Introduction

Introduction

The *Shiji* (Hereditary Houses) records: "Kongzi's given name was Qiu, his courtesy name Zhongni. His ancestors were men of Song. His father was Shuliang He, his mother of the Yan clan. In the twenty-second year of Duke Xiang of Lu, in the year gengxu, on the gengzi day of the eleventh month, Kongzi was born in Zouyi, Changping district of Lu. As a child at play, he would often set out sacrificial vessels and practice proper ritual deportment. When he grew older, he served as a warehouse keeper, and his accounts were exact; as a livestock officer, his animals multiplied. He went to Zhou and inquired about ritual from Laozi. Upon his return, his disciples grew ever more numerous.

In the twenty-fifth year of Duke Zhao, jiashen, when Kongzi was thirty-five, Duke Zhao fled to Qi, and Lu fell into disorder. Thereupon Kongzi went to Qi and served as a retainer to Gao Zhaozi, through whom he gained access to Duke Jing. The Duke wished to enfeoff him with lands at Nixi, but Yan Ying opposed it, and the Duke's resolve wavered. Kongzi therefore departed and returned to Lu.

In the first year of Duke Ding, renchen, Kongzi was forty-three. The Ji clan was powerful and acted usurpingly, and its retainer Yang Hu seized control and monopolized governance. Kongzi therefore would not take office, but withdrew to edit the *Odes*, the *Documents*, the *Rites*, and the *Music*, and his disciples multiplied still further.

In the ninth year, gengzi, Kongzi was fifty-one. Gongshan Buniu revolted from the Ji clan at Fei and summoned Kongzi, who wished to go but in the end did not. Duke Ding appointed Kongzi as warden of Zhongdu. After a year, all quarters took him as their model. He was then elevated to Minister of Works and subsequently to Minister of Crime.

In the tenth year, xinchou, he assisted Duke Ding at the meeting with the Marquis of Qi at Jiagu, and the Qi people returned lands they had seized from Lu.

In the twelfth year, guimao, he sent Zhongyou to serve as steward of the Ji clan, dismantled the three fortified cities, and collected their arms. The Meng clan would not dismantle Cheng, and they besieged it but could not take it.

In the fourteenth year, yisi, Kongzi was fifty-six and acted as chief minister. He executed Zhengmao Qiu and took part in the governance of the state. For three months, Lu was greatly well governed. The Qi people sent a gift of female musicians to thwart these reforms, and Ji Huanzi accepted them. At the great sacrifice, the flesh was not distributed to the ministers according to proper form, and Kongzi departed.

He went to Wei and lodged with Yan Zhouou, the brother of Zilu's wife. He went to Chen and passed by Kuang, where the people of Kuang, mistaking him for Yang Hu, detained him. After his release, he returned to Wei, lodged with Qu Boyu, and had an audience with Nanzi. He left for Song, where the Grand Marshal Huan Tui tried to kill him. He left again for Chen and lodged with Sicheng Zhenzi. After three years there he returned to Wei, but Duke Ling could not employ him. The retainer of the Zhao family of Wei, Fuxi of Zhongmu, rebelled and summoned Kongzi, who wished to go but again did not. He was about to go west to see Zhao Jianzi, but turned back upon reaching the river, and again lodged with Qu Boyu. Duke Ling asked him about military formations, but he made no reply and departed, returning once more to Chen.

When Ji Huanzi died, he left instructions that Kangzi must summon Kongzi, but Kangzi's ministers dissuaded him, and Kangzi instead summoned Ran Qiu. Kongzi went to Cai and to She. King Zhao of Chu wished to enfeoff him with lands and households, but Prime Minister Zi Xi opposed it, and the plan was abandoned. He returned again to Wei, but Duke Ling had already died, and Zhe, the ruler of Wei, wished to employ Kongzi in governance. Meanwhile Ran Qiu served as a general for the Ji clan and distinguished himself in battle against Qi. Kangzi then summoned Kongzi, and Kongzi returned to Lu, in the eleventh year of Duke Ai, dingsi, at the age of sixty-eight. Yet Lu in the end could not employ Kongzi, and Kongzi himself did not seek office. He therefore arranged the *Documents* and transmitted the *Rites*, edited the *Odes* and rectified the *Music*, and arranged the *Changes*—the *Tuan*, *Xi*, *Xiang*, *Shuogua*, and *Wenyan*. His disciples numbered some three thousand, of whom seventy-two had mastered the six arts.

