The official position and marriage that troubled Confucius 

In addition to opening a school and enrolling more than three thousand students to teach them directly, he also travelled around the world, visiting the rulers of various countries to promote his ideas of governance, trying to cultivate virtuous rulers for the purpose of making the people live and work in peace and happiness.

So, what exactly did Confucius do and achieve during his life?

Before he was thirty years old, Confucius held relatively minor official positions.

The first official he held was a minor official of the Ji family, one of the three great families of Lu, the "Three Huan", who was responsible for the management of the warehouse. Soon after his appointment, Confucius took his job very seriously and achieved remarkable results in a short time - the money and grain payments were managed in an orderly manner, and the outgoing and incoming accounts were recorded in a clear manner, which won the hearts of the Ji family.

As a result of his first good job, his rigorous work ethic and good performance, Confucius was promoted from a minor storekeeper to a ministerial post: he was in charge of the farming work. Confucius remained serious about his work and of course achieved good results again: a large harvest of cattle and sheep in full pens.

Both of these jobs were minor officials, barely enough to feed the family, but despite this, Confucius took his job very seriously.

When Confucius was thirty-five years old, a coup d'état in the state of Lu was triggered by a cock-fighting entertainment of the nobility, in which Duke Zhaoge was driven out of the state of Lu and fled to Qi, and the state of Lu was soon plunged into chaos without its ruler. Confucius had to flee to a relatively stable part of Qi to make a living, and luckily he soon found a job as a housekeeper for a noble minister's family: a vassal of Gao Zhaozi.

In the Spring and Autumn period, a courtier was a personal servant of a minister, or a minister's subordinate. The head of a minister's household was called Zai, and under Zai there were a variety of official positions, commonly known as courtiers, similar to the housekeepers in the homes of later senior officials.

Since Gao Zhaozi was the official minister of Qi, he not only had a high political status, but also had a large fiefdom of his own. After all, he had to stay in the capital to assist the ruler, but he also needed someone to take care of his fiefdom. When Confucius arrived in Qi, he was quickly recruited as a senior butler for a noble family.

However, Confucius knew that only by finding the king could he spread his ideas of ruling the country and the state to truly benefit the country and its people. However, Yan Ying, the then famous minister of Qi, was keen to maintain his political position and he advised the Duke of Qi not to appoint Confucius. Because Confucius and Yan Ying had different philosophies, he also told the Duke of Qi that Confucius had too many and too complicated rituals, and that we could not necessarily learn them all in our lifetime, which would only be a waste of time. The Duke of Qi then dismissed the idea of appointing Confucius.

Having failed in Qi, Confucius had to return to his own country, Lu.

In the ninth year of the reign of Duke Ding, Confucius was fifty years old. In that year, Gong Shan Bu'狃, the governor of Ji Huanzi's fiefdom in the state of Lu, rebelled against his master, Ji Huanzi. Gongshan Bu'ao had long heard of Confucius' talent, so he gave him a letter of appointment, which clearly stated that he would guarantee Confucius a high official position and a generous salary if he helped him to destroy the Ji family.

Confucius, in his fifties, thought left and right, but in the end he did not go, while his pupil Zi Lu reminded Confucius that he would leave a bad reputation if he participated in the mutiny.

This was, of course, a test by the gods of fate, and between a high official position and a clean reputation, Confucius wisely chose to be a good man and not help the bad guys, so Confucius passed the test of the gods of fate with flying colours.

After that, the gods of fate began to favour Confucius, for it was at this time that Duke Lu of Lu appointed Confucius as the Zai of Zhongdu, the highest administrator of the place, roughly equivalent to a mayor nowadays. Because of his conscientious work and outstanding performance, this time Confucius was promoted directly from a local official to a central minister, and Confucius was promoted to the position of Great Secretary of State, the Minister of Construction in the State of Lu.

Next, Confucius was made acting Prime Minister (regent of the ministry) by the Grand Secretary of State. During this period, Confucius' political ideas of governance and peace were put into practice. In the tenth year of the reign of Duke Ding of Lu, Confucius used his wisdom to foil a plot to blackmail Duke Ding of Lu by the rulers and ministers of Qi. He defended the dignity and status of the state of Lu, so that Qi did not dare to make any moves against Lu in the short term.

When Confucius was in his fifties, the then ruler, Duke Lu, appointed Confucius to be the Zai of Zhongdu, the minor official in charge of justice in Zhongdu. The next year Confucius was appointed to the post of Sikong, the official in charge of water and city construction, and in the third year he was appointed to the post of Siguan, the official in charge of punishment and correction. Later on, Confucius made a great contribution to the alliance between Qi and Lu by helping Lu to recover three cities previously occupied by Qi, and from then on, Confucius was even more valued by Duke Ding of Lu.

In the 14th year of the reign, at the age of 56, Confucius was appointed from the post of Grand Secretary to the post of Grand Secretary and acting Minister of the State of Lu. During this period, Confucius killed the rebellious minister Shao Zhengmao, stabilised the prices of goods and developed the economy of the State of Lu, making trade and commerce more prosperous than ever.

While Confucius was making an outstanding contribution to the revival of the state of Lu with his ethical and moral ideas, the neighbouring state of Qi, fearing that Lu would one day be transformed into a powerful state by Confucius and would annex Qi, decided to capture the heart of the ruler of Lu with a beauty ploy. When Qi sent the ruler of Lu many beautiful women, horses and jewels, Duke Ding fell for the beauty ploy and began to indulge in the fetishistic pleasures of women, singing and dancing, wine, horses and jewels, etc. The ruler of Lu gradually alienated Confucius and his ministers and forgot to rule the country and secure the people.

At this time, Confucius held the highest official position in his life: that of Minister of the State of Lu. When Confucius was first appointed Minister of the State of Lu, he was overjoyed because he could not control his joy. He thought that his ideas of governance and peace would finally be put to use, but he never imagined that the ruler of the State of Lu would be so enchanted by beauty and material wealth that he would forget the important task of governing the state and the people.

Confucius had repeatedly advised the ruler of Lu not to indulge in beauty and material pleasures, but to focus on ruling the country and securing the people, but his repeated persuasions were ineffective. With deep disappointment and dissatisfaction, Confucius left the state of Lu and began a fourteen-year wandering life of travelling around the world preaching rites and virtues.

Throughout his life, Confucius travelled for political ideals, rituals and moral ideas, lobbying the rulers and people of various countries. At times, Confucius' life was so indefinite that his wife eventually could not bear such a hard life and therefore began to complain about the hardships of life. At that time, Confucius had already acquired the divine power of destiny, which allowed him to know the passing of his wife. Confucius could not bear the thought of her following him in further suffering, so he said to his wife Qi Guan'er, "Thank you for following me in suffering for so many years and giving birth to two wise children for me, now since you feel unhappy following me, I will give you a free pass. You take this freedom pass and go after the happy life you want!" When Confucius finished, he handed his wife the letter of repudiation and divorce.

Qi Guan'er had been suffering behind Confucius for many years, and this misery finally became unbearable, and her belief in Confucius's green career was finally shattered, so she left him. Confucius' wife, Qi Guan'er, died around the tenth year of the Duke of Liao's reign (485 BC). Confucius' wife, Qi Guan'er, was posthumously named Lady of Yunguo during the Song dynasty, and was revered as a saintly mother by later generations of Confucians.