Confucius says...

Grabbed a quick cab to see the Lama Temple and Confucius Temple before heading to Shunyi.

I'll tell you later about the horrors of that day's taxi rides. Yikes.

Anyway, Confucius was a pretty cool guy. We've all heard the jokes, eating jellybeans, going to bed with an itchy butt, etc.

But WOW, is this guy revered and rightfully so. There is even a picture of the Japanese invaders paying tribute to him at this temple.

Here are a few things he said or did in addition to the above:

1. If the government (king) wasn't doing his job, it was the public's right to overthrow him.



2. Don't do anything to someone you don't want done to you (did he make this up?)



3. All people have a right to education. He started public education in China. Up until his time, only the elite got educated.
   

The funny thing is that even though he said number 1 above, there are no less than 6 huge carved monuments outside his temple commemorating the suppression of various riots in the late 1600's and early to mid 1700's.

I guess he didn't say that the public had the right to be successful.