Weizi

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

4.5

Word count: 391 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Microzi said something like this: "Elders and Young Masters, Yin will surely no longer be able to order the four quarters. Our ancestors laid out their achievements above, but we below are sunk in drunkenness and have ruined their virtue. In Yin, great and small alike delight in thievery and villainy. The ministers and officers take one another as models in lawlessness. When there are crimes, they are never consistently punished. The common people are rising up and becoming enemies to one another. Now Yin is about to perish; it is like crossing a great river with no ford or shore. Yin is indeed perishing, and it has come to this day!"

Editor's review

This volume is an edited edition of the “Weizi” chapter of the Book of Documents, published by Bashu Publishing House in 2024 and attributed to an anonymous author. In the chapter, Weizi describes to the Grand Tutor and the Junior Tutor the disorder of the late Shang dynasty: those above indulged in drink and corrupted their conduct; those below engaged in theft and villainy, and ministers and officers failed to observe the law; the common people treated one another as enemies, and the state was like one crossing a great river with no shore or ford. The passage has both historical value and literary power, and is an important text for understanding the political crisis at the turn of the Yin and Zhou dynasties and the sense of anxiety among the educated. This edition extracts the single chapter for editing, making it convenient for readers to study it closely and suitable as supplementary material for classroom teaching of selections from the Book of Documents. Readers should note that the language of the Book of Documents is archaic and that many of its phrases differ from later classical Chinese, so it is best understood sentence by sentence with the help of commentaries; they should also distinguish the speeches of the figures in the chapter from historical narrative and not equate Weizi’s words directly with objective historical record. Overall, this is a readable edition of an ancient text suitable for focused topical study.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University students studying the Book of Documents and the history of the Yin-Zhou transition
Readers interested in pre-Qin political ethics and the sense of anxiety
Teachers who need a single chapter of the Book of Documents as classroom teaching material

Not a good fit for

General readers hoping to read vernacular historical stories or novels
Beginners with no classical Chinese foundation who are unwilling to consult annotations
Readers who need a complete translation and annotation of the entire Book of Documents

Reading tips

First learn the identities of Weizi, the Grand Tutor, and the Junior Tutor and the background of the late Shang, then turn to the original text.
Read sentence by sentence against the annotations, focusing on the meanings of key phrases such as “indulged in drink” and “theft and villainy.”
Read it alongside other early Zhou chapters of the Book of Documents to appreciate the differences in political discourse at the Yin-Zhou transition.
After reading, summarize the disorders described by Weizi into several points to test whether you have understood the levels of his argument.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
商书·微子第十七

FAQ

What is the main content of the “Weizi” chapter?

According to the source, Weizi tells the Grand Tutor and the Junior Tutor about the disorder of the late Shang dynasty: those above indulged in drink and corrupted their conduct; those below engaged in theft and villainy; ministers and officers failed to observe the law; the common people treated one another as enemies; and the state was like one crossing a great river with no shore or ford. At its core, the chapter uses these disorders to express anxiety that the Shang dynasty was about to fall.

Why is the author of this book given as “anonymous”?

The chapters of the Book of Documents are mostly of ancient origin, and their authors are difficult to identify with certainty. This book follows the convention of ancient-text editing in giving “anonymous,” that is, it does not attribute the chapter to any definite person. Readers should focus on the text itself and its annotations rather than insist on identifying an author.

Do I need to read the entire Book of Documents before reading the “Weizi” chapter?

It is not necessary to read the whole book first, but understanding the nature of the Book of Documents and the basic background of the Yin-Zhou transition will be of great help. This book is an edited edition of a single chapter and is suitable for focused topical study; to grasp the historical context of the speeches in the chapter, you may read it alongside a reliable annotated selection from the Book of Documents.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.