Scholars believe a sage called Kongzi (Confucius) did exist between the 6th and the 5th century BCE. He was a traditionalist who tried to restore the way of the ancient scholars.
Does Confucianism exist? The question is not pedantic, even if there are entire libraries of books including “Confucianism” in their title. Like other terms, “Confucianism” was originally a piece of chinoiserie, a word invented by Westerners that Chinese had never used. Actually, the process was twofold, and involved an ecumenical cooperation of sort between Catholics and Protestants.
Read more at “Confucianism: Atheism or Religion? 2. In Search of Confucius”
China - in His image 