Dai Sheng also known as Xiao Dai, , birth and death unknown, was the Scholar of Rituals to Emperor Xuan

Emperor Xuan

Emperor Xuan is the name of:* Emperor Xuan of Chen , Chinese emperor of the Chen Dynasty* Emperor Xuan of Han , Chinese emperor of the Han Dynasty* Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou , second last emperor of Northern Zhou...

 of the Former Han Dynasty. He was the son of Dai Ren (戴仁) and the younger brother of Dai De

Dai De

Dai De , also known as Da Dai, , birth and death unknown, was a Confucian scholar of the Former Han Dynasty. He was active during the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han .He was the son of Dai Ren and the elder brother of Dai Sheng...

. He was a native of Liang (now Shangqiu

Shangqiu

Shangqiu is a city in eastern Henan province, Central China. It borders Kaifeng to the northwest, Zhoukou to the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Anhui to the northeast and southeast respectively. An ancient city with a rich history, Shangqiu was also the first capital of the Shang...

, Henan

Henan

Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...

) and a founder of the Former Han Dynasty Jinwen Jingxue (今文经学, School of Confucianism).

He helped compile the Book of Rites (礼记), whittling the 85 books of Dai De's version down to 46. To this were added three books, giving the 49 that have come down to us today. Dai Sheng's version is also known as 小戴礼记.