家族的直系遠祖       The Ancestors of the Confucius family
 
　　孔子的先世是出自小王室。商纣王的同父異母哥哥--- 微子啟，他便是孔子的遠祖。（商朝自仲丁遷都到囂後，改稱為殷朝。箕子、微子、比干稱為殷末的“三仁”）。西周初年，微子受封於宋國，建都於商丘。五傳至弗父何，禮讓國君的地位給他的弟弟宋厲公，自為宋國大夫（《孔子家語》）。弗父何即孔子的十世祖。從此，厲公一系便世代掌握宋國君權，維系着世襲統治；弗父何一系，成為宋國輔政的公侯貴族，保持着宋國高水平的文化素養。自此，我們的遠祖便由國君諸候，變成為貴族。弗父何以後，再三傳為正考父。正考父知書識禮，以謙厚知名。他熟悉商代文獻，曾校閱過“商之名颂” 於周太史氏。他受君王的委任，謙恭有禮，不與人爭。但他的兒子孔父嘉，情况則大為不同。孔父嘉任大司馬時（有如現代的國防部長），窮兵耀武，“十年而十一戰”，民怨沸騰。他的政敵太宰看上他年輕美貌的妻子，與他相遇，“目逆而送之，曰："美麗艷”（《左傳》桓公二年）。太宰督假公濟私，利用國人的不滿情緒，發動政變，殺了孔父嘉。太宰督娶了他 (孔父嘉) 的妻子，放逐他的兒子，孔子的祖先便結束了世襲為大夫的貴族生涯，一落千丈，淪為平民。孔父嘉的兒子木金父逃難到魯國，居住於曲阜東昌平鄉之陬邑。子孫改姓孔氏，變成魯國人。心有餘悸的孔氏子孫，隱姓埋名，一連四代，全部都沒有名望，一直到孔子父親叔梁纥，才稍有事迹見載於史册。

The Ancestor of Confucius was originated from a minor royal family.  Mei Ji Kai（微子啟），an older brother from a different mother of Emperor Jau of Shang Dynasty (商朝纣王)  was the immediate distant ancestor. （Since after the moving of the capital to Hiu (囂)  by Emperor Jung Ding ( 仲丁 ),  Shang Dynasty  (商朝)  changed the name of the country to Yan Dynasty  (殷朝).  Gai ji  (箕子),  Mei ji and Bei Gon (比干 ),  these three brothers were known as the Gracious Three  (三仁).）      At the beginning of the Jau Dynasty  (周朝)  also known as the Western Jau (西周),  Mei Ji was installed as Duke of Sung  (宋國) , a state with the capital in Shang Yau (商丘). Five generations later, Faat Fu Hoh (弗父何 ) renounced his title in favor of his younger brother, Lord Lai , Duke of  Sung (宋厲公 ) but retaining the position as a ranking official in the dukedom. ( Per The Dialogue of the Confucius Family  （《孔子家語》）, a book written during the Three Kingdoms Period by a scholar called Huang Suk (王肅), who wrote and claimed the book was based upon family notes from one of his students, Kung Meng（孔猛）, the 22nd generation descendant of Confucius.  This book is very informative summarizing a lot of important writings by various authors, but the honesty of its origin as ‘the family notes’ was questioned all the time.)  Faat Fu Hoh was the ancestor ten generations prior to Confucius. From that time on, Lord Lai branch inherited the power of the lordship of Sung state, and the title was handed down from generation to generation; the Faat Fu Hoh branch became the noble ranking official but keeping the high level of cultural and moral standards.  From that time on, our distant ancestors changed from a sovereignty ruler to a noble. The third generation after Faat Fu Hoh was Jing Hau Fu (正考父 ) , a well-educated and humble person.  He was familiar with documents of the Shang Dynasty.  He prove-read the “ Psalm of the Shang Dynasty” (商之名颂) under the Grand Historian of the Jau Dynasty (周太史氏). Even after being commissioned by the ruler, Jing Hau Fu was still polite and humble, having no conflicts with others.  But his son, Kong Fu Ga (孔父嘉 )  was completely different.   When he was the Minister of Military, Kong Fu Ga favored wars, declaring military might, with a record of 11 wars by ten years.  Complains from the countryman were boiling.  His political enemy, the Prime minister, had an eye on his young and pretty wife.  Per the notation in the chapter of the second year of Lord Woon in the Book of Joh (《左傳》桓公二年), the Prime Minister met Kong Fu Ga on the way; with an evil look, the Prime minister said, ‘pretty and charming’.  Prime Minister Dok (太宰督) using the uprising complains of the country and also for his personal benefit, started a political rebellion and assassinated Kong Fu Ga. Prime Minister Dok married the wife of Kong Fu Ga and exiled his son.  The ancestor of Confucius was not only finished his nobility status as a ranking officer but also demoted as a common person.  Muk Gam Fu (木金父), son of  Kong Fu Ga found refuge in Lo, living in Chui Town (陬邑) of the East Cheung Ping County (東昌平鄉) of Qufu (曲阜).  His descendants changed their identifications, and as citizens of Lo.  Retaining a phobic of to be killed, they hided for four generations without any traceable record. It was up to the time of Suk Liang Nat (叔梁纥), there were then some records observable in the history.