Zengzi, photo 1 of 1

Photo credit

Photo
Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Zeng Shen Ziyu (曾參 子輿)
Licence
Public domain
Source
Wikimedia Commons
Changes
Resized

曾子

Zēngzǐ
proper noun

Meanings

  1. 1 Zengzi, disciple of Confucius

About Zengzi

505–435 BC · 思想家 thinker

Disciple of Confucius known for devotion to his parents and for 吾日三省吾身, 'every day I examine myself three times'. Tradition credits him with the 大学 and the 孝经.

Also called  曾参、 子舆、 宗圣

Examples

HSK 7-9
Zēngzǐ shì Kǒngzǐ de xuésheng, fēicháng xiàoshùn.
Zengzi was a student of Confucius and deeply devoted to his parents.
HSK 7-9
“吾日三省吾身”这句话是曾子说的。
" Wú rì sān xǐng wú shēn " zhè jù huà shì Zēngzǐ shuō de.
'Every day I examine myself on three points' was said by Zengzi.

Tips

mistakes
Here 曾 is the surname, read Zēng, not céng 'once' as in 曾经. His personal name 曾参 hides a second trap: 参 is traditionally read shēn, not cān. The 子 is an honorific, 'Master Zeng'.
culture
The idiom 曾参杀人, 'Zeng Shen has killed a man', comes from a story: a murderer shared his name, and three people in turn told his mother. She ignored the first two, but at the third she dropped her weaving and fled. It warns that repeated rumours shake anyone.

Stroke Order

曾 céng
子 zǐ