To the Left of the Palace, Superintendent of Waters, and Grand Master of Splendor, your servant Xiang submits: Among the writings collated was the book of Master Huazi, in all twenty-four chapters. Upon comparison, fourteen chapters were found to duplicate one another, leaving ten chapters established. All were written on freshly cut bamboo and are fit to be transcribed. Master Huazi was of the Cheng clan, named Ben, styled Huazi, a man of Jin. Since the time of Duke Qing of Jin, government had fallen into disorder and lay with the six ministers; Zhao Jianzi first gained power and gathered men of worth and talent as retainers for his house. Master Huazi was born in this era; widely learned, he mastered the Fen, Dian, Qiu, and Suo and the records and traditions of the old offices. Of bright and open nature and skilled in argument, he would not bend to accommodate the feudal lords. He gathered disciples and wrote books, calling himself Master Cheng. His fame was great and heard among the feudal lords. Confucius met him at Tan and sighed, saying, "A worthy gentleman of the world." Jianzi wished to install him at court but could not bring him in; he then sent envoys with silk and gifts to invite him, offering the rank and token of a holder of the gui. At this time Jianzi killed Dou Du and Shun Hua, and Confucius composed the "Lament by the River." Master Huazi likewise hesitated and would not rise. Jianzi was greatly angered and was about to coerce him with arms; Master Huazi departed for Qi. Duke Jing of Qi could not employ him. Master Huazi lodged with the Yan family, and they retitled his book Master Huazi. When Jianzi died and Xiangzi was established, Master Huazi returned to Jin; by then he was already old, and so he did not take office again and died. Now his book has broken strips and severed tablets; for this reason his disciples and followers jointly pieced it together, recording what they had heard, without order or sequence—it is not the book as he himself composed it. In general, Master Huazi took morality as his guiding principle and ordered it with benevolence and righteousness; he preserved sincerity and cultivated conduct, and would not sell himself cheaply. Only Confucius recognized his worth. The Qi grandee Yan Pingzhong was his lifelong friend. At that time the feudal lords pressed one another by force, forming grudges and entangling disasters, daily making cunning their business; Master Huazi's words were like pouring water into stone—no response. In the end he met no recognition. This can make one's nose sting. I respectfully record it day by day. Your servant Xiang submits, risking death.
Master Huazi is a work in the masters genre attributed to Cheng Ben, traditionally said to have been collated by Liu Xiang; the present text has ten chapters. Its central figure, Master Huazi, lived when Jin's government lay with the six ministers and Zhao Jianzi was recruiting worthy men. He would not bend to accommodate the feudal lords, gathered disciples, and wrote books. Confucius, passing through Tan, called him a worthy gentleman of the world, and Yan Ying formed a lifelong friendship with him. The book's main purport takes morality as its guide and orders it with benevolence and righteousness; it speaks of preserving sincerity and cultivating conduct, and of not selling oneself cheaply. Against a background of feudal lords pressing one another by force and making cunning their daily business, his words were like pouring water into stone, and in the end he met no recognition. The text was largely pieced together by disciples from what they had heard, with no orderly sequence, and reads as a mixture of sayings and discourses. Its authenticity has long been disputed; readers should use it as a thought text rather than reliable history, attending to its manner of argument and its place in the intellectual currents of the masters literature between the Warring States and Qin-Han periods. It suits readers interested in pre-Qin masters and the authentication of masters texts, and may also serve as auxiliary reading for understanding the ancient scholar's sense of unrecognized worth.
Tibet People's Publishing House is a comprehensive publisher known for collating Tibetan and Chinese ancient texts and publishing traditional culture. Judging from the books in its catalogue, its publishing focuses on medicine, Eastern philosophy, classics, and ancient poetry. It offers traditional Chinese medical and health-preserving works such as the Compendium of Materia Medica, Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold, and Principles of Correct Diet, as well as canonical and philosophical texts including the Book of Changes, Zuo Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals, Annotated Edition of the Erya, and Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, along with historical and geographical works such as The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores. Its authors include figures such as Li Shizhen, Sun Simiao, King Wen of Zhou, Zuo Qiuming, Guo Pu, Dong Zhongshu, Hu Sihui, and Ma Huan. The house emphasizes the collation and republication of ancient texts, balancing scholarship and accessibility, and has developed its own strengths in transmitting Tibetan and Chinese cultural classics. Public information is limited, so other publishing details are omitted here.
Is Master Huazi a genuine pre-Qin text?
The book is traditionally attributed to Cheng Ben and said to have been collated by Liu Xiang, but its authenticity has long been disputed, and scholars mostly regard it as a pseudonymous work or a text pieced together by later hands. Read it as a thought text, attending to its argumentative content and its relation to the masters tradition, rather than insisting that it is a pre-Qin original.
What sort of person is Master Huazi in the book?
According to the preface, Master Huazi was named Ben, styled Huazi, a man of Jin who lived when Jin's government lay with the six ministers. Widely learned and versed in the ancient canon, he was skilled in argument, would not bend to accommodate the feudal lords, and gathered disciples to write books. Zhao Jianzi wished to invite him but could not bring him in; he later went to Qi, where Duke Jing could not employ him, and in old age returned to Jin and did not take office again. His deeds are largely legendary and should be treated with caution.
Can I understand it without annotations?
The discussions use the vocabulary and syntax of the Warring States and Qin-Han periods and are mixed with sayings compiled by disciples, so reading without annotations poses some difficulty. Choose an edition with brief annotations, or begin with Liu Xiang's preface and the shorter discourse chapters, then gradually expand.
Cheng Ben is known only through works attributed to him, as his courtesy name, native place and dates of birth and death are unrecorded, as is any English name, and publicly available information is very limited. It is certain only that two works bear his name, the representative one being Zihua Zi. In traditional Chinese bibliography this book is usually placed among the philosophical masters, and its contents concern social and political affairs, personal cultivation and moral argument, so that it is commonly classified under social sciences and Eastern philosophy. The authorship and date of composition of Zihua Zi have long been disputed, and readers should consult the textual and editorial notes of particular editions. On present evidence Cheng Ben is remembered mainly for this book, whose style is argumentative and expository, plain and concise, presenting its case through the voice of an ancient figure in the manner of pre-Qin philosophical writing. Though modest in length, the work offers useful material for the study of masters' thought and textual transmission and has accordingly exercised a degree of influence in the field.
