K'ung Fu Tze
A Dramatic Poem (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from K'ung Fu Tze: A Dramatic Poem<br><br>In the present work, "K'ung Fu Tze, a Dramatic Poem," the author does not intend to offer a drama of the usual style, with thrilling adventures, plots and hairbreadth escapes, but, as the subtitle states, "a dramatic poem." In a most concise form adapted to the stage, the composition represents Confucianism in its origin and according to the sources. Dramatic action and stage effects, which we would not be without in the drama, have not been overlooked; in fact they are obviously present. But the author's main object has been to work out for the English-speaking public a presentation of the Chinese religio-ethical world-conception in the dramatized life of its founder, K'ung Ni, commonly called K'ung Fu Tze, who has moulded the history of China and is still the main factor in the public and private life of his native country.<br><br>In undertaking a work of this kind, which in the author's opinion is a highly desirable task, the temptation at once offers itself to sacrifice truth to beauty, or rather to the taste of to-day; to neglect history for the sake of art, i.e., of ephemeral art interpretation; and to change the traditional figure of our hero into a modernized manikin who would be likely to arouse the applause of the galleries. It is a temptation, and the temptation is great because it promises success; it would be irresistible if the object were pecuniary profit. And it would be so easy! It is much easier to let a sage who lived almost two and a half millenniums ago speak like a reformer of to-day and to adapt the age in which he attempted to introduce his ideals, to the customs and thoughts of our own days.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.