions and rites to push a new political agenda of his own: for example, he wanted rulers to be chosen on their merits, not their parentage. He wanted rulers who were devoted to their people. And he wanted the ruler to reach perfection himself, thus spreading his own virtues to the people instead of imposing proper behavior with laws and rules.

Confucius's principles gained wide acceptance primarily because of their basis in common Chinese opinion. He championed strong familial loyalty, ancestor worship, and respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives, and used the family as a basis for an ideal government. He expressed the well-known principle, "Do not to others what you do not want done to yourself".

The Confucian theory of ethics is based on three important concepts:

While Confucius grew up, Li ( 礼 ) referred to three aspects of life, that of sacrificing to the gods, social and political institutions, and daily behavior. It was believed that Li originated from the heavens. Confucius redefined Li , arguing that it flowed not from heaven but from humanity. He redefined Li to refer to all actions committed by a person to build the ideal society.L i to Confucius became every action by a person aiming at meeting the person's surface desires. These can be either good or bad. Generally attempts to obtain short term pleasure are bad while those that in the long term try to make your life better are generally good.

To Confucius, Yi ( 义 ) was the origin of Li . Yì can best be translated as righteousness. While doing things because of Li , your own self-interest, was not necessarily bad, you would be a better, more righteous person if you base your life upon following Yi . This means that rather than pursuing your own selfish interests you should do what is right and what is moral. Yì is based upon reciprocity. An example of living by Yi is how you must mourn your father and mother for three years after their death. Since they took care of you for the first three years of your life you must reciprocate by living in mourning for three years.

Ren ( 仁 ) can best be translated as human heartedness. His moral system was based upon empathy and understanding others, rather than divinely ordained rules. To live by Ren was even better than living by the rules of Yi . To live by Ren one used another Confucian version of the Golden Rule: he argued that you must always treat your inferiors just as you would want your superiors to treat you. Virtue under Confucius is based upon harmony with others, very different from the Aristotelian view of virtue being personal excellence.

Confucius' philosophical school was first continued by his direct disciples and by his grandson Zisi ( 子思 ) . Mencius ( 孟子 ) and Xun Zi ( 荀子 ) are his two great followers, one on each "side" of his philosophy, perhaps simply described as optimism and pessimism . They built upon and expanded his ethico-political system.