Zhèng Xiǎotóng 鄭小同
Style name Zǐzhēn 子真 (per the Sānguó zhì 三國志, Wèi zhì 13, péi sōng zhī zhù citing the Zhèng shì pǔ 鄭氏譜). Grandson of Zhèng Xuán 鄭玄 (鄭玄) by Zhèng’s only son Zhèng Yì’ēn 鄭益恩, who predeceased Zhèng Xuán in the chaos following the fall of the Hàn. Raised in Zhèng Xuán’s household at Gāomì 高密 and inheritor of his grandfather’s classical library.
Under the CáoWèi he served as Palace Attendant (shìzhōng 侍中); his patronage by the imperial court was indebted to the prestige of Zhèng Xuán’s name. He died in 254 (the second year of the Jiāpíng 嘉平 era) implicated, according to the Wèi shū 魏書 commentary preserved in the Sānguó zhì, in the politics surrounding the SīMǎ–Wèi struggle: he was reportedly executed by SīMǎ Shī 司馬師 on suspicion of having seen a sealed memorial in the Palace Library, although the historicity of the incident has been doubted.
His scholarly importance rests on his redaction of the Zhèng zhì 鄭志 (KR1g0002) — a compilation of Zhèng Xuán’s classroom answers to disciples’ questions on the Five Classics, organized in 11 juàn (per the Suíshū jīngjí zhì) and modelled formally on the Lúnyǔ. The Zhèng jì 鄭記, a parallel compilation of recollections by Zhèng’s disciples, is associated with him in some catalogues. As preserver and editor of his grandfather’s exegetical legacy he is a node in the prehistory of Hàn–Wèi classical learning.