Confucius (551BC - 479BC), named Qiu and styled Zhongni, was from Zouyi of the State of Lu in the late Spring and Autumn Period (today's southeast of Qufu City, Shandong Province). Confucius was a famous thinker and educator in ancient China and the founder of the Confucian school. It is said that he had three thousand disciples, among whom there were seventy two excellent ones. Confucius traveled around various states with his disciples for fourteen years. Confucius was also an ancient literature editor. He edited The Book of Poetry, The Book of History, set the rituals and music, arranged The Zhou Yi, and wrote The Spring and Autumn Annals. Confucius' thought and doctrines have exerted an extremely far-reaching influence on later generations.