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In the sixth century BC, China was a maze of competing states engaged in constant warfare with each other. Strangely, it was in this chaotic violence that Confucianism, a quasi-religious philosophical system emphasising harmony and balance, emerged. But Confucius was no saint either. He was deeply involved with several of the warring Chinese states and regularly fell out with those around him. At least that's the image presented of him in the ancient sources. Who was Confucius and how was his philosophical system shaped by the chaos of sixth-century BC
China? This is the story of Confucius, the most influential man in Chinese history. The man known to history as Confucius is traditionally said to have been born on the 28th of September 551 BC in the village of Zou near the city of Qufu, then the capital of the state of Lu in eastern China. His birth name was Kong Qiu, though most Chinese people know him as Kongzi or "Master Kong." Confucius is a Latinized name used by the Western world and is based on the variant of his name Kong-fu-zi or "Great Master Kong."
It was coined by Jesuit missionaries in the sixteenth century after European contact with China became more extensive following the Portuguese arrival to the Far East. While Confucius' legacy was cemented in the centuries after his own lifetime, as his sayings were collected and compiled in a collection known as the Analects, historians face considerable challenges in piecing together a biography of the historical Confucius. The earliest full account of his life is found in the Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian, the seminal work of Chinese historiography written by the great Chinese historian Sima Qian over
three hundred years after Confucius' death. While the Shiji is considered a work of serious history, by the time Sima Qian wrote it, several generations of Confucius' followers had already embellished the biography of the great sage with numerous legendary tales. Sima Qian may have drawn on the Kongzi Jiayu, meaning the Sayings of Confucius' Family, which is understood to be based on a text compiled by a descendant of Confucius in the second century BC. According to this text, Confucius' father was Shuliang He, an official in the state of Lu and a member of the Kong
clan. There was no clear distinction between civil officials and military officers at this time, and in around 563 BC Shuliang served in the Lu army besieging the city of Biyang. He was among a group of soldiers who stormed through the city's open gates, but soon noticed the entrance closing in behind him and realised that his party had fallen into the enemy's trap. He demonstrated unusual strength by holding the gate open for his men to escape before retreating to safety himself. By the time of this exploit, Shuliang was already approaching his sixties.
He and his wife, Lady Shi, had nine children, all daughters. Although Shuliang had a son from a concubine named Kong Pi, the boy was apparently disabled, which prevented him from carrying out the appropriate ancestral rites after his father's death. With Lady Shi long past childbearing age, Shuliang decided to seek another wife who could bear him an heir, and approached a neighbour named Yan who had three daughters of childbearing age. As the young ladies listened to their father extol the virtues of Shuliang, despite his advanced age, the elder two remained silent, while the youngest,
Yan Zhengzai, remarked to her father that there was no point in asking them their views on any proposed marriage, since he had the authority to decide. The teenage Zhengzai's answer prompted her father to marry her off to Shuliang, then in his late sixties. The age difference between the couple would have caused some scandal in itself, and Sima Qian suggests that Confucius' parents were never actually officially married. According to the traditional narrative, Zhengzai did not expect Shuliang to live long and went to pray at the nearby Mount Ni for the son
that he so desperately desired. She had a dream in which she encountered a qilin, a legendary horned creature likened to a unicorn, who informed her that she would give birth to an "uncrowned king." While she was confused by the vision, her prayers were answered in 551 BC, when she gave birth to a son named Kong Qiu, the man who would come to be known as Confucius. After coming of age, he was given the courtesy name of Zhongni, which is believed to mean "Second Son from Mount Ni." In the mid-sixth century BC, when Confucius was allegedly born, China was already a relatively
mature civilisation with a population of up to 50 million people. The country was formally a kingdom ruled by the kings of Zhou from the city of Luoyang in present-day Henan Province. The Zhou Dynasty was established in the eleventh century BC after overthrowing the Shang Dynasty, the dominant power in the valley of the Yellow River. To legitimise their rule, the Zhou kings developed the concept of the Mandate of Heaven, through which virtuous rulers were said to display divine favour. The new regime argued that the Shang had lost the Mandate of Heaven due to the
behaviour of the notoriously corrupt Di Xin, the last Shang king, and that accordingly the Zhou takeover was endorsed by Heaven. The newly established dynasty maintained a feudal system and appointed family members and prominent supporters as dukes to help them govern the realm. As part of this process, the duchy of Song was given to a Shang prince who submitted to the new order. Zhou founder King Wu hoped to pacify the spirits of the Shang kings by allowing him to continue performing the Shang ancestral rites. The Kong family claimed to trace its ancestry to the dukes of Song,
