Although today people associate bureaucracy with red tape and frustration, bureaucracy was important in establishing the infrastructure necessary for managing large empires. The early Chinese philosopher, Confucius, espoused a bureaucratic system based on a hierarchical authority structure as well as principles of efficiency and fairness. This system was designed to effectively communicate the will and ideals of the imperial government over the vast expanses of the Chinese empire. His bureaucratic ideals proved effective in unifying a massive fragmented empire and a disparate people.