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Zisi (), born Kong Ji, was a
曹峰, 思孟學派的建構與解構 ——評梁濤《郭店竹簡與思孟學派》
"Zisi"
''
Zisi (), born Kong Ji, 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 ...
and the grandson of Confucius
Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...
.
Intellectual genealogy, teaching, criticism
Zisi was the son ofKong Li
Kong Li (), courtesy name Boyu, is the only son of Confucius and Lady Qiguan (亓官氏), and the father of Kong Ji.
Birth and naming
When Confucius was twenty years old, his son Kong Li was born. The Duke Zhao of Lu sent a gift of carp to Co ...
(孔鯉) ( Boyu (伯鱼)) and the only grandson of Confucius
Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...
. He is traditionally accredited with transmitting Confucian teaching to Mencius
Mencius (孟子, ''Mèngzǐ'', ; ) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting ...
and writing the ''Doctrine of the Mean
The ''Doctrine of the Mean'' or ''Zhongyong'' is one of the Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy and a central doctrine of Confucianism. The text is attributed to Zisi (Kong Ji), the only grandson of Confucius (Kong Zi). It was origina ...
'', ''Biaoji'' 表記, " Ziyi" (The Black Robes") 緇衣, and "Fangji" (The Record of the Dikes) 坊記, presently chapters of the ''Liji
The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''B ...
''. (Since Zisi's dates of life do not overlap with those of Mengzi, it has been suggested that the intermediary role in the transmission was played by Shi Shuo 世碩.)
Where his grandfather began to distinguish between true and supposed knowledge, Zisi proceeded upon meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...
s on the relativity in human knowledge of the universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
. He attempted to analyse as many types of action as possible, and believed that wise people who are conscious of their moral and intellectual duties can copy the reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways.
Philosophical questions abo ...
of the universe into themselves.
On par with Mencius, Zisi is attacked by Xunzi in his famous "Against Twelve Masters" chapter. The target of Xunzi's attack is the Wuxing
Wuxing may refer to:
Places in China Counties and districts
*Huzhou, formerly Wuxing County, Zhejiang, China
*Wuxing District (吴兴区), central district of Huzhou
Subdistricts (五星街道)
* Wuxing Subdistrict, Mudanjiang, in Dong'an Distr ...
teaching. According to Zhang Binglin
Zhang Binglin (January 12, 1869 – June 14, 1936), also known by his art name Zhang Taiyan, was a Chinese philologist, textual critic, philosopher, and revolutionary.
His philological works include ''Wen Shi'' (文始 "The Origin of Writing"), ...
(1868-1936), Zisi attempted combining Confucian teaching with the principles of numerology. Li Xueqin
Li Xueqin (, 28 March 1933 – 24 February 2019) was a Chinese historian, archaeologist, and palaeographer. He served as Director of the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Professor of the Institute of Sinology of ...
suggests that it was done under influence of the text presently constituting the "Great Plan" (Hongfan) chapter of the ''Shangshu
The ''Book of Documents'' ( zh, p=Shūjīng, c=書經, w=Shu King) or the ''Classic of History'', is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China, an ...
''.
The extant version of the book of the same name is ascribed to Zisi. It was compiled by Wang Zhuo (汪晫 Wāng Zhuó) of the Song dynasty, but not recognized as authentic. The more reliable edition was made by Huang Yizhou (1828-1899), drawing the references from Shen Yue
Shen Yue (; 441 – 1 May 513), courtesy name Xiuwen (休文), was a Chinese historian, music theorist, poet, and politician born in Huzhou, Zhejiang. He served emperors under the Liu Song dynasty, the Southern Qi dynasty (see Yongming poetry ...
(441-513). According to Huang Yizhou, some aspects of Zisi's thinking are paralleled by the ''Huainanzi
The ''Huainanzi'' is an ancient Chinese text made up of essays from scholarly debates held at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, before 139 BCE. Compiled as a handbook for an enlightened sovereign and his court, the work attempts to defi ...
''.Recent discoveries
*Wuxing (text)
''Wu xing'' () is a Warring States period text ascribed to Zisi, known mainly due to the Mawangdui Han tombs site (1973, sealed 168 BCE) and Guodian (1993, sealed about 300 BCE) discoveries.
The Relationship between the two versions of the text ...
, a recent archeological discovery providing new insight into Zisi's teaching.
*''Duke Mu of Lu Asks Zisi'' 《魯穆公問子思》, a Guodian text relating about the concept of the "loyal minister" 忠臣 through the dialogue between Zisi and the young Duke Mu (d. 377 BCE).
See also
*Zengzi
Zeng Shen (505–435 BC), better known as Zengzi (Master Zeng), courtesy name Ziyu (), was a Chinese philosopher and disciple of Confucius. He later taught Zisi (Kong Ji), the grandson of Confucius, who was in turn the teacher of Mencius, thus ...
, the purported author of the Great Learning
The ''Great Learning'' or ''Daxue'' was one of the " Four Books" in Confucianism attributed to one of Confucius' disciples, Zengzi. The ''Great Learning'' had come from a chapter in the '' Book of Rites'' which formed one of the Five Classi ...
. The ''Great Learning'' and Zisi's ''Doctrine of the Mean'', two of the Four Books
The Four Books and Five Classics are authoritative and important books associated with Confucianism, written before 300 BC. They are traditionally believed to have been either written, edited or commented by Confucius or one of his disciples. S ...
, constituted the foundation of the Confucian orthodoxy
The debate over whether the ancient Chinese masters can be counted as philosophers has been discussed since the academic study of philosophy was introduced in China in the 19th century. Cultural immersion in the West by figures such as Hu Shih and ...
.
Notes
References
* Pan, Fuen"Zisi"
''
Encyclopedia of China
The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, be ...
'' (Philosophy Edition), 1st ed.
External links
{{Authority control 480s BC births 402 BC deaths 5th-century BC Chinese philosophers Chinese Confucianists Descendants of Confucius Philosophers from Lu (state) Zhou dynasty philosophers