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Dengxizi 鄧析子 "Master Deng Xi", also called Dengzi 鄧子, is a legalist treatise attributed to the politician Deng Xi 鄧析 (c. 545-501 BCE), who lived during the Spring and Autumn-period 春秋 (770-5th cent. BCE). Deng Xi was a high state official in the state of Zheng 鄭. He was killed by the regent Sichuan 駟歂, but according to the book Liezi 列子, by Zichan 子產 (d. 522 BCE). Apart from being rated a legalist, Deng Xi is the oldest representative of the philosophical school of "dialecticians" (mingjia 名家).
Deng Xi is credited with the invention of written law (zhuxing 竹刑 "bamboo penal law"). Before, law texts were only promulgated as edicts of the sovereign. The text of the edict was then cast into bronze vessels, a custom introduced by chief counsellor Zichan (see the Zichan xingding 子產刑鼎). The transfer of the text to bamboo slips made it an easy-to-handle - even if easily decayable - book that could be copied whenever and wherever needed.
Deng Xi's conflict with Zichan developed around a method to remonstrance against the duke of Zheng. Deng Xi invented the open letter to the ruler (xianshu 縣書 "public letter") which was soon prohibited by Zichan. Deng Xi then resorted to the instrument of personal memorial (zhishu 致書 "effective letter"), which was also soon declared illegal by Zichan. Deng's final method of remonstrance was the personally submitted enveloped letter (yishu 倚書).
The book Dengxizi is divided into two chapters (Wuhou 無厚, Zhuanci 轉辭). It stresses the importance of laws and regulations for a well-functioning administration.
| 勢者君之輿，威者君之策，臣者君之馬，民者君之輪。勢固則輿安，威定則策勁，臣順則馬良，民和則輪利。為國失此，必有覆車奔馬折輪敗載之患，安得不危！ | Authority is the ruler's chariot; power is the ruler's whip; ministers are the ruler's horses; and the people are the ruler's wheels. If authority is firm, the chariot is stable; if power is well-established, the whip is strong; if ministers are obedient, the horses are fine; and if the people are harmonious, the wheels run smoothly. If a state loses these qualities, it will inevitably face the calamities of an overturned chariot, runaway horses, broken wheels, and a ruined vehicle. How can it not be in danger? |
The Dengxizi is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Zishu baijia 子書百家 (Baizi quanshu 百子全書), and Ershierzi 二十二子. In 1990, the Shanghai Guji Press 上海古籍出版社 published it in a modern edition, together with the books Shenzi 慎子, Yinwenzi 尹文子, and Heguanzi 鶡冠子.
| 夫達道者，無知之道也，無能之道也。是知大道，不知而中，不能而成，無有而足，守虛責實，而萬事畢。忠言於不忠，義生於不義。音而不收、謂之放；言出而不督、謂之闇。故見其象，致其形；循其理，正其名；得其端，知其情。 | To master the Way (Dao) is to follow the Way of not-knowing and the Way of not-doing. Thus, the Great Dao is such that it accomplishes without knowing, succeeds without effort, suffices without possessing. By maintaining emptiness and upholding reality, all things are completed. Sincerity arises from insincerity, and righteousness emerges from unrighteousness. Sound that is left uncollected is called "release"; words that are spoken without control are called "obscurity." Therefore, by observing its image, one grasps its form; by following its principle, one rectifies its name; by obtaining its beginning, one understands its essence. |