Dai De (), also known as Da Dai, (; more formally, "Dai the Greater"), birth and death unknown, was a Confucian scholar of the
Former Han Dynasty. He was active during the reign of
Emperor Yuan of Han (48–33 BC).
He was the son of
Dai Ren () and the uncle of
Dai Sheng
Dai Sheng (), also known as Xiao Dai, (), birth and death unknown, was the Scholar of Rituals to Emperor Xuan of the Former Han Dynasty. He was the son of Dai Ren () and the nephew of Dai De. He was a native of Liang (now Shangqiu, Henan) and ...
. He was a native of Liang (now
Shangqiu
Shangqiu (), alternately romanized as Shangkiu, is a city in eastern Henan province, Central China. It borders Kaifeng to the northwest, Zhoukou to the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Anhui to the northeast and southeast respectivel ...
,
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...
) and a founder of the New Text Confucian (Simplified:今文经学; Traditional: 今文經學
''Jinwen jingxue'') exegesis of “classical texts concerned with codes of conduct” (Simplified: 今文礼学; Traditional: 今文禮學: ''Jinwen lixue'') during the
Former Han Dynasty.
He was traditionally credited with producing a substantially edited version of the ''
Book of Rites
The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Boo ...
'' (''Li Ji'') that bore his name: ''Dai the Greater's Book of Rites'' (大戴禮記 ''Da Dai Li Ji''). It is likely, however, that Dai's prestigious name was attached to a reduced version of the ''Book of Rites'' in order to legitimate a much-revised text. Traditionally, the preceding version was said to have consisted of an initial 131 essays (篇 ''pian''), to which an additional 83 were subsequently added. Dai is said to have reduced the resulting 214 essays to 85, which his nephew, Dai Sheng, was then supposed to have further reduced too 46. 3 additional essays were added later to reach a final total of 49. There is no reliable evidence, however, to attribute these revisions to either Dai De or Dai Sheng, both of whom were, nevertheless, trained as Confucian scholars specializing in various texts concerning "codes of conduct" (禮 ''li''). Dai's reputed influence on these related texts, which include the ''
Rites of Zhou
The ''Rites of Zhou'' (), originally known as "Officers of Zhou" () is a work on bureaucracy and organizational theory. It was renamed by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the '' Book of History'' by the same name. To replace a lost ...
'' and the ''
Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial
The ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'' is a Chinese classic text about Zhou dynasty social behavior and ceremonial ritual as it was practiced and understood during the Spring and Autumn period. The ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'', alon ...
'', is equally uncertain.
[Jeffrey K. Riegel, “Li chi 禮記,” in Michael Lowe, ed., ''Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide'' (Berkeley CA: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1993), pp. 293-97; Michael Lowe, “Dai De,” in Xinzhong Yao, edl, ''RoutledgeCurzon Encyclopedia of Confucianism'' (New York: Routledge, 2003).]
A short biography of Dai can be found in the ''RoutledgeCurzon Encyclopedia of Confucianism'' (Routledge, 2003).
References
Han dynasty classicists
People from Handan
Han dynasty writers
Writers from Hebei
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