and again, "Through the valley howls the blast, A number of his disciples accompanied him, and his sadness infected them. When they arrived at the borders of Wei, at a place called E, the warden sought an interview, and on coming out from the sage, he tried to comfort the disciples, saying, "My friends, why are you distressed at your Master's loss of office? The empire has been long without the principles of truth and right; Heaven is going to use your master as a bell with its wooden tongue."2 Such was the thought of this friendly stranger. The bell did indeed sound, but few had ears to hear. Confucius' fame, however, had gone before him, and he was in little danger of having to suffer from want. On arriving at the capital of Wei, he lodged at first with a worthy officer, named Yen Ch'owyew. The reigning duke, known to us by the epithet of Ling, was a worthless, dissipated man, but he could not neglect a visitor of such eminence, and soon assigned to Confucius a revenue of 60,000 measures of grain.5 Here he remained for ten months, and then for some reason left it to go to Ch'in. On the way he had to pass by K'wang, a place probably in the present department of K'ae-fung in Ho-nan, which had formerly suffered from Yang-hoo. It so happened that Confucius resembled Hoo, and the attention of the people being called to him by the movements of his carriage-driver, they thought it was their old enemy, and made an attack upon him. His followers were alarmed, but he was calm, and tried to assure them by declaring his belief that he had a divine mission. He said to them, "After the death of king Wăn, was not the cause of truth lodged here in me? If Heaven had wished to let this cause of truth perish, then I, a future mortal, should not have got such a relation to that cause. While Heaven does not let the cause of truth perish, what can the people of K'wang do to me?"8 Having escaped from the hands of his assailants, he does not seem to have carried out his purpose of going to Ch'in, but returned to Wei. On the way, he passed a house where he had formerly been lodged, and finding that the master was dead, and the funeral ceremonies going on, he went in to condole and weep. When he came out, he told Tsze-kung to take one of the horses from his carriage, and give it as a contribution to the expenses of the occasion. "You never did such a thing," Tsze-kung remonstrated, "at the funeral of any of your disciples; is it not too great a gift on this occasion of the death of an old host ?" "When I went in," replied Confucius, "my presence brought a burst of grief from the chief mourner, and I joined him with my tears. I dislike the thought of my tears not being followed by any thing. Do it, my child."9 B.C. 495. On reaching Wei, he lodged with Keu Pih-yuh, an officer of whom honourable mention is made in the Analects. 10 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. No doubt he was innocent of thought or act of evil, but it gave great dissatisfaction to Tsze-loo 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!"'12 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 8 Ana. IX. v. In Ana. XI. xxii., there is another reference to this time, in which Yen Hwuy is made to appear. 9 See the Le Ke, II. Pt. I. ii, 16. 10 Ana. XIV. xxvi.; XV. vi. 12 Ana. VI. xxvi. 11 See the account in the 史記孔子世家 r 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 beanty."13 Wei was no place for him. He left it, and took his way towards Ch'in. Ch'in which formed part of the present province of Ho-nan, lay south from Wei. After passing the small State of Ts'aou,14 he approached the borders of Sung, occupying the present prefecture of Kwei-tih, 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'uy, 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 T'uy do to me?"15 They all made their escape, but seem to have been driven westwards to the State of Ch'ing, 16 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 Ching that there was a man standing by the east gate, with a forehead like Yaou, a neck like Kaou-yaou, his shoulders on a level with those of Tsze-ch'an, but wanting, below the waist, three inches of the height of Yu, 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!"'17 The stay they made at Ch'ing was short, and by the end of B.C. 495, Confucius was in Chin. All the next year he remained there lodging with the warder of the city wall, an officer of worth, of the name of Ching, 18 and we have no accounts of him which deserve to be related here. 19 Yung digests in this place two foolish stories,-about a large bone found in the State of Yue, and a bird which appeared in Ch'in and died, shot through with a remarkable arrow. Confucius knew all about them. In B.C. 493, Ch'in was much disturbed by attacks from Woo,20 a large State, the capital of which was in the present department of Soo-chow, and Confucius determined to retrace his steps to Wei. On the way he was laid hold of at a place called P'o0,21 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."22 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."23 A circumstance occurred to direct his attention to the State of Tsin,24 which occupied the southern part of the present Shan-se, and extended over the Yellow river into Ho-nan. An invitation came to Confucius, like that which he had formerly received from Kung-shan Fuh-jaou. Peih Heih, an officer of Tsin, who was holding the town of Chung-mow against his chief, invited him to visit him, and Confucius was inclined to go. Tsze-loo was always the mentor on such occasions. He said to him, "Master, I have heard you say, that when a man in his own person is guilty of doing evil, a superior man will not associate with him. Peih Heih 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? "25 These sentiments sound strangely from his lips. After all, he did not go to Peih Heih; 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 20吳 20. 21. also in the Family Sayings. I would fain believe it is not true. The wonder is, that no Chinese critic should have set about disproving it. 23. Ana. XII. x. 25 Ana. XVII. vii. 21蒲· 22. This is related by Sze-ma Ts'een, p. 7, and 24 晉 Wei, lamenting the fate which prevented him from crossing the stream, and trying to solace himself with poetry as he had done on leaving Loo. Again did he communicate with the duke, but as inef fectually, and disgusted at being questioned by him about military tactics, he left and went back to Ch'in. He resided in Ch'in all the next year, B.C. 491, without anything occurring there which is worthy of note.26 Events had transpired in Loo, however, which were to issue in his return to his native State. The duke Ting had deceased B.C. 494, and Ke Hwan, the chief of the Ke family, died in this year. On his deathbed, he felt remorse for his conduct to Confucius, and charged his successor, known to us in the Analects as Ke K'ang, to recall the sage; but the charge was not immediately fulfilled. Ke K'ang, by the advice of one of his officers, sent to Ch'in for the disciple Yen K'ew instead. Confucius willingly sent him off, and would gladly have accompanied him. "Let me return!" he said, "Let me return!"27 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 Ch'in to Ts'ae, a small dependency of the great fief of Ts'oo, which occupied a large part of the present provinces of Hoonan and Hoo-pih. On the way, between Ch'in and Ts'ae, their provisions became exhausted, and they were cut off somehow from obtaining a fresh supply. The disciples were quite overcome with want, and Tsze-loo 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, when he is in want, gives way to unbridled license."28 According to the "Family Sayings," the distress continued seven days, during which time Confucius retained his equanimity, and was even cheerful, playing on his lute and singing.29 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 Ch'in and Ts'ae, there were none remaining to enter his door.30 Escaped from this strait, he remained in Ts'ae over B.C. 489, and in the following year we find him in She, another district of 26 Tso-k'ew Ming, indeed, relates a story of Confucius, on the report of a fire in Loo, telling whose ancestral temple had been destroyed by it. 27 Ana, V. xxi. 28 Ana, XV. i, 2, 3, 20 家語卷二在危二十篇 30 Ana. XI. ii. |