and through them to the Shang kings. Over the centuries, the duchies began acting independently from their Zhou overlords and became major centres of independent political power. With Zhou royal authority already in decline, their capital, Fenghao, near present-day Xi'an, was occupied by Qiang tribesmen in 771 BC. The surviving royals relocated to Luoyang, marking the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The first three centuries of the Eastern Zhou is also known as the Spring and Autumn Period, named after the Spring and Autumn Annals, the official chronicle of the State of
Lu covering the period from 722 to 481 BC, a work traditionally attributed to Confucius. While the Eastern Zhou kings held symbolic authority, their political control was limited to the area around Luoyang. This was an age of constant conflict between these warring feudal states. As the most influential thinker in Chinese history, Confucius has been quoted in dozens of Chinese classics dating from the fourth century BC onwards. For much of Chinese history the Analects have been regarded as the most authentic source of his teachings. Known in Chinese as Lunyu or
'selected sayings,' they contain some 500 sayings attributed to Confucius, each of which starts with the phrase "The Master Says." These are then organised into 20 scrolls or chapters. It was believed in ancient times that these sayings were compiled by Confucius' students after his death. However, by the seventeenth century, the inconsistencies and disorganised nature of the text prompted scholars to formulate what is called the "accretive theory," which argues that while some of the sayings can be traced back to Confucius himself, the text was actually compiled
by early Confucianists over several generations, with the earlier chapters considered the most authentic. In a 1998 publication by the American Sinologist, E. Bruce Brooks, and his wife, Taeko Brooks, entitled The Original Analects: Sayings of Confucius and His Successors, it was argued that the received text was composed between Confucius' death in 479 BC and the conquest of Lu in 249 BC. According to their theory, only Chapter 4 can be attributed to Confucius himself, while chapters 5 to 20 were added over time. They consider chapters 1 to 3 to
be miscellaneous introductory material inserted in several stages. A third group of scholars are more sceptical still about the traditional view and stress the differences between Confucius, as he is presented in The Analects, and his appearance in the work of Mengzi or Xunzi, his most influential followers who lived in the fourth and third centuries BC respectively. They argue that the Analects, as we know them today, were compiled at a single moment in time during the Western Han Dynasty and are an amalgamation of several early Confucian traditions. As early
as the third century BC, the pre-eminent Legalist scholar, Han Feizi, observed that the Confucian school had split into eight factions, each of which claimed to teach the authentic Confucius. Ultimately, it is almost impossible to know anything with certainty about the historical Confucius from the surviving ancient texts. While dozens of ancient Chinese sources that reference Confucius as an authority can be used alongside The Analects to provide an account of how Confucius' teachings came to be understood over time, any attempt to provide a coherent
biography of Confucius has to be based on the traditional accounts in the Shiji, the Kongzi Jiayu, and The Analects, while acknowledging some of the more legendary and fantastical elements. This is the approach taken in numerous modern biographies of Confucius. While Confucius claimed noble heritage, his branch of the family had been reduced to commoner status and had adopted the surname Kong. His great-grandfather Kong Fangshu left the state of Song to seek his fortune in the neighbouring state of Lu, where he and his descendants
served as officials with minor noble rank. While Confucius had been born into a respectable clan, his prospects seemed bleak following the death of his father when he was only three years old. While Shuliang was buried at a site called Fangshan, Confucius was unaware of its location. According to Sima Qian, his mother did not inform him of the grave-site, possibly because she had been barred from the funeral by the Kong family. The boy was therefore unable to perform the ancestral rites to honour his father. Nevertheless, under the guidance of his mother, he grew up with the
desire to venerate his late father, and as a child he often played with bowls and plates and pretended that they were sacrificial vessels. There is no reliable account of Confucius' appearance, though the Shiji claims that he owed his name Qiu, meaning 'hill', to a bump on the back of his head. As an adult, he is said to have inherited his father's towering physique, being over two metres tall. While this is not impossible, it was a common literary device in ancient times to associate exaggerated physical characteristics with supernatural
