Zi Chan

Gongsun Qiao (), died 522 BC, was better known by his courtesy name Zichan () ( WG: Tzu Ch'an). From 544 BC until his death, he served as the chief minister of the State of Zheng. His ancestral surname was Ji (姬), and clan name Guo (國). As politician of a small but venerable state in central China during the Spring and Autumn period (Chunqiu), he faced not only aggressive larger states, but also the confusion caused by a governing tradition in crisis. Under him the Zheng state managed to grow and prosper. Zichan was responsible for many of its strengthening reforms and his statecraft was often viewed with respect.

Career profile

A grandson of Duke Mu of Zheng, Zichan served as prime minister of Zheng from 544 BC until his death. Under Zichan, the Zheng state managed to grow and prosper. It expanded its territory. This was a difficult task for a small state surrounded by several large states, accomplished toward the end of the Spring and Autumn period.

Reform programs

Zichan was responsible for many reforms that strengthened the state of Zheng. A realist, Zichan was heavily involved in all aspects of the state, reforming agricultural and commercial laws, setting the borders, centralising the state, ensuring the hiring of capable ministers, and changing social norms. He prohibited the hanging and later deliver of pamphlets, but is also recorded as having prevented other ministers from executing a man for criticising the government, arguing that it was in the best interests of the state to listen to the opinions of the common people.

From the ''Shiji'' of the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian:

Tzu-ch'an was one of the high ministers of the state of Cheng. ... e state ad beenin confusion, superiors and inferiors were at odds with each other, and fathers and sons quarreled. ... henTzu-ch'an asappointed prime minister. After... one year, the children in the state had ceased their naughty behavior, grey-haired elders were no longer seen carrying heavy burdens... . After two years, no one overcharged in the markets. After three years, people stopped locking their gates at night... . After four years, people did not bother to take home their farm tools when the day's work was finished, and after five years, no more conscription orders were sent out to the knights. ... Tzu-ch'an ruled for twenty-six years, and when he died the young men wept and the old men cried... .

The ‘’Zuo Zhuan’’ gives us a different version of the public’s appraisal about Zichan’s policies. After one year the workers complain about new taxes on their clothes and new levy requirements on the lands. Yet after three years the workers praise Zichan: for instructing their children, and for increasing the yield of their fields.

The Zuo Zhuan records that he drafted penal laws to protect private property. He also enacted harsh punishments for criminals. Because of his focus on laws, historians often classify him as a Legalist.

Publishes laws in 536

In his reform of government Zichan came to emphasise the rule of law. Before, in each state the powerful clans of traditional Zhou-era lineage had enforced their closely-held laws. Such laws and regulations were only known by "the limited number of dignitaries who were concerned with their execution and enforcement." Yet among the states in general this system was weakening, dissolving. The various ministerial regimes eventually began a process of replacing clan rule and assuming direct control of the population. In 536 BC, Zichan had the penal legal statutes of his Zheng state cast on a bronze ding, and so made public, a first among the Eastern Zhou states. A law known by those subject to it allowed their active participation while such laws also served the state as a more effective tool of controll and guidance.

For publishing the laws of Zheng, Zichan was criticized by his contemporaries for undermining the governing authority and judicial role of the nobility. Before, in making their legal judgments, social traditions were applied as interpretation by the ruling elite, which could not be challenged. By articulating and making public the legal statutes the people were empowered to better advance opposing views of the state law. Up until then ruling circles thought publishing the law would open the door to public argument, bickering, and shameless maneuvering to avoid social tradition, its time-tested moral force. The situation was multi-sided, and social traditions were in flux. Opening up laws to the view of the common people would soon become a trend in ancient Chinese statecraft.

Deng Xi (545-501), for good or ill, acquired a reputation for provoking such social conflict and instability. He was a controversial official of Zheng with Mingjia philosophical views. Despite the probable corrosive activities of the Mingjia (Deng Xi himself was a child when the laws were published), Zichan had a bronze ''ding'' cast bearing the laws. Deng Xi soon came of age. Decades later the state of Zheng put him to death. The era's documents are divided as to who ordered his execution. It might have been Zichan.

A 'letter' against Zichan was written by Shuxiang a minister of Jin. It marshaled arguments against his publishing of Zheng's penal laws. Both the letter and Zichan's reply are recorded in the ''Zuo Zhuang''. This reply begins by stating that Zichan is "untalented" and thus unable to properly manage custody of the laws with regard to future generations. Nonetheless he published them in bronze, doing so only for the practical benefit of Zheng's people alive today.

