Wu Yubi

Wu Yubi

Wu Yubi (1391-1469): originally named mengxiang, Changbi, Zifu (yizuozhuan), kangzhai, born in Liantang Xiaopi, Chongren County, Ming Dynasty (now Donglai Township, Chongren County, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province). He is the founder of Chongren school, a scholar, poet, famous Neo Confucianist and educator in Ming Dynasty. In the case of Confucianism in Ming Dynasty written by Huang Zongxi in Qing Dynasty, the case of Chongren studies ranked first. Wu and Bi were the first people in the case of Chongren studies, which showed the important position of Wu and Bi in the academic and ideological circles of Ming Dynasty.

Wu Yu bi was the founder of Neo Confucianism in Ming Dynasty. His "benevolence school" was well-known both at home and abroad. His "Jiangmen school", "Yugan school" and later "jiangyouwangmen school" were the clue to promote the second downward movement of Chinese culture and education, and made outstanding contributions to the transformation of Chinese ideological history from Zhu Xi's intellectualism to introspection.

Life of the characters

a family of scholar

Wu Jing, the ancestor of Wu and Bi, was born in bianzhou of Tang Dynasty, and was a court official in Ruizong of Tang Dynasty. Wu Xuan, the seventh grandson of Wu Jing, moved to Fuzhou. Wu Jingnan, the great ancestor of Wu and Bi, was good at poetry and Fu. Wu Cheng, a great scholar of Yuan Dynasty, wrote a preface to his poetry collection. Wu Shen, the great ancestor, was "erudite and poetic". His grandfather Wu Jing moved to Chongren. His father, Wu Pu, was an official in Guozijian and wrote the collection of ancient cliffs. Born in such a family, Wu and Bi had an important influence on their educational growth.

Devote oneself to study

Wu and Bi entered school at the age of six and studied antithesis at the age of seven. When they were eight or nine years old, they had already come to the fore. They had learned literature, astronomy, law and calendar, medicine and divination. At the age of 16, he studied poetry and Fu, and at the age of 18, he studied imperial examination. Ye Yongle is 19 years old. He went to Beijing to serve his father, who was then the Secretary of Guozijian. He had to pay homage to Xian Ma Yang Pu, one of the "Three Yang" in Ming Dynasty. At that time, in his father Ren's reading of Yiluo Yuanyuan Lu compiled by Zhu Xi, he said that he "saw the transmission of the unified pulse of Tao" and "he thought and encouraged himself, stole and admired Xiang Yan, and burned all the words of his son at that time, and vowed that he would come to the sages and sages before he died". He refused to associate with others and spent two years alone in Xiaolou. He studied the quotations of four books, five classics, Luoxue (the school headed by Cheng Hao, a philosopher and educator in the Northern Song Dynasty) and Minxue (the school headed by Zhu Xi, a philosopher and educator in the Southern Song Dynasty). He had no intention of entering the official career and decided to teach Neo Confucianism and spread Cheng and Zhu's philosophical thoughts.

Give lectures at home

According to historical records, Wu and Bi entered school at the age of 6 and went to the capital Jinling at the age of 19. By chance, I read the works of Zhu Xi, the founder of Neo Confucianism in Song Dynasty, and immediately gave up the imperial examination and returned to my hometown to study behind closed doors. At the age of 21, he began to give lectures. There are many students, many of them with great achievements.

Keep righteousness but not be an official

Wu and Bi were not supposed to take imperial examinations in their whole life. They gave lectures in their hometown and were unable to recommend them. In the 11th year of Zhengtong (A.D. 1446), he, the Jinshi of Shanxi Province, recommended himself to the court. Later, Tu Qian, the imperial censor, and Wang Yu, the prefect of Fuzhou, also recommended it again and again, but he could not refuse it. In the seventh year of Jingtai (1456 A.D.), the censor recommended him to give lectures in the cabinet. The emperor ordered Han Yong, governor of Jiangxi Province, to give a courtesy to him, but he could not say goodbye. In the first year of Tianshun (1457 A.D.), Shi Heng, the minister, and Li Xian, the great scholar, went to the capital to recommend Wu and Bi. In May of the second year, Zuo Chunfang was granted the title of Zuo Yude. Yingzong called him to Wenhua hall to inquire about the reasons. He said that he was "superficial in learning, weak in illness and heavy in expectation. How dare he steal salary as an official". Later, he resigned many times, and his son told the ministry that he was seriously ill. After resigning from office and returning to Li, he tried to explain ten things in chengyingzong's Xie Biao, saying: "one is to worship the sage, the second is to learn from the sage, the third is to promote the sage, the fourth is to educate the common people, the fifth is to obey orders, the sixth is to enlighten the people, the seventh is to educate the officials of the Qing Dynasty, the eighth is to govern the common people, the ninth is to talk about the road, and the tenth is to unite the monarch and the virtuous." The words were sincere and praised by Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty. He sent people to escort him back to his hometown and ordered local officials to pay Cangmi monthly to show their concern. In 1469 ad, Wu and Bi died at home.

Academic thought

Thought summary

Wu Yu Bi's Neo Confucianism is "nothing to pass on", self-taught and self satisfied. His thoughts of Neo Confucianism can be summarized into four aspects: the view of heaven, the view of good nature, the view of practice and the view of bitterness and optimism.

