From 501 to 497 BCE, Confucius held successive posts – Magistrate of Zhongdu, Minister of Works (Sikong), Minister of Justice (Da Sikou), and finally Chancellor-in-charge – marking the closest he ever came to realizing his political ideals.
Confucius governs Lu
Following his diplomatic triumph at the Jia Valley Summit (500 BCE), Confucius earned the full confidence of Duke Ding of Lu and even the powerful Three Huan clans (Jisun, Mengsun, and Shusun). Appointed to oversee state affairs – effectively serving as acting prime minister – he implemented a bold program blending ritual propriety (li) with rule of law.
- His governance was both moral and practical:
- He revised legal codes, insisting on “teach first, punish later” – addressing the root causes of crime through ethical education.
- He enforced laws impartially, even against nobles.
- In agriculture, he re-surveyed land, restored the well-field system, resolved property disputes, and repaired irrigation works, boosting food production.
Within just three months, Lu transformed. As recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian and echoed in later Confucian texts, the state achieved near-utopian order:
“People did not pick up lost items on the road; doors remained unlocked at night.”
The jealousy of neighboring states
Lu’s rapid revival alarmed its neighbors – especially Qi, which grew fearful and resentful. While Yan Ying (Yanzi), Qi’s wise minister, had opposed Confucius’s philosophy but respected non-interference, his death changed everything.
Power now fell to Li Mi, a cunning Qi minister who saw Confucius’s success as a threat. He devised a subtle sabotage:
“Send Duke Ding and the Jisun clan a troupe of beautiful female entertainers. Their decadence will drive Confucius away.”
Duke Jing of Qi agreed. He dispatched 80 exquisite singing girls to Lu as a “gift.”
Moral corruption and the end of reform
Duke Ding kept 50 for the palace and gave 30 to Jisun Shi, the de facto ruler of Lu. From then on, both men abandoned state affairs, indulging daily in music and pleasure.
When Confucius gently remonstrated, they merely avoided him with polite evasion. His disciple Zilu urged:
“Master, our lord neglects duty. Should we not leave?”
Recognizing that virtue could not flourish amid corruption, Confucius resigned his post at age fifty-five and departed Lu – beginning his legendary fourteen-year exile.
The wandering sage: Seeking a righteous ruler
From 497 BCE onward, Confucius traveled with his disciples through Wei, Cao, Song, Zheng, Chen, Cai, and Chu – offering counsel to rulers who admired his wisdom but feared implementing his strict moral standards. None would appoint him to real power.
By the time he reached Wei again at sixty-three, weary from years of rejection, he declined an official offer. Soon after, Lu sent envoys inviting him home. Accepting, he returned to his homeland, ending his wanderings.
The legacy of the Spring and Autumn Annals
In his final years, Confucius turned from politics to preserving history and culture. He compiled and edited several classical texts, most notably the Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals), a terse chronicle of Lu’s history from 722 to 481 BCE.
Though seemingly a dry record of events, Confucius infused it with moral judgment – praising virtue, condemning tyranny, and establishing a model of historical accountability. Later scholars, especially Mencius, claimed:
“Confucius completed the Chunqiu, and rebellious ministers and traitorous sons trembled.”
This 242-year span became known in Chinese historiography as the “Spring and Autumn Period” – named not for seasons, but for Confucius’s definitive chronicle.
Thus, though his political dream failed, his ethical vision shaped China for millennia.
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