Zēng Shēn 曾參, 70, 58, 5, 1世

The founding member of the Zeng (曾) family was Zeng Shen (曾參) who was one of the most filial and devote disciples of Confucius. Zeng Shen was born during the winter of the year of the fire monkey during the reign of King Zhou Jing, on the 10th month, 12th day in current day Shandong Province in China. He lived from 505–436 BC.

At the age of 30, Shēn moved to Wucheng (also known as South Wucheng, which is now Jining City, Jiaxiang County, Shandong Province, China. [%E5%8F%82%E5%85%AC%E4%B8%89%E5%8D%81%E5%B2%81%E7%A7%BB%E5%B1%85%E6%AD%A6%E5%9F%8E%EF%BC%88%E5%8F%88%E7%A7%B0%E5%8D%97%E6%AD%A6%E5%9F%8E%EF%BC%8C%E5%9C%A8%E4%BB%8A%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%9C%E7%9C%81%E6%B5%8E%E5%AE%81%E5%B8%82%E5%98%89%E7%A5%A5%E5%8E%BF%E6%BB%A1%E5%B3%92%E4%B9%A1%E5%8D%97%E6%AD%A6%E5%B1%B1%E6%9D%91%E3%80%82%E4%B8%80%E8%AF%B4%E8%B4%B9%E5%8E%BF%EF%BC%8C%E5%8D%B3%E4%BB%8A%E5%B9%B3%E9%82%91%E9%AD%8F%E5%BA%84%E4%B9%A1).]

Zeng Shen, who later became know as Zēngzǐ (曾子 Wade-Giles: Tsengtzu), courtesy name Ziyu (子輿), was a Chinese philosopher who authored of a large portion of the Great Learning (大學), including its foreword. His disciples are among the most important compilers of the Analects of Confucius and other Confucian classics. Zengzi was also an early Chinese proponent of a round earth theory, as opposed to a flat earth model. In the Yuan dynasty, he was given the title Duke of Zhongshen (宗聖公) for "Elevating the Saint (Confucius)" and became one of the Four Sages of Confucianism along with Yan Hui (顏子), Zisi (子思), and Mencius (孟子).

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zengzi http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/personszengzi.html

Other Notes:

King Zhou Jing (aka. Ji Gai) was the twenty-sixth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty, the fourteenth of Eastern Zhou Dynasty, reigning from 520-476 BC.

Confucius lived from 551-479 BC.

Generation Numbers (70, 58, 5, 1世)

Zeng Shen is a 70th generation descendant of Chin Shi Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor), and following the same line:

• a 59th generation descendant of Zēng Qū Liè 鄫曲烈, 13, 1世,
• 5th generation descendant of Zēng Wū 曾巫, 66, 54, 1世, and
• the first generation (一世) of his branch of the Zeng Family

Zeng Name Meaning

From Ancestry.com:

Chinese : from a simplified form of the name of the state of Kuai. During the Xia dynasty (2205–1766 bc) this state was granted to the youngest son of King Shaokang. After being overthrown by another state, the prince fled and adopted a simplified form of the character Kuai as his surname.

From Wikipedia:

Zeng (Chinese: 曾; pinyin: Zēng; Wade–Giles: Tseng) is a Chinese family name. In Cantonese, it is Tsang; in Taiwan, Tseng or Tzeng; in Malaysia, Chan; in Indonesia, Tjan; in Vietnam, Tăng. The surname Zeng is the 32nd most common surname in Mainland China. It is the 16th most common surname in Taiwan.

Si Shao Kang was the king of the Xia Dynasty, and he delegated one of his sons to rule the State of Zeng (Chinese: 鄫, 繒, 曾; pinyin: Zēng, Céng; Wade–Giles: Tseng, Ts'eng. Zeng was originally the name of a place) during the Shao Kang's reign. The Si's were the descendants of the King Yu of Xia (Si was the surname of the royal house of the Xia Dynasty). However in 567 BC, the State of Zeng was conquered by the State of Ju. Some of the royal members with the surname Si including the prince of Zeng fled to the State of Lu. The Prince of Zeng gave his descendants the surname Zeng in remembrance of the Zeng state.

字子輿 生於周敬王丙申年冬十月十二日 性至孝師 事孔子 得一貫之傳 行年七十 道愈該洽 多著書 得其傳者惟子思 於考王丙午年 卽魯元公元年 月 日卒 葬山東濟寧州嘉祥縣南四十里武山西南 距武城舊居五里 元寨山之麓 歷朝誥勅封號章服御讚祭文及世襲奏狀另敘

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