Fan Zhongyan

Fan Zhongyan

Fan Zhongyan (October 1, 989 - June 19, 1052) is a Greek. He was originally from Zhuzhou and later moved to Wu County, Suzhou. He was a politician and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Fan Zhongyan lost his father when he was young, and his mother remarried to Zhu of Changshan, so he changed his name to Zhu Shuo. In 1015, Fan Zhongyan studied hard and joined the army. Later, he served successively as Xinghua county magistrate, Secretary of the cabinet, general judge of Chenzhou, and magistrate of Suzhou. He was criticized repeatedly for being fair and outspoken. In the first year of Kangding (1040), he and Han Qi served as deputy envoys of Shaanxi economic strategy to appease and recruit, and adopted the policy of "Garrison for a long time" to consolidate the northwest frontier defense. In the third year of the Qing Dynasty (1043), because of the delay of the war, he was called to the court and granted the Privy Deputy envoy. Later, he paid homage to and learned about the political affairs, launched the "Qingli New Deal" and carried out the reform. Soon after, Fan Zhongyan was frustrated by the new deal. He invited himself out of Beijing and learned about Yingzhou, Dengzhou, Hangzhou and Qingzhou. In 1052, he changed his knowledge to Yingzhou and died on the way to Fuji's office. He was sixty-four years old. He was given the title of "Wen Zheng" and was known as "Fan Wen Zheng Gong" in the world.

Fan Zhongyan has made outstanding achievements in politics and literature. He advocated the idea of "worry before the world's worries, and be happy after the world's happiness" and the moral integrity of people with lofty ideals, which has a far-reaching impact on later generations. Fan Wenzheng's collection of official documents has been handed down.

(general picture source: Fan Zhongyan's portrait in the palace of Qing Dynasty)

Life of the characters

Early experience

Fan Zhongyan's ancestor was fan lvbing, the Prime Minister of Tang Dynasty, who lived in Yingzhou. Fan Zhongyan, the great ancestor of fan Sui, was the Prime Minister of Lishui County when he crossed the south of the Yangtze River. When the Central Plains was in turmoil, he settled in Wu county (now Suzhou City).

During the Five Dynasties, both great grandfather and great grandfather served in Wuyue, and his father, fan Yong, was also an official in Wuyue in his early years. After the founding of the Song Dynasty, fan Yong followed Qian GUI, king of Wu and Yue, to surrender to the great Song Dynasty and became the Secretary of the army of Wuning.

In the second year of Duangong (989) of Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan was born on October 1, Ding Chou's day.

In the first year of Chunhua (990), fan Yong died of illness. His mother, Xie's family, was poor and helpless. He had to take two-year-old Fan Zhongyan and remarry to Zhu Wenhan, a native of Changshan, Zizhou. Fan Zhongyan also changed his surname to Zhu Shuo (Yu è).

Study hard

In 1011, Fan Zhongyan learned of his family background and was very sad. He left his mother and went to yingtianfu (now Shangqiu, Henan Province) to study. He joined Qi Tongwen. After a few years of humble career, Fan Zhongyan has learned the essence of Confucian classics and has the ambition of being generous and helping the world.

In 1015, Fan Zhongyan was named "Zhu Shuo" and ranked 97th in the second section of the middle school. He became a Jinshi from "Hanru" and was appointed as the general manager of the Guangde army. He was in charge of litigation, prison and case matters and lived in Jiupin. In view of the salary of the imperial court, Fan Zhongyan took his mother to support him. In the first year of Tianxi (1017), Fan Zhongyan was promoted to wenlinlang and was appointed as a Festival official of Jiqing army. Then he returned to his family name and resumed his name (i.e., Fan Zhongyan changed his name after his mother died from the sixth year of Tiansheng to 1028).

Taizhou Zhiyan

In the fifth year of Tianxi (1021), Fan Zhongyan was transferred to Xixi salt warehouse in Taizhou to supervise the storage, transportation and resale of Huai salt. Xixi is close to the shore of the Yellow Sea. The old seawall built by Li Cheng in the Tang Dynasty was in disrepair for a long time. Many parts of the seawall burst, the tide poured back, the brine filled, the fertile fields flooded, the salt stoves destroyed, and the people suffered a lot. So Fan Zhongyan wrote to Zhang Lun of Jianghuai waterway transportation, lamenting the interests of the seawall, and suggested that the seawall should be built along the coast and rebuilt.

