The Wenzi () is a Daoist classic allegedly written by a disciple of Laozi. The text was widely read and highly revered in the centuries following its creation, and even canonized as Tongxuan zhenjing () in the year 742 CE. However, soon afterwards scholars started questioning its authenticity and dismissing it as a forgery that was created between the Han dynasty and the Tang dynasty. The text's fate changed in 1973, when archeologists excavated a 55 BCE tomb and discovered remnants of a Wenzi copied on bamboo strips, which offer us a glimpse of what the text looked like prior to its drastic revision into the current text.
Author
The title Wenzi 文子 "Master Wen", suffixed with -zi 子 "child; person; master (title of respect)", is analogous with other Hundred Schools of Thought texts like Mozi, Zhuangzi, Guiguzi, and Baopuzi. Wen 文 "written character; literature; refinement; culture" is an infrequent Chinese surname, and hence Wenzi is interpretable as "Master Wen." Wen is also frequently used in given names, posthumous names, et cetera, due to its positive connotations. For example, King Wen of Zhou 周文王 or Kong Wenzi 孔文子 (Analects 5.15). Hence, Wenzi is also interpretable as a nom de plume denoting "Master of Literature/Culture." Nothing can be said for certain about Wenzi, no matter how this name is interpreted. Although we do not know his true identity, various hypotheses have been proposed.
The bibliographical section of the 1st century CE Book of Han says Wenzi was a student of Laozi, a contemporary of Confucius 孔子 (551-479 BCE), and an adviser to King Ping of Zhou 周平王 (r. 770-720 BCE). This cannot be true, as King Ping and Confucius lived two centuries apart, and it fueled suspicion of the text's forged status in later centuries. To solve the chronological inconsistency, some commentators suggest a mistake for King Ping of Chu 楚平王 (r. 528-516 BCE), whose reign does coincide with Confucius' lifetime.
The early Wenzi commentary by Li Xian 李暹 (fl. 516 CE) records that Wenzi's surname was Xin 辛 and his sobriquet (hao 號) was Jiran 計然, he served under Fan Li 范蠡 (fl. 517 BCE), and studied with Laozi.
The later Wenzi commentary by Du Daojian (1237-1318) furthermore notes Wenzi was a nobleman from the Spring and Autumn period state of Jin, his surname was Xin 辛 and courtesy name (zi 字) was Xing 銒. He was also called Song Xing 宋銒 referring to his home of Kuiqiu 葵丘, which was in Song (state).
Received Text
Written references to the Wenzi first appear in the Han dynasty. The no longer extant 1st century BCE Qilue 七略 "Seven Summaries" by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin said the Wenzi had 9 pian 篇 "chapters". The bibliographical section of the 1st century CE Book of Han records the Wenzi text in 9 juan 卷 "rolls; volumes", says Wenzi was a student of Laozi, a contemporary of Confucius (551-479 BCE), and adviser to King Ping of Zhou (r. 770-720 BCE), but adds "the work appears to be a forgery", presumably because King Ping and Confucius lived two centuries apart.
In his ca. 523 CE Qilu 七錄 "Seven Records", the Liang dynasty scholar Ruan Xiaoxu 阮孝緒 records the Wenzi text in 10 volumes. Bibliographies in the 636 CE Book of Sui and the 945 CE New Book of Tang both record 12 volumes.
In 742 CE, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang canonized the Wenzi as a Daoist scripture (along with the Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi, and Liezi) honorifically called the Tongxuan zhenjing 通玄真經 "True Scripture of Understanding the Mysteries". The emperor posthumously styled Wenzi as the Tongxuan Zhenren 通玄真人 "True Man Who Understands the Mysteries".
The Daozang "Daoist Canon" includes three Wenzi redactions under the Yujue 玉訣 "Commentaries" subsection of the Dongshen 洞神 "Spirit Grotto" section. The oldest extant edition is the Tongxuan zhenjing zhu 通玄真經注 "Commentary on the Authentic Scripture of Pervading Mystery" by Xu Lingfu 徐靈府 (ca. 760–841) of the Tang dynasty. The Tongxuan zhenjing zhengyi zhu 通玄真經正儀注 "Commentary on the Correct Meaning of the Authentic Scripture of Pervading Mystery" is by Zhu Bian (ca. 1085–1144) of the Song dynasty. Third is the 1310 CE Tongxuan zhenjing zuanyi 通玄真經纘義 "Collected Explanations to the Authentic Scripture of Pervading Mystery" by Du Daojian 杜道堅 (1237–1318) of the Yuan dynasty. Judith M. Boltz cites the opinion of Complete Library of the Four Treasuries bibliographers that Du's version was the most reliable Wenzi redaction. She notes that Du Daojian became the rightful literary heir to Wenzi when he discovered a copy of the classic at the Tongxuan Guan 通玄觀 "Abbey of Pervading Mystery" of Mount Jizhou 計籌 in Zhejiang, where hagiographic legend says Wenzi took refuge and wrote down his teachings.