Zhengjing 政經

Zhengjing 政經 "Classic on government" is a political treatise written during the late Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Zhen Dexiu 真德秀 (1178-1235), who is also the author of the more famous Daxue yanyi 大學衍義. The title is probably of a later date.

In his book, Zhen Dexiu adapts Neo-Confucian philosophy to practical politics of everyday administration. Zhen Dexiu rendered his book to his colleague Zhao Shidi 趙時棣, who later cared for the book's circulation. In the Zhengjing, Zhen Dexiu quotes from each kind of traditional writing to demonstrate how a ruler should exert a good government in the Confucian sense. In many cases, it is Confucius who is quoted, answering his disciples' questions on the government. Zhen Dexiu quotes more than 20 stories with headlines. At the end of the book, he adds six contemporary examples of good government, demonstrating how the tax collectors of Shexian 歙縣 (today in Anhui) used the tax registers by exchanging the figures of the taxes paid and those not yet paid.

In this way, he demonstrated that local magistrates should keep a personal eye on the tax collection to prevent corruption. A state official had to follow the four observances (sishi 四事): to obey the law and to withstand corruption, not to molest the people but to encounter them with kindheartedness, to keep his mind in the service of the public, and to serve it with diligence. The ten greatest misdoings (shihai 十害) of a local magistrate were: to be unfair in judgement, to follow slander instead of investigating facts, to punish with unjustified incarceration, to inflict cruel penalties, to demand exceeding compensations from subordinates, to believe bogus witnesses, to collect double taxes, to change punishment by taking bribes, to have everything done by yamen runners without controlling them, and to bargain down the purchase prices for officially acquired goods.

The Zhengjing was printed in 1242 by Zhao Shidi in a joint edition with Zhen Dexiu's book Xinjing 心經. The Zhengjing is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Xijing qinglu congshu xubian 西京清麓叢書續編.