499 BC

When Confucius was fifty-two years old there was a conference between the countries of Lu and Ch’i. The two countries met at Chiaku . After some official ceremonies, Ch’i asked the orchestras from different places and some actors and dwarfs to play for them. Then the entertainers came forward and started a big noise. It was very dangerous for the Duke of Lu because the entertainers had weapons like spears, forks, and swords in their hand. Confucius rush in and said to the Duke of Ch’i, "This is a conference between two countries, why do you present these barbarian musicians and dancers? Common people who try to corrupt the rulers should be killed. I request an order from the Master of Ceremonies." The Duke of Ch’i was very embarrassed and impressed by the action of Confucius, so he decided to return the land of Yun, Wenyang, and Kueiyin which they had taken from Lu, as an apology.

The places under Confucius’ ruling were doing very well, even things left on the streets were not stolen. When the people in Ch’i heard of that, they became worried and afraid that if Lu become too strong, the neighbouring countries might become allies with Lu. Then the whole area would be dominated by Lu’s power. So Ch’i came up with a scheme. He decided to send eighty of the prettiest girls and one hundred and twenty-five of the best horses in Ch’i to Lu as a gift to corrupt their government. Things worked just as Ch’i had planned, and the Duke and the Barons of Lu ignored their government duties so they could spend time with the girls. This prompted Confucius to leave with his students and begin travellin around the countries to find a wise duke.

Confucius went to the country of Wei, which had a good friendship with Confucius’ home town, Lu. He stopped at one of his student’s relative’s house. The Duke of Ling of Wei offered Confucius a salary of sixty thousand bushels of rice. After staying in Wei for a while, someone spoke ill of Confucius to the Duke and there were some minor feuds between the Barons in Wei, so Confucius left Wei after only ten months.

Confucius planned to go to the country of Ch’en next because one of his followers was from here. On the way to Ch’en, they passed a city called K’uang. Yang Ho once attacked K’uang and was very cruel to the people there. The people arrested Confucius and his students for five days because Confucius looked so much like Yang Ho and all the people thought that Confucius must be him. The people released him after they discovered their mistake. After that, he passed through P’u and was stopped by the people again. They wanted Confucius to join them for a rebellion and not go back to Wei, but Confucius turned them down and got away safely.

This time, Confucius chose to visit Wei again. The Duke of Wei treated Confucius very nicely, but Confucius didn’t have a chance to show his ability to rule a place. One day, the Duke was riding in a carriage with the Queen, and Confucius was in the second carriage. When they were parading through the streets, attracting people’s attention, Confucius said, "I have never yet seen people attracted by virtuous scholars as they are by beautiful women." Therefore, Confucius wanted to leave Wei, and he and his students headed in the direction of the country Jin. He heard that there was a very wise minister who also used two wise men as his counselors, so this minister might recommend Confucius to the Duke of Jin. Unfortunately before Confucius arrived there, the two wise men were killed by the minister. Confucius decided not to got to Jin because this minister was using these two wise men before he got political power..

Confucius went to Song instead because there was a general who was good friends with Confucius’ student. There was a military officer who was afraid that Confucius might affect his career if Confucius’ worked in the government. So he sent some people to chop down the tree which Confucius and his students always stayed under and told Confucius to leave, or else his destiny would be the same as the tree.

When Confucius was about sixty-two years old, he got stuck in a place between Ch’en and Ts’ai because of war. At first they thought they could live there, then they found out nobody lived there any more because of the war. Confucius and his students live there for seven days. They survived by eating wild fruits and vegetables because of short food supplies. Many of his students were sick, but Confucius was still very calm and kept reading, singing, and playing instruments. One of his students asked Confucius, "Does a gentleman sometimes also find himself in trouble?" "Yes," replied Confucius, "a gentleman also sometimes finds himself in adversity, but when a common man finds himself in adversity, he forgets himself and does all sorts of foolish things."