Confucius was born in the small state of Lu in 551 B.C.E., in what is now Shantung Province. As a thinker and teacher, Confucius made an important contribution to political thought, with his insistence on the connection between ethics and politics. He thought that government included a moral responsibility and was not primarily the manipulation of power.

He was born into an aristocratic family that had seen much better times. His father died when he was only three years old, and his mother educated him at home. By the time he was a teenager, he inquired about everything and had set his heart on learning. He started as a keeper of stores and accounts, but moved on to other minor posts in government. However, he had difficulty finding a good job even though he was ambitious and willing to do anything. He never gave up his first love — learning. He found teachers who would school him in music, archery, calligraphy, and arithmetic. From his family he had learned the classics: poetry, literature, and history.

When he was nineteen, he married a woman of a similar background to his own. Not much else is known about her. They apparently had a son and daughter.