The birth and death of Confucius are closely related to Qiling.
There is a legend that tells about the mother of Confucius. It says that she met Kilin while praying on Mount Niqiu, after which her son was born.
When Confucius was 71 years old, he was told that while hunting, an elk was wounded and left to die on the outskirts of the city. He decided to look at the animal, and when he came to it, he saw that it was Keelin. This hunting incident became famous and was called the “Western Hunting of Kilin.”
Confucius expressed bitterness over the death of the good beast in his works "Spring Autumn". His written work dedicated to Keelin is considered to be his last. It is believed that after this sad event he stopped writing books.
Saddened by the death of Qilin and grief-stricken by the early death of his only son, Confucius died in 479 BC. This happened two years after he recorded the hunting incident.
After his death, the story of "Kong Zi huo lin jie bi" became very famous. "Kong Zi" means Confucius, "huo lin" refers to the "Western Killing Poisoning", "jie bi" refers to a person's last written words.
Because of his close connection with the great sage, Qilin became a symbol of Confucianism.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru