Confucius came to the state of Chen after leaving the Wei Kingdom, where he did not participate in politics but devoted himself to the spread of Confucianism in the Zhou rites. Confucius and his disciples spent a few years of leisurely time.

In the third year of Lu Aigong, Ji Huanzi asked his successor Ji Kangzi to recall Confucius before his death. However, Ji Kangzi was provoked by traitors and only recalled Confucius's disciple Ran Qiu. When Zigong begged Ran to see him off, he told him that he must find an opportunity to persuade Ji Kangzi to recall Confucius back to the state of Lu.

In the spring of the following year, Confucius came to Cai to preach Confucianism. Soon there was a civil strife in Cai Guo - Cai Zhaohou was murdered by the doctors. The following year, Confucius celebrated his sixty-second birthday. He knew that his life had entered the twilight of his life, but there were still many ideals in his heart that had not yet been realized, so he planned to try his luck in the state of Chu.

Confucius needed a competent and high-status introducer, and he noticed Ye Gongzi Gao (Shen Zhuliang) and thought that Zigao was a good candidate, so he left Cai Guo and came to Ye Cheng.

Ye Gong was overjoyed and used extremely high standard etiquette to receive Confucius, but Confucius was a little disappointed. It turned out that Zigao was known for his fearlessness in the Chu State, but his height really couldn't bear to look directly - less than one meter six.

Confucius couldn't imagine how fierce such a little man could be, but after talking once, he understood: Zigao's body was full of awe-inspiring and inviolable righteousness; The last time Confucius had this feeling was when he met Yanzi in the Qi Kingdom.

One day, Zigao asked Confucius, "How should a politician govern the country?" ”

Confucius replied, "The secret of governing the country is to recruit wise men from afar and to be close to the subjects of the country." In this way, he euphemistically expressed his wish to show his ambitions in the Chu State.

Zigao didn't give a positive answer, and the next day he asked Zilu again: "What kind of person is Master?" ”

Zilu thought that the other party had nothing to say, so he just walked away with a perfunctory word. When Confucius heard this, he complained: "Ah! Why didn't you say to him, 'The Master never tires of learning and teaching, forgetting to eat with anger, forgetting his worries with pleasure, and not knowing that old age is coming.' 'What?' ”

Zilu's disrespect made Zigao very unhappy, and Zigao went to inspect the border on official grounds. The masters all left, and Confucius was embarrassed to continue to stay in Yecheng, so he had to return to Cai Guo with his disciples.

The group traveled eastward along Rushui. On this day, people suddenly saw two farmers of great stature and strange appearance, who were working together in the field to plough the fields. Confucius was keenly aware that the two were likely to be unborn hermits, so he sent Zilu to greet the two and inquire about the location of the ferry by the way.

Zilu walked over, respectfully saluted the two of them and asked for directions, Chang Fu stopped to wipe his sweat, pointed to Confucius and asked, "Who is the old gentleman with the reins?" ”

Zilu replied, "It's my teacher Kongqiu. ”

Chang Fu asked again: "Is it Kong Qiu of Lu State?" ”

Zilu replied, "Exactly." ”

"Then he should know where the ferry is." With that, he picked up his hoe and continued his farm work.

He smiled and asked, "Who are you?" ”

Zilu reported his name.

He said, "Master is a student of Kongqiu? ”

Zilu said yes.

"The general trend of the world is unstoppable like a surging flood, and who can change its direction?" Instead of following the pioneers, you should stay in this place where there is no dispute with the world and follow us to cultivate the fields. With that, he lowered his head and continued to swing his hoe.

Zilu returned to Confucius and relayed the conversation to him. Confucius said abruptly: "Sure enough, he is a true hermit." But man cannot coexist with birds and animals - what can man deal with if he does not deal with people? If the world is stable and peaceful, do I still need to work hard and strive to change the way of the world? ”

The next day, Zilu fell behind the team for some reason. It was getting late, and when he was in a hurry, he happened to meet a man who was carrying a hoe, light and healthy, and in good spirits. He took two steps and asked recklessly, "Has Master seen my teacher?" ”

The father-in-law said with a calm face: "At first glance, you are the kind of guy who is not diligent and does not distinguish between grains!" Who are your teachers? ”

Zilu knew that he was rude, and bowed his head and stood beside him, ready to continue to teach him a lesson.

The father-in-law said: "They have gone away, you can't catch up today, come to my house for one night!" ”

Zilu came to his father-in-law's house, and his father-in-law killed a chicken to entertain him, and called his two sons out to meet him. Early the next morning, Zilu said goodbye to his kind-hearted father-in-law and continued to hurry, and soon caught up with the team.

When Confucius heard about his experience, he said, "That's a hermit, go back and ask him a few questions." ”

But after Zilu returned the same way, he found that his father-in-law's family had gone to the empty house.

After Zilu returned, he said: "I didn't expect that there are so many famous people living in seclusion between the mountains, rivers, and rivers!" It is not right that they do not come out to save the world. The morality of the young and the old cannot be abandoned, let alone the king's ministers? They should not abandon righteousness for the sake of self-purification. The gentleman joined the government to do the right thing, but I also knew that the political views we advocated would not work at all. ”

Confucius remained in the state of Cai. Later, Wu Wangfu sent Chen, Chu Zhao Wang Shuai rescued Chen, and the Chu army was stationed in the city father. Ye Gongzi Gao inadvertently chatted with King Chu Zhao about Confucius, and King Chu Zhao exclaimed: "Old Master Confucius is so close to Bugu. "Said that he would order someone to go to Cai State and summon him to Chu State to join the government.

Confucius did not dare to delay for a moment, and immediately set off with his disciples and went straight to the city father. There was a sparsely populated, inaccessible wilderness between Chen and Cai, and as the team reached this place, they were suddenly surrounded by a group of unidentified armed bandits. But the group did not rob money or kill anyone, but surrounded the procession. The bandit leader declared that Confucius could go anywhere, but he was not allowed to go any further.

It turned out that these people were the personal armies of Chen and Cai, and those doctors were afraid that the Chu State would become more powerful after Confucius was reused, so they resorted to this kind of indiscriminate means.

But how could Confucius bow down to those villains? He could not advance, but he refused to return; As a result, the two sides were at a stalemate here.

Seven days passed quickly, and the food brought by the team had already been eaten, and the disciples were so hungry that they swayed left and right when they walked, and they could only rely on picking mulberry leaves to satisfy their hunger. The bandits, however, were well supplied, and they did not attack, but feasted and drank all day long, showing off tempting food and sweet wine to the trapped, and persuading them to return as soon as possible to end their hunger.

Confucius still ignored it—he had already sent someone to report to King Chu Zhao. Confucius sat under the mulberry tree, and the sound of the piano and the song continued all day long.

Zilu really couldn't endure all kinds of torture, and he asked Confucius angrily: "Do gentlemen also come to the end of the road?" ”

Zilu asked a very sharp and serious question, which represents the confusion of many people who pursue noble ideals and are dedicated to goodness; Those people originally believed that good people would be rewarded, but once they encountered a similar predicament to Zilu, they would surely feel confused and shaken in their hearts - who would want to be a gentleman if they pursued the truth but did not achieve good results?

Confucius keenly felt the turmoil in Zilu's heart, so he said: "When the gentleman has no way out, he will insist on his conduct, but the villain will do nonsense." He then asks a well-known question in the history of Chinese thought: "The poem says: 'Bandits and tigers, leading them to the wilderness?' 'Why are we stuck here?' Is it because the avenue we advocate is flawed? ”