Lecturer profile: Professor, Chinese Department, Shanghai TV University
Content abstract: Some people say that he is a saint, some people say that he is a mortal, some people say that he is a loving teacher, some people say that he is a lost dog, some people say that he has succeeded, and some people say that he has failed. For thousands of years, there has been a Confucius in everyone's heart, so what kind of person is the real Confucius? What experiences did he have in his life, and what enlightenment will these experiences bring to modern people? Next, let's follow teacher Bao Pengshan and listen to the little-known story behind Confucius through the aura of saints. See how this once ordinary man became the most revered idol in China.
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Starting today, let's talk about Confucius, a very, very great figure in the history of China and also a great figure in the history of the world.
He is a saint, he is a very, very great figure, and he is the core of our spiritual belief in China, so he is a saint. But at the same time, he is also a mortal. He has some people's joys and sorrows, and some people's secular desires. In this case, we need to look at Confucius with two hearts. First, respect, and second, normality.
With respect, we go to see the greatness of Confucius, and then you find him respectable. With a normal mind, we see ordinary Confucius, and you think he is cute. So now let's walk into the Spring and Autumn Period 2500 years ago with such two hearts, and take a close look at Confucius' respect and loveliness, and see how a mortal became a saint.
Commentary: If Confucius were alive today, he would have such a personal file. Name: Kong Qiu, posthumous title, Zhong Ni; Confucius English Name: Confucius Gender: Male Nationality: Born in Changping Township (now Nanxin Town, Qufu City) in the Spring and Autumn Period, born on September 28th, 5565438 BC, what kind of family will Confucius have? What did Confucius' ancestors do? Next, Teacher Bao Pengshan helped us find the answer.
In 479 BC, the 16th year of Lu Aigong, on February 24th of Gregorian calendar, 73-year-old Confucius was seriously ill. His student Zi Gong heard that the teacher was seriously ill and came to see him. When I arrived at the door of Confucius' house, I found Confucius standing at the door with crutches and wandering around. Confucius was very sad when he saw Zigong coming, and said, Duanmu Ci, why are you here now? Then Confucius told Zigong a very interesting thing. Yesterday, I had a dream that I was sitting between two pillars in the hall, accepting the memorial service of others. What does this dream mean? Confucius said that I was from Shang Dynasty, and I was a descendant of Shang King in the previous dynasty. Because according to the rules of these ancient sacrifices, the coffins after the death of Xia people were placed on the Dongtai steps. After the death of Zhou people, the coffin was placed on the west steps. After the Shang people died, the coffin was placed between two pillars. He dreamed that he was sitting between two pillars to accept the memorial service of others, which proved that, first, he was really going to die. Second, it shows that he is a descendant of a businessman.
The earliest ancestor of Confucius was Shang Tang. The founding emperor of Shang Dynasty was the royal family. Later, Zhou Wuwang destroyed the enterprise, and then Zhou Wang was killed. What if there are so many nobles in the king? We can't kill them all After some twists and turns, these merchants were finally enfeoffed in Shangqiu, Henan Province today, that is, the Song State, that is, the Song State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Commentary: Confucius family is declining with the changes of the times. From emperor to vassal, from vassal to doctor, generation after generation in Song Dynasty. But according to records, Confucius was born in Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Is there an error in the historical records, or is there something hidden behind it? Next, the teacher found an important clue for us, a man named Kong.
Confucius is an iconic figure in the history of Confucius family. He is the sixth ancestor of Confucius. He was a fu master in Song Mugong and Song Dynasties. (What officer is Sima? Sima is in charge of the army, equivalent to the minister of national defense, and is the highest officer of the national army. ) In the era of the Song Dynasty, when the Song Dynasty succeeded to the throne for ten years, there was a great careerist in the Song Dynasty-Hua, who wanted to usurp power. Kong is a very important obstacle in front of him, and Kong's wife is very beautiful, so China's father-in-law should not only take the state power into his own hands, but also take Kong's beautiful wife into his arms. "Beautiful and gorgeous eyes" (Zuo Zhuan)
Those five words are really vivid. What is inverse? Look at you. Kong's wife came from a distance, and he kept staring at her, then walked around, walked to one side, walked over to watch, and then cocked his head and watched her go away. There are two verbs in it, one is reverse, the other is looking, and the other is looking from behind. After reading it, I said three words, beautiful and gorgeous. Seeing his mouth watering, this beautiful wife can be regarded as a fatal disaster for Kong. Governor Washington spread rumors that so many wars in our country were fought by Kong Fujia and one by Fu, so everyone hated Kong Fujia. China's father took advantage of others' resentment to launch a coup, killed Kong and took his beautiful wife as his own. Song Gong expressed dissatisfaction, Han Fu refused to do it, and killed Song Gong, which caused great political turmoil in Song State. After Kong was killed, his son Mu could not stay in Song State. What did we do to escape to Shandong, so now we know why we talked for a long time. Confucius was born in Song Dynasty, why was he born in Shandong? It was from the incident of Confucius' father Jia that he fled to Lu, and later the Confucius family began to carry on the family line in Lu.
