Deng Xi (died 501 BCE) was a Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 lawyer and rhetorician who has been called the founding father of the Chinese logical tradition. He is regarded as one of the School of Names.

Biography

Deng Xi developed his debating skills in the legal courts of the state of Zheng

Zheng (state)

Zheng （) was a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty located in the centre of ancient China in modern day Henan Province on the North China Plain about east of the royal capital at Luoyang. It was the most powerful of the vassal states at the beginning of the Eastern Zhou...

. The Zuo Zhuan

Zuo Zhuan

The Zuo Zhuan , sometimes translated as the Chronicle of Zuo or the Commentary of Zuo, is among the earliest Chinese works of narrative history and covers the period from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. It is one of the most important sources for understanding the history of the Spring and Autumn Period...

 commentary credits him with the authorship of a penal code written on bamboo which was opposed to that of Zi Chan

Zi Chan

Zi Chan , also known as Gongsun Qiao , was a statesman of the State of Zheng in ancient China during the Spring and Autumn Period. Born in Zheng to an aristocratic family, Zi Chan was a statesman of Zheng from 544 BC until his death. Under Zi Chan, Zheng even managed to expand its territory, a...

. None of his work has survived and the discussion in the Xunzi pairs him with Hui Shi

Hui Shi

Hui Shi , or Huizi , was a Chinese philosopher during the Warring States Period. He was a representative of the School of Names , and is famous for ten paradoxes about the relativity of time and space, for instance, "I set off for Yue today and came there yesterday."-Works mentioning Hui Shi:The...

 so that it is difficult to separate their contributions.

An example of his sophistry:

The Wei River

Wei River

The Wei River is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization....

was extremely high. A person from the house of a rich man of Zheng drowned. Someone found the body. The rich man asked to buy it back. The man demanded very much money. The rich man told Deng Xi about it. Deng Xi said, “Calm down about it. There's certainly no one else he can sell it to.” The one who found the body was troubled by this and told Deng Xi about it. Deng Xi replied to him too by saying, “Calm down about it. There's certainly nowhere else they can buy it.”