Born to a nobleman but raised in poverty from a very young age following the untimely death of his father, Confucius developed what would become a lifelong sympathy for the suffering of the common people.

following 是分词介词，等于 after。黑体部分为介词短语，修饰过去分词短语： raised in poverty from a very young age ，作时间状语。它不可能越过连词 but 去修饰 born，此外，应该是 born to be a nobleman。