Chinese life has been similarly influenced by the 13 Confucian Classics. The latter are based on the teachings of Confucius, a Chinese sage who was scarcely a teenager when Babylon fell to Medo-Persia in 539 B.C.E. The basic textbook of Confucianism, the Analects (Lun yü), is said to contain in its 496 chapters the words of Confucius himself.

CONFUCIANISM: Lun yü, Chinese for “conversations”