abilities. Confucian tradition holds that he had an impoverished childhood, and a couple of the sayings in Chapter 4 of The Analects imply that Confucius had experienced adversity on more than one occasion. If he and his mother had indeed been ostracised from the rest of the Kong family, particularly if his half-siblings remained under the same roof, his childhood would not have been one of great luxury. Nevertheless, he appears to have received a good education in line with his family's status. Children of the scholar-official class that Confucius belonged to
were expected to be proficient in the "six accomplishments": propriety or adherence to social norms of conduct, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. Several of the sayings attributed to Confucius in The Analects attest to his love for learning. Indeed, the first saying of Chapter 1 begins: "The Master said, To learn and in due time rehearse it: is this not also pleasurable?" While learning texts by recitation has been a staple of Chinese education for over 2,000 years, for Confucius education was not only about accumulating
knowledge but the application of learning to guide personal behaviour in private and public life. For much of Chinese history, scholar-officials supported their arguments by quoting from classic texts in debate. Confucius' disciples claimed that their master placed particular emphasis on the study of ritual, music, poetry and history as guidance for virtuous behaviour for scholar-officials serving the state. According to a passage in Chapter 2 of The Analects, Confucius began to really dedicate himself to learning at the age of 15. He was in his late teens or early twenties when his mother died. Sometime later he was informed about the
site of his father's tomb and he reburied his parents in a new grave. When Confucius was 19, he married a woman from the Qiguan clan in the state of Song. Lady Qiguan soon gave birth to a son named Kong Li with the courtesy name Boyu. The boy's personal name Li means "carp," while his courtesy name may be translated as "Elder Fish." The Kongzi Jiayu explains that Duke Zhao of Lu gifted Confucius and his wife a carp upon the birth of their son, an honour that the father commemorated by then naming the child after the fish. While Confucius and his wife
had at least two more daughters, their marriage was traditionally said to have been unhappy. A saying from Chapter 17 of The Analects quotes the sage: "Women and common people are hard to handle. If you let them get close, they take advantage; if you keep them at a distance, they resent it." Confucius allegedly preferred discoursing with his male disciples over the company of his wife, who is barely mentioned in the records. The anecdote around the naming of Confucius' son suggests that despite his impoverished upbringing, he was known to the ruling elite of the state
of Lu as a young adult. Even so, he was not universally accepted by the Lu aristocracy. The government was then controlled by the Ji, Meng, and Shu clans, each descended from a former duke. When Confucius was still a teenager, he was denied entry to a feast hosted by the Ji clan on the grounds that he was not a gentleman. The incident fuelled his resentment against the Ji clan, and he criticised them for being wealthy and having little regard for ritual. According to Confucius' great disciple Mengzi, better known in the West as Mencius, he began
his career in his early twenties as a low-level bureaucrat responsible for grain supplies. While he dutifully performed his tasks, he acquired a reputation as an authority on ritual and attracted a small group of students. Among his earliest and most accomplished students was a teenager named Zilu, who often appears in dialogue with Confucius in The Analects. Confucius continued learning from others, demonstrating great curiosity when questioning visiting dignitaries. By his early thirties, he had established himself as a teacher and as an unofficial advisor at the Lu
court. Shortly before his death, the head of the Meng clan had recognised his talents and encouraged his sons to seek instruction in ritual from Confucius. His knowledge of protocol saw him accompany Lu officials travelling on trade or diplomatic business. On a visit to the Zhou capital of Luoyang, Confucius paid close attention to the design and layout of the city's principal religious sites and was impressed by how the Zhou royal family venerated its ancestors. Confucius held the early Zhou rulers in high regard, particularly King Wen, whose reforms laid the
foundations for the conquest of Shang by his son, King Wu. Confucius also lionised the Duke of Zhou, who consolidated the kingdom's control over China as regent following the death of his brother King Wu and dutifully stepped aside after his nephew came of age. According to tradition, it was in Luoyang that Confucius met Laozi or the "Old Master", the founder of Daoism, who was then serving as the royal archivist at court. Daoism or Taoism would go on to emphasise the idea that people should live in harmony with the Dao, the "right way." The older man
warned the young Confucius that his interest in ritual counted for little when contemporary rulers carried out the ancient rites out of habit rather than understanding, and that Confucius would inevitably make powerful enemies at the Lu court by insisting on proper behaviour. Confucius was closely associated with Duke Zhao. In 517 BC, when Confucius was in his mid-thirties, the Duke's attempt to arrest a member of the Ji family for insulting him triggered an uprising. The Meng and Shu clans raised their armies and joined the rebels, and Duke Zhao was defeated in battle and forced to flee to the neighbouring State of Qi.
