What influence did Confucius and Mencius have on our culture

Confucius advocated mediating and harmonious social interpersonal relations with the heart of loving others, and promoting education without distinction and universal education. Mencius advocated the implementation of benevolent government and put forward the idea of "the people are noble and the monarch is light", and the two together constitute the blueprint for the construction of a harmonious society in contemporary times.

Confucius's Influence on Chinese Culture: Confucius edited the poems, books, rites, music, Yi, and Spring and Autumn – six classic works that have passed down ancient culture and civilization. In the traditional Chinese culture of "Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism", Confucian culture has always been the main line of Chinese culture.

Confucius is the inheritor of ancient Chinese culture and the founder of Confucian culture for more than 2,000 years.

Conceptual influences:

In history, the Xia Dynasty respected the "Mandate of Heaven", the Shang Dynasty believed in "ghosts and gods", and in the Western Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Gong began to "make rituals for music", "Mingde prudently punished", and turned to pay attention to "etiquette and music civilization". This is a great leap forward in Chinese culture and civilization. Confucius did not speak of the so-called "Mandate of Heaven" and "ghosts and gods" with will and effect, but developed a strong interest in the ritual and music civilization of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and Confucius was the first person to guide China to change from "theism" to "atheism".

Confucius (September 28, 551 B.C., April 11, 479 B.C.), surnamed Kong, Mingqiu, Zizhongni, was a native of Lu Guoyi (now Qufu City, Shandong Province), and his ancestral home was Liyi of the Song Kingdom (now Xiayi County, Henan Province), an ancient Chinese thinker, politician, educator, founder of Confucianism, and "the most holy teacher of Dacheng".

Confucianism founded by Confucius and the traditional Chinese culture it represents not only had a huge impact on the long history of China, but also profoundly influenced and affected neighboring countries. Before Japan's Meiji Restoration, China had always been the most powerful power in Asia, with great influence on neighboring countries, especially the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and Southeast AsiaFor example, the Analects has had a profound impact on Japan, Korea, and even some European countries.

According to statistics, there are nearly 90 kinds of research treatises on the Analects of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan. Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931), the "founder" of modern Japanese capitalism, has been teaching the Analects to employees in person for more than 40 years.

In the second half of the 16th century, European missionaries first transmitted the Analects to the West, and famous European figures such as the German philosopher Leibniz, the French Enlightenment thinker Voltaire, and Quenet, whom Marx called the "ancestor of modern political economy", admired Confucius's thought and personality. Until now, there are still many Western thinkers who have tried to seek enlightenment in Confucius to solve ethical and moral problems. Therefore, as an important spiritual heritage of the Chinese nation, the Analects has had a tremendous impact on the history of ancient and modern China and foreign countries.