Kung-fu-tse (Latinized into Confucius) was born about 550 B.C. His father was descended from one of the many royal families which had figured in the past as rulers of tribes or provinces. Most likely these ancient Chinese royal families were little more than the Indian chiefs in our day, and their claim to royalty was recognized only in a very narrow limit. But he was not in power when the Sage was born. He had been married two or three times, but had no son, except one cripple, which did not count. At an advanced old age he married a young wife, and Kung, Jr., was the result. The father died when the boy was about three years old, and left his family in poverty. But, under the class distinctions into which Chinese society was divided, Kung inherited at least the class instincts of a gentleman, and managed in some manner to obtain a good education as Chinese education went. He was married when about twenty years old, and soon after his marriage his mother died. According to the custom of his country, this event required that he retire for three years from all business relations, and it is supposed that he spent this period of mourning in the study of the classics. When he again appeared in public he engaged in teaching school for some years; but, being imbued with the desire to effect a reformation among his people, he gave up teaching and sought and obtained employment in a government position under the ruler of his native province. His life as a civil officer enabled him to observe the methods of official conduct, and still further intensified his desire to restore a more righteous rule. He decided to seek the co-operation of some one of the many claimants to royal prerogative, and, by enlisting such sympathy, he calculated that by inaugurating a model reign, under whose influence men would turn again to the correct paths, he would absorb all contiguous provinces, unify the government of the race under a common flag, and see virtue and peace again among men. But he failed, after wandering from one province to another, to enlist the sympathy or co-operation of any one in a position to assist him; and he eventually gave up in despair, and, gathering a small following of disciples about him, he retired from public view, and passed the remainder of his days in teaching his chosen few and lamenting the evil days upon which his people had come.