The youth of great figures and celebrities

Author: Yu Tongtong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Confucius, named Qiu, styled Zhongni, was a thinker, politician, and educator in the late Spring and Autumn period and the founder of the Confucian school. He was proficient in the six arts of rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics, and was a knowledgeable and outstanding philosopher. During his 14-year journey visiting various states, he led his disciples to Wei, Chen, Song, Cao, Zheng, Cai, and Chu, traveling and persuading rulers but never receiving significant recognition. In his later years, Confucius devoted himself to education, with his teaching centered on benevolence and guided by the rites of Zhou, emphasizing the cultivation of ethical virtues such as loyalty, forgiveness, filial piety, and respect for elders. He advocated "education for all," giving many commoners, who had previously had no access to education, the opportunity to learn. He also developed practical teaching methods, such as teaching according to aptitude,, emphasizing review, and balancing verbal instruction with personal example.
Perseverance in Adversity
Confucius lost his father in childhood and endured many hardships, but he was always supported by his kind mother, Yan Zhen. Despite the difficult circumstances, his mother always taught him to be a person with ideals and to continuously strive for progress. His mother toiled day and night at household chores until she grew too weak and fell ill. However, on the fourth day of her rest, Confucius was forced by his mother to go to school. But every day after school, he would return home early and immediately start working—tilling the land, watering the garden, bedding the pigsty, feeding chickens, lighting the fire, and mending the ground. At night, he would help his sick mother weave straw sandals. His mother criticized him for not studying as diligently as before, but Confucius smiled and explained that after a day of studying at the village school, his mind was like a bowl of paste and needed rest. Moreover, he believed that working could also help him think and memorize. Although young, Confucius was meticulous in his chores and excelled at whatever he did, sometimes even faster than the experienced elders. He took much of his mother’s burden, and her body gradually recovered as she rested. Even while ill, his mother, Yan Zhen, never rested. She often struggled to sit up and made a new coat for her son to wear during the New Year. That evening, when Confucius returned home from school with the new coat, just as he reached for the rope to fetch water, his mother grabbed his hand and led him into the inner room, beaming with joy. “Come, Qiu, let’s try on this new coat I made for you,” she said. Seeing how happy her mother was, Confucius seized the opportunity to tell her, “Mother, starting tomorrow, I won’t go to school anymore.” “Why?” Yan Zhen was taken aback, and her smile vanished instantly. “The teachers at the village school are all outdated old men,” Confucius explained, “full of empty talk and far worse at teaching than you are.”