On the whereabouts and identity of the place called ‘K'ung-Sang’ (Hollow Mulberry) in early Chinese mythology

One of the places that plays a role in a number of myths and legends that survive from ancient China is the place called K'ung-sang , Hollow Mulberry. Confucius is said to have been born in a place called K'ung-sang, and Yi Yin, the man who served as chief minister to T'ang, founder of the Shang or Yin dynasty (traditional reign dates, 1766–1753 b.c.) was born in an actual hollow mulberry tree. By force of the Confucius connexion, commentaries often identify K'ung-sang as a place in the state of Lu, if not precisely Ch'ü-fu, the home town of Confucius. But K'ung-sang is located and identified in a number of ways in early texts: it is a mountain in the North or the East; it is a place that is being attacked by a demon; it is the capital of various Ti (emperors or gods); and in one source at least, it is the name of a musical instrument, a zither ( se ).