# 244. Confucius Part 2: The Cockfight That Started a Civil War

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fan-of-history-741603/244-confucius-part-2-the-cockfight-that-started-a-civil-war
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fan-of-history-741603/244-confucius-part-2-the-cockfight-that-started-a-civil-war.md
Podcast: [Fan of History](https://stenobird.com/podcast/fan-of-history-741603)
Published: 2026-08-18T23:01:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/history/episodes/244-confucius-part-2-the-cockfight-that-started-a-civil-war
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/history/e/6a83205aee8d08ccf036a958/media.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fan-of-history-741603/episodes/244-confucius-part-2-the-cockfight-that-started-a-civil-war
Duration seconds: 2187

## Resource

History is full of conflicts that begin as cockfights between powerful men. This one started with an actual cockfight. In 517 BC, a dispute between two aristocratic households in Lu helped ignite a much larger political crisis. There was cheating, revenge, old grudges, conspiracy, and finally Duke Zhao's attempt to reclaim his authority from the powerful families who had steadily stripped it away. In Part 2 of Confucius: The World That Created the Sage, Bernie and Dan follow this remarkable chain of events as the political world around Confucius begins to come apart. We also explore the legendary meeting between Confucius and Laozi—and ask whether it actually happened. And through it all, we continue to see why the history matters. Confucius was living in a world where rulers struggled to rule, powerful families pursued their own interests, and the political and social order was breaking down around him. To understand the philosophy that would emerge, we first have to understand the world that created it. Link to music that will stop you from eating meat for 3 months. You've been warned! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTyo6OTc1a0&list=RDJTyo6OTc1a0&start_radio=1 PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT'S NEW IN HISTORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/@whatsnewinhistory This is a podcast by Dan Hörning and Bernie Maopolski. Contact information: E-mail: zimwaupodcast@gmail.com http://facebook.com/fanofhistory https://twitter.com/danhorning https://www.instagram.com/dan_horning/ Music: “Tudor Theme” by urmymuse. Used here under a commercial Creative Commons license. Find out more at http://ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/40020 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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