Confucianism is not a religious, although many observers have pointed out that the reverence done K'ung Tzu is closely akin to theology. Lin Yutang has explained this in My Country and My People in this way: "So true was Confucianism to the humanist instinct that neither Confucius nor any of his disciples was ever made a god, although many less literary and military figures in Chinese history were duly canonized or deified. A common woman, who suffered wrongs and faced death to uphold her chastity, might in an amazingly short time become a popular local goddess, prayed to by all the villagers. Typical of the humanist temperament is the fact that although idols were made of Kuan Yu, a brave and loyal general in the time of the Three Kingdoms, idols were not made of Confucius, nor of the ancestor in the halls of ancestral worship. Iconoclasts have really nothing to do when they enter a Confucian temple. In the Confucian and ancestral temples there are merely oblong wooden tablets, inscribed with characters bearing the names of the spirits they represent, having as little resemblance to idols as a calendar block. And in any case, these ancestral spirits are not gods, but merely human beings who have departed but who continue to take an interest in their progeny as they did in their lifetime. They can perhaps, if they are great souls, protect their descendants, but they themselves need their progeny's protection and succour through offerings of food for their hunger and burnt paper money for their sundry expenses in hell, from which place it is the duty of their children to save them by a Buddhist mass. In a word, they are to be cared for and served as they have been cared for and served by their children in their old age. That is about as close as Confucianism comes to religion in the matter of worship."
Confucius made no claim to immortality. He didn't reject the gods, but he believed they were unknowable and better left alone. If man cannot understand life, how can he possible know the gods? Respect is sufficient. Confucius said: "He who sins against Heaven has none to whom he can pray?" He rejected superstition to an amazing extent for the times in which he lived.
What was his life like? The Chinese know much more about their ancestors than most people of the world - even about those who lived thousands of years ago. Records and old books still exist - although not in the original form. The Confucian classics were first written on bamboo slips, then in later times on silk. Not all that Confucius supposedly wrote is authentic, and the first biography was written about 300 years after his death. Still, a great deal is revealed with remarkable objectivity.
His first biographer was the father of Chinese historians, Szema Ch'ien, who was as objective as it was possible to be in those times and not a Confucianist. He visited the birthplace of Confucius and talked to people who were still trying to live according to Confucian precepts. This is Confucius' life story, in part, according to Szema Ch'ien as adapted from the Lin Yutang translation.
Confucius was born in the town of Tsou, in the county of Ch'anping, in the country of Lu. His early ancestor was K'ung Fangshu, a ninth generation descendant of a king of Sung and a fourth generation ancestor of Confucius. Fangshu was the father of Pohsia and Pohsia was the father of Shuliang Ho, the father of Confucius by an extra-marital union with a girl of the Yen family. She prayed at the hill Nich'iu and begat Confucius in the 22nd year of Duke Hsiang of Lu (551 B.C.). There was a noticeable convolution on his head at birth. This was why he was called "Ch'iu" (meaning a "hill"). His literary name was Chungni, and his surname was K'ung.
His father died soon after Confucius' birth and was buried at Fangshan in Eastern Lu (Shan-tung). Confucius was in doubt as to the place of his father's tomb, because his mother concealed the truth from him. When he was a child, he played at making sacrificial offerings and performing the rites. When his mother died, he buried her temporarily in the Street of the Five Fathers. When he found out the whereabouts of his father's grave, he buried his parents together at Fangshan.
Confucius was born of a poor and common family, but when he grew up, he was put in charge of the granary of the house of Baron Chi. He was noted for the fairness of his measures. He took charge of the livestock. Cattle and sheep quickly multiplied. He was made a minister of public works but soon left his home country of Lu. He was unceremoniously sent away by the country of Ch'i, driven out of Sung and Wei, and landed in difficulties and faced bodily danger in the area between Ch'en and Ts'ai. After these wanderings, he returned to Lu.
