tian name) was Chung-ni. His countrymen speak of him as K'ung
Fu-tzu, the Master, or philosopher K'ung. This expression was altered
into Confucius by the Jesuit missionaries who first carried his fame
to Europe.

[Footnote 1: According to the great historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien. Other
authorities say, 552 and 551 B.C.]

Since the golden days of the Emperors Yao and Shun, the legendary
founders of the Chinese Empire, nearly two thousand years had passed.
Shun chose as his successor Yue, who had been his chief minister, a man
whose devotion to duty was such that when engaged in draining the
empire of the great flood--a task that took eight years to
accomplish--he never entered his home till the work was done, although
in the course of his labours he had thrice to pass his door. He
founded the Hsia dynasty, which lasted till 1766 B.C. The last emperor
of this line, a vile tyrant, was overthrown by T'ang, who became the
first ruler of the house of Shang, or Yin. This dynasty again
degenerated in course of time and came to an end in Chou, or Chou Hsin
(1154-22 B.C.), a monster of lust, extravagance, and cruelty. The
empire was only held together by the strength and wisdom of the Duke
of Chou, or King Wen, to give him his popular title, one of the
greatest men in Chinese history. He controlled two-thirds of the
empire; but, believing that the people were not yet ready for a
change, he refrained from dethroning the emperor. In his day 'the
husbandman paid one in nine; the pay of the officers was hereditary;
men were questioned at barriers and at markets, but there were no
tolls; fishgarths were not preserved; the children of criminals were
sackless. The old and wifeless--the widower; the old and
husbandless--the widow; the old and childless--the lone one; the young
and fatherless--the orphan; these four are the people most in need
below heaven, and they have no one to whom to cry, so when King Wen
reigned his love went out first to them' (Mencius, Book II, chapter
5). After his death, his son, King Wu, decided that the nation was
ripe for change. He overcame Chou Hsin by force of arms, and, placing
himself on the throne, became the founder of the Chou dynasty.

In the time of Confucius the Chou dynasty still filled the throne. But
it had long since become effete, and all power had passed into the
hands of the great vassals. The condition of China was much like that
of Germany in the worst days of the Holy Roman Empire. The empero