CHAPTER XIX. _confucius and Literature_

CONFUCIUS AND LITERATURE

Life-time of Confucius--Secret of his influence--Visit of the Wu prince to Confucius' state--Lu's "powerful" family plague--Lu's position between Tsin and Ts'u influences--Ts'i studies the ritual in Lu: Yen-tsz goes thither--Sketch of Lu history in its connection with Confucius--What were his practical objects?-- Authorities in support of what Confucius' Annals tell us--Original conception of natural religion--Spread of the earliest patriarchal Chinese state--No other people near them possessed letters--The way in which the Chinese spread--Lines of least resistance--The spiritual emperor compared with some of the Popes--Lu's spiritual position--Confucius of Sung descent, and at first not an influential official in Lu--Lu's humiliation--Ts'i's intrigues to counteract Confucius' genius--Travels of Confucius and his history--His edited works.