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Return to Lu

When Confucius got back to his home state of Lu around 515 BC, the vibes were… not great. The Duke was still in exile, and three powerful families (the Jisun, Mengsun, and Shusun) were basically running a shadow government.

Early Career and Teachings

Imagine being a genius but having to work in a grain warehouse. That was Confucius in his 20s. He started out as a low-level civil servant, making sure the rice and millet didn’t get moldy. Later, he got promoted to managing herds of sheep and oxen. He wasn’t too proud for the “lowly skills”—he just made sure the animals were fat and healthy and moved on.