Confucius was born in 551 B.C. in a village called Tsou, which was in the country of Lu. His early ancestor was K'ung Fangshu (who was a ninth-generation ancestor of a king of Sung and the fourth-generation ancestor of Confucius). Fangshu was the father of Pohsia, and Pohsia was the father of Shuliang Ho. Ho was the father of Confucius. The ancestors of Confucius before K'ung Fangshu held no positions of importance, but K'ung Fangshu became the administrator of a county in Lu.

Confucius's parents were married under very special circumstances. His father was over sixty-four and his mother was only seventeen years old when they got married. Ho, Confucius's father already had two wives, nine daughters, and one disabled son. Why would he want to marry such a young girl? From ancient Chinese society, people believed sons to be more important than daughters. It is because after the daughter was married, she belonged to another family and she would help the family of her husband. The daughter was also going to take a lot of dowry (trousseau) to her husband's family. It was very important to have a son who will carry on the family name, so Ho married Cheng-tsai in the hope that she would b

When Confucius was seventeen, a baron of Lu called Chi P'ing Tzu was looking for a man who was familiar with rite and ritual, so he had a feast for the scholars in town. Yang Ho, a corrupt official who handled everything for the baron, stopped Confucius and said, "The baron is giving a feast to the scholars but not you!" So Confucius left. This is the first humiliation he got when he earned his own living in his youth.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Chinese English, Yang Ho, Ch'en Ts'ai, Ho Confucius, Ho Confucius's, Lao Tzu, Kueiyin Lu, Queen Confucius, Confucius Song, Duke Ch'i, yang ho, duke ch'i, duke lu, confucius students, cattle sheep, confucius decided, confucius leave, confucius duke, people people, k'ung fangshu, confucius gentleman sometimes, duke ch'i confucius,
Approximate Word count = 2255
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)