Sima Qian suggests that after his ‘bitter gourd’ statement, Confucius threw himself into music, perhaps to soothe his soul and heal his wounds. He recounts that one day Confucius was playing the chimes in his home and a man carrying a wicker crate passed by his door. The man heard Confucius playing and declared, ‘Poor fellow, playing the chimes! He is self-willed but does not know himself. It is useless to talk with him.’ Such a statement implies that even the lowliest of characters in Wei were aware of Confucius’ predicament, though they may not have been particularly sympathetic and seem to have had strong opinions about him. On another occasion, Confucius supposedly practised playing the lute for ten days without attempting anything new, demonstrating a somewhat obsessive approach to his own musical education. He had a music tutor called Shi Xiangzi, who encouraged him, telling him to go ahead and try a fresh piece. Confucius replied, ‘I have learned the tune but not the technique,’ and continued to practise. His teacher told him that he had mastered the technique and should go on to something different. Confucius then insisted, ‘I have not yet caught the spirit.’ Sometime later, his teacher said that he had indeed caught the spirit and advised him to move on. Confucius replied, ‘I cannot yet visualise the man behind it,’ but shortly afterwards declared, ‘This is the work of a man who thought deeply and seriously, one who saw far ahead and had a calm, lofty outlook. I see him now. He is dark and tall, with far-seeing eyes that seem to command all the kingdoms around him. No one but King Wen could have composed this music.’ His teacher congratulated him on his observations, revealing that the piece Confucius had been working so hard to master was indeed the Lute Song of King Wen. Although Confucius had perhaps been seeking escape from his professional woes by immersing himself in the study of classical music, his fascination for this piece had brought him back to one of his great cultural heroes, King Wen, a founder of the Zhou dynasty and an inspiration for Confucius’ political career.27
Shortly after this musical revelation, Confucius is said to have composed a lute song of his own in honour of two virtuous ministers of the neighbouring state of Jin. Confucius planned to visit Zhao Jianzi, the head of the powerful Zhao clan of Jin, in the hope of finding work with him. However, when he reached the Yellow River he heard the news that two of Zhao’s ministers, Dou Mingdu and Shun Hua, had been killed. Deeply shocked by their deaths, he stared into the river and sighed, ‘A grand sweep of water! But I am not fated to cross it!’ When his loyal student Zigong asked him why not, he explained to him that these two men were of great virtue. When Zhao Jianzi was rising to power he had insisted on having the two wise ministers by his side, but now that he had achieved it he had arranged for them to be killed. Confucius then presented a more mystical explanation of why he could not now proceed to Jin. ‘I have heard that when you destroy unborn animals or kill young game, the unicorn will not come to the countryside; when you dredge and empty the ponds while fishing, the dragon will not harmonise the yin and yang; when you destroy the nest, the phoenix will not hover nearby. It follows that a gentleman must take offence if one of his kind is injured. If the very birds and beasts shun the unjust, how much more must I!’ He turned back and stayed for a while in a small village, where he composed a lute song to mourn the two noble ministers who, like him, had been disregarded by those in power.28
His own relationship with Duke Ling of Wei remained complicated and strained. Confucius was not employed as an official adviser but, as we have already seen, the Duke still sought his advice. On one occasion the Duke apparently asked Confucius about warfare, and the latter replied, ‘I know something about sacrificial vessels, but I have never studied military science.’ Then, the next day, while they were conversing, the Duke looked up at some wild geese flying by and ignored Confucius. That act of disregard may well have been the last straw for Confucius, and he very likely considered the sight of the geese flying to be a bad omen, perhaps for the Duke. Confucius finally left Wei and returned to Chen in the south around 491 BC. Duke Ling died shortly afterwards.
