According to Sima Qian, Confucius said: "The disciples who received my instructions, and could themselves comprehend them, were seventy-seven individuals. They were all scholars of extraordinary ability." It was traditionally believed that Confucius had three thousand students, but that only 72 mastered what he taught. The following is a list of students who have been identified as Confucius's followers. Very little is known of most of Confucius's students, but some of them are mentioned in the Analects of Confucius. Many of their biographies are recorded in the Sima Qian's Shiji.Legge 112 The Six Arts were practiced by the 72 disciples.
Disciples
Yan Hui (Ziyuan)
Yan Hui (顏回) was a native of the Lu. His courtesy name was Ziyuan (子淵). He was Confucius's favorite student, and was younger than Confucius by 30 years. He became Confucius's disciple when he was very young. "After I got Hui," Confucius once said, "the disciples came closer to me." Confucius once traveled to Nang Hill with three of his favourite students, Hui, Zilu, and Zigong, and asked them each to tell him their different aims, after which he would choose between them. After Zilu's answer, Confucius said, "It marks your bravery." After Zigong's answer, Confucius said, "It shows your discriminating eloquence." Yan Hui spoke last, saying "I should like to find an intelligent king and sage ruler whom I might assist. I would diffuse among the people instructions on the five great points, and lead them on by the rules of propriety and music, so that they should not care to fortify their cities by walls and moats, but would fuse their swords and spears into implements of agriculture. They should send forth their flocks without fear into the plains and forests. There should be no sunderings of families, no widows or widowers. For a thousand years there would be no calamity of war. Yu would have no opportunity to display his bravery, or Ts'ze to display his oratory." After hearing Yan Hui's answer, Confucius said, "How admirable is this virtue!"Legge 112–113
When Hui was 29, his hair turned completely white, and at age 32 he died. The first emperor of the Han dynasty sacrificed to both him and Confucius. In the Confucian sacrificial Canon his title, "Continuator of the Sage", was conferred in the ninth year of the Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty, in 1530 AD, when almost all of the present sacrificial titles of the worthies in the Temple of Confucius were fixed. Hui's place is on the east of the sage. He is considered the first of the Four Assessors, the most senior disciple of Confucius.Legge 113
Min Sun (Ziqian)
Min Sun (閔損) was one of Confucius's students from the State of Lu. His courtesy name was Ziqian (子騫). According to Sima Qian he was 15 years younger than Confucius, but other sources state that he was 50 years younger. When he first came to Confucius he had a starved look, but after studying with Confucius he gained a look of fullness and satisfaction. When Zigong once asked Min Sun how this change had come about, he replied, "I came from the midst of my reeds and sedges into the school of the Master. He trained my mind to filial piety, and set before me the examples of the ancient kings. I felt a pleasure in his instructions; but when I went abroad, and saw the people in authority, with their umbrellas and banners, and all the pomp and circumstance of their trains, I also felt pleasure in that show. These two things assaulted each other in my breast. I could not determine which to prefer, and so I wore that look of distress. But now the lessons of our Master have penetrated deeply into my mind. My progress also has been helped by the example of you my fellow disciples. I now know what I should follow and what I should avoid, and all the pomp of power is no more to me than the dust of the ground. It is on this account that I have that look of fullness and satisfaction." Min Sun was one of Confucius's most favourite students. He was distinguished for his moral purity and his love for his parents. His place in the Temple of Confucius is on the first place on the east, among "The Wise Ones", immediately following the Four Assessors. He was first sacrificed to, along with Confucius, in 720 AD, by the sixth emperor of the Tang dynasty. His title, the same as that of all but the four assessors, is "The Ancient Worthy, the Philosopher Min."Legge 113–114 The eleventh chapter of the Analects was traditionally attributed to his disciples.Legge 16
Min Sun is most well known for his love and respect for his parents. His mother died when he was young; and, after his father remarried, he was raised by his stepmother. Under her care, he was abused and mistreated. His stepmother, during winter, would line her own sons' clothes with warm cotton, while she would line his clothes with weeds. One day, while taking his father out in a carriage, he almost succumbed to the cold. When his father learned what had happened, he went back to throw his wife out of the house. However, Min Sun said, "If mother leaves, there will be three of your sons who go cold, but if she stays, then only one will suffer." His stepmother was touched by his kindness and never mistreated him again.
Ran Geng (Boniu)
Ran Geng (冉耕) was a native of Lu, and Confucius's junior by only seven years. His courtesy name was Boniu (伯牛). When Confucius became Lu's Minister of Crime, he appointed Boniu to the office from which he had just been promoted, Commandant of Zhongdu. His tablet is now fourth among "The Wise Ones", on the west.Legge 114
Ran Yong (Zhonggong)
Ran Yong (冉雍) was of the same clan as Ran Geng, and 29 years younger than Confucius. His courtesy name was Zhonggong (仲弓). He had a bad father, but the Master declared that this was not to be counted against him, to detract from his admitted excellence. He had a reputation for integrity, but not for being an eloquent speaker (Analects 5.5).Sligerland 41 His place in the Temple of Confucius is second among "The Wise Ones", to the east.
