Twelve Philosophers

The Twelve Philosophers (Chinese: 十二哲), also called the Wise Ones, were 12 very important thinkers in ancient China who followed the teachings of Confucius. People respected them a lot and treated them like saints. In Confucian temples, there are special tablets with their names, six on each side of the main hall called the Hall of the Great Completion (Dacheng Dian). People started honoring these philosophers by making special offerings to them in the year 720 AD during the rule of the Tang dynasty.^[1]^[2]

The Twelve Philosophers were Min Sun (also known as Ziqian), Ran Yong (Zhonggong), Duanmu Ci (Zigong), Zhong You (Zilu), Bu Shang (Zixia), You Ruo (Ziruo), Zai Yu (Ziwo), Ran Geng (Boniu), Ran Qiu (Ziyou), Yan Yan (Ziyou), Zhuansun Shi (Zizhang), and Zhu Xi. All of them were students of Confucius, except for Zhu Xi, who lived during the Song dynasty and created a new way of thinking called Neo-Confucianism.^[3]^[4]

Twelve Philosophers[change]

S. No.	Name	Portrait	Courtesy name
1	Min Sun	File:Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Min Sun Ziqian (閔損子騫).jpg	Ziqian (子骞)
2	Ran Yong	File:Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Ran Yong Zhonggong (冉雍仲弓).jpg	Zhonggong (仲弓)
3	Duanmu Ci	File:Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Duanmu Ci Zigong (端木賜子貢).jpg	Zigong (子贡)
4	Zhong You	File:Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Zhong You Zilu (仲由子路).jpg	Zilu (子路)
5	Bu Shang	File:Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Bu Shang Zixia (卜商子夏).jpg	Zixia (子夏)
6	You Ruo		Ziruo (子若)
7	Zai Yu	File:Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Zai Yu Ziwo (宰予子我).jpg	Ziwo (子我)
8	Ran Geng	File:Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Ran Geng Boniu (冉耕伯牛).jpg	Boniu (伯牛)
9	Ran Qiu	File:Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Ran Qiu Ziyou (冉求子有).jpg	Ziyou (子有)
10	Yan Yan	File:Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Yan Yan Ziyou (言偃子游).jpg	Ziyou (子游)
11	Zhuansun Shi		Zizhang (子张)
12	Zhu Xi	File:Zhu xi.jpg

Related pages[change]

References[change]

↑ Confucius (2009-01-01). The Confucian Analects, the Great Learning & the Doctrine of the Mean. Cosimo, Inc. ISBN 978-1-60520-644-8.
↑ Nivison, David S. (1996). The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy. Open Court Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8126-9340-9.
↑ "Confucius Temple (4) Hall of Great Accomplishment (Da Cheng Dian)". www.drben.net. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
↑ Huang, Siu-Chi (1999-11-30). Essentials of Neo-Confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-0-313-26449-8.

[1] Confucius (2009-01-01). The Confucian Analects, the Great Learning & the Doctrine of the Mean. Cosimo, Inc. ISBN 978-1-60520-644-8.

[2] Nivison, David S. (1996). The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy. Open Court Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8126-9340-9.

[3] "Confucius Temple (4) Hall of Great Accomplishment (Da Cheng Dian)". www.drben.net. Retrieved 2024-04-09.

[4] Huang, Siu-Chi (1999-11-30). Essentials of Neo-Confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-0-313-26449-8.

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