virtually all literate Chinese, particularly during the millennium leading up to the end of imperial China in 1912, were Confucian-schooled and Confucian-socialized. Thus the lives and work of almost all educated Chinese, not just officials but poets, essayists, novelists, artists, calligraphers, historians, scholars, teachers, and the small percentage of literate women were shaped, to one degree or another, by the beliefs and ideals embodied in Confucian texts.
