Although famous worldwide, Confucius is often misunderstood outside China. His sayings are frequently repeated out of context, with little attention paid to the conditions that shaped his view of the universe.

The son of a retired soldier and a teenage concubine, Confucius was reared in poverty before finding employment as a civil servant. Disillusioned by corruption in high places, he gave up a promising political career to become a teacher and philosopher. Confucius preserved elements of China’s ancient religion of ancestor-worship, collating and refining the words of earlier, forgotten thinkers. His teachings have survived for a staggering twenty-five centuries and have shaped over a quarter of the world’s population—his image appears not only in temples across China, but also above the entrance to the US Supreme Court.

Using new translations, Confucius reveals many unexpected sides of the venerable philosopher— his younger years, his feuds with his enemies and even his biting wit. It also shows the way that his life and thoughts were influenced by events in the China of his day—a time when a patchwork of rival kingdoms squabbled over the remains of a lost Golden Age, when corrupt noblemen seized power for themselves, and when the people believed that Heaven had deserted them.

This intriguing book explores the teachings of Confucius, the man himself and the world in which he lived. It will appeal to anyone interested in philosophy, Chinese life and China’s history.