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confucius traveled around the central plains and met many foolish princes, but now there is good news. when he was in chen state, confucius heard that king zhao of chu, who was in power in chu state at that time, was a benevolent monarch. once king zhao of chu was ill, and an ominous sign appeared in the sky. a witch (witch and doctor are originally from the same source, and ancient doctors developed from witches) said: "this is a sign of your illness. but i have a way. i can transfer your illness to the ministers by pinching my fingers and chanting a spell." king zhao of chu smiled and said, "it's not good for me to be sick, but it's good for the ministers to be sick? forget it, don't transfer this disease to me, just let it stay in me!" the fact that king zhao of chu could treat his illness in this way is a manifestation of "do not impose on others what you do not want others to do to you", which is quite benevolent!

confucius travels around the world

according to records, king zhao of chu led his army to rescue the state of chen, which was attacked by the states of jin and wu. he was stationed not far from the capital of the state of chen. when he heard that confucius was in chen, he sent someone to inform confucius. this is how confucius traveled to chu.

confucius wanted to travel to chu, but he met with a great disaster between chen and cai and almost starved to death.

before this, confucius had also been to the state of cai, but the rulers of the state of cai did not use him. in the sixth year of duke ai of lu (489 bc), the state of wu attacked the state of chen, and king zhao of chu led his army to station in chengfu to save chen. "historical records: the family of confucius" records that at this time king zhao of chu sent someone to "recruit confucius" and "confucius was going to pay homage." chengfu is in the southwest of xiangcheng, henan today, and is spatially west of the state of chen and northwest of the state of cai. since confucius was going to "pay homage", he started from a place in the state of cai and walked northwest through the state of chen. unexpectedly, he was trapped between chen and cai. there is also another saying that the reason why confucius was trapped between chen and cai was that someone wanted to murder him. "historical records" said that when the doctors of the two countries of chen and cai heard that the state of chu wanted to use confucius, they could not sit still. they conspired and thought that confucius would harm them after arriving in the state of chu, so they decided to send prisoners to surround confucius in the wilderness between chen and cai. this statement is problematic because at that time, chen and cai were allies of chu and wu, respectively. the two countries were at loggerheads and it was unlikely that they would conspire for confucius's affairs. confucius was trapped in the wilderness of chen and cai for seven days. a reasonable explanation is that chen state had fortified its walls and cleared the fields to resist wu state, and the borders were under martial law, so no foreign guests could be received. cai state was planning to move its capital southward to be closer to wu state. under such circumstances, confucius could not find any help from both the public and private sides when he passed between chen and cai, so he ran out of food and starved.

there are many records in ancient documents about the food shortage in chen cai. it is said that confucius and his students had not eaten for seven days, and their time was running out. the students who followed him were pale and thin, and they were so hungry that they could not get up. however, when they looked at their teacher, confucius was still reciting, singing, and playing the piano, as if nothing had happened. everyone was wondering, how could the teacher bear the hunger like this? other students listened to the teacher reciting and singing, and the more they listened, the hungrier they felt. but it was not the case with zilu. he became angrier and angrier as he listened, and he could not hold it back, so he came to see the teacher with an angry face, and asked as soon as they met: "can a gentleman also be poor?" can a true gentleman also suffer such hardships? the implication is that we have learned the tao from you, old man, but in the end we have ended up in such a situation, with our chests touching our backs with hunger. is this the fate of those who aspire to be a gentleman?

confucius looked at zilu, and it seemed that he saw the wild man bian zhi again when the teacher and the student first met. confucius said calmly: "a gentleman is firm in poverty, but a villain is licentious in poverty." (the analects of confucius, duke ling of wei) yes, a true gentleman can endure the current adversity, but a villain would do anything to eat and survive. after saying this, he looked at zilu, as if asking: zilu, do you want to be a gentleman or a villain now? zilu was as sincere as before. after listening to the teacher's words, he immediately figured it out, so he sat next to confucius without saying a word, and imitated the teacher's way, concentrating on fighting against hunger. the above is the situation at that time revealed in the analects of confucius.

