Good Confucianism book (pdf) - Department of Physics

12 Confucius’ World and His LifeFigure 1.1 Traditional rendering of ConfuciusConfucius ’ mother, Yan Zhizai, who was only 20. Either with her husband,or alone, Confucius ’ mother went to Mount Niqiu to pray for a son 25 andthere received the spirit of Heaven.Other stories tell us that shortly before Confucius ’ birth, a unicornappeared to Confucius ’ mother carrying a plaque that said that, with thedecline of the Zhou dynasty, the child would be the “ uncrowned king. ”After it left, Yan Zhizai gave birth to her son. Two dragons descended fromheaven, circling the house, and five gods descended to the courtyard. Hismother heard celestial music announcing the birth of a sage. At birth, thecrown of Confucius ’ head looked like the shape of Niqiu mountain and sohe was named “ Kong Qiu. ” 26When Confucius was three, his father died. As a very young child,Confucius could play music and practiced rituals (see chapter 2 for a discussionof these rituals). As a boy he attended a school set up by a primeminister. When he was 17, his mother died. Even as a teenager, he wasrecognized by some officials in the state of Lu as a descendent of sagesand as having a natural ability to understand and perform even the mostancient of rituals.