Confucius and his disciples followed the Duke into exile. A famous anecdote from the Book of Rites, a core Confucian text, describes Confucius' party passing Mount Tai when they encountered a woman weeping endlessly next to a grave. The woman explained that she was mourning her son, who was killed by a tiger which had already claimed the lives of her husband and father-in-law. When Confucius asked her whether she considered living somewhere without tigers, she replied that "There is no tyranny here." The astonished scholar turned to his students and remarked, "Remember this,
my children, tyranny is fiercer than a tiger." Upon his arrival at the Qi court, Confucius was impressed by its ritual and music, but was critical about the abilities of its ministers. He was welcomed by local scholars and sought office from Duke Jing of Qi. While the Duke respected Confucius and turned to him for political advice, the Qi ministers regarded him as an upstart who was after their jobs. When the Duke considered disinheriting his eldest son, Confucius remarked, "Let the lord be a lord, the minister a minister, the father a father,
and the son a son." Confucius was thus advising the Duke not to arbitrarily change the succession laws, while hinting that his ministers were exceeding their responsibilities. Duke Jing was sufficiently impressed by Confucius to offer him a minor administrative post, although this was opposed by his chief minister, Yan Ying, who argued that the newcomer's emphasis on elaborate rituals would leave no time for government business. Following this intervention, Duke Jing withdrew his favour from Confucius, who decided to return to Lu. Back in his home country,
Confucius was particularly critical of the conduct of the Ji clan. Chapter 3 of The Analects quotes Confucius' condemnation of the extravagance of ceremonies, which not only signalled pretensions to royal privileges reserved for the king of Zhou, but hinted at the misuse of state funds. In Chapter 4 of The Analects, he says "Everyone desires wealth and honour, but if he cannot do so in accordance with his principles, he will not abide in them. Everyone detests poverty and lowliness, but if he cannot do so in accordance with his principles, he will not avoid them."
The passage is part of a group of sayings stressing the importance of ren, the cardinal Confucian virtue that does not have a singular definition but is associated with benevolence, trustworthiness, compassion, and empathy. In the period that followed Confucius appears to have focused his energies on his teaching. Several of the dialogues in The Analects show Confucius rebuking his students for their failure to understand his teaching. While Confucius claimed to be passing on traditional wisdom rather than developing radical new ideas, his own views evolved over time, a factor that may have contributed to his followers splitting into several factions in the decades after his death.
