# A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/K'ung Ch'iu

​1043 K'ung Ch'iu 孔邱 (T. 仲尼). B. C. 551-479. A native of 闕里 Ch'üeh-li, a hamlet of Ch'ang-p'ng in Shantung, known to foreigners as Confucius, which is the Latinised form of 孔夫子 K'ung Fu Tzŭ, the Philosopher K'ung. His father's name was K'ung Shu-liang Ho (q.v.) and on the latter's death, his mother married again and removed to a place called 曲阜 Ch'ü-fu. Many stories are told of his childish precocity, but the authenticity of these is more than doubtful (see Wang Su). In B. C. 533 he married, and in the following year his wife gaye birth to a son (see K'ung Li). After holding some petty post in connection with the grain administration, he took to teaching, and soon surrounded himself by a school of eager and earnest disciples. He visited the ancient capital, whence he returned to be Magistrate at Chung-tu in his native State. His success in that capacity was so marked ​that he was raised by Duke Ting of Lu to be Minister of Justice, and "became the idol of the people, and flew in songs through their mouths." The State prospered under his guidance, and its influence and well-being became conspicuous. This aroused the envy of the Duke of the Ch'i State, who attempted to corrupt his rival by a present of some lorely singing-girls and splendid horses. His scheme succeeded only too well. Duke Ting gave himself over to enjoyment, and neglected the serious business of government. Thereupon Confucius in 495 threw up his post, in the vain hope that the Duke would reform. From that time he wandered sadly from State to State, offering advice to such Princes as would listen to him, mostly neglected, and at one time even in danger of his life. In addition to teaching, he occupied himself with collecting and editing the old national lyrics, to the number of 3ll, now known as the Odes. He also edited the Canon of History, and wrote, under the title of the Spring and Autumn Annals, the history of his native State from B. C. 722 to 484. His Discourses, or Analects, were written up, probably by the disciples of his disciples, and constitute our only authentic source of information as to the personal life and sayings of the Sage. In 481 he heard that a supernatural creature, called the ch'i lin, and variously identified with the unicorn and giraffe, had appeared during a hunting expedition of the Duke of Lu. Taken in connection with the disorder of the times, he interpreted this phenomenon as an evil omen, and announced that his own end was at hand. Two years later he died, in his native State, to which he had at length returned. His life had not been a happy one. He had divorced his wife, who was a downright Xantippe; his only son had predeceased him; and the message, which he felt that he had been divinely appointed to deliver, had not been favourably received. He taught that the nature of man is pure at birth, and that it becomes ​vitiated only by the impurity of its surroundings. He strove to enunciate a practical rule of life which should compare favourably with the poetical Tao of Lao Tzŭ, suitable to the wants of his fellow-countrymen in this world, without indication of, or allusion to, the possibility of a world to come. His daily texts were charity of heart and duty towards one's neighbour, and the virtues on which he laid most stress were justice and truth. "In his village home he looked simple and sincere, as though he had nothing to say for himself; but when in the ancestral temple or at Court, he spoke minutely, though cautiously." Outcast as he was in life, the value of his common-sense teachings was soon recognised; and the "uncrowned king," as he has been affectionately styled, is at this moment as firmly fixed upon his throne as at any period during the twenty-three centuries which have elapsed since his death. His personal name Ch'iu is taboo: it is never written nor uttered. A stroke is left out in writing, while the reverent student pronounces it mou "a certain person." In the second century before Christ a temple was erected in his honour, and during succeeding dynasties decrees have been frequently issued ordering that other temples should be built and sacrifices performed at various seasons. At the present moment there must be a Confucian Temple in every Prefecture, District, and market-town throughout the empire, where twice every year, in spring and autumn, memorial ceremonies are conducted by the local officials. The following words, written eighteen centuries ago by the famous historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien, best describe the position then and still held by the great Sage in the hearts of the Chinese people: — "Countless are the princes and prophets that the world has seen in its time; glorious in life, forgotten in death. But Confucius, though only a humble member of the cotton-clothed masses, remains among us after many generations. He is the model for such as would be wise. By all, from the Son ​of Heaven down to the meanest student, the supremacy of his principles is fully and freely admitted. He may indeed be pronounced the Divinest of men." Various titles have at various times been posthumously bestowed upon Confucius. The chief of these are 宜聖尼父 (A.D. 640), 太師 (666), 文宜王 (739), 大成至聖 (1308), and 至聖先師孔子 (1530). In A.D. 1238, through the influenoe of Yeh-lü Ch'u-ts'ai, the title of 衍聖公 was conferred upon the representative of the family in direct male line. The leading disciples of Confucius were Yen Hui, Tsêng Ts'an, Tsai Yü, Tuan-mu Tz'ŭ, and Chung Yu.