The is an eclectic Chinese classic written by Shi Jiao (; c. 390–330 BCE), and the earliest text from Chinese philosophical school of , which combined ideas from the Hundred Schools of Thought, including Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, and Legalism. The text was written c. 330 BCE in twenty sections, and was well known from the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) until the Song dynasty (960–1279) when all copies were lost.
Scholars during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties reconstructed the from quotations in numerous sources, yet only about 15 percent of the original text was recovered and now extant. Western sinology has largely ignored the and it was one of the last Chinese classics to be translated into English.
Authorship
Little is known about Shi Jiao or Shizi "Master Shi" except for references to his eponymous text. He was probably from the Warring States period state of Jin (modern Shanxi), and employed by the Legalist statesman Shang Yang (390–338 BCE), the chief minister of Qin (modern Shanxi) for Duke Xiao. When Duke Xiao died in 338 BCE, his successor King Huiwen ordered Shang Yang to be executed by dismemberment and his entire family to be exterminated. Shi Jiao fled to the state of Shu (modern Sichuan), where he wrote the in 20 sections, totaling over 60,000 Chinese characters, and subsequently died.
The Chinese surname Shi is commonly written "stone", "history", "teacher", "time", or "scholar" – but hardly ever written . Besides Shi Jiao, there are few examples other than Shi Cong and Shi Bo , who served Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424). The given name Jiao or Xiao can be pronounced "handsome; beautiful; excellent", "associate; have intercourse with", or "imitate; false". Tang dynasty scholar Sima Zhen first noted the in Shi Jiao was pronounced like , which could cause confusion.
Textual history The has had a long and dynamic history. The twenty-chapter text was written around 330 BCE, became a famous classic of philosophical Eclecticism, had sections repeatedly lost and recovered from political and military destruction, until only one original chapter existed around 1060 CE, and later scholars partially reconstructed the text from quotes in over seventy Chinese classics. For example, the Syncretist quotes the 27 times.
The Chinese Imperial Library catalogs in the standard Twenty-Four Histories inventory the text in twenty sections from the Han through Tang dynasties, and then only one section in the Song dynasty. The most complete reconstruction was done in 1812, but even it only recovered about 15 percent of the original text (about 10,000 of 60,000 characters). Technically speaking, Paul Fischer describes the text as "simultaneously lost and extant".
The oldest surviving reference to Shizi is found in the (91 BCE) "Scribal Record" biography of Xunzi (c. 312–230 BCE). And (in addition to Xun Zi, the state of) Zhao also had Gongsun Long, who made arguments about the similarity and difference of hardness and whiteness, and the sayings of Ju Zi; (the state of) Wei had Li Kui (with his) teaching on fully using the powers of the land; (the state of) Chu had Shizi, Chang Lu, and Yu Zi from A in it. Following from Meng Zi down until Yu Zi, the world has their writings in abundance; therefore (I) will not discuss their biographies.
The (8 BCE) was a detailed bibliography of holdings in the Imperial Library, including the . It was begun by the imperial librarian Liu Xiang, and after his death, was completed by his son Liu Xin. Although this early library catalog is no longer extant, there are two surviving Bielu fragments that mention the . First, Liu Xiang's own says: "The state of Chu had Shizi, Chang Lu Zi, and Yu Zi, and all wrote texts, but (these) were not of the model of former kings, and none followed the methods of Kong Zi. Only Meng Zi and Xun Qing were able to respect Kong Zi." Second, the commentary of Pei Yin (fl. 438) more fully quotes it: Liu Xiang’s says: "(The says :) 'Chu had Shizi ...' (but I) suspect (it should have) said he (lived) in Shu (not Chu). Now, according to the text, he was from Jin, (with the) given name Jiao, and was a retainer of Qin chief minister Wei Yang. (When) Wei Yang, the Shang Lord, planned things and designed strategies, and established laws to regulate the people, (he) always devised them with Jiao. (When) the Shang Lord was punished, Jiao feared (that he) also would be killed, and thereupon fled and ran away to Shu. (There he) himself created this text in twenty sections, (with) altogether more than sixty thousand words. (When he) died, (he was) accordingly buried in Shu." Liu Xin abridged the catalog into the (6 BCE) , and the historian Ban Gu used both catalogs to compile the “Literature Record” chapter of his (92 CE) "Han History". It lists the as one of twenty texts in the Syncretist section: " in twenty sections. (His) given name was Jiao, and (he was) from Lu; the Qin chief minister, the Shang Lord, took him as a teacher, (and when Shang) Yang died, Jiao fled to Shu."
These earliest (91 BCE to 92 CE) references generally agree except for Shizi's home state. Was he from Chu (), Shu ( author's suspicion), Jin ( author's text), or Lu ()? Fischer concludes he was from Jin, primarily because the testimony of the itself, as specifically cited by Liu Xiang".
The Tang historian Wei Zheng's (656) "Sui History" first described chapters being lost: "The in twenty sections, table of contents in one section. In the Liang (502–557) there were (only) nineteen sections. Authored by Shi Jiao, chief retainer of Qin chief minister Wei Yang. Nine of its sections were lost, and in the Wei (220–265) “Yellow Beginning” (reign era; 220–227), (it was) continued." Wei Zheng says that during the reign of Wei Emperor Cao Pi the nine lost chapters were "continued" (, which Fischer interprets to mean replacing an incomplete copy in the imperial collection with a complete copy from a private library.
