CONFU'CIITS, a celebrated Chinese sage, was b. 19th June. 551 TLC., at Shang-ping, near the town of TsCaise, in the petty kingdom of Lu. His own name was Kong. but his disciples called him Kong-fu-tse (i.e., " Kong, the master or teacher"). which the Jesuit missionaries Latinized into Confucius. His mother used to call him lCeiu (" little hillock"), because liclita as unusual elevation on the top of his dorehead, with which he is often represented. Various prodigies, as iu other instances, were, we are told, the forerunners of his birth. An illustrious pedigree has also been invented for him by his fond disciples, who derive his origin from Hoang-ti, a mythological monarch of China who flourished more than 2,000 years B.C. His father, Shuh-leang-ho, died when C. was only three years of age, but he was very carefully brought up by his mother, Tan she, and from his earliest years, displayed an extraordinary love of learning and venera tion for the ancient laws of his country. The prudence, rectitude, and philosophic gravity of his conduct while a boy, are also highly extolled by Chinese writers. At the age of 17, he was made an inspector of the corn-marts, and distinguished himself by his industry and energy in repressing fraud, and introducing order and integrity into the whole business. When only 19, C. married, but divorced his wife four years after marriage, that he might have more time for study and the performance of his public duties. C. was next appointed inspector-general of pastures and flocks, and the result of his judicious measures, we are told, was a general improvement in the cultivation of the country and the condition of the people. The death of his mother, which happened in his 23d year, interrupted for a time his administrative functions, and gave occasion to the first solemn and important act of C. as a moral reformer. According to the ancient but then almost forgotten laws of China, children'were obliged to resign all public employments on the death of either of their parents; and C., desirous of renew ing the observance in his native land of Millie practices of venerable antiquity, did not fail to conform to this long neglected enactment. The solemnity and splendor of the burial ceremony with which he hono'red the remains of his mother (another old custom which had fallen into disuse), struck his fellow-citizens with astonishment, and they determined, for the future, to bury their dead with the ancient honors. Their
examp'e was followed by the neighboring states, and the whole nation, except the poor est class, has continued the practice to the present day. C. now came to be looked upon as an authority in regard to the past, and ventured to speak as such. lie inculcated the necessity of stated acts of homage and respect towards the dead, either at the grave, or in a part of the dwelling-house consecrated for the purpose. Hence, " the hall of ances tors," and anniversary feasts of the dead, which now distinguish China as a nation. C. did not end here. lie shut himself up in his house to pass in solitude the three years of mourning for his mother, the whole of which time he dedicated to philosoph ical study. We are told that lie reflected deeply on the eternal laws of morality, traced them to their source, imbued his mind with a sense of the duties which they impose indiscriminately on all men, and determined to make them the immutable rules of all his actions. Henceforth, his career is only an illustration of his ethical system. He commenced to instruct his countrymen in,the precepts of morality, exhibiting in his own person all the virtues he inculcated on others. Gradually his disciples increased, as the practical character of his philosophy became more apparent. After his "years of mourning" and meditation were over, C.'traveled through various states, in some of which he was employed as a public reformer. On his return to Lu, his reputation was very great, not less than 500 mandarins being among his followers. In fact, it is to be observed, that generally C.'s disciples were not the young and enthusiastic, but men of middle age, sober, grave, respectable, and occupying important public situations. This fact throws light both on the character and design of his philosophy. It was ethical, not religious, and aimed exclusively at fitting omen for conducting themselves honorably and prudently in this life. C. now divided his scholars into four classes: to the first, he taught morals; to the second, rhetoric; to the third, politics; and to the fourth, the perfection of their style in written compositions. While residing at Lu C. worked industriously in the revision and abridgment of those works which constituted the principal monuments of that ancient literature about which he was always speaking in the language of unbounded reverence.