Wudi of western dynasty decided to make it the country's orthodox philosophy, until the founding in 1949 of People's Republic, confuciaism was, whit one or two interruptions the mainstay of Chinese thought. Its influence pervaded all strata of society and penetrated every field of activity, from court politics to the every day life of the common people. It is obvious, therefore that to understand China one has to understand Confucius. Some of Confucius' ideas may be beneficial and useful today for China and the world. Although he was born 2,500 years ego, his views on morality, education, self-cultivation, the mean, harmony and other subjects could be considered to have a lasting value. Some contemporary philosophers regard confucianism as one of the key factors in the rapid development of some East Asian countries and regions, and a possible solution to many of the problems besetting the world today. Confucianism was for a long time one of the main constituents of Chinese culture. In turn Chinese culture was one of the major forces that determined the orientation of Chinese history. The cultural development of the Chinese nation has never been interrupted, something like that cannot be said about many other ancient civilizations. Although border ethnic groups more than once ruled all or a part of China, they nevertheless failed to alter Chinese culture in any fundamental way. On contrary, the conquerors were themselves conquered by Chinese culture. These serves to show that military occupation and political control eventually had to give way to cultural superiority....
