Confucius Confucianism was the most important thing in Chinese life, but who was Confucius the person? Before the respected philosopher Confucius was born, China was constantly in a state of war. The teachings of Confucius helped to reform China. Confucius lived a long and prosperous life, he was self-taught but spread his wisdom to many, and he was very influential in politics even though he never held a major government position. Confucius was born in 551 B.C., in the state of Lu (modern day Shadong or Shantung Province), into a low aristocratic family. His parents died when he was very young and left him to take care of his older brother who was crippled. He was given the birth name Kong Qui. Confucius comes from the Latin word Kongfuzi, which means Great Master Kong. He married at age nineteen and had two children, a son and a daughter. He was very much a family man though he did travel a lot. Confucius loved music, and when he traveled to a neighboring state of Lu, he became so absorbed in it that he forgot to eat. Confucius was a large man of great physical strength. His last couple years of life were probably bitter due to a number of deaths of his close associates. He died in 479 B.C. at the age of 72. Confucius was for the most part self-taught, although he was not too proud to learn from people inferior to him. At age 15 he set his mind on learning. He derived his learning from the first Chou kings Wen and Wu. He claimed that he wasn't born with his knowledge, which exemplifies his pursuit of wisdom. At age 20, he became a teacher. He traveled widely, gaining disciples who are responsible for writing down his sayings and ideas in the analects. His teaching stressed the importance of traditional relations of filial piety and brotherly respect. He was for the most part supported by his students though he may have received some form of pay from the government. He never refused to teach anyone, no matter how poor they were.