Humiliated by the powerful, ordinary work... What was Confucius doing before the age of 30?

The original family is unhappy, humiliated by the powerful, the job is very ordinary...

What Confucius was doing before the age of 30

September 28 is the birthday of Confucius, which is currently recognized by the mainstream opinion of society, and many places will hold a series of Confucius festivals on this day. As Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty said, "Heaven does not give birth to Zhongni, and eternity is as long as night."

Confucius was not born the bearded old man on the portraits passed down in later generations, he also came from his youth. At that time, although he did not have the thrilling courage of becoming the chief secretary of the Lu state after middle age and taking charge of the criminal administration of the Lu state and cracking down on the "Three Huans" forces of the powerful, nor did he have the hardships and hardships of traveling around the world and promoting political ideas, let alone the glorious feats of revising the Six Classics and establishing the Taoist unity of Chinese culture, his feelings of home and country for the country and the people had already taken root, and he knew that the responsibility for what he could not do was also on his shoulders.

Not a happy family of origin

According to some current concepts, Confucius's original family is very problematic, belonging to the type of high open and low walk. His ancestors were originally the royal family of the Song Dynasty, and later moved to the State of Lu. Although his father, Uncle Liang, was a fallen nobleman, he was known among the princes for his bravery and good fighting; his mother, Yan Zheng, was the second wife of His uncle Liang Qi, more than 40 years younger than His uncle Liang Qi; his family was a surname of Qufu, so the Confucius family should belong to the local upper class.

Before Confucius, Shu Liangqi had 9 daughters with his ex-wife Shi Shi, and a son with a foot disease with his concubine, Meng Pi, who could not inherit the incense. Confucius was the son of Shu Liangyi in his 60s, the hope of the whole family, and should have had a happy childhood that was regarded as a pearl in the palm of his hand.

Unfortunately, when Confucius was 3 years old, his father died. In order to escape the complicated family conflict with the Shi family, his mother Yan Zheng took the 3-year-old Confucius out of his hometown in the countryside and moved to Queli in Qufu City, the capital of the State of Lu.

Although it was a single-parent family, the mother tried her best to create a good environment for the young Confucius with her diligent hands, and taught according to Confucius's nature. According to Sima Qian's "History of Confucius's Family", Confucius's childhood hobbies were different, "playing for children, often showing beans, and setting up ceremonial appearances", not like ordinary children who like to play, but liked to fiddle with the square and round beans used to place sacrifices during banquets, place them according to the ceremonial system, and then practice prostrating their heads.

In the political culture of the time, the familiarity of etiquette was an important indicator of distinguishing social classes. According to the Qing Dynasty Zheng Huan's "Confucius Family Examination", Yan Zheng, after observing his son's interest and talent in etiquette learning, "Yushi ceremonial instruments for playing", used the money saved to buy standard ceremonial instruments for Confucius, let him learn the etiquette system, and make it a ladder to get rid of the decline in family status and return to the aristocratic class in the future.

Humiliated in public by the powerful

After more than 10 years of confucius and his mother's dependence on each other, an even bigger blow came. When Confucius was sixteen or seventeen years old, his mother Yan Zheng died in her 30s due to overwork. Confucius took care of his mother's affairs in strict accordance with etiquette, and buried his parents together in Fangshan Mountain in eastern Qufu, winning the praise of those around him.

The man who loved Confucius the most in the world was gone and would never come back, and at the age of sixteen or seventeen he was going to study independently to earn a living. Soon, life taught him a lesson.

According to the "History of Confucius's Family", shortly after the death of Confucius's mother, the Jisun clan, the most powerful nobleman in the Lu state at that time, opened a banquet for "shi shi" and invited all nobles above the "shi" to attend the banquet. Although Confucius was still wearing filial piety for his mother at that time, and the mourning clothes were not removed, he was glad to "go with the past" considering that he, as the son of the famous warrior uncle Liang Qi, was eligible to participate in this gathering of the nobles of the Lu state, and it was possible to revive the voice of the Kong family at the party.

Unexpectedly, before he saw Ji Sun, Confucius was stopped at the door of Ji's house by Yang Hu, a minister of the Ji family. Yang Hu commanded and rebuked Confucius with great arrogance, "Ji Shi Zhi Shi, do not dare to eat Zi Ye", the Ji family is feasting on noble celebrities today, not to invite you Confucius. Yang Hu's words were tantamount to expelling Confucius from the ranks of the nobility on behalf of the Ji family. Confucius was not even recognized as a lowly "scholar", "retired from the court", and turned around and left the Ji family.

