younger brother of Cheng Hao and forerunner of Zhu Xi

younger brother of Cheng Hao and forerunner of Zhu Xi

Cheng Yi (September 11, 1033 - October 5, 1107), whose name is Zhengshu, lived in Zhongshan for a long time. He came from Luoyang City, Henan Province. He was also known as Mr. Yichuan, a neo Confucianist and educator in the Northern Song Dynasty. He is Cheng Hao's younger brother. Li Guan Ruzhou tuanlian Tui Guan, Xijing Guozijian professor. Yuanyou first year (1086) in addition to the Secretary of the provincial school Shulang, granted Chongzheng Hall storytelling.

Cheng Yi, together with his brother Cheng Hao, created "Luoxue" in Zhou Dunyi, which laid the foundation for Neo Confucianism and was known as "Ercheng" in the world. His theory is mainly based on "poor reason". He thinks that "everything in the world can be poor, but only one reason", "the reason of one thing is the reason of all things". He advocates the cultivation method of "self-cultivation must use respect, and learning should be based on knowledge". The purpose is to "eliminate human desires and preserve natural reason". He thinks that "starvation is very small, and dishonesty is very big", and advocates the theory of "Qi and endowment".

His works include biography of Cheng in the book of changes, posthumous notes, biography of changes and classics, which were compiled as collection of Cheng Yi's works by later generations. In the late Ming Dynasty, it was co edited with Cheng Hao as Er Cheng Quan Shu (complete works of Er Cheng) and edited by Zhonghua Book Company as Er Cheng Ji (collection of Er Cheng).

Life of the characters

Cheng Yi's ancestors have lived in Boye County, Zhongshan for generations. Cheng Yu, the great ancestor of the Song Dynasty, served as the third secretary of the Song Dynasty. In order to assist Yi, he was given the "Prince Shaoshi" by the emperor and gave his house to the capital Kaifeng. Cheng Xizhen, the great grandfather, was a member of Yu's Ministry, and moved to Luoyang, Henan Province. Cheng Yu, the great grandfather, presented Kaifu instrument to the Minister of the three divisions. His father, Cheng Xiang, was selected to serve as county magistrate of Huangpi county and magistrate of Xingguo County during the reign of Tiansheng. He learned about Gong, Feng, CI and Han States, and later became an official of the supreme Zhu state.

Cheng Yi was born in caomiaoxiang, Huangpi County, Huangzhou (now QianChuan street, Huangpi District, Wuhan). Cheng Yi was a little smart when he was young. When he was 14 or 15 years old, he was studied by Zhou Dunyi, the founder of Neo Confucianism, together with his brother Cheng Hao.

In 1050, 18-year-old Cheng Yi wrote to the imperial court, pointing out the social crisis of the Song Dynasty and offering a good remedy for the lack of current politics. The remedy should be king's way, but song Renzong did not add a Council.

In the first year of Jiayou (1056), 24-year-old Cheng Yi studied in the Imperial College of Beijing. Hu Yuan, the educator in charge of the Imperial College, tried to test all students with Yan Zi's theory of how to learn. In this article, Cheng Yi wrote: "the learning of a gentleman must be enlightened and nurtured. However, he strives to achieve it. The so-called self-knowledge and sincerity means that he must do his best to learn. If you do your best, you will know your nature. On the contrary, you will be sincere, and the sage will know it. This article was appreciated by Hu Yuan, who granted Cheng Yi the status of "a scholar".

In the fourth year of Jiayou (1059), Cheng Yi failed in the imperial examination, so he did not take part in the second examination.

In 1072, he and his brother gave lectures in Songyang.

Yuanfeng first year (1078) know Fugou County, "set xiangxu, gather the son of the city to teach.". Although Cheng Yi didn't succeed in the entrance examination, according to the old rule, Cheng's family has been an official for generations, and his father enjoys the privilege of sheltering his children from being an official. However, Cheng Yi gives every opportunity to be a benefactor to other members of his family. Instead of going out to be an official, he devotes himself to the way of Confucius and Mencius as a "Scholar" for a long time, and receives a large number of students to give lectures.

According to the inscriptions still preserved in Cheng village, Song County, Henan Province, in 1082, in view of Cheng Yi's "writing books and making speeches, being famous all over the world, and returning to his family from the tourists", the Taiwei Wen Yanbo allocated a piece of land in a small village of Minggao town in Luoyang to build a "Yigao academy" for him, and let him give lectures here for nearly 20 years.

In 1085, song zhezong ascended the throne and Wang Anshi failed to reform. Recommended by Sima Guang, Lu Gong and others, Cheng Yi was awarded the title of League training officer in Ruzhou (now Linru County, Henan Province), Professor of Guozijian in Xijing and Luoyang. According to the recommendation of Sima Guang and others, Cheng Yi, a hermit in Henan Province, was erudite and good at ancient times, content with poverty and lowliness, abided by moral integrity, faithful in his words and courteous in his actions. He hoped that the imperial court would let him become an official and entrust him with heavy responsibilities. Cheng Yi did not accept the appointment. In the following year, he was ordered to preach for Chongzheng Hall. His duty was to teach the emperor to read. At that time, song zhezong was young. Sima Guang and others recommended Cheng Yi to teach him how to study. The common purpose was to make song zhezong no longer follow the reform policy of song Shenzong. Before Cheng Yi took office, he played to the emperor, and proposed that a gentleman should pay attention to "self-cultivation of temperament and virtue", pay attention to moral cultivation, and often approach the officials who are noble in character and dare to admonish the emperor's faults face to face. In addition, he also proposed to let the official speaking to the emperor sit and speak, in order to show "the heart of waiting for Confucianism and attaching importance to Taoism" (Er Cheng Ji, on the Sutra feast). The above suggestions show that since Confucius and Mencius, Confucian scholars have spared no effort to publicize "the way of the sage king" and "the teacher of the emperor". After taking office, he often took the opportunity to speak to the emperor to discuss current affairs. On the one hand, it made him more and more famous, and attracted many scholars to learn from him. On the other hand, it also caused some court officials' dissatisfaction with him. Some people criticized Cheng Yi and asked him to be "put back in the field to show his punishment" (Tao Ming Lu). Under the pressure of this situation, he had to submit a letter and voluntarily asked to resign and return to his hometown.

