THE MAN WHO BECAME the father of Confucius was called Kung the Tall because he towered head and shoulders above everyone else in his village. Kung the Tall lived in China a very long time ago. Kung the Tall was living in China when Buddha was born in India.

When this story begins Kung the Tall was an old man. As he thought back over the years of his long life he knew he ought to feel contented. He had been honored for his bravery as a soldier. He had been ruler of the people of his district. He had a faithful wife and a large family of nine children. He had enough money so that he could live comfortably, and he was highly respected by all who knew him.Yet Kung the Tall was a disappointed man.

His one most important wish had never come true.Kung was not happy. This was because all his nine children were girls, and Kung the Tall had no son to be company for him or to carry on the family name after his death.

But now the old man had a new wife beautiful and young. Perhaps even yet Kung the Tall might have a boy child. He had not given up hope. And all his neighbors sad all his friends were also hoping.

"If Kung the Tall does have a son, that child will someday be a great man" this was what everybody was saying. This was what everybody was wishing for, and none wished harder than Kung’s young wife.

Every day she made a wish for a boy child, and day by day she did what she could to make her wish come true. But she believed that somehow a child is always a gift for, the Creator of all Life. So Kung’s wife made her wish into a prayer to God. She even climbed to the top of a high mountain to make her prayer. Perhaps she felt nearer to the Creator when she could stand and look up at the wide, blue sky above and then look down on the broad, green earth below.

Kung’s wife returned home and waited patiently week after week. Before long she could feel the baby moving inside her body, and she was happy.

One evening as she was sitting alone in her garden in the dimness of the moonlight, she had a surprising dream. Seesaw a little animal coming towards her. It was not a goat, nor was it a sheep or a dog. The animals’ body shone in the moonlight. Its tail spread out like a fan and on its head was one turned-up horns Could it really be a Unicorn Surely only in storybooks was such an animal ever seen!

Kung’s wife threw a small silk scarf over the animal’s one horn just to see if it were really there. Yes, it was there, and it had in its mouth a long piece of jade. Kung’s wife wondered.

The Unicorn came closer until Kung’s wife could reach out her hand and take the stone tablet from its mouth. Her hands trembled as she tried to read the words that had been carved into the jade:

"A son of the Great Spirit is to be born. Someday he shall rule the land of Chou as a good and wise King."

Kung’s wife was frightened. She looked up to ask the Unicorn what the words might mean, but the strange animal was gone. Rung’s wife was left alone in her garden in the moonlight. She awoke trembling with wonder at what she had seen.

Not many weeks after this the longed-for day came. It was evening. Rung the Tall and his young wife were waiting for the final moment when their child would be born.In the garden outside the little cottage some of their friends were also waiting and hoping, moment by moment, for the good news.

Then they, too, had a surprise. High above them they saw two great dragons curling their long snake like bodies in and out among the clouds. Their fiery eyes turned this way and that as if they were watching the people on the earth. Said one of the waiting friends:

"Surely these good dragons are keeping guard over the blessed mother and over the child about to be born."

And beside the two long, fiery-eyed dragons, five old but wonderous men appeared in the sky, walking upon the clouds. Said one of the waiting friends:

"These five old men of the sky are the five immortals who never, never die. They have come down from the five planets to celebrate the birth of this great child."

And beside the two long, fiery-eyed dragons, and beside the five old men from the five planets, there appeared also in the sky among the soft clouds five musicians with pipes and harps in their hands, playing wondrous music and singing as they played. The words came down from the sky like the clear ringing of a bell:

"This night a child is born. He shall be a great King, who shall make good laws and shall help people to do the right."

When the young mother in the little Chinese home down below heard the sweet strains of the music, the piping and the singing, her waiting ended. Her boy child was born! To her it had all seemed much like a dream until she heard the voice of her husband:

"A son at last, my good wife. Now my happiness is full!" He lifted his newborn boy child and proudly laid him down in his mother’s arms.

For a long while he sat by his wife’s bed as the two of them looked in silence on the face of their young son. It was a homely face. But this did not matter to his happy parents. In their eyes he was a wonder child.

Presently, as they were fondling him, a strange writing seemed to show on the child’s breast. Five Chinese characters! What could they mean?

Wiser ones than Kung the Tall were called into the room to read the writing. They were amazed when they saw the characters, for the words on the child’s body were those of the heavenly song:

"This night a child is born. He shall be a great King who shall make good laws and shall help people to do the right."

So this is the very old story of the birth of Confucius. Kung-fu-tze, the Chinese say, meaning Kung the Master, or Kung the Teacher. We say Confucius for short.

But this Chinese boy child of long ago did not become a King. Instead he taught other men how to rule their people wisely. Confucius also taught that being able to rule oneself is more important than ruling others. So Confucius had wise words for everybody, big and little, rich and poor. Even after more than two thousand years millions of Chinese still honor Confucius and follow his teachings. All over the world he is regarded as one of the wisest and greatest teachers who has ever lived.