Zi Zi said that Gong Ye was a good wife. Even though he was in prison, it was not his crime. Give it to his children and his wife. ——"The Analects of Confucius·Gongye Chang"
This chapter records the story of Confucius choosing his son-in-law. Just a few words, the record is very incomplete. Therefore, it seems quite strange, as if Confucius specially selected a prisoner in prison to be his son-in-law. Others used marriage to celebrate and pray for recovery from diseases; Confucius used married daughters to express his attitude, support Gongye Chang, and help Gongye Chang regain his freedom as soon as possible.
This record can easily arouse readers' curiosity and want to know: What kind of person is Gongye Chang, who can win the favor of Confucius and become the son-in-law of Confucius as a prisoner? .
Unfortunately, there are almost no reliable records about Gongye Chang's situation in the literature. The only thing that can be roughly confirmed is that he is a disciple of Confucius. For the rest, even his name and which country he is from are controversial. Kong Anguo said that his surname was Gongye, and his given name was Chang. Huang Kan said that his surname was Gongye, his given name was Zhi, and his courtesy name was Zichang. Sima Qian said that he was from the Qi state, and "Confucius Family Tradition" and Kong Anguo said that he was from the Lu state.
There is a somewhat mysterious saying that is widely circulated: Gongye Changtong Birdsong. This legend was popular from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty. Huang Kan, a famous Liang scholar in the Southern Dynasty, quoted this statement in his "Lunyu Shu". In the Tang Dynasty, the poems of Shen Quanqi and Bai Juyi all mentioned that Gongye was always able to sing birds. For example, Shen Quanqi's poem "It is not as good as the yellow bird's song to avoid long-term disasters", and Bai Juyi's preface to a poem has the sentence "I am not a long-term poet, so I can't understand his language". Scholars throughout the ages thought this legend was absurd and would not be accepted.
But as a story, you might as well say it or listen to it.
There are the following two legends about Gongye Changtong's singing of birds and being in prison (私, a black rope; 绁, 绁, connected together. 绁, a rope used to bind prisoners) :
One said that there were rumors among the people that Gongye Changtong talked about birds. The king of Lu thought that the rumors were misleading the public, so he ordered Gongye Chang to be arrested and imprisoned. Soon, there were birds flying, and Gong Yechang interpreted the meaning of Qi's sending troops to invade Lu's territory. The monarch sent people to investigate according to Gongye Chang's words and found that it was true. Therefore, he not only released Gongye Chang, but also rewarded him with the position of a doctor.
Another said that Gongye Chang followed Confucius to travel around the country and returned to Lu from Wei. When he was walking to the border between the two countries, he heard birds calling each other and went to the clear stream to eat human flesh. After a while, I saw an old woman crying on the road.
When Gongye asked her why she was crying, the old woman replied: "My son went on a trip the day before yesterday and has not returned yet. I guess he is dead, but I don't know where he died." Gongye said to her: "Just now Listen to the birds calling each other and go to the clear stream to eat meat. I'm afraid that's your son." When the old woman arrived at the clear stream, she saw her son's body. The old woman told the village official, and the village official asked her where she got the news. The old woman replied that it was Chang Gongye who said it. The village official therefore believed that Chang Gongye had killed the old woman's son, so he was arrested and sent to prison. Gong Yechang was imprisoned for sixty days. Later, Gongye Chang correctly interpreted the words of the birds that an ox cart overturned by the White Lotus River, the corn was scattered all over the ground, and the horns of the bull pulling the cart were broken. He then interpreted the words of pigs and swallows several times, proving that he could indeed understand the language. Birdsong. Finally, released.
The two stories sound absurd. However, if a person is good at observation and can concentrate on something, it is possible to develop extraordinary skills over time. The legend of Gongye Changtong's singing of birds probably has some basis in fact. Furthermore, after all, they are all legends from the Han and Wei dynasties. They are quite ancient. It is not advisable to erase them easily.
Now let’s talk about Confucius’ criteria for choosing a son-in-law. There were so many outstanding disciples in Confucius, and Gongye Chang was obviously not among them. According to ordinary people's logic, when choosing a son-in-law, you must choose a better one, preferably someone who can pass on the mantle.
The reason why Confucius chose Gongye as his son-in-law was probably not because Gongye could sing the songs of birds and was good at ventriloquism. This kind of crooked and evil skills could not catch the eye of Confucius. Since Confucius believed that Gongye was "wifeable", he certainly had his reasons. In other words, Gongye Chang has his own advantages. Since neither talent, knowledge, nor virtue are superior to others, then age, appearance, family background, character, character, etc. are probably all factors that Confucius considered.
Huang Kan quoted Fan Ning as saying that the reason why Confucius chose Gongye Chang as his son-in-law was to demonstrate the abuse of punishment and the injustice of innocent people in troubled times, and to encourage people to uprightly abide by the law. I think there is some truth to this statement. First of all, this is in line with Confucius's consistent attitude of being very dissatisfied with the collapse of rituals and music at that time; secondly, "The Analects" solemnly records what Confucius said when choosing a son-in-law, which shows that Confucius attaches great importance to this attitude.
Combined with the situation in the next chapter where Confucius chose Nan Rong (Nangong Shi, also known as Zirong) as his son-in-law for his brother's daughter, we can surmise that Confucius chose his son-in-law because of his honest and honest character and his ability to behave wisely and protect himself. , as an important criterion.