Since the third year of Yuanyou (1088), Cheng Yi has basically separated from political life and engaged in lecturing activities in Luoyang.

When song zhezong ascended the throne, he came to power as a member of Sima Guang's old party. Sima Guang, LV Gong, Han Jiang and other scholars recommended Cheng Yi.

In the first year of Yuanyou (1086), Cheng Yi received an imperial edict in cloth clothes and was appointed as a storyteller in Chongzheng Hall. Cheng Yi devoted all his efforts to his loyalty and admonished the young philosophers in order to help the monarch realize the rule of Yao and Shun and consolidate the rule of the feudal dynasty. Cheng Yi's sudden rise from cloth clothes to Emperor's division made some people resent him. The Shu faction headed by Su Shi and the Luo faction headed by Cheng Yi attacked each other, causing a confrontation between the two factions in the capital. Cheng Yi was impeached by the admonishment doctor Kong Wenzhong and was dismissed from his position as a storyteller in Chongzheng Hall.

In the third year of Shaosheng (1096), in the struggle between the new and old parties, because the new party was in power again, he was still regarded as a member of the "treacherous party" against the new party, and was demoted to Fuzhou (now Fuling, Chongqing), where he was controlled by local officials. With the help of Qiao Ding, a disciple from Fuling, Cheng Yi gave lectures in Beiyan, Fuling, and Huang Tingjian discussed knowledge with him many times in Beiyan, and named his lecture hall "goushen hall".

In the first year of Yuanfu (1100), Huizong of Song Dynasty ascended the throne and moved to xiazhou (now Sanmenxia of Henan Province) to resume his official position for a short time.

In the first year of Chongning (1102), Huizong of Song Dynasty, who restored the new law, ordered to destroy all his works (in fact, because his works were useful for consolidating the feudal rule, they were still preserved under the protection of his disciples). Cheng Yi was deprived of his official position.

On September 17, the first year of Daguan (1107), Cheng Yi died in Yichuan, Luoyang, at the age of 75.

After Cheng Yi's death, all his friends and students in Luoyang did not dare to go to the funeral. "Therefore, only Zhang Yi, Fan Yu, Meng Hou and Yin Fei were included in the memorial ceremony."

Main achievements

Achievements of Neo Confucianism

Founding Luoxue

Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi brothers are called "Er Cheng" in the world. When Cheng was 15 or 6 years old, he was educated by Zhou Dunyi, the founder of Neo Confucianism. When Zhao Xu, Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty, established his own system of Neo Confucianism. Cheng's theory is different in some aspects, but the basic content is the same. They all take "reason" or "Tao" as the basis of all theories. They think that "reason" is the "natural reason" prior to all things, "all things are just a natural reason", "everything comes from reason", "if there is reason, there is Qi". The current social order is set by the natural law. It is in accordance with the natural law to follow it, otherwise it is against the natural law. Put forward the simple dialectic thought that things are "right". It emphasizes that human nature is essentially good, and "human nature is also reason". Due to the difference of Qi, human nature has good and evil. Therefore, both turbid qi and malignity are human desires. If a man's desire blinds his heart, it will damage the natural law. "If there is no desire, it is natural.". Therefore, it is necessary to teach people to "preserve natural principles and eliminate human desires". In order to "preserve the natural principle", we must first "understand the natural principle". If we want to "understand the principle of heaven", we need to understand the principle of things day by day. If we accumulate more, we can understand it all at once. It advocates the cultivation method of "respect for self-cultivation and knowledge for learning". Cheng advocated feudal ethics and advocated the relationship between monarchs and ministers in the family.

Cheng ER was not only one of the five founders of Neo Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty, but also the founder of Neo Confucianism in the song and Ming Dynasties.

Brothers Cheng and Cheng have been familiar with the books of sages since childhood. Later, the two brothers finally became a generation of Confucian masters. They were respected by scholars all over the world, and they began to learn from them. They not only tried their best to preach and learn from it, but also created their own school, Luoxue. Cheng Yi became famous in Taixue when he was young. In his 20s, he began to accept students and teach Confucianism. Cheng Hao boasted that "Mencius did not have the sage to learn and did not pass on, so he took the rise of gentleness as his duty." (page 638 of Er Cheng Ji) Cheng Hao retired and returned to his hometown in the fifth year of Xining (1072) of the Northern Song Dynasty. They lived together with his younger brother. They studied to persuade them to learn. At that time, "the scholar bureaucrats talked about scholars from them, and the door was full day and night. They went back to their hometown in vain and got what they wanted.". Because the two brothers had been lecturing in Luoyang for a long time, the school they formed was called "Luoxue", which had a great influence on Chinese academic thought.

Cheng Er has been engaged in academic activities for many years and has cultivated a large number of Neo Confucianists, especially his disciples, including Xie Liangzuo, Yang Shi, you Yao, LV Dazhong, LV Dajun, LV Dalin, Shao Bowen, Su Kou, Yin Ying and Zhang Yi. Among these people,

Chinese PinYin : Cheng Yi