'Confucius ( Kǒngzǐ)' in seal script (top) and regular (bottom) Chinese charactersĬonfucius ( / k ən ˈ f j uː ʃ ə s/ kən- FEW-shəs Chinese: 孔 夫 子 pinyin: Kǒng Fūzǐ, 'Master Kǒng' or commonly 孔 子 Kǒngzǐ 551–479 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who was traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages.