As a group these followers of the old Chinese sage came to be known as " the 72 sainted disciples of Confucius ".
I guess to know who these gurus were one has to know a bit about Confucius.
Confucius was born in the country of Lu in the province of Shang Ping. He was born on June 19, 551BC and he was given the name Kong. With age Kong became a master and earned the reputaton of Kong-Fu-Tse. Both of his parents were passed on by the time he was 23. Kong had married at 19 but divorced around the time of the death of his mother which he later buried in the ways of the ancient. Her name was Yan and the burial ceremony revived the ways of the ancient for many who witnessed it. He was an avid learner and in solitude he meditated on philosophical matters and pursued the knowledge of the ancient masters for the rest of his life . Some of those ancient masters include the legendary Yao and Shun who were amongst the first to civilize the country. His teachings were often moral statements which had the power to reform individual and nation if taken seriously.
At least 72 people took Confucius very seriously for Confucius had 72 disciples.
When did Kong-Fu-Tse become Confucius ?
|Society of Jesus Insignia|
Jesuit priests like Matteo Ricchi and Adam Schall von Bell were amongst the first brothers of the society of Jesus who went to China. The SJ had been founded in Spain by Ignatius of Loyola back in 1534 at a time when the Catholic Church was confronting Martin Luther who had lit the spirit of the religious Protesters. This was also the age when Botticelli was painting for the church and when a doomsday preacher named Savonarola burns idles of sin in a Bonfire of the Vanities. Botticelli is caught up between paganism and Christianity. Savonarola like Luther is excommunictated. The Jesuits were the right hand military enforcers of the Catholic Church. By 1579 the Society of Jesus brotherhood was in China on a mission to learn the ways of the cultured Chinese and to translate their knowledge for the people of the Western world. These Jesuits Latinized Kong Fu Tse to Confucius.
Someone said that the ancient Chinese saw magic in the number 72. Did they really ?
Interestingly enough Naphtali the son of Jacob also spoke of 72 angels and Jesus sent out 70 or 72 disciples.