孔子(Confucius),偉大的教育家和思想家,生于公元前551年。孔子30歲開始講學,弟子來自社會各階層。他曾親身執教3000多名弟子,72賢就在其中?!叭?、義、禮、智、信”代表了他最基本的價值觀,是2000多年來中國式思維的核心。孔子的思想后來發展成為一個哲學體系,稱為儒教(Confucianism)。如今,人們普遍認為孔子象征著中國文化,遍布世界各地的孔子學院(Confucius Institute)受到各國人民的歡迎。
Confucius, a great educator and thinker, was born in 551 B. C. Confucius began to lecture on his ideas at around thirty and his disciples came from various social classes. He had personally taught more than 3 000 students, including 72 worthies. His basic moral values embodied in benevolence, righteousness, rituals, wisdom and faithfulness” have been central to Chinese thinking for over 2 000 years. Later, Confucius’ thoughts were developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism. Nowadays, Confucius is generally regarded as a symbol of Chinese culture, and Confucius Institutes established around the world are warmly welcomed by people from different countries.