A Passage to China (走近中国) - The Life of Confucius

Confucianism is a belief system deeply rooted in the Chinese soil. It is inseparable with the great teacher, Confucius. What is about his life? What does Confucianism tell us? And how well is Confucianism received in Chinese history? A glimpse of these few aspects will help us understand Confucianism much better.

The Life of Confucius

Confucius(551 BC-479 BC), whose Chinese name was Kong Qiu, also called Kong Fuzi, or Kong Zi (Master Kong), was born of an aristocratic family that lost its wealth and position in the State of Lu(now Qifu City, Shandong Province) in a period of feuding kingdoms and social disharmony. His 60-year-old father died shortly before the birth of the child, and his 20-year-old widowed mother was determined to provide his son with an education is spite of the hard struggle for survival. Confucius was interested in the subjects such as poetry, Chinese history recording, goods arrangement and rules guiding in the ceremonies of serving Heaven with their profound knowledge. Rujia(儒家) was named after it, which is known in the West as Confucian School.

Even as a youth, he seemed to have been extremely interested in the in-terworkings of society, particularly in what constitutes good government. This was to be his main theme for the rest of his life. In his late teens, he accepted a minor position in government, where ha closely observed the ruling process. He married and fathered one son, but the marriage ended in divorce. Some Confucian scholars joked that it was one of the reason why Confucius devalued women in his remarks. His mother died when he was sixteen. Being a devoted son, Confucius mourned for his mother for three years at his mother’s tomb.

Sometime during his thirties, Confucius began his true career, the career of a teacher. He was the first person in Chinese history that opened up a private school to common people. His reputation as a man of learning attracted many young followers, and they lived in his home and followed him in his journeys. In his teaching, he applied the method of discussion, debating with his students, and his philosophical ideas were formulated and gradually improved. He preached adherence to ritual and propriety as the supreme answer to the inherent disorder of the society. During his lifetime, he wandered from court to court attempting to teach their rulers the correct way to rule.

At the age of thirty-five, he followed the Duke of Lu to visit the neighboring State of Qi(now Zibo City, Shandong Province). The Duke of Qi asked him how to govern a state, and was convinced by his idea, ”Let the ruler be a ruler and the subject a subject”, and intended to keep Confucius as a consultant. But the enemies of Confucius became jealous of his success and he had to leave the powerful State of Qi.

At the age of fifty he was more famous and was invited by the Duke of Lu to become its prime minister. It is said that he was very successful in applying his own way to reform the society and during his leadership, the state was so well governed that the crime rate dramatically dropped to almost zero. People no longer locked their doors, and a wallet that was dropped on the street was left untouched for days. Again his success brought with it enemies, and he had to retire form government at the age for fifty-five.

During the next fourteen years, Confucius had no position and was largely ignored. He left the State of Lu with sadness and wandered from place to place with a few of his faithful disciples. Sometimes he was accepted by the populace and treated well. At other times he and his friends were jeered and even jailed. But he devoted himself to two things: editing the classical literature left by the Dynasties of Xia, Shang and Zhou and teaching students. Through the editing of the old books, Confucius established his position with the following Confucian classics (six scriptures, LiuJing):

1. Classic of Poetry(Shi Jing)
   
2. Classic of History(Shu Jing)
   
3. Classic of Changes(Yi Jing)
   
4. Record of Rites(Li Jing)
   
5. Spring and Autumn Annals(Chun Qiu)
   
6. Classic of Music(Yue Jing), lost in history

Throughout his life, he taught about 3,000 students and 72 of them were well-known and played important roles in the government of states at their times. Confucius died in the year 479BC, aged about 72 and was widely mourned by his disciples. According to tradition, many of his disciples moved to his grave and stayed to mourn Confucius for three years. His most faithful disciple named Zi Gong built a hut beside his grave and stayed to mourn for six years.

The glorification of Confucius, or the establishment of Confucianism, as reflected in the Analects,a collection of writing on his life and saying compiled by his disciples, began after his death. Later his ideas permeated every level of Chinese society, and became the most influential and fundamental of the Chinese philosophies. Especially since the Han Dynasty, almost all the emperors took Confucius as a Saint and built temples for him in the capital and his hometown (Qufu). To show respect, many emperors visited Qufu to hold ceremony in memory of this great figure. After his death, Confucius received many high titles, much more than he could imagine in his lifetime, and his disciples received successive rewards from the emperors..

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