B. C. 495.

honourable mention is made in the Analects 1. But this time he did not remain long in the State. The duke was married to a lady of the house of Sung, known by the name of Nan-tsze, notorious for her intrigues and wickedness. She sought an interview with the sage, which he was obliged unwillingly to accord 2. No doubt he was innocent of thought or act of evil, but it gave great dissatisfaction to Tsze-lû that his master should have been in company with such a woman, and Confucius, to assure him, swore an oath, saying, Wherein I have done improperly, may Heaven reject me! May Heaven reject me!' He could not well abide, however, about such a court. One day the duke rode out through the streets of his capital in the same carriage with Nan-tsze, and made Confucius follow them in another. Perhaps he intended to honour the philosopher, but the people saw the incongruity, and cried out, Lust in the front; virtue behind!' Confucius was ashamed, and made the observation, 'I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty. Wei was no place for him. He left it, and took his way towards Ch'ăn.

Chăn, which formed part of the present province of Ho-nan, lay south from Wei. After passing the small State of Ts'âo, he approached the borders of Sung, occupying the present prefecture of Kwei-teh, and had some intentions of entering it, when an incident occurred, which it is not easy to understand from the meagre style in which it is related, but which gave occasion to a remarkable saying. Confucius was practising ceremonies with his disciples, we are told, under the shade of a large tree. Hwan T'ûi, an ill-minded officer of Sung, heard of it, and sent a band of men to pull down the tree, and kill the philosopher, if they could get hold of him. The disciples were much alarmed, but Confucius observed, 'Heaven has produced the virtue that is in me;-what can Hwan Túi do to me?' They all made their escape, but seem to have been driven westwards to the State of Chăng, on arriving at the gate conducting into which from the east, Confucius found himself separated from his followers. Tsze-kung had arrived before him, and was told by a native of Chang that there was a man standing by the east gate, with a forehead like Yâo, a neck like Kâo-yâo, his shoulders on a level with those of Tsze-ch'an, but wanting, below the waist, three

inches of the height of Yü, and altogether having the disconsolate appearance of a stray dog.' Tsze-kung knew it was the master, hastened to him, and repeated to his great amusement the description which the man had given. The bodily appearance,' said Confucius, 'is but a small matter, but to say I was like a stray dog, -capital! capital'!' The stay they made at Chăng was short, and by the end of B. C. 495, Confucius was in Ch'ăn.

All the next year he remained there, lodging with the warder of the city wall, an officer of worth, of the name of Chăng 2, and we have no accounts of him which deserve to be related here 3.

In B. C. 494, Chăn was much disturbed by attacks from Wû 1, a large State, the capital of which was in the present department of Sû-châu, and Confucius determined to retrace his steps to Wei. On the way he was laid hold of at a place called P'û, which was held by a rebellious officer against Wei, and before he could get away, he was obliged to engage that he would not proceed thither. Thither, notwithstanding, he continued his route, and when Tszekung asked him whether it was right to violate the oath he had taken, he replied, 'It was a forced oath. The spirits do not hear such. The duke Ling received him with distinction, but paid no more attention to his lessons than before, and Confucius is said then to have uttered his complaint, 'If there were any of the princes who would employ me, in the course of twelve months I should have done something considerable. In three years the government would be perfected ".'

A circumstance occurred to direct his attention to the State of Tsin, which occupied the southern part of the present Shan-hsî, and extended over the Yellow river into Ho-nan. An invitation came to Confucius, like that which he had formerly received from Kung-shan Fu-zâo. Pî Hsî, an officer of Tsin, who was holding the town of Chung-mâu against his chief, invited him to visit him, and Confucius was inclined to go. Tsze-lû was always the mentor on such occasions. He said to him, 'Master, I have heard you say, 司城貞子. See Mencius,

1 See the 史記,孔子世家, p. 6.

V. Pt. I. viii. 3.

2

3 Chiang Yung digests in this place two foolish stories,—about a large

bone found in the State of Yüeh, and a bird which appeared in Ch'iă and died, shot through 6 This

4

with a remarkable arrow. Confucius knew all about them. ‘吳. ·蒲.

is related by Sze-ma Ch'ien, P. 7, and also in the 'Narratives of the School.'

I would fain believe it is not true. The wonder is, that no Chinese critic should have set about disproving it.

7 Ana. XII. x.

8

晉.

that when a man in his own person is guilty of doing evil, a superior man will not associate with him. Pî Hsî is in rebellion; if you go to him, what shall be said?' Confucius replied, 'Yes, I did use those words. But is it not said that if a thing be really hard, it may be ground without being made thin; and if it be really white, it may be steeped in a dark fluid without being made black? Am I a bitter gourd? Am I to be hung up out of the way of being

eaten 1?'

These sentiments sound strangely from his lips. After all, he did not go to Pi Hsi; and having travelled as far as the Yellow river that he might see one of the principal ministers of Tsin, he heard of the violent death of two men of worth, and returned to Wei, lamenting the fate which prevented him from crossing the stream, and trying to solace himself with poetry as he had done on leaving Lû. Again did he communicate with the duke, but as ineffectually, and disgusted at being questioned by him about military tactics, he left and went back to Ch'ăn.

