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Death of Confucius

Type Event Region China Time -479

Confucius died in 479 BCE at age seventy-three and was buried in Qufu, Lu. His passing marked the transition of Confucianism from founder to disciple…

Timeline

  1. -484–-479Qufu · ShandongIn his later years Confucius returned to Lu, gave up public office, and devoted himself to editing ancient texts and teaching disciples, forming a thought system centered on benevolence and ritual; his disciples numbered three thousand, of whom seventy-two were worthy.
  2. -479Qufu · ShandongIn 479 BCE Confucius died at Qufu in Lu at the age of seventy-three. Duke Ai of Lu mourned him with the rites of a ruler; disciples and followers buried him north of the city at the Si river according to ritual, and many observed three years of mourning.
  3. -479–-450Lu and the Central Plains · ChinaAfter Confucius's death, disciples such as Zigong, Zeng Shen, and Zixia went to various states to spread his teachings; Confucian thought gradually developed into an important school amid the contention of the Hundred Schools in the Warring States, influencing Chinese civilization for the next two thousand years.

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