Interstate relations

Zichan was also highly skilled in state-to-state politics. When the State of Jin tried to interfere in Zheng's internal affairs after the death of a Zheng minister, Zichan was well aware of the danger, arguing that if Jin was allowed to determine the successor of the deceased minister in the state of Zheng, Zheng would then have lost its sovereignty to Jin. He then proceeded to convince Jin not to interfere Zheng's internal politics.

The ''Zuozhuan'' mentions a summer meeting in 517 shortly after Zochan died. The Jin minister asked about ceremony and ''li'' (ritual propriety) of an official of Zheng, who then recounts a speech by "our former high officer" Zichan. The ''Zuozhuan'' quotes it at length. It is the book's "grandest exposition of ritual and its role in ordering human life in accordance with cosmic principles", according to the modern translators. Feng comments on Zichan: "The idea expressed here... is that the practical value of ceremonials and music, punishments and penalties, lies in preventing the people from falling into disorder, and that these have originated from man's capacity for imitating Heaven and Earth."

As a philosopher

Zichan's political thinking is known from his words and actions as a minister of state. The kernels of his thought are found in the historical record, often in accounts of his exemplary conduct. Later philosophers also would mention him and create a context for his points of view. His public life earned him in his time and a lasting reputation.

Zichan lived in the Chunqiu when "the old older broke down". The people "were bewildered by the lack of standards for settling disputes and maintaining harmonious relationships." The old hereditary houses lost cultural leadership, but the new regimes were in constant conflict, and lacked customary acceptance. The era's instability led to a increasingly militant search for new social structures. Zichan is "depicted in the Tso-chuan as one of the wisest men of his time and also as leading statesman in Cheng" which state was under constant threat. In his person Zichan evidently practiced traditional ceremony and virtues. In his politics, however, he seemed to anticipate later Zhan guo-era ''legalist philosophy'', i.e., using newly articulated and promulgated standards to enforce state-wide obedience and so to better control events.

Confucius was almost 30 when Zichan died and so likewise was "born in hisperiod of great political and social change", a centuries-long revolutionary "upheaval caused by forces beyond his control and already under way." Prof. Creel notes scholarly speculation about the original sources of Confucian teaching; he comments that the ''Zou Zhuan'' quotes at length "several statesmen who, living shortly before Confucius... expressed ideas remarkably like his." They were "advanced in their thinking". Creel footnotes analogously to Zichan, but draws no conclusions.

Confucius was said to have spoken well of Zichan, according to the ''Lunyu'':

The Master said of Tsze-ch'an that he had four of the characteristics of a superior man: in his conduct of himself, he was humble; in serving his superiors, he was respectful; in nourishing the people, he was kind; in ordering the people, he was just."

The ''Zuo Zhuan'' quotes at length from the words spoken by Zichan. His thoughts tended to separate the distant domains of Heaven and the near domain of the human world. He argued against superstition and acted to curb the authority of the Master of Divination. He counseled the people to follow their reason and experience. Heaven's way is distant and difficult to grasp; while the human way is near at hand.

The '' Mengzi'' of Mencius refers to Zichan. A perplexed disciple questions Mencius about the conduct of Shun, one of the legendary sage kings. Shun's hostile parents and family lied to him. Shun mistakenly believed them, but he did not become corrupt thereby. Shun believed out of his regard for his parents. The life of virtue is discussed. Mencius then compared Shun here to Zichan when he believed a dishonest servant. Given a live fish to keep in a pond, instead the groundskeeper cooked and ate it. He told Zichan, however, it swam in the pond. Zichan was happy that the fish "found his place". Hearing Zichan, the servant mocked his reputation for wisdom. But not Mencius, who concludes: "Thus a noble man may be taken in by what is right, but he cannot be misled by what is country to the way".

