Confucius

Beginning Confucius was born in 551 B.C. in a village called Tsou, which was in the country of Lu. His early ancestor was K’ung Fangshu (who was a ninth-generation ancestor of a king of Sung and the fourth-generation ancestor of Confucius). Fangshu was the father of Pohsia, and Pohsia was the father of Shuliang Ho. Ho was the father of Confucius. The ancestors of Confucius before K’ung Fangshu held no positions of importance, but K’ung Fangshu became the administrator of a county in Lu.

Confucius Drawing

Confucius’s parents were married under very special circumstances. His father was over sixty four and his mother was only seventeen years old when they got married. Ho, Confucius’s father, already had two wives, nine daughters, and one disabled son. Why would he want to marry such a young girl? From ancient Chinese society, people believed sons to be more important than daughters. It is because after the daughter was married, she belonged to another family and she would help the family of her husband. The daughter was also going to take a lot of dowry (trousseau) to her husband’s family. It was very important to have a son who will carry on the family name, so Ho married Cheng-tsai in the hope that she would bear him a son.

When Cheng-tsai and Ho didn’t have a baby soon after they married, Cheng-tsai went to Nich’iu hill to pray for a son. That is why Confucius was called "Ch’iu" (meaning a hill). His literary name was Chungni, and his last name was K’ung. (‘Confucius" means "K’ung the Master"). Confucius had a strange look about him when he was born. His forehead looked like an upside down cave. Ho’s neighbor and friends laughed at the strange looking baby, and no one in his family could stand the ridicule except for Confucius’s parents. Cheng-tsai and Confucius were driven away; and Ho died soon after they left. Ho was buried at Fangshan, in Eastern Lu, but Confucius and his mother didn’t know where he was buried because they didn’t go to his funeral. They didn’t go to the funeral because they were expelled from the family; and if they went back, other people might think that they wanted to fight for the possessions of Ho.

When Confucius was a child, he used to play at making sacrificial offerings and performing ceremonies. He wanted to be an officer in charge of the rites in Lu. He also helped his mother to do some housework.

535 BC

When Confucius was sixteen, his mother died. His neighbor told him where was his father’s tomb was, and helped him to bury his mother with his father. A touching time in his life, however, he proceeded with great strength and courage. The year was a long winding road for Confucius' emotions.

534 BC

When Confucius was seventeen, a baron of Lu called Chi P’ing Tzu was looking for a man who was familiar with rite and ritual, so he had a feast for the scholars in town. Yang Ho, a corrupt official who handled everything for the baron, stopped Confucius and said, "The baron is giving a feast to the scholars but not you!" So Confucius left. This is the first humiliation he got when he earned his own living in his youth.

Confucius married a girl with the last name of Ch’i when he was twenty years old. This marriage was arranged by Confucius’ mother before she died. His son was born in the second year and Confucius named him Li. (It was a name of a kind of fish in Chinese. In English it is called a carp.)

531 BC

Confucius got his first job when he was twenty years old. He was in charge of the granary of the house of Chi, and he was famous because of the fairness of his measures. Then he became the person who looked after the cattle and the sheep, and the cattle and the sheep multiplied quickly. After a while, he got a promotion to be a minister of public work like construction of buildings. One day, when he was taking care of the cattle and sheep, a shepherd boy told Confucius that one of the sheep was stolen. Confucius asked, "Do you know who did this?" The boy answered, "It was my father." Confucius thought for a while and shouted at the boy," You didn’t do your job well because you lost the sheep, and you are not a good son because you told other people about your father’s sin. You made two big mistakes, so wait for your punishment." Someone said to Confucius, "What this boy said was right and he was just telling the truth, so what is wrong with it?" Confucius explained," The relationship between father and son is based on the kindness and filial actions. Therefore, it is right if the father covers for the children or the children cover for the father if any of them did something wrong. How could you say that it is honest when the son tells other people that his father has done wrong?"

518 BC

When Confucius was about thirty-three or thirty-four years old, he went to Chou, the Emperor’s capital, to study the ancient rites and ceremonies and visit Lao Tzu who was famous in Taoism. When Confucius was going back to Lu, Lao Tzu gave him some advice as a goodbye gift: "I have heard that rich people give people money and kind people give people advice, and so I am going to give you some advice: A man who is intelligent and thoughtful is often in danger because he likes to criticize people. A man who is well learned and good at arguments often endangers himself because he likes to reveal people’s flaws. Don’t do that even if you are a son or a minister at court."

516 BC

When Confucius was about thirty-five years old, there was a civil strife between the three Barons and the Duke (or the king) of Lu. The Duke lost the battle and fled to Ch’i. Soon after that, the country of Lu was in chaos, so Confucius went to Ch’i with his students. Confucius served as the secretary to Baron Chao Kao, and the Duke of Ch’i liked Confucius a lot. The Duke of Ch’i wanted Confucius to work for him, but the minister of Ch’i, Yen Ying, and noble of Ch’i were plotting against Confucius. Plus the Duke of Ch’i said to Confucius, "I’m sorry that I’m too old to be able use your ideas in my country." So Confucius left and returned to Lu.

