Great Sage -- Confucius

Author: Lin Cunguang, Guo Yi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-07-01
Features: Faced with this situation, the students were very curious about what stance Confucius would take. Ran You looked around at his classmates and said, "Will the teacher intervene in the succession dispute in Wei?" Zigong immediately replied, "Alright, I'll go ask our teacher." So, Zigong entered Confucius' room and asked him, "Who were Bo Yi and Shu Qi?" Confucius said, "They were the virtuous people of ancient times!" Zigong then asked, "Did they regret their actions?" Confucius replied, "They pursued benevolence and thus achieved benevolence—what is there to regret?" Bo Yi and Shu Qi were the two sons of the ruler of the ancient state of Guzhu. After their father's death, the brothers mutually declined the throne and fled into seclusion in Shouyang Mountain, where they starved to death. Confucius highly admired their benevolence in being willing to relinquish power, and Zigong inferred from Confucius' attitude that his teacher would surely not intervene in the succession dispute between Kuai Gui and his father. Therefore, he came out and announced to his classmates, "The teacher supports neither of them!" (From the Analects, "The Master Said")
The chaos in Wei was imminent. Around the second month of the second year of Duke Ai of Lu, Confucius, who had lingered in Wei for four years, left the country in disappointment and took a southeastern route to Chen. (4) Cutting down a tree in Song: "Heaven has given me virtue"
The Confucius party, adhering to the principle of "avoiding perilous states," left Wei for Chen but made no stop in the state of Cao before arriving in Song. Song was the ancestral home of Confucius and the hometown of his wife, Qi Guan Shi, and Confucius had come here in his youth to study the rites of the Yin dynasty. It was only natural to assume that upon arriving here, Confucius would feel a sense of familiarity and comfort upon stepping onto his homeland. However, his arrival instead stirred a plot for his demise.
The Marquis Huan Tui of Song was arrogant and extravagant, longing for immortality after death, so he ordered craftsmen to build him a massive stone coffin in his lifetime. Despite the artisans' hard work for three years, the coffin was still unfinished. Upon hearing this, Confucius was greatly displeased and criticized Huan Tui, saying, "It would be better for you to rot quickly after death than to waste so extravagantly like this!" This angered Huan Tui immensely, who harbored resentment and sought an opportunity to harm and retaliate against Confucius.
One day, while Confucius and his disciples were practicing rites under a large tree, Huan Tui sent men to provoke trouble, cutting down the tree and attempting to kill Confucius. The students, deeply afraid that their teacher might fall victim to this danger, urged him to leave Song quickly. Confucius, however, remained calm and said to his disciples, "Heaven has given me virtue, and what can Huan Tui do to me?" Nevertheless, to avoid unexpected trouble, the Confucius party hastily left Song.
To prevent Huan Tui from tracking them down, they temporarily changed their route from south to Chen and went west, first stopping in Zheng for a brief rest. During their journey, Confucius and his disciples accidentally got separated. Upon arriving in Xinzheng (now Xinzheng County, Henan), Confucius stood alone at the eastern gate of the city, waiting for his disciples to reunite with him.
Zigong and the others, upon arriving in Zheng, went around asking about their teacher's whereabouts. A local told Zigong, "There's a man standing at the eastern gate—the front of his head resembles Yao, his neck resembles Gao Yao, his shoulders resemble Ziyuan, but from the waist down, he is three inches shorter than Yu. He looks like a wolf..."