Chen, Cai and She
Meanwhile, their home state of Lu was undergoing some significant political changes. Duke Ding of Lu had died in 494 BC, and a new Duke, Ai, had been appointed. The leader of the Jisun clan, feeling regretful about Confucius’ departure from Lu, is said to have suggested to his own successor that he invite Confucius back and hire him as an adviser to Duke Ai. Apparently there was opposition to this idea among the other ministers of Lu, who felt that Confucius’ resignation had been an embarrassment to the court and did not wish to risk another such departure. Under pressure from these ministers, the new Duke instead chose to hire one of Confucius’ followers, Ran Qiu, as his adviser. Ran Qiu, who was probably travelling with Confucius at the time, eagerly accepted the appointment and began his service under Duke Ai. Confucius was undoubtedly disappointed and probably rather insulted by this turn of events, but was powerless to protest. Instead, one of his other students, Zigong, urged Ran Qiu to reinstate Confucius once he was installed in his new post. For reasons that are not clear, Ran Qiu did not do so immediately, leaving his teacher and fellow followers to wander for several more years.29
Although Confucius longed to leave Chen and return to Lu with Ran Qiu, his own pride forced him to await an invitation and he continued his peripatetic life away from home. It seems that he spent about a year in Chen. Then, according to Sima Qian, he stayed in the small neighbouring state of Cai for about three years. From Cai, he appears to have visited nearby She, a district that had once been part of Cai but was now under the jurisdiction of Chu. He was questioned by the Duke of She about good government. Confucius told him that the art of good government lies in ‘attracting the people from far away and winning the hearts of those close by’.30 Zilu apparently made a separate visit to She, and there he was asked by the Duke for his opinion of his teacher. When he told Confucius that he had been unable to give an opinion, Confucius said, ‘Why didn’t you tell him, “He is a man who never wearies of studying the truth, never tires of teaching others, but who in his eagerness forgets his hunger and in his joy forgets his bitter lot, not worrying that old age is creeping on”?’ This charming and very revealing self-portrait helps us to understand why, even though he had moments of despondency during his days of wandering, he was able to continue travelling and teaching and hoping that he might be hired as an adviser. More than any government position or professional success, he valued the acquisition of knowledge and the sharing of this knowledge with others. It filled him with the joy necessary to forget his political failures and carry on.
While in She, Confucius became involved in a discussion with the governor about a criminal case that presented an interesting moral dilemma. It involved a man known as Upright Gong. Gong’s father had apparently stolen a sheep, and when he was caught by the authorities, Gong bore witness against him. Confucius was not impressed by this man’s actions and stated, ‘Among my people, men of integrity do things differently: a father covers up for his son, and a son covers up for his father – and there is integrity in what they do.’31 Confucius’ response to the governor clearly indicates that he believed that one’s loyalty lay first with one’s family and then with the government. Probably because of Confucius’ opinion of Upright Gong and his choice to turn his own father in, this dispute has become one of the most debated legal and moral cases in Chinese history.32
At around this point in Confucius’ travels, he and his group are believed to have encountered several characters who may have been Daoist sages. These men typically renounced the world of cities, politics and human relationships in search of a more natural life that was closer to the Dao, the Way or force that animates the universe. Many of these recluses lived in the mountains or in rural settings, occasionally taking up farming to feed themselves. On the road from She back to Cai, Confucius and his party are said to have met two men who may have been such recluses, Changju and Jieni, ploughing the fields. Confucius instructed Zilu to ask the men for directions to the fo
rd that they were planning to cross. When Zilu approached them, they asked him who the man driving the carriage was. When he told them that it was Confucius from the state of Lu, Changju replied, ‘He should know where the ford is then.’ Then, Jieni asked Zilu if he was one of Confucius’ disciples, and Zilu replied that he was. Jieni’s advice to Zilu was: ‘The whole world goes its own way and who is to change it? Better, surely, to follow those who shun the world than one who only shuns certain men?’33 With those words, the two men went on covering the seeds in their fields. When Zilu told Confucius what the men had said, he retorted, ‘Birds and beasts are no company for men. If the world were on the right path I should not try to change it.’34
On another occasion while on the road, Zilu was alone and met an old man carrying a hoe and asked him if he had seen his master. The old man snapped at him with indignation, ‘You who have never used your four limbs, who don’t know the difference between the five grains – who is your master?’ He then started weeding. When Zilu finally found Confucius and told him about the old man, Confucius replied that he must have been a recluse. They went back to the spot where he had been weeding, but he had disappeared.35 Though very brief, these encounters between Confucius and his followers and the three Daoist recluses have been included in biographies of Confucius as a means of illustrating the key difference in approach between traditional Daoists and Confucianists. When human relationships became too difficult, Daoists would typically renounce society, while followers of Confucius would try to change society. The first two recluses were clearly mocking Confucius for rejecting his various employers but continuing to look for worthier men to work for, and advocated to Zilu their own approach of shunning all men. The old man, in turn, mocked Zilu for having no connection with the natural world and the earth. What kind of master, he implied, would fail to teach a student about living in nature?
