Read the following passage and answer the questions set on it.
Confucius was one of the greatest moral teachers and philosophers of China. He studied ancient ** writings with great devotion. These works taught him new ideas about character development. His actual name was ‘Kung -tzu’, the ***** missionaries called him Confucius.
Confucius was born in the state of Lu, now part of Shandong in China. His family belonged to the lowest level of aristocracy. His parents when he was still young and he grew up in ***. Later, he became an official in the government of Lu, and was much respected.
China, during those days, was ruled by an emperor with very little powers. The provinces were controlled by corrupt and greedy feudal lords. The people were poor and neglected. Confucius felt disgusted at this state of affairs and left Lu in 484 BC. He started preaching whatever he had learnt from the ancient *** writings. Human behaviour, morality and politics were the main elements of his teaching. At the age of twenty-two he started teaching how to lead a happy life. He said, ‘Don’t do to others what you would not wish them to do to you’. He taught, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself’. He was very modest and always said, ‘1 teach nothing new. I only pass on the ancient wisdom’.
On returning to Lu, he also held some important positions in the local government of his province. When he was made the Governor of a city, he cleared the state of robbers, reduced taxes, improved people’* living conditions and persuaded the ruling classes to lead charitable lives. According to one account, he was also made a minister. He tried his best to improve the evils ingrained in all branches of social life. But soon he realized that they were deep-rooted. So he resigned in disgust at the age of 54.
Confucius’ own sayings were collected by his disciples and written down much later, in the book ‘Lun Yu’. Confucius ** in 479 BC. The religion founded by him is known as Confucianism. It includes ancestor worship, belief in supreme * and belief in Nature Spirit. Even today it influences millions of lives.
Answer the following in a word, a phrase or a sentence each.
(a) Which country did Confucius come from?
(b) Who named him Confucius?
(c) For which government did he work as official?
(d) By whom were the provinces in China controlled?
(e) What did he do after leaving Lu?
(f) Mention any one of the elements of his teaching.
(g) How old was he when he started teaching?
(h) Add a prefix to the word ‘morality’ to form its antonym.
(i) Confucius was very (wise/wisdom) in his thinking.
(j) Name the book written by his disciples about the sayings of Confucius.
