Heaven and earth are conceived and all things are born, birds are grown by phoenixes, beasts are headed by unicorns, and scales and armor are honored by dragons, controlling heaven and earth. Dragon Phoenix, Turtle Lin, Qilin ranks among the four spirits, but it is a beast.
Confucius was a great thinker, statesman, and educator in ancient China, the founder of the Confucian school, and the "Most Holy Teacher of Dacheng".
So, do you know the close relationship between Qilin and Confucius?
Confucius and The Qilin had an indissoluble relationship, and his encounter with the Qilin ran through his entire life.
The first time, when Confucius was born, a qilin descended on the Confucius family's mansion and spat out a jade book, which read: "The descendants of the water spirit, the king of the decline of the Zhou Dynasty, the sign of the Sage."
What does this mean? Translated into the vernacular, it means that "this child, the son of the water spirit, was born with holy virtues, but was born in the decaying world, and can only be the king of the inner saints." The so-called King of the Inner Saints, that is, the King of Su who has no throne, that is, there is no land and no people, but as long as history and culture exist, his throne and power will always exist.
At that time, in order to express their gratitude, the Kong family tied a piece of colored embroidery to the horn of the qilin, and Confucius's extraordinary life began in this way.
The second association was before Confucius became a great sage. Confucius dreamed of a red smoke rising from the ground, and then dreamed of a unicorn wandering forward.
The appearance of the Qilin meant that the saint was going to appear in the world, and Confucius wondered if there was a wise master who wanted to guide me? So he drove to Russi, passing through a swamp, and rescued a unicorn from a child. In order to thank him, Qilin spat out from his mouth the three scriptures of heaven, earth, and man.
Confucius suddenly realized that the sage who had pointed out to him was Qilin (麒麟). Since then, he has studied these three sutras intensively, and finally became a world-famous Confucian.
The third and final time was before The death of Confucius. At that time, Confucius was compiling the Spring and Autumn Period, and here I would like to add that the Spring and Autumn Classic, also known as the Spring and Autumn Classic, the Lin Jing or the Lin History, etc.
In the spring, dukes and ministers of Lu Ai went hunting in Jiaxiang, west of the country, and Confucius and several of his disciples also went with them. Lu Aigong sent a hunting beast for Confucius and his disciples to identify, but it turned out to be a unicorn, which is the famous "Western Hunting and Harvesting" incident.
The Qilin died, Confucius believed that the Qilin was a spirit beast, although it appeared, but it was not a good sign to die, I am afraid that his own life would also come to an end. At this time, it was a great blow to Confucius, and also to his confidence in restoring the prosperity of the Taiping Dynasty, he said: "My way is poor", and "Spring and Autumn" was written.
Two years later, Confucius died at the age of 72.
"Born when you meet Lin, die when you get Lin", this is the story of Qilin and Confucius.