In the third year of Tiansheng (1024), Zhang Lun played a role in the Ming Dynasty, and Renzong appointed Fan Zhongyan as Xinghua county magistrate, who was fully responsible for the weir construction. In August of the fourth year of Tiansheng (1026), his mother Xie's family died of illness. Fan Zhongyan resigned from his post to watch the funeral. The project was completed by Zhang Lun.

Teaching and learning

In 1027, Fan Zhongyan was a mourner for his mother and lived in Ningling County, yingtianfu (now Shangqiu), Nanjing. At that time, Yan Shu stayed in Nanjing and knew Yingtian Academy. When he heard that Fan Zhongyan had a talent, he invited him to take up the post of Yingtian Academy. When he was in charge of academic affairs, Fan Zhongyan was diligent in supervising education, teaching by himself, and creating and guiding current affairs and political comments. Whenever he talked about world affairs, he was always reckless and generous. At that time, the scholar officials corrected the world customs, strictly disciplined themselves, and advocated moral integrity. Even from the beginning of Fan Zhongyan's advocacy, the academic style was also changed, and Fan Zhongyan's reputation was growing.

In the sixth year of Tiansheng (1028), Fan Zhongyan asked the imperial court to reform the administration of officials, eliminate redundant personnel and appease the generals. The Prime Minister Wang once highly praised Wan Yanshu. When Yan Shu was in the Privy Council, Wang Zeng strongly recommended Fan Zhongyan. Yan Shu then presented Fan Zhongyan's past achievements to the sage. In December, Renzong recruited Fan Zhongyan to Beijing as the manager of the secret Pavilion, responsible for the collation and collation of the Royal books and classics.

Be fair and frank

In the seventh year of Tiansheng (1029), Renzong was 19 years old. Empress Zhangxian (empress Zhangxian of song Zhenzong) still presided over the court. At the winter solstice, Ren Zong was ready to lead hundreds of officials to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday at the Huiqing hall. Fan Zhongyan thought that this practice confused family etiquette and national etiquette, so Shangshu Renzong said: "the emperor has to serve his relatives, but not his ministers. If he wants to be filial, he can perform family etiquette in the inner palace. If he worships the Empress Dowager with the officials, it will damage the Emperor's dignity." he advised Renzong to give up the worship. Shangshu wrote a memorial to the inner court and received no reply. Fan Zhongyan wrote to the Empress Dowager again, asking for the return of zhengrenzong. Play the book into the palace, once again sink into the sea.

Yan Shu was shocked when he learned that Fan Zhongyan was going to Shangshu. He criticized him for being too reckless, which not only hindered his official career, but also implicated those who recommended him. Fan Zhongyan argued and wrote back a long letter (Minister Yan Shilang's letter), detailing the reasons for his practice and stating his political position: "serving the emperor should be dangerous words and deeds, never inferior to words and deeds, and flattery, which is beneficial to the state of the imperial court. He must speak justly, even if he is killed."

In 1030, Fan Zhongyan asked to leave Beijing as an official and was appointed as the general judge of Hezhong Prefecture. The next year, he was transferred to Chenzhou general judge. Although Fan Zhongyan was "far away from the rivers and lakes", he did not change his nature of being concerned about the country and the people. During this period, he also discussed politics many times. When the imperial court wanted to build taiyigong and Hongfuyuan, Fan Zhongyan thought that it was not a peaceful policy to build taiyigong and Hongfuyuan. In the aspect of official administration, Fan Zhongyan thought that it was not a peaceful policy to build taiyigong and Hongfuyuan directly. He also suggested that the imperial court should not stop building taiyigong and waste people's money. He thought that "the officials were short of food and clothing, and the incorruptible people would recover" How can turbidity be transformed. Although Fan Zhongyan's Shangshu was not adopted by the imperial court, his loyalty moved Renzong.