Confucius was very tall and the people marveled at his stature. The government of Lu had always been courteous to him. The Duke of Lu gave Confucius and a disciple a carriage with two horses and a page to go to the Emperor's capital at Chou to study ancient rites and ceremonies. Confucius saw Laotse (the Taoist) and received this advice: "A man who is brilliant and thoughtful is often in danger of his life because he likes to criticize people. A man who is learned and well read and clever at arguments often endangers himself because he likes to reveal people's foibles. Do not think of yourself only as a son or a minister at court."
When Confucius returned to Lu, more disciples came to study under him ... Subsequently, when Lu was plunged into disorder, Confucius went to Ch'i, where he served as secretary to Baron Chao Kao. He heard the music of Hsiao (symbolic dance music attributed to Emperor Shun (2255-2204 B.C.) and forgot the taste of meat for three months. The people of Ch'i were impressed. One day the Duke of Ch'i asked Confucius about government, and Confucius replied: "The king should be like a king, the ministers like ministers, the fathers like fathers and sons like sons." The Duke was pleased and said that if this were not so, how could he hope to have anything to eat, even if there was plenty of grain. When the Duke asked about good government on another occasion, Confucius replied: "Good government consists in limiting state expenditures." Others at the court opposed Confucius. The Duke stopped asking Confucius' advice and finally told him that he had grown too old to put the Confucian reforms into practice. Confucius returned to Lu, which soon fell into the hands of the barons and was plunged into a state of moral chaos. Confucius decided not to go into the government but to retire for study and to edit the books of poetry, history, ritual and music. Still more disciples came, some from far away.
When Confucius was 50, Baron Huan called on him to apply his teachings to the practice of government. Confucius considered the offer but in the end did not accept it. Later on, Duke Ting made Confucius the magistrate of Chungtu. In a year the town had become a model city for its neighbors. Confucius was promoted to be Secretary of Public Works and finally became Grand Secretary of Justice. At 56, he was named Chief Minister. He ordered the execution of a minister who had plunged the government into disorder. After three months, the mutton and pork butchers no longer adulterated the meat and men and women followed different lanes in the streets. Things lost were not stolen. Foreigners visiting Lu did not have to go to the police but regarded themselves as at home.
Confucius went to the country of Wei and was given a salary of 60,000 bushels of rice, the same as he had received in Lu. He stayed only 10 months. Someone spoke ill of him to the Duke, who had a functionary dressed in military uniform pass in and out of Confucius' room. Confucius took the hint and went on to "Ch'en. Further traveling ensued. On one occasion Confucius was a captive, and swore he would not return to Wei if given his freedom. When released, he went straight to Wei. Asked how he could break his oath, he said it was made under duress and would be distegarded by the gods. More wanderings followed.
In 490 B.C., Confucius went from Ts'ai to Yeh, and the Duke of Yeh asked him about government. Confucius replied: "Good government consists in winning the loyalty of the people nearby and attracting the people far away." Another time the Duke asked a disciple about Confucius and the disciple did not reply. Confucius upbraided him: "Why didn't you tell him that I am a man who pursues the truth untiringly, and teaches people unceasingly, and who forgets to eat when he is enthusiastic about something and forgets all his worries when happy or elated, and who is not aware that old age is coming on?"
When Confucius sent a disciple to ask directions, the informant suggested that Confucius ought to know the way. "The world is full of people wandering about," he said, "but who is ever going to change the present stage of affairs? Furthermore, rather than follow one who avoids certain types of people, why not follow one who avoids society altogether." When the disciple told this to Confucius, Confucius said: "Birds and beasts (and those who try to imitate them) are not right company for us. If there were a moral order in the present world, why should I bother to change it." On another occasion, a disciple asked an old man: "Have you seen the Master?" The old man replied: "Who is the Master - a man who doesn't work with his arms and legs and who doesn't know how to distinguish between the different kinds of grains." The old man thereupon began to weed the field. When told of this, Confucius commented: "He must be a retired philosopher."