Yang Ho, who works for one of the Baron of Lu, took over the political power by controlling the Duke of Lu. He wanted Confucius who had a good reputation, to work for him, so no one would dare to rebel against Yang Ho. Confucius decided not to work for Yang Ho but retired to study poetry, history, ritual, and music. The number of Confucius’ students grew rapidly. When Confucius turned fifty, he became the magistrate of Chungtu. By this time, Yang Ho was already defeated by the other Barons. Confucius was doing a good job, so he was promoted to the office of the Secretary of Public Works. People said that market prices became fairer after Confucius began running the place. Soon after that, he became the Grand Secretary of Justice.

499 BC

When Confucius was fifty-two years old there was a conference between the countries of Lu and Ch’i. The two countries met at Chiaku . After some official ceremonies, Ch’i asked the orchestras from different places and some actors and dwarfs to play for them. Then the entertainers came forward and started a big noise. It was very dangerous for the Duke of Lu because the entertainers had weapons like spears, forks, and swords in their hand. Confucius rush in and said to the Duke of Ch’i, "This is a conference between two countries, why do you present these barbarian musicians and dancers? Common people who try to corrupt the rulers should be killed. I request an order from the Master of Ceremonies." The Duke of Ch’i was very embarrassed and impressed by the action of Confucius, so he decided to return the land of Yun, Wenyang, and Kueiyin which they had taken from Lu, as an apology.

The places under Confucius’ ruling were doing very well, even things left on the streets were not stolen. When the people in Ch’i heard of that, they became worried and afraid that if Lu become too strong, the neighbouring countries might become allies with Lu. Then the whole area would be dominated by Lu’s power. So Ch’i came up with a scheme. He decided to send eighty of the prettiest girls and one hundred and twenty-five of the best horses in Ch’i to Lu as a gift to corrupt their government. Things worked just as Ch’i had planned, and the Duke and the Barons of Lu ignored their government duties so they could spend time with the girls. This prompted Confucius to leave with his students and begin travellin around the countries to find a wise duke.

Confucius went to the country of Wei, which had a good friendship with Confucius’ home town, Lu. He stopped at one of his student’s relative’s house. The Duke of Ling of Wei offered Confucius a salary of sixty thousand bushels of rice. After staying in Wei for a while, someone spoke ill of Confucius to the Duke and there were some minor feuds between the Barons in Wei, so Confucius left Wei after only ten months.

Confucius planned to go to the country of Ch’en next because one of his followers was from here. On the way to Ch’en, they passed a city called K’uang. Yang Ho once attacked K’uang and was very cruel to the people there. The people arrested Confucius and his students for five days because Confucius looked so much like Yang Ho and all the people thought that Confucius must be him. The people released him after they discovered their mistake. After that, he passed through P’u and was stopped by the people again. They wanted Confucius to join them for a rebellion and not go back to Wei, but Confucius turned them down and got away safely.

This time, Confucius chose to visit Wei again. The Duke of Wei treated Confucius very nicely, but Confucius didn’t have a chance to show his ability to rule a place. One day, the Duke was riding in a carriage with the Queen, and Confucius was in the second carriage. When they were parading through the streets, attracting people’s attention, Confucius said, "I have never yet seen people attracted by virtuous scholars as they are by beautiful women." Therefore, Confucius wanted to leave Wei, and he and his students headed in the direction of the country Jin. He heard that there was a very wise minister who also used two wise men as his counselors, so this minister might recommend Confucius to the Duke of Jin. Unfortunately before Confucius arrived there, the two wise men were killed by the minister. Confucius decided not to got to Jin because this minister was using these two wise men before he got political power..

Confucius went to Song instead because there was a general who was good friends with Confucius’ student. There was a military officer who was afraid that Confucius might affect his career if Confucius’ worked in the government. So he sent some people to chop down the tree which Confucius and his students always stayed under and told Confucius to leave, or else his destiny would be the same as the tree.

When Confucius was about sixty-two years old, he got stuck in a place between Ch’en and Ts’ai because of war. At first they thought they could live there, then they found out nobody lived there any more because of the war. Confucius and his students live there for seven days. They survived by eating wild fruits and vegetables because of short food supplies. Many of his students were sick, but Confucius was still very calm and kept reading, singing, and playing instruments. One of his students asked Confucius, "Does a gentleman sometimes also find himself in trouble?" "Yes," replied Confucius, "a gentleman also sometimes finds himself in adversity, but when a common man finds himself in adversity, he forgets himself and does all sorts of foolish things."

Death

After fourteen years of traveling, Confucius finally returned to his homeland, Lu. But after all this time, the government of Lu still did not hire Confucius, nor did Confucius want to work for the government. Confucius concentrated on education and editing some ancient books of ritual and music. He taught poetry, history, ceremonies, and music to about three thousand students regardless of whether they were rich or poor.

When Confucius returned from his travels, the Duke of Lu welcomed him by using the ceremonies for distinguish guests. Confucius’ wife was dead one year before Confucius got back. Three years later, Confucius’ son and two of his favorite students were died one by one. It was a very big strike to Confucius, so he became very ill. Confucius was died in 479B.C. when he was seventy-three years old. Confucius was buried in Lu, on the River Sze in the north of the city. His disciples all observed the mourning of three years, because this is an ancient Chinese tradition when someone dies. Even though Confucius is dead, his great thoughts and actions will always effect us and be remembered forever.