In 1033, the Empress Dowager died and Renzong was in charge of the government. He called Fan Zhongyan to Beijing and worshipped him as the right secretary. At that time, many officials talked about the loss of the Empress Dowager when she was in power. Fan Zhongyan thought that although she had been in power for many years, she also had the merit of protecting Renzong. He suggested that the imperial court should cover up the Empress Dowager's faults and perfect her virtue. Renzong adopted the imperial edict that the affairs of the Empress Dowager should not be discussed inside and outside the court without authorization. Renzong wanted to establish empress dowager Yang (empress Zhanghui of song Zhenzong) as empress dowager to take part in military affairs because of the new death of Empress Dowager Liu. Fan Zhongyan thinks that the frequent establishment of the Empress Dowager has the suspicion that the emperor can not be in charge of politics. Renzong adopted and deposed the empress dowager, but the title remained unchanged.

In July, there was a severe drought and locust plague, especially in Jianghuai and Jingdong areas. In order to stabilize the people, Fan Zhongyan asked the court to send someone to inspect the disaster, but Renzong ignored it. Fan Zhongyan then asked Renzong, "what should your majesty do if there is no food in the palace for half a day?" Renzong woke up and sent Fan Zhongyan to appease the victims. In response to the imperial edict, Fan Zhongyan opened a warehouse to help the people, and took the wild grass back to the imperial court to warn the six palaces to get rid of extravagance.

Vogue, yes

In the winter of 1033, empress Guo mistakenly injured Renzong. Because of the gap between empress Guo and empress Guo, the prime minister LV Yijian, together with his internal servants Yan Wenying and fan Xi, advocated the abolition of empress Guo. When the news came out, the officials talked about it one after another. They all thought that it was inappropriate to abolish the empress. Fan Zhongyan also spoke to the emperor. Because of the shilling of LV Yi's bamboo slips, the secretary was not allowed to accept the admonition from the stage, Zhang Shu was not allowed to play in the inner court. Fan Zhongyan led more than ten people, such as Zhongcheng kongdaofu, shiyushi Jiangtang and Duan Shaolian, to kneel outside the chuigong hall and ask to be summoned. Renzong didn't see them and sent LV Yijian to explain. Fan Zhongyan and others argued with him in court, but LV Yi Jian was not right because of his poor reasoning.

The next day, Fan Zhongyan discussed with all the people, intending to leave all the officials in the early Dynasty and argue with the prime minister again. As soon as they arrived at the waiting room, an imperial edict was issued, and Fan Zhongyan was released to know muzhou. Confucius and others were either demoted or punished. Heyang signed Fu Bi's letter to Renzong, suggesting that Fan Zhongyan should be returned to Beijing to open his way, but it was not approved.

Jingyou party struggle

In the first year of Jingyou (1034), Fan Zhongyan was transferred to Suzhou as the governor of Suzhou. He established his residence in Nanyuan and built a county school. When the flood occurred in Suzhou, Fan Zhongyan ordered the people to dredge five rivers and build water conservancy projects to guide the water from Taihu Lake into the sea. The following year, Fan Zhongyan was transferred back to the capital for his meritorious service in flood control. He was sentenced to the Imperial Academy, and was soon promoted to the official rank of wailang and Quanzhi Kaifeng. Fan Zhongyan made great efforts to rectify the bureaucracy in the capital and eliminate the bad government. Kaifeng government "solemnly called governance". He said that "there is no worry in the imperial court, but there is something good in the capital".

In 1036, Fan Zhongyan, dissatisfied with the prime minister LV Yijian's control of the government, cultivated party members and appointed cronies, presented the "hundred officials map" to Emperor Renzong, sharply criticized the system of prime minister's appointment, and persuaded the emperor to formulate a system and personally grasp the promotion of officials. Lu Yijian, unwilling to show weakness, ridiculed Fan Zhongyan's pedantry and slandered Fan Zhongyan for "talking about affairs in the post of Yue, colluding with friends and alienating monarchs and ministers". Fan Zhongyan then went on four chapters in succession, denouncing LV Yi Jian for his cunning. Because of his fierce words, he was defeated

Chinese PinYin : Fan Zhong Yan