Confucianism is still significant:

To many people, Confucius is no more than the set-up to a one-line joke. Few have heard or read any of his teachings. Yet the truth and importance of his words resonate today when they are heard, because Confucius' teachings developed in reaction to the times in which he lived -- and our times are very much like his. According to writings of the era, the days in which Confucius lived were, compared to the past, a time of moral chaos, in which common values were widely rejected or simply disregarded. Crime was on the rise, with robbery and theft increasing in the villages and murder a serious problem in the cities and at court; there was a general lack of interest in trying to reintegrate criminals into society. The gulf between rich and poor was broad and growing, with the rich living extravagantly in enormous mansions while an abundance of food somehow failed to reach the hungry who needed it. Government was routinely corrupt and distrusted by the people, who didn't fail to observe the lack of productivity among the rich and powerful: as the chronicler Shu Xiang noted, "The ministers never go out to work in the field." The economy was changing as well. The productive class -- mostly farmers -- was shrinking, while the mercantile sector was growing. The marketplaces were flooded with goods described as being costly and of "no real utility." Part of the growing middle class was a sector of scholars, who had great difficulty finding employment.

While reformers such as Confucius existed, they were a minority: society was dominated by pessimists and conservatives. Pessimists -- perhaps predecessors to today's millennial survivalists, militiamen and "patriots" -- withdrew from society in disillusionment, convinced that the social order was irreparably corrupt and resistant to reform and that the best thing one could do was to look after one's own. Conservatives were either ordinary people wrapped up in their own lives and indifferent to social and political problems or men of society with good reputations and a vested interest in maintaining things as they were, determined to block social reform and new ideas wherever they popped up; although the latters' own private conduct was generally unimpeachable, in the public sphere they were fierce defenders of an unpleasant status quo.

Sound familiar? It certainly should. It's worth noting, however, that even in such apparently barren philosophical ground, Confucianism not only took root, it flourished, eventually transforming Chinese society with its values and dominating it for centuries.

Biography:

Confucius (born Kong Qiu, styled Zhong Ni) was born in the country of Lu in 551 B.C., a poor descendant of a long-deposed noble family. As a young adult, he quickly earned a reputation for fairness, politeness and love of learning, and he was reputed to be quite tall. He traveled extensively and studied at the imperial capital, Zhou, where he met and spoke with Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism.

Upon his return to Lu, he gained renown as a teacher, but when he was 35, Duke Chao of Lu led his country to war, was routed and fled to the neighboring country of Chi; in the disorder following the battle, Confucius followed. Duke Chao frequently came to him for advice, but upon counsel of one of his ministers, he decided against granting land to Confucius and gradually stopped seeking his counsel. When other nobles began plotting against Confucius' position, Duke Chao refused to intervene, and Confucius returned to Lu. But conditions there were no better than before, and Confucius retired from public life to concentrate on teaching and studying.

At age 50, he was approached by the Baron of Chi to help defend against a rebellion, but he declined. He was later made a city magistrate by the new Duke of Lu, and under his administration the city flourished; he was promoted several times, eventually becoming Grand Secretary of Justice and, at age 56, Chief Minister of Lu. Neighboring countries began to worry that Lu would become too powerful, and they sent messengers with gifts and dancers to distract the duke during a sacrifice holiday. When the duke abandoned his duties to receive the messengers, Confucius resigned and left the country.

Confucius spent the next five years wandering China with his disciples, finding that his presence at royal courts was rarely tolerated for long before nobles would begin plotting to drive him out or have him killed. He was arrested once and jailed for five days, and at 62 he was pursued, along with his disciples, into the countryside by a band of soldiers sent by jealous nobles, until he was able to send a messenger to the sympathetic king of a nearby country, who sent his own soldiers to rescue them. Once again, Confucius was to be given land but was denied it upon counsel of another high minister. After further wanderings, he eventually returned to Lu at age 67. Although he was welcomed there and chose to remain, he was not offered public office again, nor did he seek it. Instead he spent the rest of his years teaching and, finally, writing. He died at 72. Confucius' birthday, Sept. 28, is celebrated as a holiday in Taiwan.

Teachings:

A more accurate term than "writings," since many of the works attributed to Confucius -- most notably the Analects -- were written down by his students after his death. There are many different translations of Confucius' wisdom, and they vary wildly in quality. One good, readable (and well-footnoted) translation of the Analects is by Arthur Waley. He seems to try very hard to remain faithful to the original, which results in some odd phrasings, but generally speaking his translation is quite straightforward and concise.

Most Confucianism pages on the Net point to the same texts: the Analects, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean. (Lin-- rather perplexingly-- refers to the works respectively as the "Aphorisms," "Ethics and Politics" and "The Central Harmony." Nobody else seems to use those terms. Then again, no one seems to embrace the vernacular translation the way Lin does either. The gopher translations, incidentally, are Legge's.)

Three Confucian Texts:

1) Analects of Confucius
2) Great Learning
3) Doctrine of the Mean

Part 2- Links

1) An excellent site that has a book called: CONFUCIAN ANALECTS. This book is about Confucius and his teachings.

2) The Chinese Philosophy Page-by Steven A. Brown. The most extensive Web page dealing with Chinese philosophy that I have seen yet in English. The author's announced intention is to provide all the information available on the Internet about Chinese philosophy and philosophy related subjects on a single Web location. It looks like he is doing a pretty good job of it so far. 

3) A link to the Confucian works page.

4) This is an English version of the Lun Yu- Chinese is on the top of each translation so it may look like a bunch of squares on some browsers. The English translation is on the bottom. Interesting reading.

5) Confucianism- This site has many links and has tons of information on Confucianism.