I first met Confucius in a friend's living room, nearly 10 years ago. OK, so it wasn't really the bearded Chinese philosopher.

It was a collection of his most famous lines, printed and bound and resting on a coffee table. As I scanned the pages, a vision of the man began to form in my mind.

I went to see the film knowing very little of Confucius' personal story.

In the movie, we see a man who is all at once humble and wise and humorous and intelligent and disciplined and firm and clever.

Even when Zhou's character all but throws herself on Confucius, the philosopher walks away with barely a trace of desire on his face.

If this is, indeed, the real man, meeting him would be, all at once, an incredibly exhilarating experience -- and also a very depressing one.

In the movie, Confucius talks of changing oneself from within. This is certainly a noble goal. Based upon my own experience, though, it is much easier said than done.

It wasn't until last Saturday, though, that I finally had a chance to put a name to the face -- that of Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat, who plays the sage in the new biopic Confucius.

If Confucius really was the man that Chow portrays, he was indeed one for the ages.

In this sense, I am more in awe of Confucius than ever before. A person's words take on far more significance when he or she actually lives them out.

For example, I cannot imagine walking away from the temptress without the assistance of a supernatural power -- no matter how many of the sage's proverbs I had internalize.