Question: Was the Sutra written by Zhang Juzheng?
First of all, the conclusion: no. Zhang Juzheng never wrote anything about the Sutra of Taming People.
Open the Baidu Encyclopedia's entry of "Taming People", you will read such a passage of content: "The Book of Taming People is a taming work by Zhang Juzheng, the emperor of Tianzi and the first assistant of the cabinet during the Ming Dynasty, and the whole book is divided into eight volumes: 'Taming Officials', 'Taming Talents', 'Taming Shi', 'Taming Zhong', 'Taming Traitors', 'Taming Wisdom', 'Taming Fools', and 'Driving Hearts'. ”
However, these are pure nonsense. Since the Ming Dynasty, there has never been any historical mention of Zhang Juzheng writing such a book as the Book of Taming People.
What works Zhang Juzheng left behind in his life are basically clear. When his son Zhang Sixiu compiled the Collected Works of Zhang Taiyue, he had already made it very clear:
"Those who first collected the official documents in the old record room, since the heir repair and other difficulties, after more than ten years, they will be completely returned. Eighteen survivors, twelve. As the youth has done, all the gifts. Poems should be produced and written in edicts, Yi 10.2. According to the survivor, there are six volumes of poetry and fourteen volumes of texts. Fifteen volumes for the book, eleven volumes for the recitation. The combination is a complete set, and there can be four kinds of separation. ...... In addition, there are still "Di Jian Tu Shu", "Four Books Direct Interpretation", "Book Classics Direct Interpretation", "Tong jian direct interpretation", the board is in the cabinet, and the "Four Books" and "Book Classics Direct Interpretation" are all lin minggong and considerate of the complete works, and the first public ruling is extremely relevant to the practitioners. There are also "Apathic Training Compilations", "Notes on the Great Treasure Proverbs", and "Zhenguan Political Dignity Explanations", all of which are based on entering the imperial court, and there is no surviving manuscript at home. Because and remembered here. ”
The gist is: Zhang Juzheng's article, the part left in the Zhang family, has been preserved eight-tenths and lost two-tenths. The missing parts are mainly the fu written by Zhang in his youth, as well as some of the poems and edicts that should be produced. Eight-tenths of this preservation was divided into four collections by Zhang Sixiu, namely poems, texts, calligraphy, and sonatas, which were compiled into the Zhang Taiyue Collection. In addition, Zhang Juzheng also had a number of works, which were written for the emperor to read and kept in the imperial palace, and there were no manuscripts in the home. The specific titles, Zhang Sixue also listed - such works such as "Emperor Jian Tu Shu" and "Four Books Directly Explained" have been sorted out and published according to the collection of the Qing Palace.
In the "Zhang Taiyue Collection" and other credible Zhang Juzheng's biographical works, there is absolutely no such thing as the "Taming of the People".
◆ Zhang Sixiu talked about the title and preservation of Zhang Juzheng's works
Not only is there no so-called "Taming Of The Classic" in Zhang Juzheng's works, but there is also no so-called "Driving Man Sutra" in the ancient books that have survived to the present.
The author used a variety of ancient books that are currently more common, and searched with the keyword "Taming ren jing" as the keyword, but there was no result. This is shown in the following figure.
So, where did the so-called "Taming the Man Sutra" circulating on the market today, including books, audio programs and even study courses, come from?
The answer is actually very simple: it is made up by contemporaries. In order to sell well, he deliberately attached himself to Zhang Juzheng's name. If careful friends are willing to go to various old book websites to search for the "Taming of the People", you can easily find: the book "The Book of the Driving People" can only be traced back to 2009. Further on, this book does not exist.
Of course, the editors can also argue that it was only in 2009 that the book was found in some long-buried corner and printed. But if this is the case, it is necessary for the editor to explain in the preface how the book was discovered, and what kind of research it has been examined, and then determine that it is Zhang Juzheng's work. After all, in Zhang Juzheng's collection of biographical essays, there is no mention of the "Taming of the People"; in the library of various ancient books, the "Driving of the People" cannot be found either. It is impossible to say that a book suddenly appeared, and then signed Zhang Juzheng, and did not make any explanations.
And the fact is precisely this: although this 2009 edition of the Book of Taming People has a so-called "frontier", it really has no word to explain the origin of the book, and no word to explain its collection and inheritance (the content of the "preface" is detailed in the figure below).
Further down, the low-end childishness of the main text content is actually very exposed. For example, the text of the so-called "Taming Volume I" is as follows:
Officials do not rule, and there is no virtue in the upper class. Officials are not tamed, and there is no magic on them. Officials who are arrogant will be punished, officials who are crazy will be suppressed, officials who are lazy will be policed, and officials who commit crimes will be punished. The rules should be observed, the secret rules should not be abolished, the gentleman has nothing to do, and the villain may become a fool.
The content of the so-called "Taming Of Talent Volume II" is:
The upper is the only way, the lower is the bottom is the right way. He who does not serve the Lord, and who does not obey the sages. Be self-explanatory, humble, do not leave behind, use it harshly, treat it thinly, and punish it lightly.
Heaven pity to see, that Zhang Juzheng was Jiajing's twenty-six years of jinshi origin. If his writing level is really as inferior as this so-called "Sutra of Taming People", I am afraid that he will not even be able to pass the township test.
◆ Zhang Juzheng in film and television dramas
All in all, the Sutra is a shoddy contemporary forgery. Those who try to master the way of mastering others by studying the Sutra of Taming People have actually been tamed by the forgers. (Author 丨Ma Jiaqin) (Source: Tencent News)