Jump to content

Zengzi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisZeng.
Zengzi
As depicted inHalf Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old(Đến thánh tiên hiền tượng bán thân), housed in theNational Palace Museum
ChineseTừng tử
Hanyu PinyinZēngzǐ
Literal meaning"Master Zēng"
Zeng Shen
Traditional ChineseTừngTham
Simplified ChineseTừngTham
Hanyu PinyinZēng Shēn

Zeng Shen(505–435 BC), better known asZengzi(Master Zeng),courtesy nameZiyu(TửDư), was aChinese philosopheranddiscipleofConfucius.[1]He later taughtZisi(Kong Ji), the grandson of Confucius, who was in turn the teacher ofMencius,thus beginning a line of transmitters of orthodox Confucian traditions.[1]He is revered as one of theFour Sagesof Confucianism.[2]

Life

[edit]
Statue of Zengzi (right) and his mother

Zeng Shen was 46 years younger than Confucius.[3]He was a native of South Wu City in theState of Lu,and was the son ofZeng Dian,one of the earliest disciples of Confucius.[1]

When he was sixteen, he was sent by his father to study under Confucius. Confucians later considered him to be his second most senior student, afterYan Hui.Duanmu Cisaid of him, "There is no subject which he has not studied. His appearance is respectful. His virtue is solid. His words command credence. Before great men he draws himself up in the pride of self-respect. His eyebrows are those of longevity." He was noted for his filial piety, and after the death of his parents he could not read the rites of mourning without being led to think of them and being moved to tears. He was a voluminous writer. He composed ten books, compiled in theRites of the Elder Dai(Đại mang lễ). He was said to have composed and/or edited theClassic of Filial Pietyunder the direction of Confucius. He was also associated with transmission of theGreat Learning.He was first associated with the sacrifices to Confucius in 668 AD, but in 1267 he was advanced to be one of Confucius'Four Assessors.His title, "Exhibitor of the Fundamental Principles of the Sage", dates from the reign of theJiajing Emperor,when he was associated with Yan Hui.[2]

Zengzi established his own school, and taughtZisi(Kong Ji), the grandson of Confucius, who was in turn the teacher ofMencius,thus beginning a line of transmitters of orthodox Confucian traditions.[1]Along withYan Hui,Zisi, and Mencius, Zengzi is considered to be one of the Four Sages of Confucianism.[2]

Filial piety

[edit]
Zengzi (right) kneeling beforeConfucius(center), as depicted in a painting from theIllustrations of the Classic of Filial Piety,Song dynasty

Zeng Shen was known for hisfilial piety.After the deaths of his parents, he was unable to read the rites of mourning without bursting into tears.[2]

A famous legend about Zeng Shen, calledNie Zhi Tong Xin(Chinese:Ngão chỉ đau lòng), is included in the influentialYuan dynastytextThe Twenty-four Filial Exemplars.In the story, Zeng Shen was one day out gathering firewood, when some visitors unexpectedly showed up at his home. His mother bit her finger, and Zeng felt a sharp pain in his heart. He immediately knew his mother needed him and rushed home.[4]

[edit]

Zengzi slaughtered the pig for his son

[edit]

One day, Zengzi's wife went shopping to the market. His son cried when his mother was leaving. She said to her son, “Don't cry. I'll slaughter a pig and make pork dishes for you when I'm back.” When she was back, Zengzi started slaughtering the pig in their yard. Zengzi's wife stopped him and said, “That was intended to be a joke.” Zengzi replied, “We should not lie to our children. Children are innocent and they learn from their parents. Therefore, if you cheat to your son, you're teaching your son to cheat others, and he won't trust you anymore. This is not the correct way to teach your son.” Finally, they cooked the pig for the son.[5]

“Zeng Shen” committed murder

[edit]

When Zengzi was living inFei County,there was a man with the same name of him living nearby committed murder. When the neighbours told Zengzi's mom that “Zeng Shen” committed murder, she initially did not believe it and stayed calm as if nothing happened. But when the third person told her about that, she started to believe that her son committed murder and hurriedly escaped from her house in panic.[6]This story was later widely used as an example to illustrate the serious effect brought byrumours,which is also known as theWoozle effectin English.

Descendants

[edit]

In 1452 the titleWujing Boshi(Ngũ kinh tiến sĩ) was bestowed upon the descendants of Zengzi and other Confucian sages such asMencius,Yan Hui,Zhou Dunyi,andZhu Xi.[7]

In theRepublic of Chinathere is an office called the "Sacrificial Official to Zengzi" which is held by a descendant of Zengzi, like the post of "Sacrificial Official to Mencius" for a descendant ofMencius,"Sacrificial Official to Yan Hui" for a descendant ofYan Hui,and the post of "Sacrificial Official to Confucius",held by a descendant ofConfucius.[8][9]

Some of the descendants of Zengzi include:

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^abcdHuang 1997,p. 204.
  2. ^abcdLegge 2009,pp. 117–8.
  3. ^Han 2010,p. 4610.
  4. ^Li 2011,p. 205.
  5. ^Han, Fei.Han Feizi.Từng tử chi thê chi thị, này tử tùy theo mà khóc, này mẫu rằng: “Nữ còn, cố phản vì nữ sát trệ.” Thê thích thị tới, từng tử dục bắt trệ sát chi, thê ngăn chi rằng: “Đặc cùng trẻ con diễn nhĩ.” Từng tử rằng: “Trẻ con phi cùng diễn cũng. Trẻ con phi có biết cũng, đãi cha mẹ mà học giả cũng, nghe cha mẹ chi giáo, nay tử khinh chi, là dạy con khinh cũng. Mẫu khinh tử, tử mà không tin này mẫu, phi cho nên thành giáo cũng.” Toại nấu trệ cũng.
  6. ^Qiuming, Zuo.Zhan Guo Ce.Tích giả từng tử chỗ phí, phí người có cùng từng tử cùng tên tộc giả mà giết người. Người cáo từng tử mẫu rằng: 『 từng tham giết người. 』 từng tử chi mẫu rằng: 『 ngô tử không giết người. 』 dệt tự nhiên. Chốc lát nào, người lại rằng: 『 từng tham giết người. 』 này mẫu thượng dệt tự nhiên cũng. Khoảnh chi, một người lại cáo chi rằng: 『 từng tham giết người. 』 này mẫu sợ, đầu trữ du tường mà đi.
  7. ^Wilson, Thomas A.. 1996. "The Ritual Formation ofconfucian orthodoxyand the Descendants of the Sage ". The Journal of Asian Studies 55 (3). [Cambridge University Press, Association for Asian Studies]: 559–84. doi:10.2307/2646446.https:// jstor.org/stable/2646446p. 571.
  8. ^"Đài Loan Nho gia phụng tự quan đem sửa vì vô cấp chức không bài trừ từ nữ tử kế nhiệm _ tin tức trung tâm _ tân lãng võng".
  9. ^"Rfi - Đài Loan nghĩ giảm bớt Nho gia thừa kế phụng tự chức quan vị cũng hủy bỏ bổng lộc".
  10. ^Reimagining the Chinese Nation: The "Zeng Guofan Phenomenon", Yingjie Guo and Baogang He, Modern China Vol. 25, No. 2 (Apr., 1999), pp. 142-170
  11. ^"Founder - Dr. Tsang Hin Chi".Goldlion Holdings Limited(in Chinese (Hong Kong)).Retrieved9 January2023.
  12. ^"Lời nói ngươi biết từng ấm quyền vì từng tử 74 đại con cháu"(in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Apple Daily (Hong Kong). 9 April 2007.Retrieved26 January2023.

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zengzi&oldid=1180552193"