The view of heaven

"Li" is the core of philosophical thought expounded by Neo Confucianists since the Northern Song Dynasty. This is true of Cheng and Zhu, and so is Wu and Bi. Although they have no relationship with each other as teachers, Wu and Bi have carried on and developed Cheng and Zhu's philosophical thoughts in terms of moral cultivation and cognitive methods through physical experience and dedicated research. That is to say, all things in the world have their own laws. Wei Zhuangqu, a student of Wu and Bi, said: "all things in the world are connected by blood.". He advocated "preserving natural justice and eliminating human desires". "Poor communication, bereavement, life and death, worry about happiness, a listen to the sky.". What he referred to as "natural principle" is the law of nature, which can not be said to be materialistic. At the same time, he regarded "the way of heaven and earth" as the criterion of "sage" and "gentleman". Once said: "not to the way of heaven, not to the sage, can not be described as an adult.". Here, Wu and Bi regarded "natural principle" as the highest standard of moral cultivation and understanding of things. He advocates that "heaven and man are of one principle" and "the reason why man is a human being" is that he has this principle. ". However, he also thinks that this "principle" can not be understood by all people. Only people like sages can be "poor and have their way". This is the view of "Saints' body of heaven". A person who goes out of the way to advance or retreat "can only learn from sages and sages without any harm" and "if he does not do his best, he will be self relinquished in heaven". In life, "the quantity of heaven and earth must be taken as the quantity, and the virtue of sages as the virtue, so as to achieve the right result.". According to Wu and Bi, "sages" are not unattainable gods and men, but can be achieved through learning and cultivation. It can be seen that Wu and Bi's views on "Li" were in line with the law of cognition at that time. There is another recognition between Wu and Bi that is worthy of attention, that is, "Qi" is the heaven. Put forward the concept of "the vitality of heaven". "Don't hurt your heart with wishful thinking, and hurt your vitality with politeness," he said. Disciple Wei Zhuangqu also thought that "heaven and earth are harmonious, and vitality is my own". However, Wu and Bi attributed the vitality of heaven and earth to the feudal ethics of "three cardinal guides and five constant principles", which became metaphysical idealism. Qi itself is material, not spiritual.

The view of good nature

"The goodness of human nature" is an important aspect of Wu and Bi's inheritance and development of thought and Mencius. I think that "human desire" can be divided into "good and evil" and "good and bad", but it can be "transformed". The so-called "Hua" is to "make education clean", that is, to educate, to cultivate, to be strict with "self responsibility", to make it "pure". He said, "if you take responsibility for others and yourself, you will do your best.". "Every hundred people should be responsible for themselves" and "no profit can be sprouted". When we see the good and evil behaviors of others, we should learn from them, reflect on ourselves, restrain our body and mind, and make ourselves a "new citizen" with "clear morality". Wu and Bi thought: "although there is no difference between Mingde and Xinmin, how can they have the effect of Xinmin? It's just a matter of personal interest. The so-called "new people" means that there is "a gentleman's support, so that the violent, slow and evil Qi does not set up the body"; in this way, "convergence is the most important", "the responsibility is dense, the autonomy is sparse, but do not give up!" Even if "he treats me with a stingy and cunning heart, I treat him with a righteous and bright body.". Of course, his self-cultivation is still based on "the words of virtue". He said: "I know that sages can learn, and learning can come.". In order to achieve "new people", we must learn from "sages", strengthen self-cultivation, and get rid of all kinds of desires. In Wu and Bi's words, it is easy to get rid of body dirt, but hard to get rid of heart dirt. My husband is willing to empty the house of the spirit and the house of the gods. They are wonderful in the past and the present. They run through the sky and dominate the whole body. According to everything, they are shining and melting. What is the dirt? However, the desire of Qi, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, four limbs and a hundred skeletons is boundless. If you do not cooperate with you, you will have a wonderful and unpredictable body, which will not be transformed into things Wu and Bi said that the "heart dirt" is external things and all kinds of selfish desires. Only by "transforming" and removing "heart dirt", can we reach the realm of "good nature". From here, we can vaguely see that the Neo Confucianism in the early Ming Dynasty gradually transited to the Neo Confucianism promoted by Wang Yangming in the middle Ming Dynasty. This can be said to be a great contribution of Wu and Bi in the history of Chinese philosophy.

Practice view

The ancient Confucians advocated practice. Wu and Bi completely inherited the fine tradition of Confucianism. He used "reason" to restrict his behavior, regulate his life, and put the feudal ethics "reason" into his daily life. With "reason" as the standard to measure everything, analyze everything, judge everything and deal with everything, to distinguish right from wrong, right from wrong, good from evil, gain and loss, and even worry and happiness, life and death, to make yourself an ideal "sage" and "sage". In order to achieve this goal, "we must be cautious about daily use and daily routine, which should exist for the sake of heaven, and which should die for the sake of human desire. We should learn from the words of sages and observe the deeds of sages.". In Wu and Bi's view, one needs to be "cautious" and "respectful" to achieve this goal. He said: "people have to sort out their mind", "disrespect is not straight, not straight will faint, everything is so bad, can not be afraid of it!" The so-called "Ju Jing" means "to speak with respect" and the so-called "poor reason" means "to study the truth of things. In Shuogua, the book of changes, it is said that "if we make every effort, we will be doomed.". How to "shelter" and "manage poverty"? Wu and Bi said: "when quiet, self-restraint, dynamic inspection.". He refers to "self-restraint", that is, "tolerance", and self-cultivation, that is, "self-restraint". He thinks: "one thing contains less tolerance, cover one thing is bad, then we should add pain to restrain ourselves and return to the ceremony."

Chinese PinYin : Wu Yu Bi