Dear Confucius

Confucius is a striking representative of the Chinese people. For the past two thousand years generation after generation of Chinese have all to some degree been related to Confucius as his spiritual descendents. Confucius was born in the Chow dynasty in the twenty first year of the king ling he was six years younger then sake Ling twelve years older then Socrates and five years older then Jesus Christ. The birth of these four great thinkers in a period of six hundredth years is a coincidence unprecedented in history. 

The story of Confucius ancestry begins during the final years of the Shang dynasty during the 11th century BC. The totem of the Shang dynasty was the swallow and the style name of the dynastic founder was Yan Zi, which sounds the same in ancient Chinese as the words for heavenly swallow. The Shang Tang name of the member of the Yan Zi court was Zi and the name of their first ancestor was Chi. Legend has it that the reason the Zi Yi mother gave birth to him was because she ate a swallows egg, the he character Zi- and the character Yi together Knog that is Confucius Zi name in Chinese. Confucius ancestors came from the Chow dynasty kingdom of Song in what is now Shang Du Qiu County in Henan Province. Three generations later his forbore Fang Shu was persecuted by those in power fled to the outside county Chu fu in the kingdom of Lu. Qu Fu is located on the San Dong peninsula at the boarder of the mountains and the Yellow River delta and has beautiful scenery and the city was at that time a renowned cultural city. 

It was here that Fang Shu whose family wealth was rapidly declining fathered Bo Xia. Bo Xia later father Ge whose nickname was Shu-liang. Kong Ge was big and tall a solider in the army of the city of Zo Yang. He was brave and good at fighting. In the 563AD at the battle of be-yang the Lu army was half way in the city when the enemy suddenly let down the gate hoping to stop them in the middle of there tracks. But in the middle of all there fighting Kong Ge held up the gate so the soldiers could pass threw and takes the city. Seven years later he fortress that Kong Ge was serving was surrounded he left one hundredth men to defend the city and one hundredth escorted the city leader to safe territory and he then returned to his fortress and push back the invading forces. 


Kong Ge first wife whose Shi name was Shi gave birth to nine daughters his second wife gave birth to a son name Meng Pi who was stricken with an incurable foot disease. Kong Ge was deeply grieved by this and he later took the young daughter of the Yan family as his third wife, this was the mother of Confucius. Kong Ge was already at that time over fifty years old his young fearing that her husband was unable to father a child went up to Ni Mountain to pray for a son. Sure enough heaven fulfilled her wishes in the year 551BC she gave birth to baby boy his given name was Qiu and his nickname was Zhong Ni but he would be known to posterity as Confucius. The son gaveKong Ge much pleasure unfortunately he passed away when Zhong Ni was only three years old. WithKong Ge death the pillar of Kong family gone Zhong Ni mother took her son and move to Chi-fu. Zhong Ni was a very cleaver little boy he especially like to imitate the way adults offered sacrifices to the ghost and spirits. And he would use clay utensils and roots and flowers as his offering practicing his sacrifice offerings in his play. Zhong Ni mother taught him the rudiments of reading and writing in her free time because she did not have the means to send him to school and she needed him to stay at home and help with the chores. So Zhong Ni completed his basic education by studying on his own. Young Zhong Ni thanks to introductions by some of his father's friends served as a low level government clerk at first he was responsible for keeping track of food reserves. And later he was in charge of live stock and poultry although his status was low he worked very hard even duke Zhao the monarch of Lu heard of him from time to time. When Zhong Ni was nineteen he got married and the next year his wife gave birth to a baby boy. Duke Zhao sent a carp to the couple as gift of congratulations and in order to express his thanks Zhong