Story of 孔子[KongZi](3)

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He once said: "吾少也贱故多能卑事." [That being poor in my youth acquired me many skills of lowly task] And also said: "吾十有五而志于学." [When I was fifteen, I aspired to learn] It was this talent and determination to learn prepared 孔子 in his later life to shoulder the great task of carrying on the traditional Chinese culture.

In regard to his own propensity to learn, 孔子 was quite proud of himself. He once said, "德之不修, 学之不讲, 闻义不能徒, 不善不能改, 是吾忧也. [Virtue's not being recuperated, knowledge's not being studied, proper behavior's not being emulated, wrongful act's not being corrected, those are my worries] and "三人行, 必有我师焉; 择其善者而从之, 其不善者而改之." [Among three persons walking, there ought to be one qualified as my teacher; choose their strong points to learn from, and use their weaknesses to check and correct my own] also "我非生而知之者, 好古, 敏以求之者也." [I was not a learned person when I was born, my knowledge was from my love of ancient culture, and my diligence and agility to learn ] "十室之邑, 必有忠信如丘者焉, 不如丘之好学也." [In a town of ten families, you can always find people of honesty and trustworthiness like myself, but you probably won't always be able to find people who have an ardent desire in learning like myself] 孔子's learning style mainly took shape mostly in self-study, in the spirit of modesty and curiousness. His student 子贡 [Zi3Gong4] said of him: "夫子焉不学? 而亦何常师之有 [There are no subjects that my master wouldn't want to learn; he doesn't have a fixed teacher.] The subjects of 孔子's study were comprehensive but he paid special attention to the social and cultural issues of his time. For example, "子入太庙, 每事问." [Whenever the Master was inside the Royal Ancestral Temple, he asked everything that he didn't understand ] According to 左传[Zuo3Zhuan4 - the first Chinese annals in history]'s record, in the 17th ruling year of 鲁昭公[Lu3ZhaoGong], there was a royal visitor from the southeastern neighbor state of 淡 [Dan], paying a visit to 鲁昭公, with whom the visitor talked about how his ancestor named the title of officials using name of birds. 孔子 "闻之, 见于淡子而学" [heard that, he came in met with 淡子(Dan4Zi3) and learn from him], and from the conversation he grasped the truth that "天子失官, 学在四夷, 犹信" [the knowledge of official controlled learning since Zhou dynasty were squandered and lost, they now can only be found in remote region and backcountry, and are believable.] His student 子贡 [ZiGong4] once said, "文武之道, 未坠于地, 在人. 贤者识其大者, 不贤者识其小者. 莫不有文武之道焉. [Although Emporer Wen and Wu had passed away, but the effect of their way of governing had not lost; it's preserved in life. Talented and knowledgeable persons remember it more, less talented and knowledgeable persons remember it less; but they all have it inside them] Took it upon himself as the historical mission - inheriting, carrying on the traditional culture; 孔子 pertinaciously absorbed knowledge, in spite of his family financial situation and his own personal hardship. Hence he had at one time or another asked about rituals from 老子 [Lao3Zi], had learned musical instruments from 襄子 [XiangZi], and had learn music composition from 苌宏 [Chang2Hong2]. Whoever a knowledgeable person he met, he would learn from him. By this way 孔子 gained a wealth of ancient cultural knowledge. He finally became a master of "Six Arts" (Rituals, Music, Archery, Charioteering, Calligraphy, Arithmetic), a learned man of courage, bravery and knowledge.

When 孔子 was seventeen, his mother died. 颜徵在 [Yan2ZhengZai4] had been supporting and nurturing 孔子 in a poorish life, left the world too young, too soon. 孔子 buried his mother in the grave where his deceased father were, and became an orphan. Soon, 季孙子 [Ji4SunZi], an aristocrat in State of 鲁 [Lu3] was having a grand dinner party for nobilities. The newly orphaned 孔子 [Kong3Zi], still in his mourning apparel, tried to attend the party but was stopped rudely at the door by 季孙子's family servant, 阳货 [Yang2Hu3], who ridiculed him, "季氏飧士, 非敢飧子也! [Master Ji is dining celebrities, not you!] Suffering from this humiliation, 孔子 didn't get discouraged, instead he roused himself up more and kept forging ahead -- eventually, he became famous for being an expert of knowing 礼 [Li3], the rituals. At that time, 孟子 [Meng4Zi], a senior official from feudal state of 鲁 [Lu3], was very sick. Thinking that he's about to die, he advised his sons: "孔丘, 圣人之后,... 吾闻圣人之后, 虽不当世, 必有达者. 今孔丘年少好礼, 其达者欤? 吾即没, 若必师之." [孔丘, (丘 is 孔子 KongZi's first name), sage's posterity...I heard that sage's posterity, even though not being influential or in power, surely were the persons of understanding and versed. Now 孔丘 being young and 礼-loving, is certainly a sage. I will die soon, you two must become his students] Later when 孟子 died, his two sons 孟懿子 [Meng3Yi4Zi] and 南宫敬叔 [Nan2GongJing4Shu] went on to become 孔子's students, learning 礼 [Li3] from him.

When 孔子 was nineteen, he married to 丌官氏 [Ji4GuanShi4] from State of 宋 [Song4]. Next year, he had a son named 孔鲤 [Kong2Li3]. When 孔子 was twenty years old, he worked at 季孙子 [Ji4SunZi3]'s as a granary bookkeeper, managing the warehouse, reconciling balance sheets. When he was twenty-one years old, 孔子 changed his job to manage the livestock. Those small jobs usually were all performed by petty officials of the family minions, but 孔子 [Kong3Zi] treated his job with most care and caution, revealed his managerial talent. 孟子 [Meng4Zi] once said, "孔子尝为委吏矣, 曰, '会计当而已矣'; 尝为乘田矣, 曰, '牛羊茁壮长而已矣'." [When 孔子 was a bookkeeper, people said 'he takes good care of the books'; When he was a cattleman, people said, 'his cows and sheep are well fed] When 孔子 was twenty-two, he started to set up private schools in native villages. At that time, many young men like 曾点, 颜无由, 秦商, 冉耕 from State of 鲁 flocked to his doorstep and asked to be accepted as his students. The number of students seeking his tutelage increased with each passing day due to following reasons: 1) his establishment of schooling met the commoners' demand of education at the time, 2) in his teaching practice he championed the principle of "有教无类" [Education for everyone regardless their social or financial backgrounds] by saying "自行束修以上,吾未尝无诲焉" [I never refuse to teach those who are self-reflective, conscientious, and eager to learn], and 3) his advocating of "学而优则仕" [Those who excellently learned should serve (in the government)], namely through systematic study and training to gain opportunity in participating in government. Among these students, there were commoners; there were aristocrats. Several years later, 孔子's teaching business had grown rapidly. He had trained numerous students who were specialized in rituals and music, and had become a well known educator, who started to receive notice from the ruling class at the time.

孔子's teenager time was a time of drastic social change. This tremendous change of the time had a profound effect on the young 孔子. His emerging thought of Confucianism, 修己安人 [Self-perfection and respecting of others], was gradually formed upon his reflection and re-cogitation of the reality.

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