Yang Hu's arrogance could not kill Confucius, but made him more powerful. The mission of reviving the voice of the family is called ahead, and the most urgent thing now is to make a living.

Work hard in ordinary jobs

According to the Analects of Zihan, after Confucius became famous, Dazai, who was in charge of the affairs of the monarch's court, once said to Confucius's disciple Zigong, "The Master and the Sage are related to the Emperor. How versatile", Confucius is simply a saint, why can he master so many skills! Zigong, as a deified teacher, replied, "Gu Tianzhi will be holy, and multi-powerful", which is all arranged by heaven to make Confucius a saint, so that he has extraordinary skills.

When Confucius heard Zigong's answer, he did not think so, did not deify himself, but told the truth, "Does Dazai know me? I am also a little cheap, so I can despise things", this is all forced by life at that time, and every skill is a bitter but inspirational past.

According to the "History of confucius's family" and "Mencius Wanzhangxia", although Confucius was humiliated by the Ji family, in order to make a living, he also had to bear the burden of humiliation and bow to the Ji family, after all, the Ji family almost monopolized most of the industry in the Lu state. Confucius once served as a "commissar" for the Ji clan, and his duties were to manage the warehouse, increase the amount of materials, and account for the cashier. Confucius calculated and registered every account of income and expenditure clearly and clearly, "accounting is enough." Confucius later became a "priest" or "field", managing cattle and sheep animal husbandry. Confucius raised in the morning and evening, carefully cooked, "cattle and sheep thrive and grow", feeding cattle and sheep to fattening and strong.

Confucius knew that whether it was managing warehouses or animal husbandry, cattle and sheep could only solve the most basic survival problems at present, he also had to master more skills and "open more skill trees" in order to further develop.

In the aristocratic education system and political social etiquette at that time, the soldiers had to have the six skills of "six arts", namely etiquette (etiquette), music (music), archery (archery), imperial (driving), calligraphy (calligraphy), and counting (calculation). Confucius had already laid the foundation of etiquette at an early age, developed the art of "counting" when managing the warehouse, and later mastered the other four arts through self-study and learning from others.

Despite the "six arts", Confucius was quite modest. According to the Analects of Zihan, after Confucius became famous all over the world, a person from a place called Da Xiang Dang heard that his "six arts" were all exquisite, and praised him: "Confucius! Erudite and not famous", Confucius was an erudite generalist, and his talent could not be limited by the title of expert. When Confucius heard this, he said to his disciples, "Why do I cling to it? Obsessed? Shooting? I insist on the royal guard", for the master who has any ability, can shoot arrows, can drive, just know a little driving skills.

Be a gentleman and not go with the flow

No matter how modest and low-key Confucius later was, his talent in his youth has gradually become known. Such a talent, naturally there must be a beautiful person as a companion. According to the "Confucius Family Language", when Confucius was 19 years old, he married the Song Qiguan clan. The wife's family, like the Kong family, moved from the Song state to the Lu state in the early years, so the Yun Song Qi guan clan.

At that time, Confucius's talent was already famous in the Manchukuo kingdom, and the monarch had also heard about it. A year after Confucius married, about 20 years old, his wife bore him a son. When the king of Lu heard that Confucius was pleased with his son, he sent someone to send a carp to congratulate him. Confucius then gave his son the character carp and the word Boyu in return for the king's generous reward.

When the monarch was heavy and the people valued it, Confucius had a good future, but he chose a path that few people took.

According to the Zuo Chuan, in the seventeenth year of Lu Zhaogong (525 BC), that is, in the autumn of the year when Confucius was 27 years old, tan zi, a small state attached to the state of Lu, came to see the king of the state of Lu. Zhao zi, the grand master of the State of Lu, asked Tan Zi about the official system during the ancient Shao Hao clan period, and Tan Zi answered the ins and outs in detail. Confucius "smelled it" and immediately "learned from tanzi" and learned from him the history of the changes in the ancient official system. After completing his studies, Confucius said to people, "I have heard that 'the Son of Heaven has lost his official position, and he has learned in Siyi', and he believes in it", I often hear people say that the royal power has declined, and the officials responsible for culture and scholarship have scattered in all directions; I did not believe it before, but today I have seen it with my own eyes and verified it with my own ears.