He resided in Chăn all the next year, B. C. 491, without anything occurring there which is worthy of note2. Events had transpired in Lû, however, which were to issue in his return to his native State. The duke Ting had deceased B. C. 494, and Chi Hwan, the chief of the Chî family, died in this year. On his death-bed, he felt remorse for his conduct to Confucius, and charged his successor, known to us in the Analects as Chi K'ang, to recall the sage; but the charge was not immediately fulfilled. Chî K'ang, by the advice of one of his officers, sent to Ch'an for the disciple Yen Ch'iû instead. Confucius willingly sent him off, and would gladly have accompanied him. Let me return!' he said, 'Let me return!' But that was not to be for several years yet.

In B. C. 490, accompanied, as usual, by several of his disciples, he went from Chăn to Ts'âi, a small dependency of the great fief of Ch'û, which occupied a large part of the present provinces of Hûnan and Hû-pei. On the way, between Ch'an and Ts'âi, their provisions became exhausted, and they were cut off somehow from obtaining a fresh supply. The disciples were quite overcome with want, and Tsze-lû said to the master, 'Has the superior man indeed to endure in this way?' Confucius answered him, 'The superior man may indeed have to endure want; but the mean man, 2 Tso Ch'iû-ming, indeed, relates a story of Confucius, on the report of a fire in Lû, telling whose ancestral temple had been destroyed by it. 3 Ana. V. xxi.

1 Ana. XVII. vii.

when he is in want, gives way to unbridled license1.' According to the 'Narratives of the School,' the distress continued seven days, during which time Confucius retained his equanimity, and was even cheerful, playing on his lute and singing. He retained, however, a strong impression of the perils of the season, and we find him afterwards recurring to it, and lamenting that of the friends that were with him in Chăn and Ts'âi, there were none remaining to enter his door 3.

Escaped from this strait, he remained in Ts'âi over B. C. 489, and in the following year we find him in Sheh, another district of Chu, the chief of which had taken the title of duke, according to the usurping policy of that State. Puzzled about his visitor, he asked Tsze-lû what he should think of him, but the disciple did not venture a reply. When Confucius heard of it, he said to Tsze-lû, 'Why did you not say to him:-He is simply a man who in his eager pursuit of knowledge forgets his food, who in the joy of its attainment forgets his sorrows, and who does not perceive that old age is coming on?' Subsequently, the duke, in conversation with Confucius, asked him about government, and got the reply, dictated by some circumstances of which we are ignorant, 'Good government obtains, when those who are near are made happy, and those who are far off are attracted ".'

After a short stay in Sheh, according to Sze-mâ Ch'ien, he returned to Ts'âi, and having to cross a river, he sent Tsze-lû to inquire for the ford of two men who were at work in a neighbouring field. They were recluses,-men who had withdrawn from public life in disgust at the waywardness of the times. One of them was called Ch'ang-tsü, and instead of giving Tsze-lû the information he wanted, he asked him, 'Who is it that holds the reins in the carriage there?' 'It is K'ung Ch'iû.' 'It is K'ung Ch'it.' 'K'ung Ch'iû of Lû?' 'Yes,' was the reply, and then the man rejoined, 'He knows the ford.'

Tsze-lû applied to the other, who was called Chieh-nî, but got for answer the question, Who are you, Sir?' He replied, 'I am Chung Yu. 'Chung Yu, who is the disciple of K'ung Ch'iù of Lu?' 'Yes,' again replied Tsze-lû, and Chieh-nî said to him, 'Disorder, like a swelling flood, spreads over the whole kingdom,

and who is he that will change it for you? Than follow one who merely withdraws from this one and that one, had you not better follow those who withdraw from the world altogether?' With this he fell to covering up the seed, and gave no more heed to the stranger. Tsze-lû went back and reported what they had said, when Confucius vindicated his own course, saying, 'It is impossible to associate with birds and beasts as if they were the same with us. If I associate not with these people, with mankind,—with whom shall I associate? If right principles prevailed through the kingdom, there would be no need for me to change its state1.'

About the same time he had an encounter with another recluse, who was known as 'The madman of Ch'û.' He passed by the carriage of Confucius, singing out, 'O phoenix, O phoenix, how is your virtue degenerated! As to the past, reproof is useless, but the future may be provided against. Give up, give up your vain pursuit.' Confucius alighted and wished to enter into conversation with him, but the man hastened away?.

But now the attention of the ruler of Ch'û-king, as he styled himself was directed to the illustrious stranger who was in his dominions, and he met Confucius and conducted him to his capital, which was in the present district of Î-ch'âng, in the department of Hsiang-yang3, in Hû-pei. After a time, he proposed endowing the philosopher with a considerable territory, but was dissuaded by his prime minister, who said to him, 'Has your majesty any officer who could discharge the duties of an ambassador like Tsze-kung? or any one so qualified for a premier as Yen Hui? or any one to compare as a general with Tsze-lû? The kings Wăn and Wû, from their hereditary dominions of a hundred l, rose to the sovereignty of the kingdom. If K'ung Ch'iû, with such disciples to be his ministers, get the possession of any territory, it will not be to the prosperity of Ch'û? On this remonstrance the king gave up his purpose; and, when he died in the same year, Confucius left the State, and went back again to Wei.

B. C. 489.

The duke Ling had died four years before, soon after Confucius had last parted from him, and the reigning duke, known to us by the title of Ch'û', was his grandson, and was holding the principality against his own father. The relations

1 Ana. XVIII. vi.

2 Ana. XVII. v. 襄陽府宜城縣
HA.

the 史記, 孔子世家, p. 10.

• See