But having tasted the sweets of official life, Confucius was not inclined to resign all hope of future employment, and the duke of Wei still remaining deaf to his advice, he determined to visit the state of Tsin, in the hope of finding in Chaou Keen-tsze, one of the three chieftains who virtually governed that state, a more hopeful pupil.  With this intention he started westward, but had got no farther than the Yellow River when the news reached him of the execution of Tuh Ming and Tuh Shun-hwa, two men of note in Tsin.  The disorder which this indicated put a stop to his journey; for had not he himself said “that a superior man will not enter a tottering state.”  His disappointment and grief were great, and looking at the yellow waters as they flowed at his feet, he sighed and muttered to himself:  “Oh how beautiful were they; this river is not more majestic than they were! and I was not there to avert their fate!”

So saying he returned to Wei, only to find the duke as little inclined to listen to his lectures, as he was deeply engaged in warlike preparations.  When Confucius presented himself at court, the duke refused to talk on any other subject but military tactics, and forgetting, possibly on purpose, that Confucius was essentially a man of peace, pressed him for information on the art of manoeuvreing an army.  “If you should wish to know how to arrange sacrificial vessels,” said the Sage, “I will answer you, but about warfare I know nothing.”

Confucius was now sixty years old, and the condition of the states composing the empire was even more unfavorable for the reception of his doctrines than ever.  But though depressed by fortune, he never lost that steady confidence in himself and his mission, which was a leading characteristic of his career, and when he found the duke of Wei deaf to his advice, he removed to Ch’in, in the hope of there finding a ruler who would appreciate his wisdom.

In the following year he left Ch’in with his disciples for Ts’ae, a small dependency of the state of Ts’oo.  In those days the empire was subjected to constant changes.  One day a new state carved out of an old one would appear, and again it would disappear, or increase in size, as the fortunes of war might determine.  Thus while Confucius was in Ts’ae, a part of Ts’oo declared itself independent, under the name of Ye, and the ruler usurped the title of duke.  In earlier days such rebellion would have called forth a rebuke from Confucius; but it was otherwise now, and, instead of denouncing the usurper as a rebel, he sought him as a patron.  The duke did not know how to receive his visitor, and asked Tsze-loo about him.  But Tsze-loo, possibly because he considered the duke to be no better than Pih Hih, returned him no answer.  For this reticence Confucius found fault with him, and said, “Why did you not say to him, ’He is simply a man who, in his eager pursuit of knowledge, forgets his food; who, in the joy of its attainments, forgets his sorrows; and who does not perceive that old age is coming on?’”