The next person to talk about is the most critical person. This man's name is Shu Some scholars think how to call Shu Wei? Actually, it's Kong, Ge and. It is said that this man is Confucius' father. Shu Lianggan was also a famous figure at that time. He used to be a city butcher. Where's Joy? In today's southeast of Qufu City, Shandong Province, near Nishan. There is a small town in this place, probably opposite to a township. Being a butcher in this place is equivalent to being a township head. What is he famous for? He is not known as a township head, but for his courage. He is very brave, strong and has high martial arts. We say that later Confucius grew tall, nine feet six inches, which was related to his father and heredity. How tall is nine feet six inches? There are two algorithms, the least of which is 1.9 meters, so Confucius was called "long man" at that time.
Shu is famous for his bravery. Why is he famous for his bravery? At the age of 55, Shu Liangxiang was also famous for his bravery. A war broke out this year. The state of Jin led the multinational forces, that is, the vassal corps, to attack a very small place called Forced Yang, a small country. Shu joined the Lu army in this multinational force operation. When attacking the forced Yangcheng, the defenders of the forced Yangcheng adopted a strategy, opening the city gate, putting in some siege soldiers, and then suddenly lowering the city gate and closing the door for annihilation. People outside can't get in, and people inside are isolated and killed. Just as the gate was about to fall, Shu happened to be next to it. With the help of one person, he lifted the heavy door and released the people who rushed in, so this incident brought him a high reputation and saved many people. Moreover, he propped up the city gate by himself, showing his great strength. We know that he is 55 years old.
Commentary: Uncle Liang's efforts not only brought him honor, but also brought him love. At the age of 66, he also won the heart of a girl, so who is this woman?
This woman is Yan Zhizhai, the mother of Confucius. Why did Shu marry such a young girl at such an age? That's because Shu has regrets all his life. What regret? Because his wife Shi gave birth to nine daughters for him, and he had no son. Later, as a last resort, he married another concubine, who finally gave birth to a son, but was born with a disability and a sick leg. Look at a family. Today, from the emperor to the vassal to the doctor, and then to Shandong, the doctor is no longer there. What has he become? Scholars are the last class of the aristocratic ruling class. Below the scholars are the common people, belonging to the ruled class. This family can be said to have fallen to the lowest point, and there is no way to fall again. When he arrived in Shu, he didn't even have a healthy boy. Is he willing? He didn't want to.
After the combination of Shu and Yan Zhizai, they also went to Naishan to pray. You should know that Shu is not only out of love, but also has a strong purpose. I want to have a son, so after marriage, he took this little wife and prayed at the Niu Shan to make sure to have a son for me. Therefore, this mud hill
It works. That autumn, a young wife of Yan Zhizai gave birth to a boy. He looked strange, but he was obviously very, very healthy. This boy wants to shape a nation, and he is Confucius. On September 28th, our official birthday, Confucius was born. And he was born like a mud hill.
The head of Confucius is very strange. Most of us are high in the middle and low around. Confucius' head is low in the middle and high around. This is the shape of Niqiu Mountain, and this is the top of the mountain. So I named Confucius Qiu. Confucius got his name for two reasons. First of all, pray at Mount Nychiu. Second, the head looks like a loach, so it's called Kong Qiu. We know that Confucius' name is Zhong, which means second child, and Confucius' eldest brother is Meng Pi. Boss Meng is serious.
Therefore, the name of Confucius comes from the top of Niqiu Mountain, and the word comes from Niqiu Mountain. What is the result? In the name and characters of Confucius, Niqiu Mountain cannot be called Niqiu Mountain. Why? Confucius became a saint. How can you have the same name as a saint? Isn't the same taboo So Niqiu Mountain was later renamed Nishan. Because the ancients talked about avoiding taboos, names and words, the word Confucius' famous mountain should be avoided. If there were no Kong Qiu, Niqiu Mountain wouldn't have to be renamed. However, if there were no Confucius, Niqiu Mountain would not be famous. When Confucius was born, Shu was 66. After all, he is old. Three years later, in twenty-four years, when Confucius was three years old, Shu died. After the death of Shu, Yan Zhizai was left with a burden. Of course, some of the nine daughters may be married, the eldest brother Meng Pi, and Shu's single concubines at home. This is all a burden. Everyone should eat with his mouth open. So when Shu died, he put a huge burden on a young woman of 18 years old.
Commentary: A 18-year-old mother with a 3-year-old son, how did they live, and how did this single-parent family environment affect the growth of Confucius?
Now we can't understand what happened to this family after Shu was buried. But what we do know is that this family will definitely fall apart. Yan Zhizhai left home with a three-year-old orphan and widowed mother, Confucius, and moved to Qufu City to live in an alley called Queli. They want to make a living by themselves. We can probably imagine that Yan Zhizhai will mend, size, clean and do some manual work. But one thing, even in such a difficult environment, she did not delay Confucius' study.
This is our tradition, from Confucius' mother to Mencius' mother. In short, what did Confucius learn? First, the study of making a living. You must make a living, or you will have no source of income. You must learn to support yourself first. When he was seven or eight years old, Confucius would certainly try his best to help his mother make up for her family, which was what he had to do. Confucius made a sad remark.
When I was young, my status was low, so I learned a lot of despicable things. Dirty things are the work of the lower classes, and Confucius learned many ways that the lower classes had to learn to make a living.
Never a dude, heroes are often honed in a tough environment. Later, Confucius was full of broad sympathy for the ordinary lower class people.
These are all related to his experience.
Then, Confucius and his mother were so close and dependent on each other that they struggled to make a living in an alley in Qufu, the capital of Lu. We feel that even so, although it is bitter, there is still warmth. But a bigger test is coming.
Commentary: Although Confucius' father died when he was three years old, this lonely and bitter single-parent family life did not leave a shadow on Confucius' childhood growth, but made young Confucius understand the helplessness of life earlier and strengthened his confidence in life. But fate played a trick on people, and a greater disaster befell Confucius, a poor child.
At the age of seventeen, my mother died. Yan Zhizai is also a woman from bad karma. Her husband died early, and she brought up her three-year-old son until he was seventeen. She was only 32 years old and Yan Zhizhai died. Confucius, 17 years old, wanted to bury his mother and father together, but he encountered a difficult problem. He doesn't know where his father's grave is buried. According to the Book of Rites:
This is normal. Confucius was only three years old when his father died. Of course he doesn't know where his father's grave is buried. Even if we go to the funeral together, the three-year-old child must have no memory. I don't know where my father is buried when I grow up. Moreover, the ancients were different from us today. Qian Mu said this very well. The ancients did not visit graves or pay homage to them. They just saluted the memorial tablet at home and didn't go to sweep the grave. At the same time, the tombs of the ancients are different from ours today, neither sealed nor tree-owned. What do you mean "no seals, no trees"? Just don't pile up into mountains. Our grave is very high today, and we don't plant trees. We can tell at a glance. The tombs of the ancients were very flat, no different from other places, and no trees were planted, so they were unrecognizable. Confucius wanted to bury his mother and father together. You can't dig a place to bury it. It is not easy to find a place to bury his father. So at this time, Confucius made an amazing move. He parked his mother's coffin in a place called "Father's Road", hoping that someone would sympathize with him and someone would know about it and tell him where his father's grave was buried. He wants to bury his parents together.
Confucius' filial piety reflected in this amazing move touched an old lady. Who is this old lady? His son is a professional funeral worker and participated in the burial of Shu. Confucius finally found the exact grave of his father under the guidance of the old lady, and then buried his father and mother together.
Commentary: Confucius lost his father and his mother when he was young. Fate seems to be more harsh on saints. Just when Confucius had not fully recovered from the pain of losing his father, another thing happened to Confucius, which hurt his heart more deeply.
After Confucius buried his mother, Confucius mourned for three years. In this year, the ruling minister of Lu, Jishi, issued a notice that all the children of Lu's gentry would come to my house and I would give a banquet for you. Of course, this is also a way to win people's hearts. When Confucius heard the news, he naturally wanted to go, because he was a scholar after all, his family was also a scholar, and his status was also a scholar. I have to go. On the one hand, Ji issued a notice, and now that he has issued a notice, he may be blamed, criticized and punished. This is the first one. Second, Ji is the ruling country of Lu, equivalent to the head of government. When the head of government calls a meeting, it is not a simple meal, but a status symbol. To put it bluntly, attending the banquet is the national reserve cadres and alternate officials. If you don't go, there will be no job. If you go, you will register there. Can Confucius not go? So although Confucius was still in mourning, he went in mourning. I met a man in front of Jishi's house, Yang Huo, Jishi's retainer. This Yang Huo is also called yang hu. This man has been involved with Confucius all his life, and we will keep talking about him in the future. This can be said to be the first encounter between Confucius and Yang Huo. Confucius rushed to the door of Ji's house, and everyone else went in. The banquet was set, and everyone sat there in high spirits, and some even ate and drank. When Confucius arrived, Yang Huo stood at the door, stopped Confucius and said, What are you doing here? Our host invited a taxi, not you. We can think about what a great blow, embarrassment and humiliation this is to Confucius. We say that the Confucius family really declined to Confucius' generation. From the emperor to the vassal, from the vassal to the doctor, from the doctor to the scholar, and then to Confucius, even the scholar's identity is unwilling to be recognized by others. Our host invited a taxi instead of you. What's the subtext? Is that we don't recognize you as a scholar. Beat you to death at once. This is an identity society. If you don't have this identity, you are not qualified.