Bibliography

Ancient

* '' Zuo Zhuan'', concerning the Chunqiu, translated as
**''The Tso chuan. Selections from China's Oldest Narrative History'' (Columbia University 1989) by Burton Watson;
**''The Zuo Tradition'' (University of Washington 1989), 3 vols., by Stephen Durrant, Li Wai-yee, David Schaberg;
***''Zuo Tradition/Zuozhuan Reader. Selections'' (University of Washington 2020), by Durrant, Li, & Schaberg.
* ''Lunyu'' of Kong Fuzi, translated as ''Analects'' of Confucius: Legge (1861, 1893), Waley (1938), Ames (1998), Brooks (1998).
*''Shiji'' by Sima Qian: Two of English translations apparently do not to include the chapter on Kong Fuzi. Translations containing it:
** Yang and Yang, ''Selections from Records of the Historian by Szuma Chien'' (Peking: Foreign Languages Press 1979), pp. 1-27;
** Richard Wilhelm, ''Confucius and Confucianism'' (New York: Harcourt, Brace 1931), pp. 3-70 (annotated).
*The Mengzi, the Xunzi, the Han Feizi, wherein Zhanguo philosophers refer to Zichan.

Modern

*Ch'ũ T'ung-tsu, ''Law and society in traditional China'' (Paris: Mouton & Co. 1961).
* Creel, H. G., ''Confucius and the Chinese way'' (New York: John Day 1949, reprint: Harper 1960).
*Creel, Herrlee G., ''Shen Pu-hai. A political philosopher of the fourth century B.C.'' (University of Chicago 1974).
* Fung Yu-lan, ''Chung-kuo Che-hsüeh Shih'' (Shanghai 1931), as ''A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 1'' (Princeton Univ. 1937, 2d 1952, 1983) by Bodde.
* Graham, A. C., ''Disputers of the Tao. Philosophical argument in ancient China'' (Chicago: Open Court 1989).
*Head, John W. & Wang Yanping, ''Law Codes in Dynastic China'' (Durham: Carolina Academic Press 2005).
* Hsu Cho-yun, ''Ancient China in transition. An analysis of social mobility, 722-222 B.C.'' (Stanford University 1965)
*Kaizuka Shigeki, ''Koshi'' (Tokyo 1951); translated as ''Confucius: His life & thought'' (New York: Macmillan 1956; Dover 2002), by Bownas.
* Lewis, Mark Edward, ''Honor and Shame in early China'' (Cambridge University 2021).
* Li Feng, ''Early China. A social and cultural history'' (Cambridge University 2013).
*Lu Xing, ''Rhetoric in Ancient China'' (University of South Carolina 1998
*
*Rubin, Vitaly A., ''Ideologiia i kul'tura drevnego kitaia'' (Moscow 1970); ''Individual and State in Ancient China'' (NY: Columbia University 1976).
* Schwartz, Benjamin I., ''The World of Thought in Ancient China'' (Harvard University 1985).
*Sun Zhenbin, ''Language, Discourse, and Praxis in Ancient China'' (Springer 2015).
*Walker, Robert Louis, ''The Multi-state System of Ancient China.'' (Hamden: Shoestring 1953; Greenwood 1971).
*Zhang Jinfan, ''The tradition and modern transition of Chinese Law'' (Heidelberg: Springer 1997, 2d 2005, 3d 2008).
* Zhao Dingxin, ''The Confucian-Legalist State. A new theory of Chinese history'' (Oxford University 2015).
;Articles
*Creel, Herrlee G., "Legal institutions and procedures during the Chou dynasty", in Cohen, Edwards, Chen (eds.), ''Essays on China's Legal Tradition'' (Princeton University 1980).
*Eichler, E. R., "The Life of Tsze-ch'an," in ''China Review'' (1886), vol. XV: pp. 12-23 & 65-78.
*Fraser, Chris
"School of Names": Deng Xi
(2015), in ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Archive''.
*Puett, Michael, "Ghosts, Gods, and the Coming Apocalypse," in Scheidel (ed.), ''State Power in Ancient China and Rome'' (Oxford University 2015)
*Theobald, Ulrich

(2010), at ''ChinaKnowledge'' website, accessed 2022-07-27.
*Turner, Karen, "Sage kings and laws in the Chinese and Greek traditions," in Ropp (ed.), ''Heritage of China'' (University of California 1990).
**Goldin, Paul R., editor, ''Routledge Handbook of early Chinese history'' (Abingdon 2020). Yuri Pines, "Political thought".

References

See also

*Traditional Chinese law
*Hundred Schools of Thought

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zichan
522 BC deaths
Zhou dynasty philosophers
6th-century BC Chinese philosophers
Legalism (Chinese philosophy)
Philosophers of law
Year of birth unknown
6th-century BC Chinese people
Zheng (state)