A Legend of Confucius

When Confucius was born into the world, the Kilin came looking for the child. The Kilin of this legend is a strange and gentle beast, the prince of all four-footed animals, and it only appears when a great man is on the earth. It found the baby and spat out a piece of jade, and on the jade were written the words: “Son of the Watercrystal, you are destined to become a king without a crown.”

Confucius grew up, studied hard and became wise, and in time he was honoured as a saint. The tale celebrates his reputation as a great teacher by giving him the power to see events before they happened, even beyond his own death.

Long afterwards the harsh Emperor Tsin Schi Huang conquered all the other kingdoms and travelled through the whole empire. When he came to Confucius’s home country, he found the sage’s grave and decided he wanted to open it and see what was inside. All his officials begged him not to, but he would not listen.

So a tunnel was dug into the tomb. In the main chamber stood a coffin whose wood looked perfectly fresh, and when someone tapped it, it rang like metal. To the left of the coffin was a door into an inner room. There stood a bed and a table with books and clothes laid out on it, all ready as if for someone still alive.

The emperor sat down on the bed and looked at the floor. In front of him stood a pair of red silk shoes with clouds woven into their toes, and a bamboo walking stick leaned against the wall. As a joke, the emperor put on the shoes, picked up the stick and walked out of the grave.

As he did, a tablet suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. On it were written these lines: Tsin Schi Huang led his armies over six kingdoms, opened my grave and found my humble bed. He takes my shoes and my staff away, to walk to Schakiu and his last day.

The emperor was badly frightened, and he ordered the tomb to be closed again. But when he reached the city of Schakiu, he fell ill with a sudden fever, and there he died.

Where this story comes from

This legend is in Richard Wilhelm’s The Chinese Fairy Book, translated into English by Frederick H. Martens (1921). Wilhelm’s note explains that the Kilin is a legendary beast of perfect kindness, that the Watercrystal is the dark Lord of the North, whose element is water and wisdom, and that Tsin Schi Huang was the emperor famous for burning books.

Read the original: Richard Wilhelm, The Chinese Fairy Book (Project Gutenberg)

Reading guidance: a supernatural legend involving the opening of a tomb, a prophecy of death and an emperor’s fatal illness. Older children may want to discuss the difference between legend and biography.

Two rulers, two kinds of power

The opening jade calls Confucius a king without a crown. The later emperor has armies, yet finds his actions already written on a tablet. The objects frame the tale: one announces a teacher’s authority, the other limits a conqueror’s. Taking the shoes and staff seems a casual joke until those same objects reveal that he has entered someone else’s story.

Underline what each inscription predicts. How would the effect change if the emperor found the tablet before entering the tomb? Read the episode as praise expressed through legend, not evidence that Confucius predicted a tomb visit.

Talk about it

• What did the jade from the Kilin say about Confucius?
• Why do you think the officials warned the emperor not to open the grave?
• What does the tablet make the emperor realize about his supposed power over the tomb?

Related stories

• Laotsze — another great Chinese teacher in Wilhelm’s book
• The Two Scholars — a Wilhelm tale of strange time
• King Mu of Dschou — an ancient Chinese ruler and his journeys