Confucius wandered in Ts'ai for three years. The state of Wu was attacking Ch'en, and Ch'u carne to the rescue (in 489 B.C.). The army of Ch'u was encamped at Ch'engfu and sent somebody to ask for Confucius. The ministers of Ch'en and Ts'ai plotted together: "Confucius is a very able man. He has pointed out the weaknesses of the rulers of the different states. Now he has remained around here for a long time and doesn't seem to like what we are doing. Ch'u is a powerful state and is thinking of using Confucius, and if Confucius should ever gain power in Ch'u, our countries would be in trouble and we the ministers would be in danger." They sent soldiers to surround Confucius in the countryside. Confucius' party could not get away and food was in short supply. Many members of the party were ill, but Confucius kept on reading and singing, accompanying himself on a stringed instrument. The disciple Tselu came to Confucius and angrily asked: "Does a gentleman sometimes find himself in adversity?" "Yes," replied Confucius, "a gentleman sometimes finds himself in adversity, but when a common man finds himself in adversity, he forgets himself and does all sorts of foolish things." He then, spoke of "a central thread which runs through all my knowledge:" the Golden Rule or Doctrine of Reciprocity, which is summarized as "do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you."
Confucius asked Tselu if his teachings were wrong. "How is that I find myself in this situation." Tselu replied: "Perhaps we are not great enough and have not been able to win the people's confidence. Perhaps we are not wise enough and the people are not willing to follow our teachings." Confucius replied that if the great could always gain the confidence of the people, "why did Poyu and Shuch'i have to go and die of starvation in the mountains? If the wise men could always have their teachings followed by others, why did Prince Pikan have to commit suicide?"
Another disciple said: "The Master's teachings are too great for the people, and that is why the world cannot accept them. Why don't you come down from the heights a little?" Confucius replied: "A good farmer plants the field but cannot guarantee the harvest, and a good artisan can do a skillful job, but he cannot guarantee to please his customers. Now you are not interested in cultivating yourselves, but are only interested in being accepted by the people. I am afraid you are not setting the highest standard for yourself."
The rulers of Wei wanted to obtain Confucius' services. He was asked what he would do if he had power. "I would begin by establishing a correct usage of terminology (of ranks and titles)," he said. Asked why, Confucius replied: "If the terminology is not correct, then the whole style of one's speech falls out of form; if one's speech is not in form, then orders cannot be carried out; if orders are not carried out, then the proper forms of worship and social intercourse (in ritual and music) cannot be restored; if the proper forms of worship and social intercourse are not restored, then legal justice in the country will fail; when legal justice fails, then the people are at a loss to know what to do or what not to do. When a gentleman institutes something, he is sure by what terminology it should be called, and when he gives an order, he knows that the order can be carried out without question. A gentleman never uses his terminology indiscriminately."
In 484 B.C., Jan Ch'iu, who was assisting in the administration of the government of Lu, led a victorious army against Ch'i. Asked where he learned the science of warfare, he said from Confucius. He told Baron K'ang of Confucius: "If you should put him in power, his reputation would spread immediately. You could apply his teachings to the people and lay them before the gods, and even the gods will find not fault with them. What he is seeking is to put a country into a condition of perfect moral order. Even if you should give him the rule over 25,000 families, he would not abuse the power for his own selfish ends." "May I summon him?" asked Baron K'ang. "No," replied Jan Ch'iu, "you should not summon him - that would be impolite, treating him like a common man; you should entreat him to come."
K'ung Wentse of Wei was going to attack T'aishu. He asked Confucius for advice about tactics. Confucius declined politely, saying he didn't know anything about tactics. Afterward, Confucius said: "A bird can choose a tree for its habitation, but a tree cannot choose the bird." Confucius returned to Lu in 484; he had been abroad for 14 years.
Duke Ai of Lu asked Confucius about government, and Confucius replied: "The secret of government lies in selecting the right ministers." Baron K'ang Chi asked the same question, and Confucius replied: "Raise the righteous men into power and let them serve as the measure for the unrighteous, and the unrighteous will return to righteousness. Baron K'ang was worried about bandits and thieves, and Confucius said: "If you yourself do not love money, even though you should present the thieves with money, they won't take it."
