Confucius (born Kong Qiu, styled Zhong Ni) was born in the village
of Zou in the country of Lu in 551 B.C., a poor descendant of
a deposed noble family. As a child, he held make-believe temple
rituals; as a young adult, he quickly earned a reputation for
fairness, politeness and love of learning, and he was reputed
to be quite tall. He traveled extensively and studied at the
imperial capital, Zhou, where he is said to have met and spoke
with Lao Zi, the founder of Daoism.
Upon his return to Lu, he gained renown as a teacher, but
when he was 35, Duke Zhao of Lu led his country to war, was
routed and fled to the neighboring country of Qi; in the disorder
following the battle, Confucius followed. Duke Zhao frequently
came to him for advice, but upon counsel of one of his ministers,
he decided against granting land to Confucius and gradually
stopped seeking his counsel. When other nobles began plotting
against Confucius' position, Duke Zhao refused to intervene,
and Confucius returned to Lu. But conditions there were no
better than before, and Confucius retired from public life
to concentrate on teaching and studying.
At age 50, he was approached by the Baron of Qi to help defend
against a rebellion, but he declined. He was later made a
city magistrate by the new Duke of Lu, and under his administration
the city flourished; he was promoted several times, eventually
becoming Grand Secretary of Justice and, at age 56, Chief
Minister of Lu. Neighboring countries began to worry that
Lu would become too powerful, and they sent messengers with
gifts and dancers to distract the duke during a sacrifice
holiday. When the duke abandoned his duties to receive the
messengers, Confucius resigned and left the country.
Confucius spent the next five years wandering China with
his disciples, finding that his presence at royal courts was
rarely tolerated for long before nobles would begin plotting
to drive him out or have him killed. He was arrested once
and jailed for five days, and at 62 he was pursued, along
with his disciples, into the countryside by a band of soldiers
sent by jealous nobles, until he was able to send a messenger
to the sympathetic king of a nearby country, who sent his
own soldiers to rescue them. Once again, Confucius was to
be given land but was denied it upon counsel of another high
minister. After further wanderings, he eventually returned
to Lu at age 67. Although he was welcomed there and chose
to remain, he was not offered public office again, nor did
he seek it. Instead he spent the rest of his years teaching
and, finally, writing. He died at 72.
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