Shortly after these two encounters Confucius and his group were travelling between Chen and Cai, and it was on this part of their journey that they met their greatest challenge. The large state of Wu attacked Chen, and the other large southern state of Chu came to Chen’s defence, sending them troops that had been stationed nearby. The Chu leaders heard that Confucius was currently somewhere between Chen and Cai and invited him to meet with them. According to Sima Qian, when the ministers of Chen and Cai heard this, they worried that Confucius was too familiar with the workings of their own two states and that if he were to be hired by the mighty state of Chu, his knowledge could be used against the two smaller states. So, Chen and Cai sent some troops to surround Confucius and his followers and make sure that they could not leave for Chu. Confucius and his group ran out of supplies and went without food for seven days.36 Although they were on the verge of starvation and had nowhere to turn for help, Confucius merely played his lute and sang. It was at this point that Zilu challenged Confucius to explain why a gentleman should find himself in such dire straits, and Confucius took advantage of their current predicament to teach them that it is at times, like these that one’s true character is put to the test. When he asked his students why his teachings had not been adopted by a ruler, Yan Hui was the one who understood that they must never give up advocating the true, right way of their Master’s teachings, no matter how much resistance they met. This was the sign of a real junzi, or gentleman.
After this important lesson, the group was somehow able to find help. Confucius apparently sent Zigong out to try to make his way to Chu, and the student was successful, persuading King Zhao to dispatch troops to bring Confucius and his followers back to Chu. Chu was the largest and most powerful of the southern states that lay outside Zhou territory. When they arrived in Chu, it was the first time they had left Zhou lands and found themselves among what they had presumably considered to be barbarians. Their stay there did not last long, however. King Zhao was on the verge of giving Confucius a large area of his domain to rule when his chief minister advised him that if he granted Confucius land, he and his entourage of highly able men might rise up and take over the whole empire themselves. King Zhao backed down and again Confucius was left without a position.
One day, when riding in his carriage, Confucius heard a man often described as the ‘eccentric of Chu’ singing to him as he passed the carriage:
Ah, phoenix, phoenix,
How powerless you are!
Useless to blame what’s done.
Take thoughts for what’s to come.
Enough, enough!
Today there is danger
For those who guide the state.37
Confucius was startled by this song and climbed out of his carriage, hoping to find the singer. But the eccentric had run off. Perhaps Confucius was alarmed by the man’s warning, or perhaps he was conscious of being too far from his home state. Again, he packed up his belongings, gathered his followers and made his way back north.
Final return to Wei
Again they landed in Wei. Confucius was already sixty-three years old and no doubt very tired of travelling. In Wei, according to Sima Qian, many of his students obtained government positions, while Zigong was called upon to resolve a conflict between Lu and the large southern state of Wu. Meanwhile, back home in Lu, his other former pupil Ran Qiu was successful in defeating the northern state of Qi in battle, and attributed his success to what he had learned from Confucius. He explained that his Master was someone who ‘wants his actions to correspond to his principles. In applying his principles to govern the people he tries to carry out the wishes of the gods. This is what he wants, not to possess wealth to the value of a thousand wishes.’ Apparently the chief minister of Lu, Ji Kangzi, was deeply impressed by this description of Confucius and asked, ‘Can I ask him back?’ Ran Qiu, aware of the past difficulties Confucius had met with other ministers, insisted, ‘If you do, you must not let petty-minded men obstruct him.’38 The minister agreed and sent an invitation to Confucius to return to Lu.