Lu did not see fit to give Confucius power, and he no longer sought or desired office. The power of the Chou Emperors had declined, the forms of worship and social intercourse (ritual and music) had degenerated and learning and scholarship had fallen into decay. After studying the past, he concluded that Shang represented a ritual culture and Hsia a culture of simple life. He considered that these had been merged into a perfect, beautiful pattern during the Chou dynasty. Chou culture became his ideal.
He discussed music, which was a lifetime love. "The principles of music may be known," he said. "A performance should begin peacefully, then it develops into full harmony and clarity, and closes with a continuation or repetition of the theme." Confucius personally sang 305 songs and accompanied himself. Through his efforts, the tradition of ancient rites and music was rescued from oblivion and handed down to posterity.
In his old age, Confucius developed a love for the study of Yiking, or the Book of Changes. He read it so thoroughly that the leather strap (holding the bundle of inscribed bamboo sticks) had to be replaced three times. "Give me a few more years to study," he said, "and I should be pretty good at the philosophy of the mutation of human events. Confucius taught poetry, history, ceremonies and music to 3,000 pupils. Confucius stressed literature, human conduct, being true to one's self and honesty in social relationships. He denounced (and tried to avoid) arbitrariness of opinions, dogmatism, narrow- mindedness and egotism. He showed concern and care for the ceremonial bath (in preparation for worship), war and sickness. He seldom talked about heaven's will or destiny or fate. He did not wish to teach those who would not think for themselves.
In his private life, in his native village or with his own people, he was gentle and refined, like one who could not talk much, but at the places of public worship, and at the courts, he was eloquent, yet very careful in his choice of words. At court, he would talk serenely and respectfully with his superiors, and quite affably with his inferiors. On entering a public hall, he would bow and hasten forward respectfully. When a king's messenger came, he would at once assume a serious demeanor, and when a king summoned him, he would go without waiting for the carriage. When fish or meat were not fresh, or when they were not cut neatly, he would not eat them. When the mat was not laid out properly, he would not sit down. When he ate in the company of people in mourning, he would not eat his fill, and if he should cry (at a funeral ceremony), he would not sing that day. When he saw people in mourning or passed by blind people, he would change his countenance, even though they were children. He said: "I never walk in the company of three persons, without finding that one of them has something to teach me." "What concern or worry me are the following: that I have forgotten to cultivate my character, that I have neglected my studies, that I have not been able to follow the right course when I see it, and that I have not been able to correct my mistakes." When he heard a man sing and liked it, he would ask for an encore and then join in the refrain. He refused to discuss the mythological, exploits of physical prowess, unruly people and the spirits.
Tsekung said of Confucius, "The Master taught us literature and scholarship; this we can learn from him. What we cannot learn from him or what he did not teach us was what he thought about Nature and the ways of Nature (or Heaven)." Yenyuan (or Yen Huei) sighed and said: "You look up to it and it seems so high. You try to drill through it, and it seems so hard. You seem to see it in front of you, and all of a sudden it appears behind you. The Master is very good at gently leading a man along and teaching him. He taught me to broaden myself by the observance of proper conduct. I just felt carried along but after I have done my very best, or developed what was in me, there still remains something austerely standing apart, uncatchable. Do what I could to reach his position, I can't find the way." A young man of Tahsiang said: "Great is Confucius! He knows about everything and is an expert at nothing," and when Confucius heard this, he said: "Now what am I going to specialize in? Shall I specialize in archery or in driving a carriage?" Tselo said: "Confucius said of himself that he didn't go into the government, and that was why he had plenty of time to study the different arts and literature."
