Dong Zhongshu (; 179–104 BC) was a
Chinese philosopher, politician, and writer of the
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
. He is traditionally associated with the promotion of
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state. He apparently favored
heaven worship over the tradition of cults celebrating the
five elements. Ultimately banished to the Chancellery of
Weifang
Weifang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to ...
by his adversary
Gongsun Hong, Gongsun effectively promoted Dong's partial retirement from political life, and his teachings were transmitted from there. However, he apparently enjoyed great influence in the court in the last decades of his life leading up to that.
[Sarah A. Queen 1996 p.36. From Chronicle to Canon: The Hermeneutics of the Spring and Autumn According to Tung Chung-shu. https://books.google.com/books?id=KBiyuzoiF7UC&pg=PA36]
Biography
Dong was born in modern
Hengshui, Hebei in 179 BC. His birthplace is associated with Wencheng Township (, now located in
Jing Country), so in the ''
Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals'' he is once mentioned as Lord Dong of Wencheng ().
He entered the imperial service during the reign of
Emperor Jing of Han and rose to high office under
Emperor Wu of Han. His relationship with the emperor was uneasy though. At one point he was thrown into prison and nearly executed for writings that were considered seditious, and may have cosmologically predicted the overthrow of the
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
and its replacement by a
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
sage, the first appearance of a theme that would later sweep
Wang Mang
Wang Mang () (c. 45 – 6 October 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun (), was the founder and the only emperor of the short-lived Chinese Xin dynasty. He was originally an official and consort kin of the Han dynasty and later seized the th ...
to the imperial throne. He appears to have been protected by the Emperor's chief counselor,
Gongsun Hong.
Dong Zhongshu's thought integrated
Yin Yang cosmology into a Confucian ethical framework. He emphasised the importance of the ''
Spring and Autumn Annals
The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The '' Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 ...
'' as a source for both political and metaphysical ideas, following the tradition of the ''
Gongyang Commentary'' in seeking hidden meanings from its text. He is also considered the originator of the doctrine of
Interactions Between Heaven and Mankind
''Interactions between Heaven and Mankind'' () is a set of doctrines formulated by Chinese Han dynasty scholar Dong Zhongshu which at that time became the basis for deciding the legitimacy of a monarch. At the same time, for the Confucian School ...
, which lays down rules for deciding the legitimacy of a monarch as well as providing a set of checks and balances for a reigning monarch.
There are two works that are attributed to Dong Zhongshu, one of which is the ''Ju Xianliang Duice'' in three chapters, preserved under the ''
Book of Han''. Another of his major works that has survived to the present is the ''
Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals'' in 82 chapters. The ''Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals'' bears many marks of multiple authorship. Whether the work was written by Dong himself has been called into question by several scholars including
Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi (; ; October 18, 1130 – April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese calligrapher, historian, philosopher, poet, and politician during the Song dynasty. Zhu was influential in the development of Neo-Confucianism. He con ...
, Cheng Yanzuo, Dai Junren, Keimatsu Mitsuo, and Tanaka Masami. Scholars now reject as later additions all the passages that discuss
five elements theory, and much of the rest of the work is questionable as well. It seems safest to regard it as a collection of unrelated or loosely related chapters and shorter works, which could be subdivided into five categories. Most are more or less connected to the ''Gongyang Commentary'' and its school and written by a number of different persons at different times throughout the Han Dynasty.
Other important sources for Dong Zhongshu's life and thought include his
''fu'' ''The Scholar's Frustration'', his biography included in the ''Book of Han'', his
Yin Yang and stimulus-response theorizing noted at various places in the ''Book of Han'' "Treatise on the Five Elements," and the fragments of his legal discussions. Dong Zhongshu's theory of 'original qi' (yuanqi or 元氣), the five elements and on the development of history, were later adopted and modified by the late Qing reformer
Kang Youwei in order to justify his theories of progress via political reform. (See Kang Youwei 1987: Kang Youwei Quanji: Volumes one and Two. Shanghai Guji Chubanshe). It has been questioned, however, how correctly Kang Youwei understood Dong Zhongshu's thought. (Kuang Bailin 1980: Kang Youwei de zhexue sixiang. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe).
References
Citations
Works cited
* Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom (ed.) (1999) ''Sources of Chinese Tradition'' (2nd edition), Columbia University Press, 292–310.
*
*
* David W. Pankenier (1990). "The Scholar's Frustration" Reconsidered: Melancholia or Credo?, ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' 110(3):434-59.
* Arbuckle, G. (1995). Inevitable treason: Dong Zhongshu's theory of historical cycles and the devalidation of the Han mandate, ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' 115(4).
* Sarah A. Queen (1996). ''From Chronicle to Canon: The Hermeneutics of the Spring and Autumn Annals according to Tung Chung-shu'', Cambridge University Press.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dong Zhongshu
179 BC births
104 BC deaths
2nd-century BC Chinese philosophers
Chinese Confucianists
Han dynasty philosophers
Han dynasty politicians from Hebei
Philosophers from Hebei
Politicians from Hengshui
Taoist immortals
Writers from Hebei
Chinese reformers