17-year-old Confucius, a teenager, whose father died young and his mother died, who will comfort him and wipe away his tears, and who will give him spiritual support and comfort when he is hit and frustrated like this. No, he can only go home silently. But we said, after all, parents are dead, and this family is unreliable and can only rely on itself. You must face the world and make your own decisions. Therefore, according to the Records of Confucius' Family, when Confucius 19 years old, he left Shandong to inspect the ceremony of Yin and Shang Dynasties in Song Dynasty. Why are you going? We say that this is Confucius' desire for power. You hit me, you deny me, okay! I want to prove myself through hard work. Therefore, we say that mediocre people often collapse at a blow, and the real hero is indomitable and never recovered. Confucius is such a hero.
Confucius studied in Shandong at the age of 19, and now he is going to the Song Dynasty to learn the cultural traditions of the Yin and Shang Dynasties and change his destiny through learning. What we are talking about now is learning to change our destiny. In the history of China, the most typical example is our Confucius, who first changed his destiny through learning. After he arrived in the Song Dynasty, he was still very interesting. He visited the ceremonies of Shang Dynasty in that place and studied there. He must have done very well and was taken by others in the local area. He married a big family in the Song Dynasty and a daughter of Guan Qi's family. He got married in the Song Dynasty. After marriage, he returned to Shandong with his young wife, and got up where he fell. Can Confucius get up after he comes back? He really got up! Because he gave birth to a son the next year after he came back, and he got up after giving birth to his son? That's not true. When I gave birth to my son, something happened. Confucius was 20 years old at that time. The news that Confucius had a son spread, and Lu Zhaogong immediately sent someone to congratulate Confucius. Do you think this can prove that Confucius got up? Three years ago, 17 years old, a small retainer and a domestic slave could insult him, look down on him and drive him out. Three years later, a monarch gave him a carp to congratulate him on giving birth to a son. Confucius changed his destiny through his own efforts, and also changed others' views on him and won others' respect for him, so Confucius was particularly happy and grateful. I immediately decided to name my son Apollo. The name is carp, and the word is fish. Together, it is carp. Why are you doing this? What is Rongjun's brother? It is an honor for the monarch to give him fish. Remember this kindness. This move by Lu is symbolic, which directly determines that Confucius will go smoothly in the future. Then there is a question: why did Lu flatter Confucius?
Commentary: Confucius gave birth to a child, and Lu congratulated the fish. Then why did Lu treat a young man who has just returned from studying abroad and has not yet become an official with such kindness and attention, and give him such a big face and honor? Why did the young Confucius get the approval of the king of a country?
It is the second kind of knowledge that Confucius learned before he was 30 years old, that is, the knowledge of seeking officials. What is the "learning to seek officials"? Six small arts of traditional Confucianism: ritual, music, shooting, imperial, calligraphy and counting. Ritual, ritual. Ceremony is the etiquette between people at that time, and it is the etiquette of people at that time. It's complicated, and most people don't understand it. Music, music is related to ceremonies. Archery, archery, aristocratic clan You will represent your country on the battlefield in the future. You can't do it without archery. Imperial guard, you had to drive a chariot in ancient times, so you should learn to drive a chariot. Book, write, this book is used as a verb here. Count, you have to know how to count, you have to know how to count, and this number also includes tricks. Rites, music, shooting, imperial, writing and counting are what we call Xiao.
To put it bluntly, this small six arts is the six courses of the civil service examination in that era. It doesn't matter if you're not a civil servant, and it doesn't matter if you start your own business, but if you want to be a civil servant in a national government agency, these six courses must be taken. Rites, music, shooting, obedience, writing and calculation. We say that Confucius was the son of a noble family after all, so he had to learn some life skills to make a living when he was young, but he had to spend more time studying etiquette, music, shooting, imperial art, books and figures. In the future, he will enter the government through the civil service examination and participate in state management, which is the last life path that a person with his identity must take. So at the age of 20, he became an expert in six arts, which is the most needed talent in the country. The country can use such people at critical times. So Lu gave Confucius a big compliment. Therefore, a person must have conditions to be respected.
So what did Confucius do in the process of learning Zhou Li, in the process of learning etiquette, archery, bending, calligraphy and mathematics? What are the records about Confucius' study in history? What is Confucius' nature and ideal pursuit in these records? We'll talk about it next time.