The (445) "Later Han History" only mentions the once in a quotation, but Tang dynasty crown prince Li Xian's (677) commentary is informative. Shizi was from Jin, had the given name of "Jiao," and was the retainer of Qin chief minister Wei Yang. (When Wei) Yang planned strategies (he) always devised them with Jiao. (When) the Shang Lord was punished, (Shizi) feared (that he) also would be killed, and therefore fled and ran away to Shu, (where he) made a text in twenty sections: nineteen sections elaborate the threads of the Way, virtue, goodness, and propriety, and one section speaks of the nine regions, strategic passes, and the places where river springs originate.
The text was largely lost sometime between the writing of the 1060 New Tang History and 1345 History of Song. The (1739) Ming and (1927) Qing dynasty imperial catalogs do not list the . One private catalog, Chen Kui's (1174) lists the text with only one section written on two bundles of bamboo strips (. Examining Chinese history between 1060 and 1174 when all full copies of the text were lost, Fischer suggests the Jingkang Incident when the invading Jurchen soldiers of the Jin Dynasty besieged and sacked Kaifeng, the Northern Song dynasty capital.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Chinese scholars worked on reconstructing the text from quotations. The (c. 1691) , written by Huang Yuji , lists a in two sections that was reconstructed by Xu Yuantai around 1565. Although it was lost, six other reconstructions are still extant; Chen Zhengxue (1640), Hui Dong (1730), Ren Zhaolin (1788), Zhang Zongyuan (1796), Sun Xingyan (1806), and Wang Jipei (1812). The version of Wang Jipei is considered the most authoritative.
The sources for these reconstructions were based on over seventy texts that quoted the . Those containing the most quotes are: Ouyang Xun's 604 Typological Collections from the Classics and Other Literature, Yu Shinan's c. 615 "Copied Writings from the North Hall", Wei Zheng's 631 Essentials of Government from Many Books, Li Shan's 658 Notes on the Anthology of Literature, and Li Fang's 983 Taiping Imperial Reader. The abridgement, comprising over 5,000 characters (out of the original 60,000), quotes 13 of the original 20 chapters, and represents almost half of the reconstructed text.
Fischer summarizes the as "both unique and paradigmatic for being the first Syncretist text from a time when eclectic authorship—in both content and form—was the norm. We are fortunate that several Ming and Qing scholars made the effort to reconstruct it, that so much of it was quoted by Wei Zheng in the Tang dynasty, and that Wei’s work was preserved in Japan even while it was lost in China."
Contents The reconstructed contains 15 of the original 20 sections or chapters, the first 13 of which primarily derive from Wei Zheng's . The contents of are shown below, from the Fischer's translations.
Section Name Pinyin Meaning 1 Exhortation to Learn 2 Good Advice 3 Four Kinds of Proper Conduct 4 The Enlightenment Hall 5 Allocation 6 Emerging from Delusion 7 Considerateness 8 Governing the World 9 Good Intentions 10 Broad-Mindedness 11 Generous Fellows 12 Dwelling in the Way 13 Spiritous Enlightenment 14 Stopping the Chu Army 15 The Ruler's Governance
In addition to these 15 titled chapters, the reconstructed comprises 194 from source texts that quote the without specifying the chapter. Nineteen of these fragments have doubtful authenticity because they are only attested in sources later than 1127 CE when the text was probably lost.
The includes some humorous teachings, such as this anecdote about the importance of naming. (The state of) Qi had a person named Tian Guo who named his dog "Riches" and his son "Happiness." (Once) when (he) was about to perform a sacrifice, the dog entered the house. Guo yelled at it saying: "Riches, get out!" A shamaness (heard this and) said: "(That) was not auspicious." (Later,) Guo experienced misfortune: (his) eldest son died. Weeping over him, (he) cried: "Happiness!" and (he thus) did not seem to be sad (to those who heard him).
Key concepts According to Fischer, Shizi's message is based upon four key ideas: self-cultivation, timeliness, humility, and objectivity. "With the single exception of self-cultivation ( or ), none of these ideals appear as technical terms in the text. Unlike the more usual advice to be good (), proper (), or virtuous (), even generalized terms for timeliness, humility, and objectivity are not used; rather, the advice must be inferred from the narrative."
Self-cultivation. The beginning of Chapter 1 recommends self-cultivation through broad learning. To learn without tiring is that by which one cultivates the self; to teach without becoming bored is that by which one cultivates the people. (If) a cocoon is abandoned and not cultivated, then it will rot away and be discarded. (But if) a female artisan extracts the silk, then this can be used to make beautiful brocade, (fit even for) a great ruler to wear to court. (Your) person is (like) a cocoon: (if) it is abandoned and not cultivated, then (your capacity to) think and act will rot away. One fragment (188), "Imitate the conch and oyster and close the door", is apparently related to self-cultivation through Daoist meditation
Timeliness. Acting in a timely manner is a recurring textual theme, frequently phrased in terms of shen "spirit; god, deity; spiritual, supernatural" translated as "spiritous". Chapter 2 says: