New Delhi, April 23 -- Confucius, known in Chinese as Kongzi or Kong Fuzi, was a Chinese teacher, philosopher and moral thinker who lived from roughly 551 to 479 BCE during the late Spring and Autumn period.

Britannica describes him as a scholar who moved through roles in teaching and public service, then became the central figure behind a tradition that shaped Chinese ethics, education, and governance for centuries.

His ideas survived not through a single-authored treatise, but through the Analects, a collection of sayings and exchanges preserved by later followers. What gives Confucius lasting force is his insistence that character is proved in conduct, not merely in belief.

This is a genuine Confucian idea from Analects 2:24. The Ch...