Among the students of Confucius' school was his son Boyu, who was by now a young man in his early twenties. He was not a particularly distinguished student, and only makes a single appearance in the Analects. Some of Confucius' newer students suspected their master was reserving special knowledge for his favourite disciples. Chen Gang approached Boyu and asked him whether he received any special teaching from his father. Boyu answered no, but noted that his father had advised him to pay particular attention to the Book of Songs and the Book of Rites. Alongside the Book of
History, the Book of Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals, these texts were part of the Five Confucian Classics which later became core texts in Chinese civil service examinations. According to Sima Qian, Confucius spent his time in the political wilderness editing the Book of Songs, the Book of History, the Book of Rites, and the lost Book of Music. The first saying in Chapter 7 of The Analects has Confucius declaring "I transmit and do not invent, trusting in and loving the ancient ways." Confucius did not claim any originality but believed his role was to pass
on ancient wisdom that was being neglected by his contemporaries in an age of political disorder. His traditional biography suggests that he made little progress towards this goal during his lifetime, and modern scholars believe that even his modest achievements in office were exaggerated by later generations. The centrality of Confucian thought in later Chinese culture owes much to Confucius' disciples. Sima Qian names over 70 individuals in his list of Confucius' first-generation disciples. Of these, the most famous was Yan Hui, a possible maternal
relative who joined his school as a young man in the late 500s BC. Confucius said of him, "I can talk all day with Yan Hui, and he never disagrees with me, as if he were a fool. But after he goes home, it is enough to observe his conduct to realise that he is not stupid." Following the death of Duke Zhao around 510 BC, the aristocracy in Lu bypassed Duke Zhao's eldest son and instead elevated the late duke's younger brother to become Duke Ding. The new duke was effectively a puppet of the aristocracy, although by the end of the sixth century BC
the Ji clan's power was itself usurped by its leading retainers Yang Hu and Gongshan Buniu, also known as Gongshan Furao. The latter had risen in rebellion and seized the town of Fei from the Ji clan. Confucius seriously considered an offer to serve Gongshan, but his disciple Zilu dissuaded him, noting that he would be abandoning his principles by supporting a rebel. In 501 BC, the two officials were defeated and forced into exile while Duke Ding reasserted his authority and assumed control of the government. With the legitimate ruler back in charge, Confucius then
accepted an appointment as chief magistrate of the remote town of Zhongdu. In his new administrative capacity, Confucius continued to emphasise the Book of Songs and the Book of Rites, which not only laid down rules for proper behaviour but gave practical advice about agricultural and economic management. Under Confucius' administration, these codes of best practice became law. While later scholars regard accounts of Confucius' success in office as attempts by later generations of Confucians to promote their ideology by presenting him as a man who gained official acceptance in his
own lifetime, Confucian tradition holds that his administration was so successful that his policies were emulated in towns across the state of Lu. Confucius' exploits attracted the attention of Duke Ding, who soon appointed him as Assistant Minister of Works. Among the several exchanges between Confucius and Duke Ding cited in The Analects, the Duke asks the sage if there is one saying or principle that can guarantee prosperity in a state. Confucius said there was no single saying that could be so effective, but quoted a maxim that "being a ruler is hard,
and ministers face many difficulties." The Duke then asked if there was a single saying that would bring about the downfall of a state. Confucius said again that it would take more than a single sentence to do irreparable damage to the state, but that the closest thing was for a lord to think "the only good thing about being in charge is that nobody opposes me." Sima Qian describes Confucius playing a key role at a diplomatic conference between the rulers of Lu and Qi in 500 BC. The countries had been constantly at war, and Duke Jing of Qi invited his
Lu counterpart Duke Ding for negotiations at Jiagu in Qi territory. Confucius accompanied Duke Ding as head of the Lu ministerial delegation. Given their historical rivalry and the fact that Qi harboured political fugitives from Lu, including the rebellious officials Yang Hu and Gongshan Buniu, Confucius suspected that Duke Jing was seeking to take advantage of Lu and had advised his lord to have two senior military officials in attendance, citing an ancient precedent. As the two dukes met, Duke Jing authorised some of his subjects to perform a war dance. Confucius
intervened and remarked that a "barbarian dance" with weapons breached protocol and claimed that it demonstrated that Qi was not behaving in good faith. The Duke of Qi was chastened, and over the course of subsequent negotiations agreed to cede a number of disputed towns that Qi had seized from Lu by force. Confucius' success in resolving the dispute in Lu's favour without any bloodshed increased his influence at court, and within a few years he was appointed Minister of Justice. Sima Qian claims that within three months of taking office,
