Confucius: A life off the rails at the age of 55
Back then, Confucius's luck was very bad.
At the age of fifty-five, he was disappointed and had to leave the country of Lu.
During the fourteen-year journey, he encountered various accidents: he wanted to cross the Yellow River and rush to the Jin State, but the Jin State broke out into civil strife; on the way to the Song State, he learned that the other party intended to kill him, and fled to the Chen State in a hurry; a few years later, the Chen State became a battlefield, so he went to the Cai State; but on the way, he was robbed and ran out of food for a long time; just when he was about to meet the overlord of the Central Plains, King Chu Zhao, the King of Zhao died suddenly......
When he returned to his homeland in the ancient year, he ushered in the death of his son Kong Li, his lover Yan Hui and Zilu.
What to do, Confucius was probably also desperate.
If someone interviewed Confucius and asked him: Is life a wilderness or a track?
He is afraid that he will say: after the track fails, life is forced to become a wilderness.
This is not a metaphor, in the late Spring and Autumn Period, when wars were frequent, in front of Confucius, who left the Lu State, the Central Plains, which contained dozens or hundreds of countries, slowly unfolded. The moment he decided to lobby the king and promote his ideas, his life in his later years became magnificent.
From today's point of view, Confucius's travels can be called performance art. He and his disciples would first live in the house of an official and wait quietly for the king to summon them, sometimes for several years.
It is sometimes difficult to say how much influence Confucius's ideas themselves have had during these ten years, but it is certain that the "artistic" part of his actions shook everyone.
"This man is so confident, could it be that he really has a point?" people at the time may have thought.
Momentum is probably really important.
The Japanese literary giant Yasushi Inoue wrote a novel about the story of Confucius after his "derailment".
Yan Hui:
The teacher only stayed because he liked it
During the fourteen-year journey, Confucius and his entourage stayed in the state of Chen for nearly four years. In the past few years, Confucius lived a very leisurely life. He lived in the house of a doctor, and during the day he walked around, answering all kinds of questions from the common people, from farming to rituals, or holding meetings to expound his thoughts, chatting and discussing with his disciples at night, and occasionally going to the palace to meet the king.
It stands to reason that Confucius's political ideal was a society of great harmony, and he always hoped to use the power of a strong country to promote benevolent government. But Chen was a weak country, and he was caught between the two powerful countries of Wu and Chu at that time.
No matter how long the teacher stays here, I am afraid that the situation will not change much. The disciples probably thought so.
So, after staying in Chen Guo for half a year, seeing that the teacher had no intention of leaving, Zilu asked Yan Hui and Zigong: The teacher doesn't know how long he will stay.
The two did not answer. Zilu said to himself, the teacher probably wanted to help Chen Guo, but when he arrived, he found that he couldn't help, and people were so good to us, so he was embarrassed to leave.
As he spoke, he looked a little happy, and he probably thought it was funny that the teacher was in trouble.
Zigong said that the master would not be so inconsiderate, he must have some plans, and he chose to return to the Chen State of Chu, of course, in order to meet the king of Chu one day. Staying in Chen Guo is to pave the way for this matter.
Yan Hui first lowered his head and was silent, then looked up into the distance, and said, the teacher only stayed because he liked it here.
Yan Hui slowly raised his head and looked into the distance, and said slowly: "Right now, the master should not leave here, maybe for a few years." The Master probably has a good opinion of this country. Compared with Wei Guo, Qi State, and even his hometown Lu State, he loves this little Chen State more. Here's how I see it. He added: "If that is the case, then what does the Master like about this country? It seems to me that the people of this place are fond of lewd voices and worship witchcraft. Nevertheless, the Master ......
Despite this, the master still liked this weak Chen Guo. Why is this country so inextricable for the Master? I've been thinking about this question lately, but I still haven't been able to get into the Master's heart. (Excerpt from Confucius)
It's you, Yan Hui.
Sub-Path:
Why good people suffer misfortune
A few years later, when Wu besieged Chen, Confucius and his entourage set off for Chu, where they were attacked by the remnants of Wu's army, and their wagons and grain were looted. The young laborers who accompanied them fled at night, and the group fell into a desperate situation with no cars and no food.
Finally, we came to a deserted village, and everyone was unable to move due to hunger and exhaustion.
At this time, Zilu suddenly got up and walked to Confucius's side, asking: Will good people also come to the end of the road?
"Is a gentleman also poor?"
The master put down the piano and turned his head to look at Zilu.
"The gentleman is poor," the master's voice was loud and deafening, "the villain is poor!"
When the villain is impoverished, he will behave recklessly and will not be able to restrain himself. And even if a gentleman is down, he can maintain his character. That's what the Master said.
Zilu stood in place, bowed deeply to the master, and then twisted his body sharply, stretched out his arms at shoulder level, and slowly swayed to the rhythm. (Excerpt from "Confucius")
Zilu was over 50 years old at the time, hungry, and still dancing when he was in the mood. I think of "Jojo's Fantasy World" that only free people dance.
Although that was 2,500 years ago, Zilu was a free man.
孔子：
Let's go, go home
The group came to Chu and met Ye Gong (who just likes dragons), Ye Gong showed his daily necessities engraved with dragon patterns, and smiled and told the story of "Ye Gong is a good dragon". Of course, he didn't see the dragon, let alone faint.
At that time, the state of Chu was at war with the state of Wu, the king of Chu Zhao was personally recruited, and Ye Gong, as an important official, was also called to the front. When he returned, he brought bad news: King Chu Zhao was dead.
Confucius worked hard and prepared for many years to meet the king of Chu. He believed that the state of Chu had the strength to dominate the Central Plains, and he also believed that his doctrine would make the people of the world happier, and one more important thing was that he hoped to introduce three excellent disciples, Zilu, Zigong, and Yan Hui, to King Zhao to help them realize their own value.
But it all fell apart overnight.
On the way back to his residence, Confucius's steps were vain, and his disciples hugged him tightly, fearing that the teacher would fall to the ground because of the bad news. But Confucius didn't seem to show much emotion, and for a long time, he said:
Let's go, let's go home.
"Return, return. The kid of our party is crazy and simple, and he has made a chapter, and I don't know why he cut it. ”
"Go back, it's time to go back. The disciples of my hometown, the young people who stayed in the country of Lu, they have dreams and lofty ambitions, and they can weave beautiful patterns of brocade, but they don't know how to cut them. ”
"They need me. Go back, it's time to go back. ”
The Master said. (Excerpt from "Confucius")
A grand "performance art" has come to an end.
The book says that Confucius's greatest achievement is to educate people and cultivate many outstanding talents. But it is this journey of repeated failures that people talk about, and it is the key to why Confucius became Confucius.
He did a magnificent and romantic "stupid thing", and won the trust of the world - if he was a bombastic person, how could he make such a big effort to joke with his own life!
The world is unpredictable, and failure is beautiful.