This article traces the formative years of Confucius, detailing his journey from a humble birth to a renowned sage. It recounts his early tragedies, including the loss of his father at age three and his mother at seventeen, which instilled a deep devotion to filial piety. The narrative highlights his resilience against social rejection,…
Kong Rong (153–208 CE), the twentieth-generation descendant of Confucius, was born into a family steeped in scholarly and political prestige. His seventh-generation ancestor, Kong Ba, had served as tutor to Emperor Yuan of Han, and his father, Kong Zhou, held the post of Commandant of Taishan. Orphaned at thirteen, Kong Rong displayed exceptional moral…
8.21 The Master said,”In Yu I can find no semblance of a flaw. Abstemious in his own food and drink, he displayed the utmost devotion in his offerings to spirits and divinities. Content with the plainest clothes for common wear, he saw to it that his sacrificial apron and ceremonial headdress were of the…
8.20Shun had five ministers and all that is under Heaven was well ruled.
8.19The Master said, “Greatest, as lord and ruler, was Yao. Sublime, indeed, was he. ‘There is no greatness like the greatness of Heaven,’ yet Yao could copy it. So boundless was it that the people could find no name for it; yet sublime were his achievements, dazzling the insignia of his culture!”
8.18The Master said, “Sublime were Shun and Yu! All that is under Heaven was theirs, yet they remained aloof from it.”
8.17The Master said, “Learn as if you were following someone whom you could not catch up, as though it were someone you were frightened of losing.”