In ancient times, Ki-Lin, the fabulous unicorn, appeared occasionally before the emperors. They said the creature was as large as a deer but it had hooves like a horse. It had a single horn in the center of its noble head. Its voice was beautiful and as haunting as a monastery bell, and it was so good and gentle that it walked with greatest care, lest it step upon some living creature. The Ki-lin could neither be captured nor injured by any man. And it appeared only to those Emperors who had wisdom and virtue.
When the Middle Kingdom fell into evil, ways and one state warred with another, and kings fought with kings, the Unicorn was seen no more. He was seen by no one until the sixth century B.C.
At that time, there lived a woman in the town of Chufu, in the state of Lu, at the base of the sacred mountain Tai Shan. This woman was good and dutiful and truly exceptional. Her one grief was that she had given her husband no son. To be without a son was a great sorrow. If a family had no son, who would worship before the ancestral tablets? With no one to worship there could be no life after death for ancestors.
This good woman sorrowed and prayed and begged heaven to take pity upon her and give her a son. Yet no son was born to her.
One day, she decided to make a pilgrimage to a distant temple on the sacred Tai Shan. This temple was thought to be especially holy. There, she planned to appeal to the gods one last time. As she trudged up the mountain toward the lonely temple, she unknowingly stepped into the secret footprint of the Ki-lin, the gentle unicorn.
At once, the marvelous creature appeared before her, knelt, and dropped a piece of precious jade at her feet. The woman picked up the jade and found these words carved upon the jewel: "Thy son shall be a ruler without a throne."
When the woman looked up, the Unicorn had vanished. But the jade was still in her hand, and she knew that a miracle had taken place. In time, a son was born to this good woman. He was named Kung Fu Tzu, Confucius. From his earliest days, he showed unusual wisdom, and he became a great teacher. Accompanied by his pupils, he traveled from town to town. All over the land, the people studied and lived by his wise sayings. His influence was as powerful as that of the emperors. Indeed, he ruled without a throne.
