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Dizizhi 弟子職

Dec 13, 2013 © Ulrich Theobald

Dizizhi 弟子職 "Duties of the student" is a chapter of the book Guanzi 管子 from the Zhou period 周 (11th cent.-221 BCE) .

It is mentioned by many Han-period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) scholars like Xu Shen 許慎 (c. 58-c. 147), Ying Shao 應劭 (d. c. 203 CE) or Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (127-200), and also by the great Song-period 宋 (960-1279) Neo-Confucian master Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200), who was particularly interested in the rules of education.

Zhu Xi compared the Dizizhi with the Quli 曲禮 rules in the ritual Classic Liji 禮記. In the imperial bibliography Yiwenzhi 藝文志 in the official dynastic history Hanshu 漢書 it is listed among texts on the "six arts" (liuyi 六藝) and on the "Classic of Filial Piety" Xiaojing 孝經. It seems that only from the Tang period 唐 (618-907) on the Dizizhi ceased to be perceived as a separate text, and the Confucian masters Lu Deming 陸德明 (c. 550-630) and Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (574-648) call it an integral part of the Guanzi, and not a Confucian text.

The text includes methods of education and is therefore also published separately, especially among primers and texts on education. It describes how students are instructed, receive guests, sitting when lectured, entering a room and retiring, sweep the floor and consume their meals.

During the Qing period 清 (1644-1911), many scholars commented on the chapter, like Hong Liangji 洪亮吉 (1746-1809), Dizizhi jianshi 弟子職箋釋), Zhuang Shuzu 莊述祖 (1751-1816), Dizizhi jijie 弟子職集解, Wang Yun 王筠 (1784-1854), Dizizhi zhengyin 弟子職正音, Wang Shaolan 王紹蘭 (1760-1835), Dizizhi guben kaozhu 弟子職古本考注, Gui Wencan 桂文燦 (1823-1884), Dizizhi jiegu 弟子職解詁), Shao Chengzhao 邵承照 (fl. 1901), Dizizhi zhangju xunzuan 弟子職章句訓纂, or Sun Tongyuan 孫同元 (fl. 1839), Dizizhi zhu 弟子職注.

The Republican scholar Guo Moruo 郭沫若 (1892-1978) was of the opinion that the Dizizhi were the school rules of the Jixia Academy 稷下學宮 in the regional state of Qi 齊, where the book Guanzi came into being.

The Dizizhi is of course to be found in all editions of the Guanzi, but also separately in the series Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編, and is often found in various collections of primers.

Sources:
Chen Qiang 陳強 (2015)."Cong Dizizhi kan Jixia Xuegong de san yi lü 從《弟子職》看稷下學宮的“三以律”", Guanzi xuekan 管子學刊, 2015 (11).
Chen Qiang 陳強 (2017). "Lun Jixia Xuegong xuesheng jiaoyu yu guanli de guifanhua fanshi: Yi Guanzi Dizizhi wei shijao 論稷下學宮學生教育與管理的規範化範式——以《管子•弟子職》為視角", Guanzi xuekan 管子學刊, 2017 (7).
Chen Renxiong 陳人雄 (1996), "Dizizhi 弟子職", in Zhou Gucheng 周谷城, ed. Zhongguo xueshu mingzhu tiyao 中國學術名著提要, Jiaoyu 教育卷 (Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe), 28.
Chen Sheng 陳升 (1996). "Dizizhi 弟子職", in Feng Kezheng 馮克正, Fu Qingsheng 傅慶升, ed. Zhuzi baijia da cidian 諸子百家大辭典 (Shenyang: Liaoning renmin chubanshe), 374.
Chen Ying 陳瑛, Xu Qixian 許啟賢, ed. (1989). Zhongguo lunli da cidian 中國倫理大辭典 (Shenyang: Liaoning renmin chubanshe), 368.
Cheng Fangping 程方平 (1997). "Dizizhi 弟子職", in Men Kui 門巋, Zhang Yanjin 張燕瑾, ed. Zhonghua guocui da cidian 中華國粹大辭典 (Xianggang: Guoji wenhua chuban gongsi), 279.
Du Shichun 杜世純 (2005). "Guanzi Dizizhi jiaoyu sixiang xintan 《管子•弟子職》教育思想新探", Guanzi xuekan 管子學刊, 2005 (5).
Jiaoyu da cidian bianzuan weiyuanhui 教育大辭典編纂委員會, ed. (1991). Jiaoyu da cidian 教育大辭典, Vol. 8, Zhongguo gudai jiaoyu shi 中國古代教育史 (Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe), Vol. 1, 275.
Liu Dehua 劉德華 (1993). "Dizizhi 弟子職", in Ru Xin 汝信, ed. Shijie baike zhuzuo cidian 世界百科著作辭典 (Beijing: Zhongguo gongren chubanshe), 278.
Shi Xuanyuan 施宣圓 et al., ed. (1987). Zhongguo wenhua cidian 中國文化辭典 (Shanghai: Shanghai shehui kexue yuan chubanshe), 464.
Xu Yu 許鈺, ed. (1992). Zhonghua fengsu xiao baike 中華風俗小百科 (Tianjin: Tianjin renmin chubanshe), 373.
Zhang Lianwei 張連偉 (2008). "Dizizhi yu Xian-Qin de xuexiao jiaoyu 《弟子職》與先秦的學校教育", Zhonggong Shijiazhuang Shi Wei Dangxiao xuebao 中共石家莊市委黨校學報, 2008 (2).