At age 51

, he became Minister for Justice in Lu, but his attempts to spread his doctrines were met with indifference or distain by his superiors, resulting in his starting a thirteen year ministry attempting to disseminate his political, social, and philosophical beliefs. At age 68, unsuccessful, he began to write the classic documents such as the Spring and Autumn annals, the I Ching (book of Changes) and the Analects, which were to have a huge impact on Chinese culture.
Some historians dispute the authorship of these documents (i.e. maybe Confucius didn't write all or any of them), but their fundamental role in Chinese culture is indisputable.