In the spring of the 14th year of Duke Ai of Lu (481 B.C.), there was a hunt in the country and Baron Shusun's driver caught a strange animal which was regarded as bad luck. Confucius looked at it and declared it was a unicorn, and the people brought the animal home. Confucius then said: "Alas, no tortoise bearing magic anagrams has appeared in the Yellow River and no sacred writings have come out of the River Lo (omens for the appearance of a philosopher-king). I have given up." When Yen Huei died, Confucius said: "I see Heaven is going to take away my mission from me." And when he saw the unicorn during the hunt in the Western countryside, he said: "This is the end of it all." He heaved a sigh, saying: "There's no one in this world who under stands me." Tsekung said: "Why do you say there is no one who understands you?" Confucius said: "I don't blame Heaven and I don't blame mankind. All I try to do is my best to acquire knowledge and to aim at a higher ideal. Perhaps Heaven is the only one who understands me." He said of Poyi and Shuch'i that they did not compromise their principles and were not disgraced; he said of Liuhsia Huei and Shaolien that they compromised their principles and were disgraced; he said of Yuchung and Yiyi that they lived in seclusion and indulged in high talks of philosophy, but that these people were at least not materialistic and that they adjusted themselves to their cir circumstances according to the principle of expediency. "But I'm different from all of them. I decide according to the circumstances of the time and act accordingly."
Confucius said: "This won't do! This won't do! A gentleman is ashamed to die without having accomplished something. I realize that I cannot get into a position of power to put into effect my governmental ideal. How am I going to account for myself in the eyes of posterity?" He therefore wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals on the basis of the existing histories, beginning from Duke Yin (722 B.C.) and coming down to the 14th year of Duke Ai (481 B.C.), thus covering the period of 12 dukes (of Lu). He wrote from the point of view of Lu, but tried to show proper respect to the Chou Emperors, harking back to the Shang dynasty and showing the changes in the systems of the Three Dynasties. He adopted a most concise style, but injected into it a profound meaning. That was why, although the rulers of Su and Ch'u usurped the title of kings, the Spring and Autumn Annals degraded their ranks and simply called them barons. At a certain conference, the Emperor was actually summoned by the dukes to appear, but the Spring and Autumn Annals, in an effort to whitewash the matter, said, "The celestial emperor carne to hunt." In this manner, he used different words implying approval or condemnation in criticism of the practices of the times, in the hope that should a great king appear in the future and open that book and adopt the principles implied therein, the unruly princes and robbers of power would be ashamed and restrain themselves. When Confucius was an official, he would go over the cases of lawsuits and official documents with his colleagues and seek their opinions, and not make his own decisions, but in writing the Spring and Autumn Annals. he wrote down and deleted exactly as he thought fit, and the disciples like Tsehsia were not able to put in a word. When Confucius taught the Spring and Autumn Annals to his disciples, he said future generations would judge him accordingly.
Tselu died in 480 B.C. and Confucius became ill. Tsekung came to visit him. Confucius was walking with a stick and sang a song:
Ah! the T'aishan (mountain) is crumbling down! The pillar is falling down!
The philosopher is passing out!
He shed tears and spoke to Tsekung. "For a long time the world has been living in moral chaos and no ruler has been able to follow me. The people of the Hsia dynasty kept their unburied coffins above the eastern steps (of the Chinese courtyard), the people of the Chou dynasty kept their coffins above the western steps and the people of the Shang dynasty kept them (in the main hall) between the two pillars. Last night I dreamt I was sitting and receiving (or making) a libation between the two pillars. Perhaps it was because I am a descendant of the Shangs." Seven days afterward he died, aged 73 (or 72 by Western reckoning). This was on the day chich'ou of April in the 16th year of Duke Ai (479 B.C.).
Duke Ai sent a prayer to the funeral of Confucius which said: "Alas! Heaven has no mercy on me and has not spared me the Grand Old Man. He has left me, the poor self, alone and helpless at the head of the state, and I am a sick person now. Alas! Father Ni (or Chung Ni, Confucius' name)! Great is my sorrow! Do not forget me!" Tsekung said: "Did not Confucius die within the country of Lu? (It was the duke's fault that Confucius was not raised to power.) The Master said: 'When the ceremonies are improper, things become disorderly, and when the terminology used is incorrect, then things are out of place. Disorderliness means that a man who has lost his moral principles, and out of place means that a man does not get what he deserves (or is not placed in the right position).' When the Master was living, he could not use him, and waited till he was dead to send a prayer to his funeral, which is improper. In calling himself 'a poor self,' he also uses a wrong terminology."
