The Decree of Weizi

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

4.1

Word count: 386 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

The king spoke as follows: “Oh! Eldest son of the Yin king. I examine the ancients and honor virtue and emulate the worthy. You shall continue and carry on the former kings, cultivate their rites and offerings, and act as a guest in the royal house, sharing with the state in prosperity and enduring for countless generations. Alas! Your ancestor Cheng Tang was able to be equally sage and broad and deep; Great Heaven favored and protected him and greatly conferred upon him its mandate. He pacified the people with leniency and removed their depravity and cruelty; his achievements were applied in his time, and his virtue has descended to later generations. You have practiced and cultivated his ways, and long had a good reputation; you are respectful and cautious and able to be filial, and reverent and respectful to gods and men. I commend your virtue and say it is steadfast and not to be forgotten. The High God therefore accepts your offerings, and the lower people respectfully accord with you; thus I establish you as a high lord and governor of this eastern Xia. Be reverent! Go and spread your instructions, be careful in your service and mandate, follow the laws and constant norms, and thus guard the royal house. Enlarge the fame of your illustrious ancestor, regulate your people, forever secure your position, and assist me, the one man. Generation after generation enjoy virtue; let all states take you as a model, so that our Zhou may never be weary. Alas! Go and be excellent; do not fail my command.”

Editor's review

The Charge to Weizi is a proclamation in the Book of Documents, recording King Cheng of Zhou’s charge enfeoffing Weizi, a descendant of the Yin-Shang, in Song. Its language is archaic and condensed; it shows the early Zhou political wisdom of “honoring virtue and emulating the worthy” and “preserving what is lost and continuing what is cut off,” and it preserves important material on Cheng Tang’s virtuous rule and the settlement of the Yin remnant. Readers may experience the solemn style of early political documents and understand the special arrangement of “acting as a guest in the royal house” under Zhou enfeoffment. This Bashu shushe edition is convenient for beginners to study alongside commentaries. In reading, one should combine the historical context of the Shang-Zhou transition and note governing ideas in the charge such as “pacifying the people with leniency” and “following the laws and constant norms.” It is suitable as introductory material for close reading of ancient political thought and classical texts.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University students studying the Shangshu and pre-Qin historical texts
Readers interested in the political system and enfeoffment during the Shang-Zhou transition
Self-learners seeking to train their reading of classical Chinese and build a vocabulary of canonical terms

Not a good fit for

General readers without a foundation in classical Chinese who seek light reading
Readers expecting a story-driven narrative or modern vernacular interpretation

Reading tips

First read the original text through, marking personal names, official titles, and difficult characters and words, then consult the annotations.
Read alongside early Zhou pronouncements in the Shangshu such as the "Kang Gao" and "Jiu Gao" to grasp the features of this genre.
After reading, outline the structural layers of the pronouncement: recalling ancestral virtue, praising Weizi, and granting the investiture with admonitions.

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
周书·微子之命第十

FAQ

Who is Weizi in "The Charge to Weizi"?

Weizi was the elder half-brother of King Zhou of Shang; he left after his repeated remonstrances went unheeded. After Zhou overthrew Shang, Duke Dan of Zhou, assisting King Cheng, charged Weizi with continuing the sacrifices to the Shang ancestors and enfeoffed him at Song to pacify the remnants of Shang. The title of the piece refers to the words of this investiture.

What is the core content of this pronouncement?

The pronouncement first recalls the sage virtue and heavenly mandate of Tang the Completer, then affirms Weizi's reverence, filial piety, and repute, and finally invests him as a duke of the highest rank to govern the eastern regions, requiring him to follow the constant norms, carry forward ancestral virtue, and support the Zhou royal house so that all states may take him as a model.

What background should one understand before reading this piece?

It is best first to understand the general course of the Shang-Zhou transition, King Wu's campaign against Zhou, Duke Zhou's eastern expedition, and early Zhou enfeoffment, and to know that "acting as a guest in the royal house" means allowing descendants of former dynastic houses to participate in dynastic affairs in the capacity of guests.

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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.