Records of the Grand Historian, Volume 47: The Hereditary House of Confucius

Sellers of lambs did not overcharge original: "羔者弗節" (gāo zhě fú jié). This refers to an era of such high integrity that merchants did not inflate prices or cheat customers, and men and women walked on separate sides of the path road. People did not pick up items lost on the street. Travelers from all directions who arrived in the towns did not need to seek out officials for help; they were provided for until they returned home.

He remained away from the State of Lu for fourteen years. In the eleventh year of Duke Ai of Lu, the Former Sage Former Sage: A respectful title for Confucius returned to Lu from the State of Wei.

He edited the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents, established the rites and music, and completed the training in the Six Arts original: "六藝" (liù yì). These include Rites, Music, Archery, Charioteering, Calligraphy, and Mathematics. In his later years, he found great joy in the Book of Changes (I Ching). He studied it so deeply that he exhausted the mysteries of heaven and earth. He authored the Commentary on the Decisions, the Images, the Words of the Text, and the Appended Phrases These are specific parts of the "Ten Wings," the canonical commentaries on the I Ching attributed to Confucius in order to reveal its hidden secrets.

He taught his disciples in the region south of the Zhu River and north of the Si River. He had three thousand immediate followers, while those who passed on his teachings numbered sixty thousand. Among them, seventy-two were truly accomplished masters.

Long ago, before the Former Sage was born, a Qilin A mythical, auspicious hooved creature in Chinese mythology, often associated with the arrival of a great ruler or sage spat out a "Jade Book" at his birthplace in Quelí. The inscription upon it read: "The son of the Water Essence shall succeed the declining Zhou dynasty as an Uncrowned King original: "素王" (sù wáng). A person who possesses the wisdom and virtue of a king but lacks the actual throne and political power." His mother, Lady Yan, marveled at this and tied an embroidered ribbon to the horn of the Qilin. After staying for one night, the Qilin departed.

In the fourteenth year of Duke Ai, while hunting in the west at Daye, a charioteer of the Shusun clan named Chu Shang captured a beast. Thinking it was an ill omen, he took it. The Former Sage looked upon it and said, "It is a Qilin! Why have you come?" He turned his sleeve to wipe his face, and his tears soaked his collar. When Shusun heard this, he retrieved the creature and saw that the embroidered ribbon tied to its horn still remained. The Former Sage said: "My way has come to an end."