The story of Confucius as a "Sangguquan" comes from Historical Records Volume 47 and Confucius Family Volume 17. The original text is as follows:
Confucius was in the throne and lost contact with his disciples. Confucius is independent of Guo Dongmen. Zhengren or Zi Gong said, "There is a man at the East Gate, with a shape like Yao, a neck like a child, and a desire for less than three inches, like a lost dog." Zi Gong told Confucius with truth. Confucius smiled happily and said, "Form is not an end." It's like a lost dog, but it is! Yes! "
The vernacular means:
When Confucius arrived in Zheng, he was separated from his disciples. Confucius stood alone at the east gate of the outer city. When Zheng saw this, he said to Zigong, "There is someone at the east gate. The forehead looks like, the neck looks like, and the shoulders look like Zheng Zichan, but they are three inches shorter than Yu from the waist down. He looks flustered and listless, just like a lost dog. " When Zi Gong met Confucius, he told him the exact words. Confucius said happily, "He may not describe me correctly, but he is right to say that I am like a lost dog! Exactly. "
When I first read this article, I felt very confused. Why do saints accept such insults and laugh at themselves when they are compared to stray dogs? An accidental opportunity after many years suddenly made me understand the significance. ...
One day during the Spring Festival, I accompanied my friends back to my hometown to pay New Year's greetings. Relatives in my hometown live in a ravine in a poor mountainous area. After getting off the bus, we walked along the rugged mountain road, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and walked deep into the ravine. In late winter and early spring, the cold wind is bleak and the vegetation is depressed. Here, you can't feel the festive atmosphere and noise of the city at all, only loneliness and desolation. I haven't met one or two people along the way. It's so empty and quiet here that I can only hear my breathing and footsteps.
His relatives' home is located at the foot of the mountain halfway up the mountain. The low house is particularly shabby and lonely. As we approached the hospital gate, there were several barks. Through the evacuated fence, I saw a rhubarb dog barking weakly at us. Finally.
The master came out of the house and shouted at the dog. The dog stopped barking and fell to the ground in frustration. After entering the hospital, I really wanted to praise the dog, but looking at the dog carefully, I choked up. I saw that the dog was skinny, with rough and messy fur, and seemed to have no strength to stand up.
"Is this dog sick?" I asked.
"What ah. Not sick. " The host replied.
"Then why is this dog so thin?" I asked again.
"I can't eat well." He said helplessly.
"Why not get him some bones to eat?"
"Even people can't eat, give it back to him."
……
On the way back, I don't know why, but it suddenly occurred to me that Confucius called himself a "lost dog". At that time, my tears could not stop flowing down.
"Dogs are not idle and poor, and children are not idle and ugly." A starving dog won't betray his master and leave the poor family. Confucius compared himself to a lost dog, which was extremely kind and loyal to the country and the nation.
In the Song Dynasty, Confucius often sat under a tree and told students the truth of self-cultivation and self-denial, but some people did not allow it. They even cut down the big tree behind Confucius. This is a great shame for the sage Confucius.
Confucius lived, lost his wife in middle age and his son in old age, and experienced all kinds of ups and downs in life. However, Confucius never gave up his political ideal, traveled around the world and publicized his thoughts and political opinions everywhere, but at that time, no king of any country was willing to accept and adopt his policy of governing the country.
Confucius is a saint and tells the truth! However, he was born at a bad time, and his idea of managing the world did not get universal attention and acceptance at that time. Someone caught a unicorn, showed it to Confucius and asked Confucius what kind of animal it was. Confucius couldn't help crying when he saw the injured unicorn. (from Confucius' family).
Kirin is the king of beasts. The king of man comes out, and the king of beast comes out. Confucius is alive, why don't you like this wounded unicorn beast? Confucius' loyalty and experience are not like that bony dog.
In a country, the sages have not been paid attention to, have not received due social status and respect, and have even been excluded and trapped in humility and poverty, which shows that society has no choice. This is not the shame of sages, but the shame of human society.
Although Confucius' political ideas have not been fundamentally implemented so far, his theory has pointed out the real direction for human society and laid a solid theoretical foundation for the normal survival and development of human society. Because if human society wants to develop normally and harmoniously, it must follow Confucius' theory. Therefore, Confucius was revered as the teacher of emperors in previous dynasties, and Confucius' theory was also studied and imitated by emperors in previous dynasties.
