Gongye Chang
major disciple and the son-in-law of Confucius
Gongye Chang (Chinese: 公冶長; Wade–Giles: Kung-yeh Ch'ang), courtesy name Zichang (Chinese: 子長; Wade–Giles: Tzu-ch'ang), was a major disciple and the son-in-law of Confucius. Little is known about his life, but Chinese legends attribute to him the ability to understand birds' language.
Life
Gongye Chang's years of birth and death are unknown. The Records of the Grand Historian says he was a native of the State of Qi, but according to Kong Anguo and others, he was from the State of Lu.
According to the Analects, Gongye Chang was once imprisoned for an unidentified crime. However, Confucius believed he was innocent, and married his daughter to him. Although the exact nature of his offence is not known, Confucius' marriage of his daughter to him despite the strong stigma attached to criminals in the Zhou dynasty demonstrates Confucius' adherence to moral reason and his independence from arbitrary social conventions.
Legend
Little is known about Gongye Chang's life, but he became the subject of a variety of later Chinese legends and folklore, and was said to be able to understand the language of animals and birds. In one story, which explains why he was imprisoned, he overheard a number of birds discussing the location of a murder victim. His knowledge of the body led him to be arrested for the person's murder, but he was released after demonstrating his supernatural powers.
The public source identifies “Gongye Chang” as major disciple and the son-in-law of Confucius. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gongye, Chang and major.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10892620. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gongye Chang” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.