Chapter 28 25. The Yellow River Sighs

On the bank of the surging Yellow River, just as Confucius and his disciples were about to cross the river, news came that the officials of the state of Jin killed two virtuous officials. Confucius played the piano angrily and played "Zou Cao"... It was the rainy season, the rain was pouring non-stop, and the road was muddy and difficult to walk. Confucius was deeply aware of the hardships of life. He said to Zilu and others in the hood: "Zhong You, the path of life is too difficult, and it is even more difficult to express your ambition." Suddenly, a person in the rain came galloping and shouted:

"Teacher, wait for me..." Confucius and the others hurriedly looked back.The man rushed to Confucius' chariot and said, "Teacher, I'll go with you. I've come back from my filial piety." "Oh, so it's Zigao," Confucius said kindly, "Get in the chariot quickly." Gao Chai climbed into the car and asked: "Why did the teacher leave Weiguo?" "It's hard to describe!" "Zigao, I heard that your mother passed away, you wept bitterly, and you didn't laugh for three years. Your filial piety has been famous all over the world."

"The teacher praised it." Jae Yu said, "Teacher, I have a different opinion." "What do you think?" "I thought three years of filial piety was too long when my parents died." "Why?" Confucius asked him with a serious face. "Because if you don't practice rituals for three years, the rituals will be ruined; if you don't practice music for three years, the music will collapse." Confucius said angrily: "Zaiyu, you are so inhumane! Parents gave birth to you, and you cannot leave their arms for three years. Three years of filial piety is a common funeral for everyone in the world. How can you object to it?"

Jai Yu didn't speak. After several days of turbulence, he finally came to the bank of the Yellow River. Confucius knew that after crossing the Yellow River, he would be the Kingdom of Jin. The sound of the surging Yellow River was heard before reaching the river bank. The sound of galloping horses roared in the ears. Confucius hurriedly ordered to stop. His disciples supported Confucius to the embankment and looked towards the Yellow River.Ah, the Yellow River is rushing fast and mighty, like a soaring yellow dragon, rolling down from the western sky, roaring, rushing, roaring, passing through the valley, turning around the field, and heading straight to the sea...

Ah, the mother river, the source of Chinese culture, you have nurtured the Chinese nation and irrigated the land of China... Confucius stood on the bank of the river, and the wind was blowing his white hair dyed with frost... Looking at the big river rolling eastward, Confucius thought that life is too short, time is like an arrow, and like a big river, it will never return, and he can't help but sigh a lot... He also thought that he was nearly sixty years old, but his ambition of ruling the world with benevolence could not be realized. In the past few years, he was bumpy and wandering and was not reused. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel anxious, and the tears in his eyes couldn't help rolling down...

Yan Hui, Zilu and other disciples came over and saw the teacher was sad, Zilu asked with concern, "Why are you crying, Teacher?" Confucius said sadly: "Do you still remember a sentence I said: 'The dead are like a father, and the dead are like a husband, never give up day and night!'" Yan Hui also burst into tears when he heard this, "The teacher is lamenting that the time is like flowing water and will never return. The teacher is almost sixty years old, but he can't show his ambition." "Come back! You are my most intimate student!" "Teacher, let's cross the Yellow River!"

"Yes, let's cross the Yellow River." "Master, there is no ferry, we have been looking for it for a long time." Zi Gong and Ran Qiu said as they boarded the embankment out of breath. With sharp eyes, Min Ziqian pointed to the distance and shouted: "Teacher, look quickly, there is a sheepskin raft in the middle of the river!" Confucius looked around, and sure enough, he saw a sheepskin raft in the middle of the river. Two people stood on it, paddling desperately in the turbulent torrent. Raft archery... The master and apprentice of Confucius were very nervous, they hurriedly found the rope from the car, and prepared to rescue the people on board.

The two people on the sheepskin raft finally landed after struggling with the stormy waves, torrents and eddies. Zilu threw the rope to them, and the people on the raft grabbed the rope and got ashore. Drenched in water, the two plopped and knelt down to Confucius and his disciples: "Thank you for saving your life." "Are you..." Confucius asked. "We are the vassals of Dou Mingdu and Doctor Shunhua of the state of Jin. Both Dou Mingdu and Doctor Shunhua were killed by Zhao Yang, and their home was also ransacked. Everyone was killed. We fled to the road and met. We crossed the river together."

Confucius was stunned. "Teacher, who are Dou Mingdu and Shunhua? Why were they killed?" Zilu asked. "Dou Mingdu and Shunhua were virtuous ministers of Jin, and they must have been killed for opposing Zhao Yang's dictatorship." Confucius sighed and said: "I thought Zhao Jianzi was courageous and capable of governing the country, and I wanted to assist him, but I didn't expect to be such a villain. How much did these two virtuous ministers help him when he was young? , Now that the wings are full, killing people is simply too inhuman." Ran Yong took out the clothes from the car and let the two of them wear them.The two asked while getting dressed, "Are you..."

Zilu said, "This is Confucius, our teacher." "Ah, is it Confucius? I'm rude, I'm rude." The two immediately kowtowed to Confucius. "We have long heard that Confucius was a great sage in the world. Master Dou Mingdu often mentioned Confucius, saying that Confucius was the most polite." "Our Master Shunhua also often said that Confucius ran a school, and there was no discrimination in teaching, and the poor could read." Confucius pointed to Yan Hui: "He is the poorest person, but he is the best student." Zigong asked, "Teacher, shall we still cross the river?"

"Don't cross the river. You can't enter the chaotic state, and you can't enter the dangerous state. You can't go to Zhao Jianzi. This person is just like Ji Huanzi, and he is an usurper. This is the person I hate the most. We will not go to Jin. " Confucius said and sighed: "The Yellow River is so beautiful! Confucius can't cross the river. This is fate!" Then he said: "Yan went back to the car and brought Qin!" Yan Hui hugged the qin, and Confucius sat on the bank of the river and played the qin, singing "Zou Cao": The disciples burst into tears when they heard this... "Teacher, where are we going?" Ran Yong asked. "Where are we going? The river is surging, and we can't find the source! We can only return to the Kingdom of Wei temporarily to make plans." The sad music and singing of Confucius' master and disciples on the banks of the Yellow River attracted many people to stop and listen. Not far away, came four young men with their bags on their backs, dripping with sweat... When they came to the bank of the river, they saw the master and disciple of Confucius, and ran over excitedly. The four of them bowed down to Confucius with a plop: "Sir, we have come to you." Confucius hurriedly put down his qin, stood up, helped them up one by one, and asked: "The four young masters are named, where did they come from?" The young man in the lead clasped his fists and said: "The younger generation is surnamed Bu, named Shang, named Zixia, from the state of Wei. Ziyou and I came from the state of Wei, and the two of them came from the state of Chen. We met on the road and came here together." "Zixia?" Confucius said, looking at this square-faced, fair-skinned student who looked like a scholar. "Aren't you the awe-inspiring and upright Zixia who wanted to splash the blood on the neck without humiliating Wei Jun?" "It's right next." "Ah, that's great. I heard that you are also good at literature and like "Poems." "Xiaosheng liked to read "Poetry" and "Le" since he was a child, and he came here because he knew that the master was good at it." "Good, good." Confucius was very happy. Confucius looked at the young man with delicate features and flexible eyes standing next to Zixia and asked: "This son is again..." "My master, the descendant's surname is Yan, his first name is Yan, and his style name is Ziyou. A native of Wu, he came from Wu to ask for his master. Zixia is my friend, so I came with him." Confucius asked: "What is Ziyou good at, and what does he want to learn?" Ziyou said: "The younger generation dare not say that they are good at it, but they just like literature and want to learn how to govern the country." Confucius laughed again and said, "Okay, I just want to train such talents." Confucius shifted his gaze to the other two young men, among them the handsome young man with big eyebrows and big eyes stepped forward and clasped his fists together and said, "Mr. My friend Chen Kang has come to you and wants to learn from you about benevolence." "Okay, you have ambition." Confucius asked the shy young man standing next to Zizhang, with a thin face, a slender figure, and a shy face, "Young master, what about you?" The young man saluted Confucius respectfully and said: "The junior is surnamed Chen, surnamed Kang, surname Zikang, from Chen Guo. I heard Mr. Jiu's name, and I want to study under my teacher for a lifetime." Confucius said with a smile: "If you are successful in your studies, you should become an official. If you are excellent in your studies, you will be an official. In the future, whenever you have the opportunity, you will be allowed to serve the country." Then he said to the four young people: "It's really rare for you to come all the way from afar and travel thousands of miles to seek a teacher. I accept them all. However, you must be prepared to endure hardships." Confucius pointed to his disciples again and said: "They all welcome you." Then he introduced: "This is Yan Hui, this is Zilu, this is Zigong..." Confucius walked over and introduced one by one, "He is Min Ziqian, he is Ran Geng, he is Ran Qiu... and he, Ran Yong." Confucius went to Zaiyu, Gao Chai, and Gong Liangru to introduce him, and finally pointed to Zeng Shen and said: "Ziyu is the youngest, about the same as you." Confucius said again: "I still have many students like Zeng Xi, Yan Lu, Fan Chi, Mi Zijian, Qi Diaokai, You Ruo, Qin Zhang, Lin Fang, my housekeeper Yuan Xian, my son-in-law Gong Yechang, my nephew-in-law Nan Gongshi, etc., some of them run schools at home, and some of them are officials in Lu State, so they can't go around the country with me." After Confucius finished speaking, Zilu, Zigong, Yanhui and others happily walked over and took their hands and said, "Welcome." Zigong said happily: "Teacher, let's hold the apprenticeship ceremony here!" Confucius looked at the rushing Yellow River, wave after wave, saw the admission of these four Wuqing disciples, and thought that there would be successors, he felt very relieved, so he nodded and said: "Okay, let's hold the ceremony of apprenticeship here." So, on the bank of the Yellow River, qin and music played together, and Confucius sat on the futon and accepted the apprenticeship ceremony of these four young disciples. This was another important apprenticeship ceremony since Xingtan gave lectures. Zixia, Ziyou, Zizhang, and Zikang bowed to Confucius together to the sound of the zither, and sat in front of Confucius to listen to the lecture after they had finished their obeisance. These four disciples of Confucius became the backbone of Confucius's scholarship in his later years, and played a huge role in sorting out Chinese classics and culture and promoting Confucius' academic thoughts.