The Economic Principles of Confucius and His School

taries of Gongyang and Guliang, was the twentieth year of King Ling of Zhou’s reign (552 B.C.); but the beginning of the Confucian era is dated one year later (551 B.C.) on account of a mistake made by Sima Qian, the greatest historian.¹ His birthday, according to the current Chinese calendar, is the twenty-first day of the eighth month. His birthplace is in the present-day district of Qufu, Shandong province. Kong was his family name; Qiu, his personal name; and Zhongni, his courtesy name. The name "Confucius" is derived from the three Chinese words Kong Fuzi, where Fuzi means "Master."

Confucius was powerful in body and keen in mind. He studied under many masters and in many places, becoming a multifaceted and versatile man.

The greatest service Confucius rendered to his contemporaries was as a teacher. Opening his school at the age of twenty-two,² he taught continuously until the time of his death. When he was thirty-five, a nobleman from one of the leading families of Lu, on his deathbed, ordered his two sons, Meng Yizi and Nangong Jingshu, to become pupils of Confucius; these two noble pupils undoubtedly increased his influence. When, at this time, he wished to visit the imperial capital, Nangong Jingshu advised the Marquis of Lu to provide a carriage, two horses, and a servant for him, and he accompanied his teacher himself. During this visit, a very significant interview occurred between Confucius and Laozi, the earliest philosopher of the Zhou dynasty, then the curator of the imperial archives and later regarded as the founder of Taoism. Confucius consulted this learned man concerning the rites and questioned Zhang Hong, a high im—

¹ He began to write the Records of the Grand Historian in 104 B.C. and finished it in 97 B.C.
² Canonical Interpretation of the Qing Dynasty, vol. xxxiii, ch. i.