Abstract
Abstract This study is concerned with “Dizi zhi” (Duties of Disciples) in the Song. The motivation arose from an intriguing fact that there are far more references to the “Dizi zhi” in the Song than the dynasties before. Why and how did this happen? What is its significance? And what influences have it had on Chinese education? These are the issues this thesis will address. The original text of the “Dizi zhi” comes from the Guanzi book, an important pre-Qin work. Most modern scholars consider that the essay is the school regulation of Jixia Academy of the Qi State of the Warring States period. From the Warring States Period through the Song Dynasty, this essay has not received significant attention and seems to have been forgotten. By the Song Dynasty times, this changed significantly, and Zhu Xi is the pivot who promoted it and gave it a prominent position in Chinese educational history. First, Zhu Xi divided “Dizi zhi” into nine chapters, based on its content. And he then gave titles to the chapters, using two- or four- character phrases to mark the gist of each chapter. At the same time, he annotated pronunciations for selected characters or phrases; he also provided the meaning of various words and geographic names like those of cites. He also edited sentences, when necessary. Then, by proposing to publish “Jujia zayi” (Miscellaneous rituals for family life) and “Dizi zhi” together, as well as to append “Dizi zhi” into his book Xiaoxue (Elementary Learning) and Yi li jingzhuan tongjie (General Interpretation to the Text and Commentary to the Book of Ceremonial Rites), Zhu Xi made “Dizi zhi” a part of his own theory of ritual and education. Relying on these books, and on the continued efforts his students and disciples made to expound on them, Zhu Xi not only made “ Dizi zhi” an important book for children’s education, ritual, ritual education and maintaining an orderly family, he also spread these notions to other scholars in Song dynasty. Even today, his theory still has remarkable influence. Methodologically, this study seeks to examine all meaningful studies throughout pre-Song Chinese history, underscoring how it was treated in different periods, but the focus is on Song dynasty’s conditions. The thesis then ends with a similar examination of the development of “Dizi Zhi” learning in the Yuan dynasty. Furthermore, by combining historical background and comparing different schools of thought, I highlight the importance of the noted rise in Song intellectual horizon of the “Dizi zhi”. I further discuss at length Zhu Xi’s comprehensive version, which played a critical role of inheriting the past and ushering in the future. This thesis uses primarily Zhu Xi’s books, his correspondences with friends and students; I also refer to various other related historical records in the Song dynasty. To sum up, the Song dynasty is indeed a magnificent period of intellectual development after the Han dynasty. It is also a great era of transformation, in both intellectual creativity, and literary style. This thesis shows that despite that the “Dizi zhi” is a pre-Han dynasty work, and had been affected by Sui, Tang and Five dynasties’ ways of annotating the ritual canons. When it comes to invention, however, Song understanding and interpretation of the “Dizi zhi” was able to go back to the original essence in the field of education as was known to the people of the Warring States. Meanwhile, Zhu Xi’s appropriation of the tradition and re-interpretation of it helped to develop new ideas in ritual education. Furthermore, his promotion which edifies the general public by reviving ancient rituals became more systematic in Yuan dynasty. Therefore, Zhu Xi is not only the key figure of “Dizi zhi” development in the Song dynasty, but also one who integrated and matured the various strands of understanding the “Dizi zhi” of different dynasties. Key words: Guanzi, Xiaoxue, Yi li jingzhuan tongjie, “Dizi zhi”, Zhu Xi, ritual, children’s education, ritual education