Confucius was buried in Lu, on the River Sze in the north of the city. His disciples all observed the regular mourning of three years, and after that said goodbye to each other and left, weeping again at the grave before they departed. Some stayed on, but only Tsekung remained in a hut near the tomb for six years before he left. Over a hundred families, consisting of Confucius' disciples and natives of Lu went to live near the tomb ground, and there grew up a village known as K'ung li, or "K'ung's village." For generations sacrifices were offered at the temple of Confucius at proper times, and the Confucianists also held academic discussions and village festival and archery contests at the tomb. The tomb ground contained a hundred mow (about 16 acres) and therefore could accommodate the disciples in its halls. The personal belongings of Confucius, his caps, gowns, string instruments, carriages and books, were preserved in the Confucian temple by succeeding generations. This was kept up for over 200 years down to the time of the First Emperor of the Han dynasty (from 206 B.C.), who worshiped Confucius with grand offerings (of cows, sheep and pigs). Whenever princes and high ministers arrived at the place, they paid their respects at the Confucian temple.
Szema Ch'en was official historian for the Han court. He came from a family which held that position, and Master Historian was his official title. At the end of every biography in his Shiki, he usually gives a terse comment, appreciation or critics. Of Confucius, the Master Historian wrote: "'The Book of Songs says High is the mountain I look up to, and bright is his example for our emulation! Although I cannot reach the top my heart leaps up to it.' As I read the books of Confucius, I thought to myself how he must have looked. When visiting Lu, I saw the carriages, robes and sacred vessels displayed at the temple, and watched how the Confucian students studied the historical systems at his home. I stayed around, unable to tear myself away from the place. There have been many kings, emperors and great men in history who enjoyed fame and honor while they lived and came to nothing at their death, while Confucius, who was but a common scholar clad in a cotton gown, because the acknowledged Master of scholars for over 10 generations. All the people in China who discuss the six arts, from the emperors, king and princes down, regard the Master as the final authority."
In terms of secular influence, Confucius is far ahead of any other human being who ever lived. This is not to compare him with Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammed and other great religious leaders. He would resent the comparison. He was a humanist. He would have agreed with Shakespeare that the measure of man is man. He did not ask for temples or adulation. He spurned worship, although he somewhat resented the fact that the rulers of his time would not heed his counsel. He wanted to make men better and the world a better place.
Nor was Confucius a square or reactionary. It is true that he looked back to the Sage Kings and the wonderful world of Chou. But who is to say that he was not aware this was a never-never world and a dream that never was. If he wasn't a modern for his own times, how was he able to reject superstition in a world which believed in scarcely anything else. He wasn't a democrat, but he believed in freedom to an amazing degree. His own life was an exercise of freedom. He moved from small state to small state, spoke back to his betters and advocated equity for all people. He was short-tempered only with the stupid, and he was just as impolite to highly placed idiots as to those who didn't mean anything to anybody. He was no square. He appreciated the appeal of the flesh and had a strong sense of humor.
Probably Confucius loved learning more than anything else. In his time he must have realized how little men knew about so many things. He was moved to say: "Those who are born wise are the highest type of people; those who become wise through learning come next; those who learn by overcoming dullness come after that. Those who are dull but still won't learn are the lowest type of people." In all history, has anyone done better in summing up the challenge and problem of education?
If Confucius was an elitist, how could he say: "By nature men are pretty much alike; it is learning and practice that set them apart." He also remarked that "In education there are no class distinctions." If he defended the establishment, how could he say: "The young are to be respected. How do we know that the next generation will not measure up to the present one? But if a man has reached 40 or 50 and nothing has been heard of him, then I grant that he is not worthy of respect."
Confucianism has endured for more than 2,500 years because it represents the best side of humankind. Even now, the Confucianists are in the process of defeating the Communists. Red China had to give up trying to destroy Confucius after trying for a mere two years.