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36 THE ANALECTS: INTRODUCTION.
the district of Ch'ang P'ing _ eqi, and State of Lu ;_t,
on the 2Ist day of the ilth month in the 22nd year of
Duke Hsiang _, which was the 2ist year of the
Emperor Ling _, or in other words in B. C: 55T.*
As a child, in his games, he amused himself by arranging
sacrificial vessels and performing the ritual accompanying
the sacrifices. His father died when he was
three yeats old, and according to Dr. Giles his mother
married again, a statement I have not been able to verify.
At fifteen he devoted himself to study, II. 4, but being in
humble circumstances he was evidently for the most part
Iris own teacher, IX. 6. At nineteen he married, the lady
being from the Sung State, of the family Ping Kuan
_', His son, born the year following, was named
Li ._ the Carp, as is supposed in consequence of a
present of that fish by the Duke of Lu. Li's cognomen
became Po Yti 1"_ ,,_,, or Fish Primus. The present
from the Duke also indicates that Confucius had already
received his first official appointment, which was in the
ducal granary, and soon afterwards he was put in charge
of the ducal pasture lands. In his 22nd year his knowledge
of antiquity attracted to his side a number of
disciples, and he entered upon his career as the founder of
a school destined to perennial fame.
About this time, in B. C. 529, his mother died, and he
removed his father's body from its place of temporary
This is the date m general acceptation, but Legge adopts that of the
Ch'uu Ch'iu commentary, the 21st of l{siang, which however he also
m,akes B C. 55t. His system of computing dates varies from the usual
method by a year, through his Commencing our era with a O thus :
B. C. t ; A. D. ; A. D x. See iris Shoo King Intro. p. f67.