Confucius: Confucius’ emphasis on ritual and harmony inspires poets to find dignity in routine: “The tea is poured, the bow is made— / in form, the soul is not betrayed.”; His ethics become lyrical restraint: “Not through grand acts, but daily grace, / the world finds peace in quiet space.”; Poets borrow his focus on filial piety: “The son who tends his father’s grave / does more than prayer—he makes it brave.”; His “Golden Rule” becomes universal verse: “Do not do to another’s soul / what you would dread to feel, or know.”; Confucius teaches poets that virtue is practiced, not proclaimed: “He did not preach from mount or scroll— / but showed the way in how to roll / the stone, and rise, and walk again.”; His legacy: “Not in the temple, but the meal, / the word, the pause, the gentle seal.”