CHAPTER V.

Commences his career as a political reformer-Consulted by the Prince of Tsē, who invites him to his court-An incident on his journeyFails to obtain official employment-Visits the imperial capital.

CONFUCIUS Continued to work on quietly and steadily for nearly three years.

At the end of that

time-we give it on his own authority-he found himself so far advanced on the road to wisdom, that "his principles had become firmly established." He had no more doubts or difficulties to contend against, his mission as a reformer had been made clear to him, and he longed to begin his work.

His doctrines, it is true, had been already widely disseminated. But though the seed had been scattered, Confucius was not a man who could stand by contentedly to watch its slow germination and growth. He was impatient to see the ripening of the promised fruit. He believed that his preparations were sufficiently complete to permit of his entering into the arena of public life with advantage, and he

longed for the time when he might be able to make practical application of his doctrines.

It was with this aim that he sought for such an official appointment as would give him sufficient power to carry out his views. Unfortunately, although he had continued on the best of terms with the Prince of Loo, that prince's feeble character, and the corruption of his court, made it hopeless for him to expect any suitable employment in his own state, so he had to look elsewhere.

He had already received overtures from the sovereign of the neighbouring state of Tse, who had sent a messenger to inquire of him how he could best bring his turbulent vassals into subjection. But, from the nature of Confucius's reply, it is clear that the request had not been made in a way to commend itself to his favour. "Tell your royal master "-was his answer" that I know nothing of him, or of his people. How is it possible then for me to be of any use in this matter? Had he wished to know something of the sovereigns of old, and of the way in which they would have been likely to act under similar circumstances, I could have told him, and it would have been my duty to have done so, for I have a right to speak upon subjects which I have studied deeply. But I am ignorant of the condition of his state, and so must remain silent."

It is evident that there were further negotiations, and that Confucius must have received and accepted an invitation to visit the prince's court, for not long after we find him, with a large number of followers, on the road to Tsē.

Some of those who accompanied him were earnest students of his doctrines; but many went with him from no higher motive than curiosity and a love of change. Confucius travelled in a chariot, drawn by a single ox. The rate of progress must have been slow, for his companions were able to keep up with him on foot.

They had only just entered the confines of Tsē, when an incident occurred which Confucius was able to turn to a practical account.

From a thicket near which they had to pass, strange sounds were heard, half groans, half cries, as if from some one in the agonies of death. On searching for the cause, they found a man stretched upon the ground in the last throes of strangulation. Confucius at once leaped from his chariot, unfastened the cord which had been tightly bound round the poor wretch's throat, and, when he was sufficiently recovered to be able to speak, asked how it was that they found him in that condition. "Alas!" was the reply, "you see before you a miserable ill-starred man to whom life has become insupportable." Then, at the request of

AN INCIDENT ON THE ROAD TO TSĒ. 69

Confucius, who desired to know the causes which had produced such a bad example of the extremity to which a man may be reduced who gives himself up to despair, he proceeded, as follows:

"I began life with very fair prospects. I had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and studied assiduously. In time I had learnt all that my masters could teach me, so I resolved to travel, in order that I might complete my education, and gain a better knowledge of my fellow-men. Actuated by this motive, I visited nearly all the countries of the world, and, after an absence of many years, returned home, and married. Then, alas! came my first and greatest grief. My father and mother died within a short time of each other, and I was horror-struck to find, when it was too late, how wanting I had been in filial piety, in never having done anything, whilst they lived, to repay them for all the tenderness and care they had lavished upon me. The thought of this filled me with remorse. Still I hoped to make compensation for my neglected duties in other ways. Since I had not only studied deeply, but had, in the course of my travels, gained a large amount of practical experience, I determined, as soon as the period of mourning was over, to emerge from my retirement, and seek to apply all the knowledge I possessed to the benefit of others. Under the influence of this idea, I offered

my services to the prince; but, greatly to my disappointment and humiliation, so far from my offer being accepted, he would not even grant me an audience, and this was my second cause for sorrow.

"But I would not give way. I was determined to resign myself to my fate, and I thought to console myself in the society of the many friends I had made, not only in my own country, but in the course of my wanderings. Ah, me! how bitterly was I deceived. Those I had most counted upon, did not respond to my advances, and, where I had looked for sympathy and affection, I found but a cold and chilling indifference. And last of all, my son-my only sonupon whom all my love and hopes were centred, not only refused to remain at home and seek to comfort me, but was seized with a spirit of adventure, and he now roams the world, disowning his miserable father, and pretending to be an orphan, whose parents fell into a river and were drowned whilst he was yet an infant.”

Here the wretched man became overpowered by his emotion, his voice failed him, and he could not suppress his sighs and groans. After a time he recovered his composure and continued—

"Utterly broken down by the bitterness of my sorrow, I became incapable of action; my nights were sleepless, and in those terrible waking hours, all