Confucius (Great Lives from History: The Ancient World, Prehistory-476)
Early Life
The name Confucius (kuhn-FYEW-shuhs) is the latinized version of a formal title, Kongfuzi, meaning “The Master Kong.” He was born as Kong Qiu somewhere in the state of Lu (in the present-day province of Shandong), into a family that was part of the official class but had fallen on hard times. It is said that his great-grandparents had emigrated from the neighboring state of Song. Confucius is believed to have lost his father when still a small child and to have been raised in poverty by his mother.
Nevertheless, Confucius learned the arts of a courtier,...
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