In the fourteenth year, gengshen, a unicorn was captured on a western hunt in Lu, and Kongzi composed the *Spring and Autumn Annals*. The following year, xinyou, Zilu died in Wei.

In the sixteenth year, renxu, on the jichou day of the fourth month, Kongzi died, aged seventy-three, and was buried north of Lu on the banks of the Si River. All his disciples observed the mourning of the heart for three years and departed, except Zigong, who remained in a hut by the grave mound for six additional years. Kongzi had a son named Li, courtesy name Boyu, who died before him. Boyu had a son named Ji, courtesy name Zisi, who composed the *Doctrine of the Mean*."

Master He said: "The *Lu Lunyu* consists of twenty chapters. The *Qi Lunyu* additionally contains *Asking about Kingship* and *Understanding the Way*, making twenty-two chapters in all, of which the twenty shared chapters contain somewhat more passages than the *Lu Lunyu*. The *Gu Lunyu* was found in a wall of the Kong family's house; it divides the section beginning with 'Yao said' and Zhang's question into a separate chapter, thus producing two chapters bearing the name 'Zi Zhang,' making twenty-one chapters in all, with an arrangement different from that of the *Qi* and *Lu Lunyu*."

Master Cheng said: "The *Lunyu* was compiled by the disciples of Youzi and Zengzi, which is why in the text only these two are addressed with the honorific 'zi.'"

Master Cheng said: "In reading the *Lunyu*: there are those who read it and find nothing happens at all; there are those who read it and are pleased by a sentence or two; there are those who read it and come to know that they love it; and there are those who read it and simply cannot keep themselves from dancing with hands and stamping with feet."

Master Cheng said: "People today do not know how to read. If, for example, one reads the *Lunyu* and is the same sort of person before reading as after, then one has never truly read it."

Master Cheng said: "I began reading the *Lunyu* at seventeen or eighteen and already understood its literal meaning at that time. The longer I have read it, the more I sense its inexhaustibly deep flavor."

**On the Method of Reading the *Lunyu* and the *Mengzi***

Master Cheng said: "Students should take the *Lunyu* and the *Mengzi* as their foundation. Once the *Lunyu* and the *Mengzi* are mastered, the Six Classics may be understood without separate study. A reader should observe the sages' purpose in composing the classics, the sages' manner of applying their minds, how the sages became sages, and where one oneself has not yet arrived and what one has not yet attained. Seek it phrase by phrase, recite it by day and savor it, ponder it at midnight, calm your heart, ease your temper, and leave your doubts open—then the intention of the sages will become visible."

Master Cheng said: "Whenever one reads a text, one must first grasp its literal meaning; only then can one seek its deeper import. There has never been anyone who could perceive the import without first grasping the literal meaning."

Master Cheng said: "A student should take every question put by a disciple in the *Lunyu* as though it were his own question, and every reply given by the sage as though he were hearing it spoken to him today—then he will naturally gain something. Even if Kongzi and Mengzi were to come back to life, they would teach people no differently from this. If one can search deeply and savor the *Lunyu* and the *Mengzi*, what a magnificent character one will cultivate in time!"

Master Cheng said: "Whenever one reads the *Lunyu* and the *Mengzi*, one must read them thoroughly and savor them. One must make the sages' words apply to oneself; one must not treat them merely as a matter of conversation. If a person keeps these two books close to himself, that will suffice for a whole lifetime."

Master Cheng said: "The *Lunyu* and the *Mengzi* are complete in themselves as one reads them, and one's understanding is naturally satisfied. A student must savor them. If one explains them merely through language, the meaning will fall short."

Someone asked: "What if one focuses on the essential passages of the *Lunyu* and the *Mengzi*?" Master Cheng said: "That is certainly fine, but in the end it will not permeate fully."

Master Cheng said: "Every word of Confucius is natural; every word of Mencius is fact."

Master Cheng said: "The student should first read the *Lunyu* and *Mengzi*, for they are like a scale and a balance. If one uses them to weigh things, one will naturally perceive what is long or short, what is light or heavy."

Master Cheng said: "If one reads the *Lunyu* and *Mengzi* and yet does not come to know the Way, it is said, 'Though there be abundance, of what use is it?'"