As I have said before, Confucius was not a Confucian scholar. He dabbled in Buddhism, visited Shinto shrines, but steered clear of the ritualistic thoughts of Confucius.
Nevertheless, by reverse engineering one can turn Confucius into a haiku master.
Man makes his Way Great!
Not the Way that makes the man,
— Great was Confucius!子曰：「人能弘道，非道弘人。」
Zǐ yuē: “Rén néng hóngdào, fēi dàohóng rén.”Confucius, The Analects, Book 15, Chapter 29
To live and not change,
is one hell of a mistake,
— Confucius makes sense子曰：「過而不改，是謂過矣。」
Zǐ yuē: ”Guò ér bù gǎi, shì wèiguò yǐ.”Confucius, The Analects, Book 15, Chapter 30
The first quote reminds me of the popular history question: Does the man make history or does history make the man? To which there is not one answer.
The second quote reminds me of Einstein’s often retold quote: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” There comes a time when one has to move on.
Matsuo Basho was constantly changing, composing, rewriting, revising, often moving, always thinking.
Maybe that makes him Confucian to the core.
matsuo-basho-haiku 