Zisi

Zisi's Introduction

Kong Ji (483 BC - 402 BC), courtesy name Zisi, was a native of the State of Lu. He was the grandson of Confucius and the son of Kong Li, Confucius's eldest son. Born in the thirty-seventh year of King Jing of Zhou (483 BC) and passed away in the twenty-fourth year of King Weilie of Zhou (402 BC), Kong Ji lived to the age of 82.

As a renowned thinker during the Spring and Autumn period, Kong Ji studied under Zengzi (Zeng Shen), a distinguished disciple of Confucius. The teachings of Confucius were transmitted from Zengzi to Kong Ji, and then from Kong Ji's disciples to Mencius. Later generations collectively referred to Kong Ji and Mencius as the School of Sisi and Mencius, recognizing Kong Ji's pivotal role in transmitting the Confucian "orthodox line" from Zengzi to Mencius. The Records of the Historian: Biographies of Mencius and Xun Qing mentions that Mencius studied under Kong Ji's disciples, while the Preface to Mencius asserts that Mencius was a direct student of Kong Ji.

Kong Ji occupied an important position in the development of Confucianism. He inherited Confucius's doctrine of the mean and laid the foundation for Mencius's theory of the nature of the mind, thereby exerting a significant and positive influence on Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty. Consequently, during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Kong Ji was posthumously honored as "Marquis of Yi Shui." In the first year of Zhishun (1330 AD) of Emperor Wenzong of the Yuan Dynasty, he was further posthumously honored as "Duke of Shusheng." Hence, later generations revered him as the "Sage of Transmission" and included him in Confucian sacrifices.