Zichan

Zichan's career path to the top position started in 565 BCE,[44] and involved his finding a way through the unexpected and sometimes violent events and social instability that challenged Zheng's political class.

[47] Later in 563 BCE "armed insurgents" led by seven disaffected clan nobles (many who had lost lands), overthrew the government and killed all three rulers: Zisi, Ziguo, and Zi'er.

The military occupation worked to reform some Chen policies (altar of earth, conscripts, taxes, land), then withdrew, without looting the city or destroying its sanctuaries, nor did the Zheng army seize hostages.

A reluctant Zichan had declined: the office was troubled from without by strong and aggressive rival states, and from within by the constant feuding of the clans, which made Zheng "impossible to govern well".

[92][93][94][95] His political path, ably pursued in office over decades, and his personal popularity, can be more skeptically portrayed as a cross-cultural allegory of the "law-givers and tyrants" in an Ancient Greek city-state.

That Zichan possessed the ability to break open a new chapter in social norms was because he "had the complete support of the people of Cheng [Zheng], he enjoyed a position of full authority there throughout his life.

Up until then ruling circles thought publishing the law would be detrimental, would open the door to public argument, bickering, and shameless manoeuvring to avoid social tradition, its time-tested moral force.

[235]Another significant legal source existed in the written texts of the blood covenants (meng) created between the states, or between other political entities, in the late Spring and Autumn.

[249] More generally, the 'traditional' social conduct fostered by the li-centred rites, ancient customs once inspired by an animated world view and later associated with the Kongzi school, would be reworked, restructured and rationally integrated.

[250][251] Traditional social values, however, as articulated in the 'rites of li', continued to be practiced, infiltrated wide society, won political support during the Han dynasty, and eventually conjoined with or edged out legalism to "amalgamate with law".

"[259][260] After describing Zichan's publication, the Zuo Zhuan indirectly refers to the names of three statutes, each of an historical dynasty (Xia, Shang, and Zhou), as the basis of Zheng's 536 laws.

"[335][336] "Whatever his own beliefs about the existence of these ghosts, Zichan shows here a canny ability to maintain the balance of power among noble lineages and to manipulate public opinion by appearing to appease the spirits of his enemies.

Prof. Hsiao, in a discussion of "ancient religious practices honoring gods and spirits", and of the declining "role of the irrational" during the Warring States period, comments on Zichan (Tzu-ch'an) per the two episodes (the comet and the dragons) above.

[359] The predominately rural people of the vassal states began to align more with the fruitfulness and vitality of their farm lands, rather than the fading charisma of capital aristocrats and clan leaders.

[368][369][370][371][372] Prof. Fung comments on Zichan's views: "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.

"[373] Prof. Hsiao compares the core of Zichan's comments on ancient rites to the teachings of Dong Zhongshu [W-G: Tung Chung-shu] (195-105), a leading scholar of the Western Han.

"As the oldest son of a recently deceased clan head... [who] still grieves," writes Prof. Hunter, "the only moment of respite [is] during the ancestral sacrifice when his father comes down from Heaven to enjoy the offerings.

For in his lifetime Zichan's public life had resulted in an acknowledgement, whether bad or good, of how his career and recorded sayings had defined his reputation, which endured in ancient Chinese political thought.

[397][398] Zichan is "depicted in the [Zuo Zhuan] as one of the wisest men of his time, and also as a leading statesman in the small ancient state of [Zheng], which was under constant threat of extinction by its powerful neighbours".

In his political craft, however, Han-era historians could see him as able to anticipate the later Legalist philosophy of the Warring States period, i.e., skillful in the promulgation and enforcement of newly articulated laws.

Only after Zichan's generation did Confucius, an unsuccessful office seeker, but an independent, private teacher, establish in China the prized literary tradition of individual authorship.

[405] As a near contemporary of Zichan, Confucius was "born in [this] period of great political and social change", a centuries-long revolutionary "upheaval caused by forces beyond his control and already under way."

In affirming his decision, Confucius gave five reason that justified putting a man to death (e.g., his "speaking falsely and arguing well" or his doing "what is wrong and making it seem smooth").

"[460] Xunzi's opinion may be attributed to Zichan in his traditional role as a Zhou-era ruler who established a personal model for his people to cultivate, and acted directly like a benevolent father.

This role opposed the legalist conception where the ruler held authority, whose connections to the people all passed through competent officials who administered the laws, which alone set the standards of behavior.

In the composite Han Feizi, in making a point about the people, Zichan is placed in equal stead to the esteemed Yu, a legendary sage king and founder of the Xia dynasty.

[491][492] Sang Hongyang (152-80 BCE), politician and policy maker of the Han Dynasty, achieved the high office of Imperial Secretary; considered an "undisguised Legalist".

Contra the more optimistic Confucius who focused on social norms and community service, Yang Chu held negative views of life, yet taught an individual's cultivation of the ego.

[548] Professor Schwartz in summarising his understanding of Zichan's career, draws on a point of view derived from the future development of ancient Chinese political thinking, during the Warring States Period.

Accordingly, he places a different spin on the appraisal of his achievements: [Zichan] is depicted in the [Zuo Zhuan] as one of the wisest men of his time, and also as a leading statesman in the small ancient state of [Zheng]... .