Confucius (a.k.a. K'ung Fu-tzu) - influential ancient Chinese thinker philosopher, founder of Confucianism
Mencius - (approx. 372-289 BCE; a.k.a. Meng Ke) one of the main interpreters of Confucianism; wrote The Mencius (a.k.a. Mengzi, Meng-tzu), a key Confucian scriptural text
Hsun Tzu - (c.310-237 BCE) Chinese philosopher whose social and political theories were developed from Confucianism; wrote the Xunzi, an alternative (focusing on "realism" and "materialism") to Mencius' more human-positive Confucian interpretation
Wang Fuzhi - (161-1692; a.k.a. Wang Fu-zi; Wang Zi) important Chinese philosopher; believed in and wrote his own interpretations of Confucianism; developed his own metaphysical system, a naturalistic moral philosophy; said to have written over a hundred books; many have been lost; the remainder are collected as the Ch'uan-shan i-shu ch'uan-chi
Tu Wei-Ming - Chinese-born, Boston-based ethicist, university professor and Confucian; became director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute in January 1996; advocate of "New Confucianism"
Yi Hwang - (1501-1570; a.k.a. Toegye, Gyeongho) one of the two most prominent Korean Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty
Yi I - (1536-1584, a.k.a. Yulgok; Sukheon) one of the two most prominent Korean Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty; his Cheondochaek was widely read as a literary masterpiece; author of The Essentials of Confucianism (1576)