Abstract: Confucius was a great thinker and founder of Confucianism in ancient China, and he had put forward insightful economic thoughts. Confucius believed that the pursuit of wealth was human nature, but the behavior of people seeking wealth should be restrained by the idea of justice. He advocated making the people rich through two ways. First, the government should implement the laissez-faire economic policy to increase the income of the people. Secondly, the government should implement the fiscal policy of low tax rates to reduce the burden of the people. Confucius also advocated the development of business in order to avoid the large gap between the rich and the poor, and he opposed the extravagant consumption.

Key words: Confucius, Confucian, economic thought, Chinese traditional culture