The Wise Confucius meme, often referred to as 'Confucius Say,' typically features a traditional portrait of the Chinese philosopher Confucius paired with humorous, pun-filled, or mock-profound advice. This format gained significant traction on early internet forums and image boards like 4chan and Reddit during the mid-2000s, drawing on the trope of the 'wise sage' dispensing enlightenment. While some iterations lean into linguistic wordplay, others use the template to subvert traditional philosophical teachings with absurd modern observations. It remains a classic staple of the Advice Animals era, valued for its recognizable aesthetic and the rhythmic setup-and-payoff structure of its captions.