the records in the "historical records: the family of confucius" are much richer. confucius knew that there were many disciples like zilu who questioned the way he insisted on because of hunger, so he had to manage everyone's spirit. so he first called zilu over and asked him: "the book of songs says: 'it is not a rhinoceros, it is not a tiger, it is led in the wilderness.' is my way not wrong? why am i here?" confucius quoted two lines from the book of songs and said, we are not tigers or rhinoceroses, but we are wandering in the wilderness. is there something wrong with our way? otherwise, why have we fallen to this point? zilu was also puzzled, so he said to his teacher: "it is possible that we are not benevolent enough and cannot win the trust of everyone; or we are not wise enough and others cannot allow us to practice the way." after hearing this, confucius showed a wry smile on his face: "is that so? zhongyou, if a benevolent person can always gain the trust of others, would there still be things like boyi and shuqi starving to death in shouyang mountain? if a truly wise person can always gain the permission of others when practicing the way, would there still be things like prince bigan having his heart dug out and dying?" what confucius meant was: zilu, you are so stupid. there are dangers in practicing the way, and you should be mentally prepared to encounter hardships!

then, confucius called zigong over and asked him the same question: "it is not a rhinoceros or a tiger, but it is a wilderness." zigong thought about it with his clever mind and said that the teacher's tao is too great, and the world cannot accommodate it. so he advised confucius, saying, "teacher, why don't you lower the standard of your tao? in this way, you can pass through without obstacles. after hearing this, confucius criticized zigong and said, "ci, a good farmer can plant crops but cannot harvest them; a good craftsman can be skillful but cannot be obedient. a gentleman can cultivate his tao, organize and discipline it, and govern it, but cannot be tolerant. now you do not cultivate your tao and seek to be tolerant. ci, your ambition is not far-reaching!" the general idea is that a good farmer can only guarantee that he grows good crops, but cannot guarantee a good harvest; a skilled craftsman can only guarantee that his craftsmanship is exquisite, but cannot guarantee that his work will meet everyone's wishes. a gentleman only cultivates his tao along the right path, how can he sacrifice his own cultivation standards in order to be tolerated by others?

confucius's tour of the states

finally, confucius called yan hui to ask the same question again. yan hui's answer was that the teacher's way is too great, so others cannot tolerate you; however, the more others cannot tolerate you, the more the greatness of your way is revealed. this is not a shame for the teacher, but a shame for those in power. yan hui's words are in line with confucius's meaning.

confucius has a nickname called "he who knows it is impossible but still does it". this nickname was given to him by some scholars in the south when he traveled to the south, and they also told confucius' students. this is the true spirit of confucius (including yan hui): if you follow the way of the world, you may accomplish something, even a big thing, but it is nothing; but for the sake of a beautiful ideal, go against the trend, knowing that it cannot be done, but never give up, this is the strong grass under the strong wind, the pine and cypress in the wind and frost! this is the unique heroic spirit of the true confucian!

the above is the record of "records of the grand historian: the family of confucius". although the dialogue with zilu has some interpretation, it is generally credible. the dialogue between confucius, zigong and yan hui may have adopted the legend, but it can also show the spirit of confucius and yan. the record of the food shortage in chen cai in "xunzi" is only the dialogue between confucius and zilu. comparing the records of "the analects" and "xunzi", the latter has the following content: "the wise and the foolish are talents; the ones who do or do not do are people; the ones who meet or do not meet are time; the ones who die or live are fate. now there is such a person, but he does not meet the right time. even if he is wise, can he do it? if he meets the right time, what is the difficulty! therefore, the gentleman is knowledgeable, thoughtful, self-cultivating, and upright, waiting for the right time." ("xunzi: youzuo") it basically means that the gentleman should look within himself, and as for whether the tao can be practiced and what his own experience is, it can be attributed to heaven. in the words of mencius, this is called "a gentleman follows the law and waits for his destiny" (mencius, the doctrine of the mean, part two), which is the foundation of confucianism.

this article is excerpted from "confucius: the great life of never compromising" (written by li shan, tiandi publishing house·tianxi culture, july 2024 edition)