The Classical WorldIdeas & Belief Confucius c. 500 BCETurning point His teachings on ethics, family and good government shape East Asian societies for 2,500 years. ▲ MattersSaveShareTrace roots Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire → First fired clay figures → First pottery → Copper smelting → Bronze Age begins → Shang dynasty → Chinese writing on oracle bones → Confucius Community notesLoading notes… Learn more ranked by votesDocumentclassics.mit.eduThe Analects, Confucius (Internet Classics Archive) ↗Editor's pickDocumentplato.stanford.eduConfucius (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) ↗Editor's pickBookConfuciusThe Analects ↗Editor's pickVideoSearch on YouTubeConfucius philosophy explained ↗Editor's pick