Confucius had eliminated corruption by market traders, the streets were safe, and visitors from near and far could conduct their business without any hindrance. Sima Qian also credits Confucius with a major reform to strengthen Duke Ding's authority. For centuries, the Lu aristocracy had been able to challenge ducal power by maintaining private armies and securing themselves within their walled towns. Confucius therefore proposed to pull down these fortifications and disarm the private armies, leaving the Duke at a distinct
advantage as the ruler of the only fortified city. Duke Ding approved Confucius' suggestions, and Confucius secured the appointment of his disciple Zilu as the steward of the Ji clan to implement the policy. While the Shu clan quickly complied, some of the Ji retainers put up armed resistance and marched on the capital of Qufu. The Duke's troops emerged victorious and proceeded to pull down the walls of the Ji capital, but Lu forces were less successful in besieging the head of the Meng clan, who sheltered behind his town walls and withstood several assaults, even after
Duke Ding assumed personal command. Confucius' policy of centralising power also caused great anxiety in the state of Qi. With the Duke in control of the men and resources of all three clans, Qi would be vulnerable to invasion by Lu. While Duke Jing was prepared to withdraw to more defensible frontiers and cede further territory to Lu, one of the Qi officials suggested a scheme to undermine Confucius' policies. The tale goes that after Duke Jing began neglecting his venerable duties and was tempted into taking gifts of fine horses and dancing girls, Confucius quietly left
the court. When a messenger from the Ji clan caught up with him and asked him to return, he rebuked the Lu elites for carousing with dancing girls and continued on his journey. According to tradition, Confucius spent the decade after his departure from Lu wandering throughout China seeking a virtuous lord to serve and living a peripatetic life, only to be disappointed on every occasion that he believed he might have found a lord worthy of his service. Sima Qian claims that Confucius travelled to eight other feudal states seeking office before
he returned home. The convoluted itinerary of his wanderings in Sima Qian's writings was possibly an attempt to make Confucius' message seem more universally Chinese in light of his otherwise strong ties to the state of Lu in eastern China. The first stop in Confucius' traditional itinerary was the state of Wei to the west, where Zilu's brother-in-law held office. Confucius had previously been critical of the morals at the Wei court, but he was welcomed by Duke Ling of Wei, who appointed him as an advisor and awarded him the same salary he received in Lu. Confucius
was targeted by critics who denounced him to Duke Ling, and while he maintained the duke's favour he chose to leave the Wei court after ten months. He travelled south through a region that bordered his native Lu and was soon forced to turn back when his entourage was attacked by a mob that had mistaken him for his rival Yang Hu, whose armies had previously sacked the region. He was detained for ten days until his beloved disciple Yan Hui came to rescue him. Back in Wei, Duke Ling had married Lady Nanzi, a woman of loose morals who was known for conducting an
incestuous affair with her brother. Confucius was appalled by the developments at the Wei court but was obliged to call on the duchess after receiving a message from her reminding him that it was his duty to answer her summons. Although Zilu was scandalised by his master's decision, Confucius argued that duty overrode his moral objections in this instance. In the same year, 494 BC, Duke Ding of Lu died and was succeeded by his son, Duke Ai. While the new duke hoped to restore Confucius to office, other ministers complained that Confucius had embarrassed the court in earlier times with what they claimed was his excessive moralising.
They were fearful that he would humiliate them again if given the opportunity. As a compromise, the Lu court offered the post to one of Confucius' disciples, and the master reluctantly dispatched his student Ran Qiu with instructions to lobby for his own return to office. Sima Qian goes on to describe a series of episodes in which Confucius and his itinerant scholars came into difficulty. For instance, while on the way to the state of Zheng, Confucius lost his way and was separated from his followers for a while. Eventually he made his way south to the state of Chen, where he would
stay for three years. He was welcomed by Duke Min, who sought to test his knowledge by presenting him with a dead falcon which had been shot by a stone arrow. This weapon was unusual in the Chinese heartland, but Confucius explained that stone arrows were used by the Sushen, a tribal people who lived in present-day Manchuria. Confucius noted that the Sushen presented arrows as tribute to King Wu of Zhou. Some of these arrows formed part of the dowry of the king's eldest daughter, whose husband was the founding Duke of Chen. Duke Min checked his armoury and discovered
more stone arrows of the same type. Confucius spent three years in Chen, but since the state was at war with three of its neighbours, he decided to leave. He eventually returned to Wei, which was in the midst of a succession struggle after the death of Duke Ling in 493 BC. The late Duke's eldest son Prince Kuaikui had been exiled for plotting against his stepmother, and the succession passed to the latter's son, who succeeded his grandfather, Duke Chu. Upon hearing of his son's succession, Kuaikui returned to Wei and sought to claim the ducal throne for himself.
