"Do not impose on others
what you do not wish for yourself."

Confucius conveyed this wisdom to his followers five centuries before Jesus taught the Golden Rule with similar words. The ideals of our own democratic government owe much to the innovations Confucius proposed thousands of years earlier. And yet, today in the western world, the great Chinese thinker is still jokingly portrayed as a comic sage, a loony philosopher whose remarks always begin "Confucius say."

Renowned biographer Russell Freedman's fascinating, witty introduction to the life and teachings of Confucius should finally set the record straight. Using the rigorous, lively technique that his readers have come to expect, Freedman traveled to China's Shandong Province to visit Confucius's birthplace, interviewed his descendants, and plumbed the famous Analects—the teachings of the sage written down by his followers.

The result is an enlightening, inspiring, and touching look at a man whose words today ring truer than ever.

From the dust jacket