ago, Tsen-Tsze[1] was a child and lived in San-Szi Province. For twenty-one years he studied many things with the great teacher, Confucius. And the first great moral law of Confucius he obeyed, not only in his acts, but in his heart, even when beaten for a thing he did not understand.[2] And it is not on record that any other man has ever done this.
In earliest childhood, he always loved and reverenced his father and mother. In the morning when he arose he went to see his parents before he would have the morning meal.
One day Tsen-Tsze's mother went away to visit his grandparents. When she left, she said, "Dear son, I will return in one day. You and your father will be happy for a day without me." And he knelt[3] and bowed his head to worship his mother at parting.
- ↑ Tsen-Tsze was one of the seventy-two most faithful pupils of Confucius, chosen from among this great man's three thousand students because of his nearness to perfection in character. Most of the seventy-two students began studying with Confucius when they were children.
- ↑ That he did not show or even feel a spirit of resentment when his father beat him is considered a remarkable instance of honor and trust in parents.
- ↑ In worshiping, the Chinese bow a given number of times for each act of reverence to grandparents or dead ancestors, or to father and mother.
perfect obedience to parents—even in thought. The second law requires one to think of one's own wrongdoing every day. So when Tsen-Tsze tried so hard to do right that each day he asked his parents and teacher, "Have I done anything wrong to-day?" he fulfilled the two highest laws of Confucius in spirit and in letter.