Kuaikui appealed to Confucius for aid, but the sage remained neutral. While Confucius' disciple Zilu entered Duke Chu's service, the Master himself abandoned his political ambitions and returned to his studies. Confucius continued to receive visitors asking him for advice, but he was unconcerned by then about having a powerful patron. His presence in Wei had always been insecure, and when he received a message from his disciple Ran Qiu that the ruling elite was prepared to allow him to return to Lu, Confucius seized the opportunity and left
in 484 BC. While he was widely revered by his compatriots upon his homecoming, Confucius was in his late sixties and was bitterly disappointed about the lost opportunity during his lengthy exile. Although he welcomed the fact that his disciple Ran Qiu controlled the government, he was disappointed that he often disregarded his advice. According to tradition, Confucius' major preoccupation during this final period of his life was the compilation of the Spring and Autumn Annals, an official history of his homeland which he supposedly intended as a guide for lords and
their ministers. While the style is relatively dry, Confucius, if indeed he was the author, which is highly debatable, did offer his opinions in places about the actions of past generations. In addition to the history he was writing, Confucius also spent this period editing the Yijing or Book of Changes, an ancient divination text that involved 64 hexagrams which court diviners had to interpret. Although it has since lost its political significance, the "I Ching" has attracted attention in the Western world as a classic of ancient Chinese wisdom.
Tradition holds that Duke Ai occasionally turned to Confucius for advice in the sage's final years. In 481 BC, for instance, Confucius was summoned to help identify a strange animal that had been captured. He recognised it as the qilin, the same horned creature that had appeared to his mother shortly before his birth. Just as the qilin heralded the birth of a great sage, it also foretold the death of one, and Confucius wept at the thought of his imminent demise. Confucius soon fell seriously ill but recovered. In the meantime, he became a grandfather after his
daughter-in-law gave birth to a son named Kong Ji, courtesy name Zisi, who would in time continue the family line and become a respected philosopher in the tradition of his grandfather. Within a year, the child's father, Boyu, died at around 50 years of age. Confucius presided over a modest funeral for his son. The great sage would suffer further bereavement after learning of the demise of Zilu, who had been mortally wounded while protecting Duke Chu from a successful coup by the latter's father, who assumed power as Duke Zhuang II. Confucius had recently been at odds
with Zilu's conduct as a minister in Wei but was nevertheless saddened by the news of his death. However, his grief paled in comparison to the news that his favourite student, Yan Hui, had died in his early thirties. Confucius hoped that the younger man would succeed him at the head of his academy. He bitterly mourned his loss and Confucius followed him to the grave soon afterwards, dying, according to the ancient sources, in spring 479 BC at the age of 72. After Confucius' death, his school disbanded and his disciples went their separate ways. The
dispersal of the Confucians and the emergence of different schools of his followers cemented his legacy as China's most influential philosopher. The general narrative of his life as a combination of a quasi-religious philosopher who moved between serving various lords and wandering China with his followers developed in the centuries after his own lifetime, though how accurate any of these biographical details are, is difficult to say and has led to extensive debate amongst Confucian scholars. The growth of his legacy was facilitated by political developments in
the centuries after his death. The Eastern Zhou declined further during the Warring States period as ambitious dukes began challenging the Luoyang court by calling themselves kings. From among the seven major warring states that emerged in the late fifth century BC, the State of Qin in the west would eventually conquer all its rivals and complete the unification of China in 221 BC. While the policies of Emperor Qin Shi Huang were anathema to the Confucians, China remained united under the succeeding Han Dynasty, the emperors of which claimed to be guided by Confucian values in
contrast to Qin Shi Huang. Confucianism moved to the heart of Chinese government in the succeeding centuries, particularly after the imperial civil service examination system, which was heavily influenced by Confucian ideals, was expanded during the Song Dynasty between the tenth and thirteenth centuries AD. China's position as the leading East Asian power also enabled the spread of Confucianism to Korea and Japan. It was only at the start of the twentieth century that the civil service examinations and their Confucian elements were abolished. In
spite of the anti-Confucianist campaigns during the Communist Cultural Revolution, Confucius' influence in China and beyond remains strong. What do you think of Confucius? Was he a frustrated scholar-official who sought to improve standards of government administration in an age of misrule, or was he a reactionary who wanted to create an unrealistic utopia? Please let us know in the comment section and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching.
