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Zai Wo

Disciple of Confucius named Yu, noted for eloquence, who drew the Master's rebuke for napping by day and for questioning three-year mourning.

Also known as Zai Yu · Zi Ziwo

Zai Wo, personal name Yu, courtesy name Ziwo, was a native of Lu and a disciple of Confucius, ranked with Zigong in the school's category of speech. Sharp-tongued, he often argued with the Master, who called him rotten wood for sleeping by day and judged him lacking in humaneness for finding three-year mourning too long. Mencius quotes his remark that Confucius far surpassed Yao and Shun. The Shiji says he became a grandee of Linzi and perished in Tian Chang's revolt, though many later scholars doubt this.

Life and times

  1. UnknownBornZhoulate Spring and Autumn, a contemporary of Confucius
  2. UnknownDied

Connections

  1. Teachers and students1
    1. Confucius (Kongzi)Teacher · 551 BCE–479 BCE

Records

Served as magistrate of Linzi

Late Spring and Autumn period

According to the biographies of Confucius' disciples in the Records of the Grand Historian, Zai Yu, styled Ziwo, had a sharp tongue and a ready speech; he asked about the virtue of the Five Emperors and Confucius replied that he was not the man for it, and the text also records him sleeping in the daytime. It says Zai Wo was a grand officer of Linzi and joined Tian Chang's revolt, so that his clan was wiped out, which shamed Confucius; many scholars doubt this, and one view is that he is confused with another man.

References (1)