Without such great sages as Fu, Yan, Huang, Lao Zi and Confucius, could our Chinese nation continue to this day after 5,000 years? If a person does not know how to respect the sages, there is no filial piety.
Confucius has made such a great contribution to our mankind that we should be grateful. Confucius should be worshipped from generation to generation.
At the end of the "shape, also. It's like a lost dog, but it is! Yes! " We imitate sages in form, which is a trivial ending. This is not fundamental. Like Confucius, he is full of kindness and loyalty. For the sake of the country and people, for the harmony of the world and the happiness of all beings, who has really done it since ancient times?
I am not a tearful person, but when writing this article, I still can't help crying again and again.
Yang, an unworthy disciple of the East, bowed down before Confucius with tears in his eyes.
Confucius is a tragic figure, and his ideal of governing the country has no place to display his ambition. He still tried to practice his ideas after being touched by the nose, but he could not realize his ambitions all his life. Therefore, he was called "the dog who lost his family" before his death. During the Cultural Revolution, Confucius was criticized, so the name "lost dog" often appeared with the title of Confucius, and was added with the attribute of "slave-owning class". According to the author, people who often used this statement at that time may not know exactly why Confucius was called "lost dog" at that time, but just parrot-learned.
Mr. Li Ling, Peking University, wrote "Sanggugou-My reading of the analects of confucius" and talked about his views on Confucius' theory of "Sanggugou". The following is a copy of the relevant narrative in his book:
What is a "SangGuGou"? "Sangjia Dog" is a stray dog, and now it is called a stray dog. Homeless people are not only dogs, but also people. The English name is Homeless.
Confucius is not a saint, but a human being ... He is persistent, his lips are brown and his mouth is dry, and he wanders around like a homeless stray dog. This is a fact.
That year, in 492 BC, 60-year-old Confucius came to Zhengdongmen in a carriage, and an expert who was good at physiognomy called Gu Buziqing gave him a physiognomy. He said that Confucius' upper body was like Yao, Shun and Yu, and his lower body was like a lost dog, dejected and despondent. Confucius was not embarrassed. On the contrary, he said that image is not important. However, saying that a dog is lost is also "natural and natural." He only admitted that he was a lost dog.
Confucius was disappointed in his motherland, but he was disappointed in crossing the ocean and living in a foreign country. But he became a vassal, got nothing, and finally died of old age in Lu. In him, I saw the fate of many intellectuals.
Anyone who holds an ideal and can't find a spiritual home in the real world is a lost dog.
It seems that Mr. Li Ling's introduction and understanding still need to be considered. I want to talk about my humble opinion on this issue, focusing on Fang Jia.
Historical Records Confucius Family: "Confucius was in office and lost with his disciples. Confucius is independent of Guo Dongmen. Zheng Ren or Zi Gong said,' There is someone at the East Gate, which looks like Yao, with a neck and shoulders like a child, but it is less than three inches. When you are tired, you lose your family. "Zigong told Confucius the truth, and Confucius smiled happily and said,' I am at the end of the road, but I am like a lost dog. What a pity! "Yes," "This is the original record that Confucius was called" a lost dog "by Zheng people. Compared with Mr. Li Ling's introduction, the author thinks there are many shortcomings:
1. Confucius was born in 552 BC in the twenty-first year of Duke Xiang of Lu. He traveled around the world and passed through Zheng, when he was in Ludinggong 14 to 15, that is, from 496 BC to 495 BC, when he was 57 to 58 years old. Mr. Li Ling said, "In 492 BC, a 60-year-old Confucius came to the East Gate of the State of Zheng in a carriage ...", and the introduction of his era and Confucius' era was inaccurate.
2. Historical Records Confucius Family didn't say what his name was. Sima Zhen quoted the text cloud of Confucius Family Language: "Qing Zi Tanabe is called Gong Yue ..." This edition of Confucius Family Language records that the text is basically the same as the historical records: "Confucius is right, but he loses with his disciples." Or someone named Zi ... ",and they didn't say the name of that Zheng person. What Sima Zhen said may be based on something else. But in any case, "Confucius' Family Language" is a fake book, and it is not credible to say that this Zheng Man is called "Gubu Ziqing". Mr. Li Ling said, "There is an expert who is good at physiognomy. His name is Gu Buziqing. Give him physiognomy.". These statements are not very cautious.