Confucius and the Shi
►By the 5th century BC, thinkers like Confucius looked for ways to create a stable society and political structure.
►Confucius, a member of a poor shi family, became a traveling teacher whose political and philosophical ideas attracted followers.
►He was a social philosopher concerned with the need to reestablish order and harmony in China.
►He thought that achieving order depended upon rulers accepting the advice of superior men.
§Women were
excluded
►Men, recruited from the shi, gained wisdom through education. They could be from any social class.