Ran Qiu (Ziyou)
Ran Qiu (冉求) was related to Ran Gong and Ran Yong. His courtesy name was Ziyou (子有). He was the same age as Rong Yong. He was noted among Confucius's students for his versatile abilities and many talents. Zigong said that he was "respectful to the old and kind to the young; attentive to guests and visitors; fond of learning and skilled in many arts; diligent in his examination of things." When a minor official of Lu asked Confucius about Ran Qiu's qualities, Confucius praised him as having modest administrative ability (Analects 5.7).Sligerland 42 After studying with Confucius Ran Qiu took an official position working for the ministers who had usurped power in Lu, but did not himself have enough power or ability to influence his employers to follow a more ethical course of action (Analects 3.6).Slingerland 18–19 He once disappointed Confucius, and was rebuked for telling him that he loved Confucius's Way, but that he lacked the strength to pursue it (Analects 6.12).Slingerland 31 Later, it was by the influence of Ran Qiu that Confucius was finally able to return to Lu. His place in the Temple of Confucius is third among "The Wise Ones", to the west.
Zhong You (Zilu)
Zhong You (仲由) was a native of Pian (卞) in Lu, of yeren origin.Chin 2008:77–78. He was only nine years younger than Confucius. His courtesy names were Zilu (子路) and Jilu (季路). At their first interview, Confucius asked him what he was fond of, and he replied, "My long sword."
Confucius said, "If to your present ability there were added the results of learning, you would be a very superior man."
"Of what advantage would learning be to me?" asked Zilu. "There is a bamboo on the southern hill, which is straight itself without being bent. If you cut it down and use it, you can send it through a rhinoceros's hide: what is the use of learning?"
"Yes", said Confucius; "but if you feather it and point it with steel, will it not penetrate more deeply?"
Zilu bowed twice, and said, "I will reverently receive your instructions."
Confucius later said, "From the time that I got You, bad words no more came to my ears."Legge 114–115 Confucius admired Zilu for his courage, but was concerned that he might lack other virtues (such as good judgement) that would have balanced this courage, potentially turning Zilu's courage into a vice (Analects 5.7; see also 8.2, 17.8, and 17.23). After studying with him, Confucius later praised Zilu as his having exceptional administrative ability and being capable of handling duties of national importance (Analects 5.7).Sligerland 41–42 After completing his studies with Confucius, Zilu became chief magistrate of the district of Pu, where his administration commanded the warm commendations of Confucius. His violent death in Wei is accounted in the Zuo zhuan (480 BCE).Chin 2008:81–82. Zilu's tablet is now the fourth, to the east, from those of the Assessors.
Zai Yu (Ziwo)
Zai Yu (宰予) was a native of Lu, but his age is unknown. He was stubborn at first, and cared much about how he looked. His courtesy name was Ziwo (子我). He had "a sharp mouth", according to Sima Qian. Once, when he was at the court of Chu on some commission, King Chao offered him an easy carriage adorned with ivory to return to Confucius. Yu replied, "My Master is a man who would rejoice in a government where right principles were carried out, and can find his joy in himself when that is not the case. Now right principles and virtue are as it were in a state of slumber. His wish is to rouse and put them in motion. Could he find a prince really anxious to rule according to them, he would walk on foot to his court and be glad to do so. Why need he receive such a valuable gift as this from so great a distance?" Confucius later commended Zai Yu for this reply.Legge 115
Zai Yu is not portrayed well in the Analects. He took service in Qi, and was the chief magistrate governing the Qi capital of Linzi. While employed in Qi he joined with Tian Chang in a rebellion. After this rebellion was suppressed, his actions led to the destruction of his extended family and made Confucius ashamed of him. His place in the Temple of Confucius is second among "The Wise Ones", to the west.
Duanmu Ci (Zigong)
Duanmu Ci (端木賜) was a native of Wei, and 31 years younger than Confucius. His courtesy name was Zigong (子貢). He had mental sharpness and ability, and appears in the Analects as one of the most forward talkers among Confucius's students. Confucius said, "From the time that I got Ci, scholars from a distance came daily resorting to me."Legge 115–116 According to Zhu Xi, Zigong was a merchant who later became wealthy through his own efforts, and developed a sense of moral self-composure through the course of his work.Slingerland 7 (His past profession as a merchant is elaborated in Analects 11.18).Slingerland 40
When he first came to Confucius he quickly demonstrated an ability to grasp Confucius's basic points, and refined himself further through Confucius's education. He is later revealed to have become a skillful speaker and an accomplished statesman (Analects 11.3), but Confucius may have felt that he lacked the necessary flexibility and empathy towards others necessary for achieving consummate virtue (ren): he once claimed to have achieved Confucius's moral ideal, but was then sharply dismissed by the Master (Analects 5.12); later he is criticized by Confucius for being too strict with others, and for not moderating his demands with an empathic understanding of others' limitations (Analects 14.29). He is one of the Confucius's students most commonly referred to in the Analects, also appearing in Analects 9.6, 9.13, 11.13, 13.20, 14.17, and 17.19.