Story of 孔子[KongZi](6)

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

After 孔子's arrival in the Capital of 周[Zhou] Dynasty, he inspected the system of decrees and regulations of the ancient ritual musical culture since Western Zhou Dynasty comprehensively, minutely and thoroughly. He visited museums and ancient temples, asking historians on matters of ceremony and ritual convention since the West 周 dynasty and deeply moved by the ancient culture created by 周 公 [ZhouGong - the founder of 周 Dynasty]. He said, "I have learned until today the reason why 周 公 was a great king and why he could conquer the Middle Kingdom!" During the stay at the Capital city, he also paid a special visit to 老子 [Lao3Zi], the court head historian and philosopher from the Dynasty. After having a discussion on 周 Dynasty's formal culture of ritual and ceremonies, 老子 said this to 孔子 in a deep reflection: "子所言者[What you have just said], 其人与骨皆已朽矣[The man and his bone were long perished], 独其言在耳[only his wisdom can still be heard by us]. 且君子得其时则驾[A virtuous man would ride his luck in his good time], 不得其时则蓬累而行[and would hunker down when it's in his bad]. 吾闻之 [I heard that], 良贾深藏若虚 [a rich merchant would appear to be insubstantial] 君子盛德 [a virtuous learned man who is full of wisdom], 容貌若愚[would appear to be unintelligent]. 去子之骄气与多欲 [Rid of your arrogance and extra desires], 态色与淫志 [attitude, temperament, and unrealistic ambitions], 是皆无益于子之身 [are detrimental to you]. 吾所以告子[The reason why I tell you that], 若是而己[is just that]. KongZi then bid goodbye, and LaoZi saw him off with the advice: "吾闻富贵者送人以财 [I heard that wealthy people gifted others with their money] 仁人者送人以言 [a virtuous man gifted others with his advice]. 吾不能富贵 [I am not a rich person], 窃仁人之号 [and has stolen the reputation of a virtuous man], 送子以言, 曰 [so I give you this advice:] 聪明深察而近于死者 [that smart and perceptive people often ended up close to death], 好议人者也 [is because of their judgmental to others]. 博辩广大危其身者[that eloquent speakers and well-versed people are damaging their own career], 发人之恶者也[is because of their exposure of others' evil crimes]. 为人子毋以有己 [Neither a son would do this to his mother], 为人臣毋以有己 [nor a subject would do this to his monarch.] "

What 老子 had said to 孔子 was based on his observation of 孔子. He saw that 孔子 was very much nostalgic about the collapsed ritual system from the old Zhou Dynasty, and was ambitious in trying to restore the glory of it. Therefore, 老子 gave him the advice as an elder, hoping that 孔子 would adopt his philosophy of life: preserve oneself; do nothing; get along with others; let things take their own course. To that advice, 孔子, as the ambitious founder of Confucianism, didn't take it. However, the old man's persona and philosophy deeply impressed 孔子. After the meeting, 孔子 gave the students his opinion of 老子: "鸟, 吾知其能飞 [Bird, I know it can fly]; 鱼, 吾知其能游 [Fish, I know it can swim]; 兽, 吾知其能走 [beast, I know it can run]. 走者可以为罔 [beasts that run can be captured by a net], 游者可以为纶 [fish that swim can be catch by a thread], 飞者可以为矰 [birds that fly can be shot down by an threaded arrow]. 至于龙吾不能知 [As to dragon I can not know], 其乘风云而上天[for its rising up to sky via winds and clouds]. 吾今日见老子 [I today saw LaoZi], 其犹龙邪 [he is a dragon to me!] Here, 孔子 believed that 老子's thought was full of abstruse philosophy, and its meaning could not be fathomed by an average man.

On his way back to 鲁 [Lu3] from 周 [Zhou] Dynasty, 孔子 stopped by at the feudal state of 杞 [Qi3 - in today's Qi county of 河南 He2Nan2 province], formed by posterities of Dynasty 夏 [Xia4], as well as at the feudal state of 宋 [Song4], formed by posterities of Dynasty 商 [Shang]. There he studied 礼 [Li3 - Decorums] from 商 [Xia4] and from 夏 [Yin] Dynasties. Later he told his students, "我欲观夏道, 是故之杞, 而不足征也; 吾得<<夏时>>焉.我欲观殷道, 是故之宋, 而不足征也; 吾得<<坤乾>>焉. <<坤乾>>之义, <<夏时>>之等, 吾以是观之." [I wanted to study the way how the system of 夏 [Xia4] Dynasty worked, that's why I went to State of 杞 [Qi3]; yet their resources weren't be able to help me verifying it; I only found one valuable book called 夏时 [Xia4Shi2]. I wanted to study the way how the system of 商 [Yin] Dynasty worked, that's why I went to State of 宋 [Song4] yet their resources there weren't be able to help me verify it either; I only found one valuable book called 乾坤 [Qian2Kun]. The idea in Book 乾坤 is about the same as Book 夏时, and I am going to study them equally] Here 孔子 expressed disappointment and regret on the loss of ancient cultural treasures. Through this experience, he felt strongly that in order to preserve the ancient culture, he should waste no time to start schools in order to hand down and pass on the cultural heritages from one generation to the next.

孔子 came back to the State 鲁 [Lu3], he put full effort into teaching of the ancient tradition, studied hard to clarify, and interpret the embedded, undiscovered meaning of the ritual culture, as well as its reason and logic. Wanting to rescue the society from the reality of chaos and crisis, he expressed strong wishes to join the government. He once said, "苟有用我者, 期月而已可也, 三年有成." [If someone uses me, he can expect me doing something positive in a few months, and doing something big in three years.] He believed that ritual musical culture of 周 Dynasty was developed based on the foundation of two cultures of 夏[Xia4] and 商[Shang] Dynasties, that it embedded a rich philosophy of inter-personal relationship and of how people should be treating each other. If these golden rules of ancient dynasties were to be condensed and applied, they could be beneficial to maintaining the order of the current society. He said, "周监于二代, 郁郁乎文哉! 吾从周." [周 dynasty's ritual musical culture were using reference and modifying from that of 夏 dynasty and 商 dynasty; it's rich and bright. I approve the culture of 周 dynasty. ] and also said: "如有用者,吾其为东周乎" [If I could be joining the administrationn, I would definitely let the ritual musical culture of 周 dynasty revive!"]



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