Confucius, seeing the decline of culture and the decline of scholarship, was determined to reverse this decline. At the age of 15, he was "determined to learn", but before that, what he learned was only for the sake of rice sorghum and the survival of his own family, as he later said to his student Zi xia, it was for "little people Confucianism", and learning the "six arts" was only a way to make a living. After this, Confucius will be a "gentleman Confucian", and the study of the specific skills of the "Six Arts" will rise to explore its origins and changes, right and wrong, and meaning, so as to transcend the times and understand the ancient and modern. He learned the piano from Lu Guole's official Xiang Xiang, and from the music of "King Wen Cao", he experienced the personality of King Wen of Zhou and the feelings of the world. The purpose of Confucius's learning is no longer "as for the valley", that is, to seek a high-ranking official Houlu and revitalize the family's reputation, but to take the ming path and the way as the integrity, to take the world's life as its own responsibility, and to rely on the jianghu temple.

Confucius began to eagerly study all kinds of rules and regulations, and did not miss any opportunity to consult. According to the Analects of the Eight Nobles, Confucius entered the Taimiao Temple of the Ancestor Zhou Gong in the State of Lu, "asking everything", and asking everything clearly and plainly. Some people sarcastically said, "Who is the son of a man who knows the etiquette?" When entering the Taimiao Temple, everything is asked", and it is said that "Confucius" is the son of Shu Liang, who is the authority of the ceremonial system, but he must ask others about everything after entering the Taimiao Temple.

Confucius did not think much of it after listening, saying that "it is etiquette", and asking questions when things are not understood is "etiquette", and my approach is in line with the academic attitude of "knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing". Of course, there are also scholars such as Qian Mu who believe that this dialogue has another meaning, that is, Confucius used a rhetorical tone to satirize many of the ritual activities of the Luguo Taimiao Temple that did not conform to the real etiquette, and used the deliberate way of asking others for advice to awaken people's attention to the various non-"ritual" behaviors of the Taimiao Temple.

Some scholars also believe that when Confucius was young, he also went to Luoyang, where Zhou Tianzi was located, to study Zhou rites and ancient texts. The king of the State of Lu gave Confucius a child servant, a car, and two horses, and funded him to travel thousands of miles to Luo. Confucius also met with Lao Tzu in Luoyang to discuss scholarship. Of course, the specific age of Confucius's visit to Luoyang and whether he actually met Lao Tzu are also debated in academic circles.

Establish civilian education and set a lifelong ambition

In the process of studying, Confucius pushed himself and others and began to care about the education of the people at the bottom. As the lowest-ranking aristocratic "soldier", he could ask TanZi, Shixiang, Laozi and others for advice and confusion when he encountered difficulties, but in the educational pattern of "learning in the official government" and the monopoly of academic culture by the nobility at that time, the children of the common people did not have the opportunity to receive education.

Determined to change this unfair situation, the 30-year-old Confucius began to establish private schools, teach apprentices, and recruit the children of commoners with the concept of "teaching without class", breaking the moat established by the declining nobility on the issue of education, thus becoming the first professional educator in Chinese history and being revered by later generations as the most holy teacher.

As the Analects of shuer say, "I have not tasted nothing to do with myself", as long as i give a small gift of a bunch of dried meat as tuition, I can worship under Confucius and receive education. Confucius, who founded civilian education, held a lifelong ambition, taught people the way to stand up, and cultivated the feelings of family and country, and early disciples such as Zilu, Yanlu, and Zengdian came to him one after another. The lu nobleman Meng Yizi also sent his two sons, Meng Yizi and Nangong Jingshu, to worship Confucius as their teachers and learn from him.

There are stars ahead, there is light in the eyes, there is love in the heart, and there is a long road under the feet. Thirty years old, the young Confucius who is gradually moving towards the threshold of 40 years old is no longer confused, and already has the confidence and calmness to face all the unknowns, accusations, and incomprehensions in the future, and will be like "like the light of the sun and the moon" (Northern Song Dynasty Cheng Hao language), illuminating the long night of eternity.

(Wu Peng, Ph.D. in History, Chinese Min University)

Source: China Youth Daily