Zengzi quanshu 曾子全書

Zengzi quanshu 曾子全書 "The complete writings of Zengzi", short Zengzi 曾子 "Master Zeng", is a philosophical treatise written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Wang Zhuo 汪晫 (1162-1237), courtesy name Chuwei 處微, from Jixi 績溪 (in today's Anhui province). The short book was written around 1200. In 1274, Wang Zhuo's grandson Wang Mengdou 汪夢斗 (fl. 1261) submitted the book to the throne, together with the book Zisizi 子思子.

Zengzi 曾子 (505-432 BCE), actual name Zeng Shen 曾参, was an important disciple of Confucius who specialised in the concept of filial piety (xiao 孝). Zengzi declined the offers from several states for high positions and instead dedicated his life to teaching. He is said to have written the Classic Daxue 大學 "Great Learning" and a book called Zengzi. The imperial bibliography Yiwen zhi 藝文志 in the official dynastic history Hanshu 漢書 says it was 18 chapters long. In contrast, the book catalogue in the Suishu 隋書 and later bibliographies speaks of a length of 2 juan. The book is listed in several Song-period bibliographies, like Junzhai dushu zhi 郡齋讀書志 and Zhizhai shulu jieti 直齋書錄解題. It is, nevertheless, not sure if Wang Zhuo reconstructed the Zengzi from surviving fragments or compiled this book by himself. The transmitted version of Wang Zhuo is divided into 12 chapters, of which the last two are missing. The second chapter is also called an "inner chapter" (neipian 内篇), while the rest are dubbed "outer chapters" (waipian 外篇). The first chapter relates to the short "Classic of Filial Piety" Xiaojing 孝經, and the second chapter to the Daxue.

Filial piety is said to be the most important of all moral virtues. It is actually included in all other expressions of Confucian virtues, like kindheartedness (ren 仁), proper conduct or righteousness (yi 義) and ritual behaviour (li 禮). If someone exerted the right filial conduct, all other moral virtues would automatically spring out of this source. The highest form of filial piety was the proper veneration of the parents (zun qin 尊親), the second form was not to disgrace them (fu ru 弗辱), and the lowest form was nourishing them in old age (neng yang 能養). If parents did show inappropriate conduct, a filial son was obliged to admonish (jian 諫) them. If they failed to correspond to his remark, he had, nevertheless, the duty to obey them. Serving the parents meant to serve them to the utmost. What they love has to be enjoyed and must not be neglected, and what they hate has to be avoided. A filial son thus had no wishes of his own but felt the same sorrows as his parents did.

To achieve proper filial conduct, a son had to begin with the right self-cultivation, this means to make upright his heart (zheng xin 正心), to make sincere his wishes (cheng yi 誠意), and to perfect his knowledge (zhi zhi 致知) by investigating all matters (ge wu 格物). By these measures, he would be able to "equalise" the family (qi jia 齊家), meaning that everyone occupied his proper position. A state where all families would be governed well (guo zhi 國治) would contribute to peace on earth (tianxia ping 天下平). A further essential aspect was to make oneself sparingly (sheng 省) in all aspects so that utmost sincerity could possess one's mind and transgressed out to all actions. No one else would thus be hurt for oneself's profit. These rules were valid for everyone, from the emperor down to the common man.

The oldest surviving print dates from the Ming period 明 (1368-1644). The Zengzi is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Zeng-Si erzi quanshu 曾思二子全書. There is a 4-juan-long commented edition by Master Ruan 阮氏 printed by the Wenxuan Studio 文選樓, and an 8-juan-long edition created by Feng Yunyuan 馮雲鵷.