CALVORNIA BOOK I. CONFUCIUS AND HIS SCHOOL CHAPTER I LIFE OF CONFUCIUS An objective attitude toward the ideals and sages of one's own country is not easily to be attained. There is a corresponding difficulty in gaining a sufficiently sympathetic attitude toward the ideals and sages of a strange people. For these reasons it has seemed best to the writer to undertake a general estimate of the worth of Confucius and of Confucianism at the end, rather than at the beginning, of this study. The reader who has gone with him to the conclusion can better judge how far the estimate is objective, after seeing the evidence on which it is based; and he will also be better enabled to view the problem sympathetically. The words of a western writer shall, therefore, serve as our introduction. Von der Gabelentz says: Quite unique is the position occupied by him who, as no other man, was a teacher of his people, who, I venture to say, has become and continued to be a ruler of his people, the Sage of the family K'ung in the State of Lu, whom we know by the name of Confucius. Unique is his position, not only in the history of philosophy, but also in the history of mankind. For there is hardly any other man who, like Confucius, incorporated in his own person all the constituent elements of the Chinese type and all that is eternal in his people's 10 VINU AIMBOTLIAD 4 Confucius has indeed been the maker of the Chinese people, but he himself did not spring from an uncivilized world. The date of the beginning of Chinese history is unknown, but it is certain that China has existed as a nation for at least six thousand years. The first legendary emperor, Pao Hsi, or Fu Hsi, is placed 2402 years before the Confucian era (2953-2839 B. C.). After the period of the Five Emperors, came the period of the Three Kings of as many dynasties, and it was during the Chou dynasty, the last of these three, that Chinese civilization reached maturity. It was after long periods of so-called sage rulers who were regarded as the heads of both religion and government, at the highest development of Chinese civilization under the Chou dynasty, and in the most cultured state of the Duke of Chou, that Confucius appeared. Confucianism, the new religion founded by Confucius, is therefore not the religion of a primitive tribe, but the religion of a civilized people. While this was the general stage of development preceding the advent of Confucius, it must not be imagined that actual conditions during his time were so perfect as to make the work of a reformer unnecessary. The age of Confucius was quite remote from that of the sage rulers. With 1 Confucius und seine Lehre, p. 4 et seq., quoted in Friedrich Hirth's The Ancient History of China, pp. 242-3. the beginning of Ping Wang's reign (219 B. K.1 or 770 B. C.), the Chou dynasty had practically fallen, and all the emperors of the Eastern Chou line were without real power. It was the age of feudalism. Each feudal estate was an independent nation, each prince of each nation fought for its supremacy, and the power of the princes was greater than that of the emperor. During Confucius' time, the power of the prince in each state had generally fallen into the hands of a few noble families, and the government had become a form of oligarchy. Sometimes the private officials of these families took public affairs into their own hands. The confusion and disorder brought about by the ruling class extended over the whole empire, while the common people, who were not sufficiently educated to help themselves, were entirely neglected. Although the great mass of the people in Confucius' time was uneducated, there was a middle class which had educated itself. Since China had been civilized for so long a time, the people were naturally developed to some extent. During the period of the Eastern Chou dynasty, although the power of the imperial government declined, the intellectual growth of the people increased. The greater importance acquired by the different independent states with the diminishing power of the emperor gave rise to much peaceful diplomatic intercourse as well as to many hostile military expeditions, and these forms of contact had an educative influence upon a considerable class of the people. Further, as the political power was shifting from class to class and from person to person within each state, some noble families had been ruined, and some common people had risen. Thus the profession of learning was also shifted We use the forms B. K. and A. K. to avoid confusion with the C. in the western chronology, as in B. C. The Chinese form of the name, Confucius, is K'ung Fu Tzů. and more widely diffused. Moreover, in such a struggle, every one had absolute freedom of movement and of speech. It was a condition very favorable to the development of the minds of the people. Such was the time in which Confucius was born. But the birthplace of Confucius was no less important than his time. His family had settled in the state of Lu, which was the state of the Duke of Chou. As the Duke himself remained with the imperial government, he gave the administration of his estate over to his son, who conducted it according to his father's principles and under his direction. Lu had become the center of Chinese civilization. About Confucius' time, Lu, although subordinate to the great states in military force, was supreme in art, literature, philosophy and morality. Among Confucius' ancestors was Ch'êng T'ang, the founder of the Yin dynasty (1215-1203 B. K. or 1766-1754 B. C.). After the fall of this dynasty, Wei Tzů, brother of the fallen emperor, was enfeoffed by Chou Ch'êng Wang in the dukedom of Sung. The tenth ancestor of Confucius resigned his dukedom to his younger brother, and thus it passed out of the direct line of Confucius. Five generations later, K'ung-fu Chia, the sixth ancestor of Confucius, invented the surname of K'ung from his adult designation indicating separation from the house of the duke in conformity with the ancient custom. On account of some political trouble, the great-grandfather of Confucius fled from Sung to the state of Lu, and became mayor in the city of Fang. Confucius' father, Shu-liang Ho, was mayor in the city of Tsou, and distinguished himself as a brave soldier. Since on reaching the age of sixty-four he had no heir who could be his successor, he was obliged to marry a young girl, Yen Chêng-tsai, who became the mother of Confucius. The year of Confucius' birth, according to the Commen taries of Kung-yang and Ku-liang, was the twentieth year of Chou Ling Wang's reign (552 B. C.); but the beginning of the Confucian era is dated one year later (551 B. C.) on account of a mistake made by Ssu-ma Chien, the greatest historian.1 His birthday, according to the present Chinese calendar, is the twenty-first day of the eighth month. His birthplace is in the present district of K'ühfeu, Shantung province. Kung was his family name; Ch'iu, his personal name; and Chung-ni, his adult designation. The word Confucius has come from three Chinese words, Kung Fu Tzu, Fu Tzu meaning master. Confucius was powerful in body and keen in mind. He studied under many masters and in many places, becoming a many-sided and versatile man. The greatest service of Confucius to his contemporaries was as a teacher. Opening his school at the age of twentytwo, he taught continuously to the time of his death. When he was thirty-five, a noble of one of the leading families of Lu, on his death-bed, ordered his two sons, Mêng Yi-tzů and Nan-kung Ching-shu, to become pupils of Confucius, and these two noble pupils undoubtedly increased his influence. When at this time he wished to visit the imperial capital, Nan-kung Ching-shu advised the Marquis of Lu to furnish a carriage, two horses and a servant for him, and himself accompanied his teacher. During this visit a very significant interview occurred between Confucius and Lao Tzů, the earliest philosopher of the Chou dynasty, then keeper of the imperial archives, and later regarded as the founder of Taoism. Confucius consulted this learned man concerning the rites, questioned Chang Hung, a high im He began to write the Historical Record in 448, and finished it in 455 (104-97 B. C.). 2 Canonical Interpretation of the Ts'ing Dynasty, vol. xxxiii, ch. i. |