A year has passed. Yesterday, my child's aunt came to play. She runs a restaurant. The shop is very busy around the Spring Festival, and she has never been to my house. During the chat, she talked about the fish to be served years ago and bought pomfret, because the Kongs don't eat carp for the New Year. As a Qufu native, this is the first time I know about it.

My surname is not Kong. My parents were very open-minded about our education since I was a child, and I didn't pay attention to any superstitious taboos. We usually buy carp for Chinese New Year, and most relatives and neighbors will also prepare carp for Chinese New Year. Although the married husband's family is a descendant of Kong, they care about all kinds of etiquette. However, I go back to my hometown every New Year, and the offerings for the gods and ancestors on the New Year's Eve are all prepared by my in-laws. I don't pay attention to these things, and I don't understand them.

Yesterday, I said that there were no carp in Confucius' family sacrifice, and I seriously pondered this matter in my mind. I wrote an article "Fish Every Year" in front of me. Friends who have sent me fish for more than ten years always send mandarin fish and mandarin fish before Chinese New Year. I wonder why they don't send carp. It turns out that his family name is Kong, and he doesn't eat carp during the New Year.

In our local area, people go to the market to buy carp. Few people say carp, but they are all called red fish. When I was a child, I also carefully observed many carp, which were not red, so they were called red fish. It turns out that this is related to Kong Li, the son of Confucius. Kong Li is the only son of Confucius. Confucius was poor when he was young, got married at the age of nineteen, and gave birth to a son the next year. Confucius was the Commissioner in charge of the warehouse at that time and was appreciated by Lu. Duke Zhao of Lu sent someone to congratulate him on getting a big carp. Confucius was deeply honored by the gift given by the monarch himself, so he named his son carp, the word "Bo fish".

Kong Li died before Confucius. Generally speaking, he made no contribution to Confucius' Confucianism. However, his father and son are very famous, and later generations still call him "the second ancestor." Song Huizong named him "Hou of Surabaya", which shows that his reputation is still great. In order to avoid being named carp, later generations called carp red fish. The Kongs don't use carp, but crucian carp, which is mandarin fish. Of course, there are fewer taboos now, and many locals surnamed Kong also eat carp during the New Year.