magistrate of the town of Chung-tu [4].

1 Ana. XVI. xiii.
2 See the Li Chi, II. Pt. I. i. 27.
3 Ana. XI. ix.
4 ¤¤³£®_. Amiot says this was 'la ville meme ou le Souverain
tenoit sa Cour' (Vie de Confucius, p. 147). He is followed of course
by Thornton and Pauthier. My reading has not shown me that such
was the case. In the notes to K'ang-hsi's edition of the 'Five
Ching,' Li Chi, II Sect. I. iii. 4, it is simply said-- 'Chung-tu,-- the
name of a town of Lu. It afterwards belonged to Ch'i when it was
called Ping-lu (¥­³°).'


Just before he received this appointment, a circumstance
occurred of which we do not well know what to make. When Yang-
hu fled into Ch'i, Kung-shan Fu-zao, who had been confederate
with him, continued to maintain an attitude of rebellion, and held
the city of Pi against the Chi family. Thence he sent a message to
Confucius inviting him to join him, and the Sage seemed so
inclined to go that his disciple Tsze-lu remonstrated with him,
saying, 'Indeed you cannot go! why must you think of going to see
Kung-shan?' Confucius replied, 'Can it be without some reason
that he has invited me? If any one employ me, may I not make an
eastern Chau [1]?'
The upshot, however, was that he did not go, and I cannot
suppose that he had ever any serious intention of doing so. Amid
the general gravity of his intercourse with his followers, there
gleam out a few instances of quiet pleasantry, when he amused
himself by playing with their notions about him. This was