After reading about Confucius and his philosophy, I thought he had more in common with the liberal side than with the communitarian side. I thought this because he seemed to idolize the human being and that only the individual can regulate his/her life. What specifically distinguishes Confucius from the liberal side?

You might notice that I was torn when I located Confucius on the chart: for metaphysics I placed him on the liberal side and for ethics on the communitarian side. I believe the spectrum that we have used--with individualism on one end and communitarianism on the other--does not provide a sufficiently rich framework for Chinese thought. Among the items missing from this spectrum are family and nature, both of which figure importantly into the Confucian schema.