21　All the Way Around the World in China

About the same time that Gautama was starting Buddhism in India,a man in China,a great wise man named Confucius,was teaching the people of China what they ought to do and what they ought not to do. His teachings filled several books and formed what came to be a way of life for the Chinese and many other people in Asia.

Confucius taught that people should be loyal and obey their kings and also that rulers had a duty to take care of their people. He believed that this would bring peace and harmony in China.He taught people to obey their parents and teachers and to honor their ancestors.This sounds something like one of the Ten Commandments：“Honor thy father and thy mother.”

Confucius also taught the Golden Rule,the same Golden Rule that you are taught today,only instead of saying，“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”he said，“Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.”

China had one of the earliest civilizations in the world.Maybe you remember the name of the river that was the cradle of Chinese civilization.It was the Huang River,or Yellow River,that overflowed with thick yellow mud.This mud fertilized the soil where people