Zai Yu 宰予 (522-458 BCE), courtesy name Zai Ziwo 宰子我, also called
Zai Wo 宰我, was one of the ten wise disciples of Confucius (Kong
men shi zhe 孔門十哲). He was 29 years younger than the Master and
was famous for his eloquence. He was therefore used by Confucius
as his voice and sent as a kind of diplomat to the states of Qi
齊 and Chu 楚. Zai Yu had a vivid and deep-going thought and loved
to ask questions to the Master. He was the only one of
Confucius' scholars who dared disputing with the teacher. For
instance, he criticized the long period of three years of
mourning advocated by Confucius, with the argument that "if the
superior man abstains for three years from the observances of
propriety and music, those will quite be lost and ruined." Yet
Confucius countered that only one year of mourning was not
sufficient to express the right way of filial piety towards
one's father. Another dispute between Ziwo and Confucius dealt
with a benevolent man who has fallen into a well and threatened
to drown. Would another bene