Story of 孔子[KongZi](5)

* click the link to your right "The ABC of Chinese pronunciation" to get some ideas of how these Chinese words are pronounced.

The same year, the State of 卫[Wei4]'s aristocrats 公孟絷 [GongMeng3Zhi] and 齐豹 [Qi2Bao4] involved in an internal power struggle. At first, 齐豹 recommended 宗鲁 [ZongLu3] to be 公孟絷's bodyguard. But later 公孟絷 stripped 齐豹's official position as police chief. 齐豹 wanted to kill 公孟絷 for revenge. 齐豹 specifically asked 宗鲁 for help, namely he asked him stop protecting 公孟絷 when he's traveling outside with him. 宗鲁 indicated that because he is 公孟絷's bodyguard, he ought to be royal to him; at the same time because he's also 齐豹's friend, he wouldn't tell this secret to 公孟絷. 宗鲁 told 齐豹 that he could go ahead carrying out the assassination, but 宗鲁 himself would rather die in his duty. So as 宗鲁 promised, he didn't leak the plot to 公孟絷. Later when 齐豹 stroke 公孟絷 with a two-pointed lance, 宗鲁 used his body to protect him, and ended up being killed together with 公孟絷. When the incident was heard in the State of 鲁, 琴张 his student [Qing2Zhang] wanted to go to the State of 卫 attending 宗鲁's wake expressing his condolence. But 孔子 advised him not to go: "齐豹之盗, 而孟絷之贼, 女何吊焉? 君子不食奸, 不受乱, 不为利疚于回, 不以回待人, 不盖不义, 不犯非礼. [An outlaw like 齐豹, and cunning as 公孟絷, why do you want to go to his wake? A virtuous man would not accept income from an evil person, or work for the person of rebellion, or harm body of oneself because of the temptation of profit, or treat others with evil deeds, or cover scandals, or do unethical deeds] 孔子 believed that 宗鲁 knew that 齐豹 was a renegade yet he still indulged him; he knew 公孟絷 wasn't a good person but he still went to work for him and didn't want to leave. These were the things that are mismatching moral conducts of a 君子[JunZi - virtuous man]. Because a 君子 wouldn't accept questionable incomes, or treat people with bad will, or cover up scandals. 宗鲁 did not reached this high standard of being a 君子. Therefore, 琴张 should not go to his wake.

In December that same year in a hunting ground, 齐景公 [Qi2Jing3Gong - the ruler of State 齐] brandished his bow and tried to summon in the manager. But the manager did not respond. 齐景公 got mad and had him tied up, and was about to punish him. The hunting ground manager defended himself by saying, "昔我先君之田也, 旃以招大夫, 弓以招士, 皮冠以虞人. 臣不见皮冠, 故不敢进." [back in the old days of serving the previous rulers, I saw them always waving a red flag to call in a senior official, waving a bow to call in a junior official, or waving a leather hat to call in a hunting ground manager. I did not see the waving of the leather hat today, thus I didn't dare come in to wait on you] When 齐景公 heard that, he let him go. 孔子 commented on this: "守道不如守官, 君子韪o" [It's easier to talk about virtue than to carry it out in practice. The hard part of being a government official is how to transpire one's virtue cautiously in one's official capacity.] 孔子 believed that behavior of the hunting ground manager was in accord within the decorums; therefore it is in accord with morality. If a monarch requires his subject to behave in a subject's way, the monarch himself should also behave in a monarch's way. Only then, would there be people following the rule of law. 孟子 [Meng4Zi3] once explained that, "志士不忘在沟壑, 勇士不忘丧其元. 孔子奚取焉? 取非其招不往也 [person of ideal and integrity won't forget about the principle even he is being put in a gully; a brave and strong warrior won't forget his principle even he is going to be beheaded. Why did 孔子 say that the behavior of the hunting ground manager was proper? He said that not because he thought the manager should go taking care of the monarch, but because he shouldn't] - in order to practice and fulfill the morality, 君子 [JunZi - a virtuous man] would not be afraid of death.

The social activities and experiences in 孔子's teenage years helped gradually form his Confucianism. Confucianism attache importance to morality and promote courtesy and righteousness; it was based on 孔子's understanding of society and his experience gained from society. It was because of his inferior rank, impoverished life, and humble background, he was able to discern the maladies of the society, and in turn to propose a system curing them. His teenage life had established the important foundation forming his Confucianism.

When 孔子 was thirty-four, his student 南宫敬叔 [Nian2GongJing4Su] made a suggestion to 鲁君 [Lu3Jun], the ruler of State 鲁 [Lu3]. He asked 鲁君 to sponsor 孔子 a trip to 周 [Zhou] Dynasty to study 礼 [Li3 - ancient decorums]. 鲁君 granted 南宫敬叔's request, and gave 孔子 two horses, one carriage and one servant. Thus, 孔子 and his students set off for 洛阳[Luo4Yang2] city, the Capital of Eastern Zhou Dynasty, with the goal of surveying previous Dynasty's (Western Zhou) political system, studying its ancient governmental hierarchy and its rites. From that point on, 孔子 entered into the middle age, beginning a more promising journey of his life.

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