Hong Zicheng (, ) was a

Chinese philosopher Chinese philosophy (simplified Chinese: 中国哲学; traditional Chinese: 中國哲學) refers to the philosophical traditions that originated and developed within the historical and cultural context of China. It encompasses systematic reflec ...

who lived during the end of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

. Zicheng (自誠) was Hong's ''zi'' (字, '

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

'); his

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

was Hong Yingming (Hung Ying-ming, 洪應明), and his ''hao'' (號, '

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

') was Huanchu Daoren (Huan-ch'u Tao-jen, 還初道人, 'Daoist Adept who Returns to the Origin'). Hong Zicheng wrote the ''Caigentan'', the ''Xianfo qizong'', and several no-longer extant books. The ''

Caigentan The ''Caigentan'' () is a circa 1590 text written by the Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng (). This compilation of aphorisms eclectically combines elements from the Three teachings (Confucianism, Daoism and Chinese Buddhism, Budd ...

'' (菜根譚, 'Vegetable Roots Discourse') is an eclectic compilation of philosophical aphorisms that combine elements from

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

Daoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

, and

Chan Buddhism Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning " meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song ...

. The 1602 ''Xianfo qizong'' (仙佛奇蹤, 'Marvelous Traces of Transcendents and Buddhas') contains legends about Daoist and Buddhist masters. The

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

catalog to the ''

Siku Quanshu The ''Siku Quanshu'', literally the ''Complete Library of the Four Treasuries'', is a Chinese encyclopedia commissioned during the Qing dynasty by the Qianlong Emperor. Commissioned in 1772 and completed in 1782, the ''Siku quanshu'' is the lar ...

'' summarizes the ''Xianfo qizong'': Hong is a historically enigmatic figure. "Nothing is known about his life and career", write Goodrich and Fang (1976:678), except that he was a contemporary of Yu Kongqian (于孔兼), both of whom flourished during the

Wanli Emperor The Wanli Emperor (4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shenzong of Ming, personal name Zhu Yijun, art name Yuzhai, was the 14th List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, emperor of the Ming dynasty, reig ...

's reign (1572–1620). Yu Kongjian was a high-ranking

scholar-bureaucrat The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...

in Wanli's administration, but he resigned in 1588 after involvement in a controversy, returned to his birthplace in

Jintan Jintan District is a District (China), district under the administration of Changzhou in the Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. History Jintan, known as Jinshan () in ancient times, was a township of Yanling commandery since ...

(

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...

), and devoted himself to writing and teaching, including lectures at the

Donglin Academy The Donglin Academy (, Wade–Giles ''Tung-lin''), also known as the Guishan Academy (龜山書院 ''Guīshān Shūyuàn''), was a former Chinese educational institution in Wuxi, China. It was originally built in 1111 during the Northern Song dyna ...

. Yu's preface to the ''Caigentan'' provides the only early information about Hong Zicheng's life. "We glean from this work that Hong might have suffered, like his friend Yu Kongjian," say Aitken and Kwok (2006:173), "a disappointing departure from official life joining the increasing ranks of recluses in the towns and lake areas of the lower Yangzi River region." Modern research (Lo 2002:136) suggests that Hong might have been a native of

Xindu District Xindu District () is a suburban district of the City of Chengdu, Sichuan, China. It covers part of the city's northern suburbs. Overview The Xindu District borders the prefecture-level city of Deyang Deyang ( zh, s=德阳 , t=德陽 , p=Dé ...

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

(

Sichuan Province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

References

*Aitken, Robert and D. W. Y. Kwok (2006). ''Vegetable Roots Discourse: Wisdom from Ming China on Life and Living: Caigentan''. . *Chao Tze-Chiang. 2006. ''Epigrams from the Ming Dynasty. Discourses on Vegetable Roots''. Kessinger Publishing. *Goodrich, L. Arrington and Fang Chaoying. 1976. '' Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644''. Columbia University Press. *Lo Yuet Keung 劳悦强. 2002. "Cong ''Caigentan'' kan moshi de xinling neizhuan 从《菜根譚》看末世的心灵内转 iewing End-of-era Spiritual Change in the ''Caigentan''" ''Yazhou wenhua'' 亚洲文化 sian Culture 26:136-153. *Röser, Sabine: Die Aphorismensammlung T'sai-ken t'an: Hung Ying-mings Werk als Spiegel seiner Zeit, der Wan-li Ära der späten Ming-Zeit. PhD dissertation, Würzburg, 1987. *Vos, Frits. 1993. "The ''Ts'ai-ken T'an'' in Japan," in ''Conflict and Accommodation in Early Modern East Asia'', ed. by Leonard Blussé and Harriet Thelma, 169–188. Brill. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Zicheng 17th-century Chinese philosophers Ming dynasty philosophers 16th-century Chinese philosophers