CONFUCIUS. 



121 



oufucius. Christian a?ra, in the kingdom of Loo, now the province 

 lr_ i^*- 1 of Shan-tong, in the reign of Lin-vang, the twenty-third 

 emperor of the dynasty of Tcheoo. By his mother's 

 side., whose name was Sliing, he was descended from 

 the noble family of Yen ; and his father Tcho-leang-hee 

 numbered among his progenitors the Emperor Tii, of 

 the dynasty of Shang. When he was only three years 

 of age, he was left, by the death of his father, with no 

 other inheritance than those honours of descent ; and 

 for no part of his future eminence, was he indebted to 

 the wealth or grandeur of his ancestors. He gave early 

 indications of those exalted talents, by which he was 

 afterwards so much distinguished ; and the most mai"- 

 vellous accounts of his premature attainments are mi- 

 nutely detailed by the Chinese historians. Even in in- 

 fancy, he seemed to have acquired the maturity of rea- 

 son and the perfect use of all his faculties. He took no 

 pleasure in the amusements of childhood ; but was re- 

 markable, almost from his birth, for the gravity of his 

 deportment. He was particularly celebrated for extra- 

 ordinary piety ; and never partook of any kind of nou- 

 rishment, till he had first prostrated himself on the 

 ground, and made an offering of the food to the supreme 

 Lord of heaven. After the death of his grandfather, a 

 most holy man of those times, whom he had studied to 

 imitate in all things, he put himself under the tuition 

 of an eminent sage, named Tchemsee; and, at fifteen 

 years of age, devoted himself to the perusal of the an- 

 cient Chinese books, especially the writings of the royal 

 legislators Yao and Shun. At the age of nineteen, he 

 entered into the married state; and, contrary to the cus- 

 tom of his country, contented himself with one wife, 

 whom he divorced very soon after marriage, that he 

 .might be completely free from every incumbrance and 

 connection, which might fetter him in the propagation 

 of his tenets. He had one son named Pe-yoo, who died 

 Jn middle age, leaving also one son, named Tsoo-tse, 

 who inherited the virtues of his grandfather, and after- 

 terwards attained the highest offices in the state. 



At the age of twenty-three years, Confucius, having 

 acquired a profound knowledge of the ancient history 

 ,md laws of the empire, began to attempt a general re- 

 formation of manners among his countrymen. In op- 

 position to the boundless luxury and inordinate love of 

 pleasure which everywhere prevailed, and which threat- 

 ened the utter ruin of the several kingdoms which then 

 composed the empire of China, he taught a system of 

 the strictest morality, and enforced his doctrines by the 

 purity of his own example. By his extraordinary know- 

 ledge and arms We virtues, he speedily acquired the 

 most extensive celebrity, and was frequently invested 

 with the highest offices in the magistracy, which he 

 sometimes accepted, when he conceived that they might 

 be made subservient to his plans of reformation ; but 

 which he always resigned, whenever he was unable 

 to exercise them with any beneficial effect. As his suc- 

 cess, however, did not correspond with his expectations 

 and endeavours, he at length renounced all his dignities 

 in his native country, and went to seek in other parts 

 of the empire a more favourable reception to his pre- 

 cepts. But, in the 55th year of his age, he returned to 

 his native country, the kingdom of Loo, where he was 

 instantly invested with one of the principal offices in 

 the government ; and where he-is said, in the short space 

 of three months, to have effected, by his counsels and 

 good example, an entire reformation of manners, both 

 among the higher and lower orders of the subjects. 

 The prince put himself and his court under the direc- 

 tion of the philosopher ; and the whole kingdom had 



VOL. TII. PART I. 



the appearance of a well-regulated family. The pros- 

 perous state of the country, in consequence of these po- 

 litical and moral improvements, excited the jealousy of 

 the neighbouring princes, and filled them with appre- 

 hensions, that its growing power might soon become 

 more formidable than was consistent with their securi- 

 ty. The king of Tsi, in particular, held frequent con- 

 sultations with his nobles upon the subject, and at length 

 devised the following scheme for defeating the enlight- 

 ened measures of Confucius. Upon pretence of send- 

 ing a friendly embassy, he presented to the prince of 

 Loo and his grandees, a number of the most beautiful 

 young women, who had been carefully instructed in 

 the arts of dancing, singing, and all those other accom- 

 plishments which so powerfully enslave the hearts, and 

 enervate the minds of men. In spite of all the remon- 

 strances of Confucius, the fair strangers experienced a 

 welcome reception from the prince of Loo and his prin- 

 cipal officers at court ; and all the affairs of government 

 were speedily banished from their thoughts by the 

 succession of feasts and diversions into which they were 

 plunged, without a moment's intermission, by the fas- 

 cinations of their new favourites. The sovereign, deaf 

 to every sound but the voice of pleasure, could not en- 

 dure to be addressed on points of public concern ; and 

 even refused at length to admit his most faithful minis- 

 ters to his presence. The philosopher attempted in vain 

 to stem this torrent of dissipation which inundated the 

 court, and which sufficiently proved the slight impres- 

 sion which his instructions had made. Finding all his 

 struggles utterly ineffectual, he resolved to resign his 

 employments, and to become once more a voluntary 

 exile from his degenerate country. 



He passed in his progress through the kingdoms of 

 Tchi, Goo-shi, and Tsoo, without receiving the slight- 

 est encouragement to take up his residence in any of 

 their cities. The austere integrity of his politics, and the 

 strict simplicity of his manners, rendered him every- 

 where rather an object of dread ; and he was generally 

 regarded by the leading men of every province, both 

 as a dangerous associate, who would speedily under- 

 mine their influence by his superior talents, and also as 

 a troublesome monitor, who would perpetually disturb 

 their pleasures by his virtuous reproofs. He often ex- 

 perienced the most contemptuous treatment from the 

 more licentious nobles ,• and conspiracies even were in 

 some instances formed against his life. By totally ne- 

 glecting his personal interests, he found himself redu- 

 ced at length to a state of extreme indigence, and was 

 compelled to resume his original office ot a private in- 

 structor. Declining the invitation of certain sages of his 

 time, to withdraw from the world, and lead the life of a 

 hermit, he resolved to devote himself to the improve- 

 ment of the lower classes of the people. Ceasing, there- 

 fore, to address himself to the inhabitants of palaces, 

 and the attendants of courts, he employed the remain- 

 ing part of his life in making the most distant and fa- 

 tiguing journies throughout the Chinese empire, in- 

 structing every where persons of every rank, who were 

 willing to listen to his precepts. And as in all his dis- 

 courses, he was continually producing the maxims and 

 example of the ancient Chinese worthies, Yao, Shun, 

 Yu, Tching-tang, and Ven-vang, he began to be re- ' 

 garded as in a manner the representative of these im- 

 perial sages, and at length attracted around him. a con« 

 siderable number of followers. 



Besides his general admirers, he is said to have had 

 above three thousand disciples, who were more parti- 

 cularly attached to his person and principles. These 



Confucius. 



