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上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書‧仲弓

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Text ID
KR2p0167
Date
-450–-300
Dynasty
周

Shànghǎi Bówùguǎn Cáng Zhànguó Chǔ Zhúshū‧Zhòng Gōng 上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書‧仲弓

Warring States Chu Bamboo Texts at the Shanghai Museum — “Zhonggong” (仲弓 Zhòng Gōng)

(dialogue attributed to 孔子 Kǒngzǐ and 冉雍 Rǎn Yōng / Zhòng Gōng 仲弓)

About the work

The Zhòng Gōng 仲弓 (“Zhonggong”) is a bamboo-slip text from the Shanghai Museum’s Warring States Chu collection, published as text no. 11 in the Shànghǎi Bówùguǎn Cáng Zhànguó Chǔ Zhúshū 上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書 series edited by 馬承源. It is a dialogue between Confucius (孔子 Kǒngzǐ) and his disciple 冉雍 Rǎn Yōng 冉雍 (style name Zhòng Gōng 仲弓), one of Confucius’s most highly regarded disciples, on the topics of serving one’s lord and the conduct of governance. The text is of particular interest for its connection to the historical circumstance — mentioned in the text itself — of Rǎn Yōng’s appointment as steward (zǎi 宰) by the Jì 季 clan of Lǔ 魯.

Abstract

Provenance. The Shanghai Museum slips were purchased from a Hong Kong dealer in 1994, originally from Jiangling 江陵, Hubei. The Chu-script paleography dates the manuscript to approximately 300 BCE.

Content. The text opens with 冉雍 Zhòng Gōng asking about serving one’s lord: “I venture to ask about serving a lord.” Confucius replies in terms of loyalty (zhōng 忠) and respectfulness (jìng 敬). He then addresses the difficulty of moral conduct in the contemporary world — current rulers are obstinate, resistant to remonstrance — and the “three calamities” (sān hài 三害) that come close to those who exhaust their sincerity and nature. Confucius emphasizes the supreme importance of care in sacrifice (as the foundation of life), in mourning (as the completion of death), and in practicing humaneness and filial piety (rén xiào 仁孝). He warns against inconsistency: one day’s virtuous conduct can establish the full edifice of learning, while one day’s bad conduct destroys it all. Zhòng Gōng then raises the practical problem of governance: people must be handled properly, engaged willingly, with appropriate timing; mutual trustworthiness and genuine concern for the people’s welfare are essential. The text then shifts to a specific historical moment: Jì Huán Zǐ 季桓子 appoints Zhòng Gōng as steward (zǎi 宰); Zhòng Gōng reports this to Confucius, who replies that he has heard of it, and notes that the Jì family is “the grand establishment of the eastern river” (hé dōng zhī shèng jiā 河東之盛家). Confucius encourages Zhòng Gōng, calling him “child-simple” but urging him to govern wisely. Zhòng Gōng asks “What is the first priority in governance?” — and Confucius answers with a sequence of governance priorities: honouring the aged and being compassionate toward the young (lǎolǎo cí yòu 老老慈幼); promoting worthy and capable persons (jǔ xián cái 舉賢才); and pardoning errors and crimes (yòu guò yǔ zuì 宥過與罪). The exchange continues on the theme of appointing capable officials and the basis for pardoning people’s mistakes — “mountains may collapse, rivers may dry up, sun and moon and stars still serve; the people never lack errors, [and] the worthy should accommodate them.”

Significance. The Zhòng Gōng is notable as one of the few Shanghai Museum texts that connects directly to a dateable historical event recorded in received sources — Rǎn Yōng’s appointment as steward by the Jì clan of Lǔ is mentioned in the Lúnyǔ 論語 (13.2), where Confucius gives him advice that partly parallels this text. The manuscript provides a longer and different version of the dialogue, suggesting that the Lúnyǔ tradition and this text derive from a common oral/textual pool of Confucian dialogues about governance.

Dating. Paleographic evidence dates the manuscript c. 300 BCE. notBefore -450 / notAfter -300.

Translations and research

  • 馬承源主編. 《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書》. 上海古籍出版社. (editio princeps)
  • 俞紹宏、張青松主編. 《上海博物館藏戰國楚簡集釋》. 社會科學文獻出版社, 2020.
  • Shaughnessy, Edward L. Rewriting Early Chinese Texts. SUNY Press, 2006.
  • Allan, Sarah. Buried Ideas: Legends of Abdication and Ideal Government in Early Chinese Bamboo-Slip Manuscripts. SUNY Press, 2015.

Other points of interest

The Lúnyǔ 論語 13.2 records Confucius’s advice to Zhòng Gōng upon his appointment as steward for the Jì clan: “先有司，赦小過，舉賢才” (“First [attend to] your subordinate officials; pardon minor errors; promote the worthy and capable”). This passage appears in compressed form in the Shanghai Museum Zhòng Gōng as well, confirming that the Lúnyǔ tradition drew on a broader body of Confucian dialogue material that circulated in the pre-Han period.

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