While in Wei, Confucius was playing the qing (a stone chime). A reclusive passerby carrying a straw basket happened to walk by Confucius’s gate and said upon hearing the sound, “Ah! There is intention behind this chime!”After a moment, he added, “How narrow-minded! So obstinately persistent! If no one understands you, just let it…
Zilu spent the night at the Stone Gate. At dawn, the gatekeeper asked him, “Where do you come from?”Zilu replied, “From Master Kong’s.”The gatekeeper said, “Ah – is he not the one who knows it’s impossible, yet still does it?”
Confucius said, “The phoenix no longer appears; the Yellow River no longer reveals its chart. Alas, my cause is finished!”
Confucius was in danger when surrounded by people in Kuang. He said, “King Wen of Zhou is long gone – but is not the cultural tradition now embodied in me? If Heaven intended to destroy this culture, those born after him (including myself) would never have had access to it. Since Heaven has not…