At that very moment one of the most powerful men in Wei was apparently eager for Confucius to stay there to advise him on military strategy, among other things. Although he was not interested or able, in his own opinion, to give military advice, Confucius must have been glad finally to be asked to serve in Wei after being largely ignored for so long. However, years of wandering from state to state during tense political times, as well as the numerous vain attempts to persuade rulers to follow his advice, must have worn Confucius down. Furthermore, as his later follower Mencius noted, the periods of time Confucius spent unemployed and far from home would have caused considerable anxiety for him as a gentleman. ‘For a gentleman to lose his position is like a feudal lord losing his state.’ Without a government post, a gentleman would have no land and without land he could have no sacrificial animals and vessels. Thus he would not be able to offer a sacrifice to his ancestors and host a feast for the living members of his family. For such a gentleman as Confucius, who was committed to honouring his ancestors, this must have been a source of distress.39 Once the letter arrived from Duke Ai of Lu inviting Confucius to return, it was not hard for the Master to make his decision. He had been out of the state of Lu for fourteen years and it was time to go home.
8
The Final Years
Confucius returned to Lu in the winter of 484 BC. He had been invited back home by the Duke and Chief Counsellor of Lu, and they had sweetened the invitation with a large financial gift. This must have been a source of considerable satisfaction for Confucius after many years of feeling unappreciated in his home state. The two new rulers, Duke Ai and the Chief Counsellor, Ji Kangzi, had replaced Duke Ding and Ji Huanzi, who had been the cause of Confucius’ departure from Lu fourteen years before, and these younger men no doubt perceived Confucius as a state elder, or guolao,1 who possessed valuable political wisdom. He had travelled widely throughout the country and had experienced first-hand the political wrangling of the region, so he had acquired a unique knowledge of political affairs that would be a great benefit to any leader. Some of his wisdom
was reflected in his two followers, Ran Qiu and Zigong, who now held prime government posts. Ran Qiu was employed as the Chief Steward of the mighty Jisun clan, who wielded the most power in Lu, and he had attributed his own recent victory against armies from the northern state of Qi to knowledge he had acquired from Confucius. Zigong, who was considered an expert in rites and diplomacy, had, as mentioned earlier, recently followed in his teacher’s footsteps by using his diplomatic skills – rather than military might – to prevent a battle with (and likely defeat by) a powerful neighbouring state. At the age of sixty-nine, with the respect of his leaders and excellent connections in the government, Confucius finally seemed poised to become an important adviser to the Duke.
Indeed, Confucius is said to have provided both Duke Ai and Ji Kangzi with advice on several occasions. Duke Ai asked Confucius about good government, and Confucius replied, ‘The art lies in choosing your ministers well.’2 With this statement Confucius may well have been hinting to the Duke that he should hire him, but we know from his earlier comments about the Duke of Wei, who was a weak ruler but was surrounded by able advisers, that he genuinely thought that such men could offer great assistance to even the most incompetent ruler. On another occasion Ji Kangzi, who was not only Chief Counsellor but also head of the Jisun clan, sought his advice too. Confucius told him, ‘If you use the straight in place of the crooked, the crooked will become straight.’3 Ji Kangzi was troubled by some cases of theft and asked Confucius for his opinion on the matter. Confucius responded, ‘If you yourself were free from desire, they would not steal even if you paid them to do so,’4 suggesting to the minister the importance of leading by example. Ji Kangzi also asked Confucius, ‘Suppose I were to kill the bad to help the good: how about that?’ Confucius’ reply is probably the most famous counsel he gave to any ruler or minister about the importance of leading from a position of exemplary morality: ‘You are here to govern; what need is there to kill? If you desire what is good, the people will be good. The moral power of the gentleman is wind, the moral power of the common man is grass. Under the wind, the grass must bend.’5 Confucius chose such words in the hope of persuading the current Jisun leader to adopt a morally superior position as an administrator. Although Confucius probably did not know Ji Kangzi well enough to judge his personality, it seems likely that his advice to him may have been based on his own previous experience of the Jisun family, whom he considered to be far from straight in their political dealings and driven by a desire to enhance their own power.
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