Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? You can't think of anyone else when you hear people read Confucius'(孔子)2,500-year-old words, "All study but no thinking makes people puzzled and all thinking but no study makes people lazy."
Tuesday was Confucius' birthday. He was born on September 28, 551BC in the Kingdom of Lu(鲁国), in today's Shandong Province. Chinese look upon Confucius as the greatest thinker and also the greatest educator. He had about 3,000 students. For more than 2,000 years, Confucius' ideas have been around in people's everyday lives. Now they have gone far into Western countries and south Asia. People can still hear them today.
Why are his ideas so popular? They help not only in everyday life but also in society. Confucius' most important ideas are kindness and good behaviors. Confucius said young people should take care of the old. People should give up thinking of themselves and work for others. As a great teacher, Confucius said that all should go to school if they wanted to learn.
Some of Confucius' popular words are "A kind person should care for others" and "Be strict with yourself, but be kind to others". People use his ideas to help themselves and society. Now, more than 100 Internet websites are teaching people about Confucius and his ideas.
"Kindness and honesty are the best values of the world today," said 79-year-old professor Kong Fanjin who is studying Confucius.
① His birthday and birth place. ② the date of his death.
③ his influence. ④ the fields he worked on.
⑤ his family life. ⑥ a learner's opinions on his idea.
