SALVACION, Jozel John P.

GREATWK M74
Reflection Paper: Confucius
Confucius, as depicted in the film, is a selfless, honorable, and virtuous citizen of the
Kingdom of Lu. He first displayed his talent in Ethics with the implementation of his rules in the
City of Zhongdu that made it safer and more secure for everyone inside the city after being
mayor for a mere year. The ruler of Lu, Lu Dinggong, was quite impressed with the promising
change in Zhongdu and wishes to see this change be felt all over the kingdom. Because of
Confucius' wisdom, he quickly rose up the ranks. He became the Minister of Law, after the
death of a Lord. Confucius then showed what kind of a man he was during one of the meetings
for he showed that ethics should win over tradition. During the entirety of the film, it was shown
that Confucius always thought of others before himself, prioritized ethics and morality of desire
and power, and denied emotional biases when it comes to decision making.
Kong Qiu (Confucius) changed how the Chinese lived during his period. The people of
that era were more focused on traditions and pay little-to-no respect to its unethical process. An
example would be during a meeting of the Ministers where Kong pleaded that a young boy be
spared from the live burial tradition for he sees this as a primitive way of thinking. He argued
that the boy's life should not be sacrificed in order to satisfy the boy's master's wishes. However,
General Gongshan Niu, a temporary representative of the Ji clan, the clan of which the boy
belongs to, argues that they should fulfill the wish of the master's wishes that all of his loved
ones be buried along with him. Kong then said that since the master's wish was to be buried
along with his loved ones, and that Gongshan Niu is one of the master's favorites, then he too
should be buried along with the boy be buried alongside the master to which Gongshan refused.
The Duke was impressed with the argument presented by Kong and he was given authority of
the boy. Little did they know that earlier that day Gongshan gave Kong a proposal to overthrow
the royal families who currently have majority of the power in the Kingdom of Lu and that
Gongshan was quite bitter towards Kong because the latter rejected the former's offer to be the
sole rulers of the Kingdom.
Kong paved way to what we know now as Confucianism, a culture in which they follow a
certain philosophical and ethical set of rules that promotes humanistic approaches towards life,
and benevolence toward others. Kong's benevolence was highly recognized by those who knew
him both personally and generally. His benevolence was even recognized by Nanzi, a female
consort in the Kingdom of Wei, wherein she suggested that Kong be a teacher to the young
Prince of Wei so that his ways may be corrected and influenced by the scholar.
One of the important characteristics I noticed from Kong was that he was always a man
of his word and that he expects everyone of high stature also be a man of their word for it shall
reflect on their standards. An example is when the walls of Biyi City, the last of the three (3)
great walls, was about to be razed. During the deliberation, the Prime Minister of Lu was
informed that there were about 30,000 Qi soldiers ready to invite Lu after the last wall was
razed. This alarmed the Duke and called Kong to give advice. Kong advocated that they stick
with the plan but the Prime Minister refused for it posed to great of a risk not only to his reign but
also to the people of Lu. The Prime Minister then decided to cancel the razing in order to avoid
the impending chaos that would result if the wall was destroyed. Kong was then assertive that
the Prime Minister should be a man of his word and as a ruler should not turn his back on his it.
However, Kong failed to persuade the stubborn Prime Minister, and respected his decision to
cancel the destruction of the last wall.

Another characteristic that I admired about Kong is that he puts Ethics and Morality
above anything else.