The Lives of Confucious and Guatma Siddartha

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THE LIVES OF CONFUCIUS AND GUATAMA SIDDHARTHA

Dariush Nazem

World Civilization 121

September 19, 1996

Professor: Helju Bennett

Section Teacher: Sara Abosch

The Life Of Confucius

Throughout the time span that man has lived on earth, there have been many religions in existence. Two very important and influencing religions that have been around for over two thousand years are Confucianism and Buddhism. The founders of these two religions, Confucius and Buddha, respectively, lived different lives and had different thoughts. Although this made two totally different religions, they both had one common goal. That common goal was to assist the human population and improve their lifestyle.

Confucius was a sage in China and also it's greatest philosopher. He was one of the most prominent figures and is respected throughout all of China. He was born at Tsou, in the state of Lu, known today as the Shandong province, in the year 551 B.C.

He was named Ch'iu, meaning 'hill', because he had a very large bump on his head. This name has rarely been used because of the Chinese way of showing "reverence by avoidance". (Encyclopedia Americana, v. 7; 540) K'ung Futzu was what was used. The name got Latinized and it became Confucius.

Ever since Confucius' birth, he was a great student. All throughout his childhood Confucius liked to play religious and cultural roles. By the age of 15, Confucius began to take his studies very seriously. He was a diligent and studious learner and put forth his whole effort on his studies. Nothing is known about his educators or his education.

Confucius started work at an early age, due to the fact that his father died. By the age of seventeen, Confucius received a job in the public service. Most likely this job was being a keeper of fields...