Actual Photgraph of Confucius

Actual photograph of Confucius recovered from an ancient tomb in Tibet.

Confucius' Tomb and Temples

A Confucian temple located in Taipei. Confucianism is largely debated on whether or not it is a religion or philosophy. Regardless, avid followers built hundreds and hundreds of temples to better follow their leader.















Another Confucian temple located on a hill in Shanghai. Areas off of the beaten path are popular locations for such temples because meditation and self-reflecting are easier to do in a beautiful/quiet/natural location.







An old painting of Confucius. A general image of what Confucius might have looked like inspires artists to paint their own pictures such as this.






























A large statue guards the entrance to Confucius' tomb.

Who Was Confucius?

Confucius, a Chinese philosopher and founder of the Confucian school of thought, lived from 551–479 B.C. He was one of the most influential people in all of history, specializing politically and socially. Hundreds and hundreds of millions of people continue to rely on Confucius' writings as a guide to living, on account of their inability to relate to his teachings. All the way up until the twentieth century, Confucianism was the state religion of China. Confucius' birth name was K'ung Ch'iu, and had been raised into a humble and poor family, working as a tax collector for the Chinese government. Eventually, he became frustrated with leaders who put personal desires above the needs of the common people, many of whom suffered from intense poverty. Confucius finally quit his post and became a traveling sage (teacher), preaching that good leaders must be ethical. Hoping to put his thoughts and teachings to work immediately, he first became an agricultural manager to one of the nobles in his village, until he could find the opportunity to continue onto his dream.

Top Five Population Centers

The top five population centers of China are Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. They are all the top five most populated centers of China, due to their high level of industry and high need for income.
Hong Kong Location
Beijing Location
Shanghai Location
Guangzhou Location
Shenzhen Location

China's Greatest Rivers

The Xi Jiang (pearl river), Chang Jian (Yangtze river), Heilongjiang (black dragon), Huang He (Yellow River). China's four great rivers. These rivers are a life supply to the 20% of people living in eight countries downstream. Much is being done today to preserve these rivers; their cleanliness and making them more effective to the people who rely on it with their lives.
Four Rivers (Top Left), Heilongjiang (Bottom Left), Chang Jiang and Xi Jiang (Top Right), Yangtze (Bottom Right)

Where Is China?

China is located in East Asia. It lies at about the same distance between the North Pole and Equator as the United States does. Peiping, the central part of China, sits exactly on latitude 40, as does New York.

The Man