Qidiao Kai (Chinese:漆雕開;Wade–Giles:Ch'i-tiao K'ai; born 540 BC),courtesy nameZikai (Chinese:子開;Wade–Giles:Tzu-k'ai) orZiruo (Chinese:子若;Wade–Giles:Tzu-jo), was a majordisciple of Confucius.^[1][2] He declined to take government office, but started his own school,^[3] which developed into one of the eight branches ofConfucianism identified byHan Fei.^[4] His work, known as theQidiaozi ("Master Qidiao"), has been lost.^[3]

Qidiao Kai was born in 540 BC, 11 years younger thanConfucius. He was a native of theState of Cai.^[1][5] His original name wasQidiao Qi (漆雕啟), but the given name "Qi" was changed to the synonym "Kai" inHan dynasty texts because of thenaming taboo of Liu Qi,Emperor Jing of Han.^[3][5] Two other members of his clan, Qidiao Chi (漆雕哆) and Qidiao Tufu (漆雕徒父), were also disciples of Confucius.^[6]

Qidiao Kai studied theBook of History from Confucius. In theAnalects (5.6), Confucius asked him to become a government official, but Qidiao replied that he was not yet confident of his cultivation, and Confucius was pleased with his answer.^[1][5] There are several interpretations of this conversation. Confucius may have been pleased with his student's humility, with his disinterest in glory or government salary, or with Qidiao's assessment that the ruler at the time was not worth serving under.^[7]

Qidiao Kai later started his own school, which developed into one of the eight branches ofConfucianism identified byHan Fei near the end of the 3rd century BC, but his doctrines are not known today.^[4]Yiwenzhi, the 1st-century imperial bibliography of theBook of Han, lists a 13-chapter book entitled theQidiaozi ("Master Qidiao") attributed to Qidiao Kai, but it has since been lost.^[3]

InConfucian temples, Qidiao Kai'sspirit tablet is placed in the outer court, beyond those of theFour Assessors andTwelve Wise Ones, and next to that ofShang Qu.^[2]

During theTang dynasty,Emperor Xuanzong posthumously awarded Qidiao Kai the nobility title of Count of Teng (滕伯). During theSong dynasty,Emperor Zhenzong further awarded him the title of Marquis of Pingyu (平輿侯).^[6]

• Han, Zhaoqi (2010). "Biographies of the Disciples of Confucius".Shiji史记 (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.ISBN 978-7-101-07272-3.
• Huang, Chichung, ed. (1997).The Analects of Confucius. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-506157-4.
• Legge, James (2009).The Confucian Analects, the Great Learning & the Doctrine of the Mean. Cosimo.ISBN 978-1-60520-644-8.
• Shen, Vincent (2013).Dao Companion to Classical Confucian Philosophy. Springer Science & Business Media.ISBN 978-90-481-2936-2.
• Slingerland, Edward (2003).Analects: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries. Hackett Publishing.ISBN 1-60384-345-0.

• 540 BC births
• Disciples of Confucius
• 6th-century BC Chinese philosophers
• People of Cai (state)
• 6th-century BC Chinese people
• 6th-century BC Chinese writers

• CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)
• Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text
• Articles containing Chinese-language text
• CS1 uses Chinese-language script (zh)
• Year of death unknown