Tang Shunzhi

Tang Shunzhi

Tang Shunzhi (November 9, 1507 - April 25, 1560) was named Yingde, Yixiu and Jingchuan. The Han nationality is from Wujin (now Changzhou, Jiangsu Province). Ming Dynasty Confucian master, strategist, essayist, mathematician, anti Japanese hero.

Jiajing eight years (AD 1529), the first test, official Hanlin editing, after the Ministry of military affairs. At that time, Japanese pirates repeatedly attacked the coastal areas. Tang Shunzhi took charge of Zhejiang Province as a doctor of the Ministry of war. He personally led military ships to break the Japanese pirates at sea in Chongming. Later transferred to the right wing Du imperial history, Fengyang governor. In 1560, the governor fell ill on his way to fight against Japanese invaders and died in Tongzhou (now Nantong City, Jiangsu Province). In Chongzhen, he was named Xiangwen. Scholars call it "Mr. Jingchuan".

In military, he advocated Anti Japanese and summarized the actual combat experience; in literature, he advocated "the theory of nature" and "imitating the Tang and Song Dynasties", and was the leader of the "Tang and Song school" in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. As a great poet in Ming Dynasty, Tang Shunzhi is famous for his ancient prose and Eight Legged prose in the history of literature. In terms of ideology, he advocated that "there are no two things in Tao and utensils" and "skill and morality can not be divided into two things". He reorganized Wang's left and right school of thought, which opened up a new stage for the development of Yangming's theory of mind.

(overview photo source: Tang clan genealogy in Qianzhou, Wuxi, Jiangsu · < / I > < I > Portrait of Tang Shunzhi < / I > < I >) < / I >

Life of the characters

Children study hard

Tang Shunzhi was born on October 5, the second year of Zhengde in Ming Dynasty (November 9, 1507) in a famous family of officials in the Yi Shutang, Qingguo lane, Changzhou. Tang Shunzhi was born with intelligence and personality. He read the classics at a young age, and he was the best among his peers. Tang Shunzhi was very strict with his parents when he was young. In addition to strict requirements for him, he also found famous contemporary teachers to help him, so he was successful in his studies.

In the eighth year of Jiajing (1529), Tang Shunzhi, 22 years old, because he stood out in the local examination, took part in the joint examination once every three years and won the first place. Tang Shunzhi became famous in the imperial examination. Yang Yiqing, the cabinet bachelor, appreciated him very much and was ready to admit Tang Shunzhi as the first candidate in the imperial examination. Tang Shunzhi flatly refused, and the envoys sent by Yang Yiqing made five rounds without any result. Yang Yiqing angrily said to his subordinates, "are the young people taught by Lao Ju Ren (referring to Tang Shunzhi's father, Tang Bao) so ignorant?" At first, Yang Yiqing put Tang Shunzhi in the third place of the first class, and later moved him to the first place of the second class. Emperor Jiajing personally reviewed Tang Shunzhi's examination papers, and the imperial criticism was that "all the articles were detailed". Although Tang Shunzhi is a top two candidate, he is the first top two candidate with imperial approval.

A new official career

In the eighth year of Jiajing reign (1529), Zhang Cong, the Minister of rites and scholar of wenyuange, was the chief examiner. He was very happy to see that he could recruit Tang Shunzhi, so he wanted to use his power to promote Tang Shunzhi to the Imperial Academy. But I didn't expect that Tang Shunzhi, a new official, declined Zhang Cong's knowledge and cultivation and became the head of the military department step by step. This let Zhang Cong very disappointed.

In the spring of the ninth year of Jiajing (1530), Tang Shunshang Shu said he was ill. In June of summer, Tang Shunzhi's mother was appointed governor of Xinyang with Tang's father. When she arrived in Tianjin, she died of illness. Tang Shunzhi is worried about his mother. In 1532, Tang Shunzhi relieved his worries and became the chief of the Ministry of official affairs. During his tenure, Tang Shunzhi introduced virtuous people and impeached those who were unworthy. He was upright and honest. He was different from the common customs. He was out of tune with his colleagues in the Ministry of officials. Therefore, he was difficult to get along with and was often rejected. Tang Shunzhi felt the hardship of officialdom. Tang Shunzhi had been in office for less than three years. He had made friends with dozens of gentry and "eight talented scholars of Jiajing" in the capital. Tang Shunzhi met Wang Shenzhong, Wang Ji, Luo Hongxian and others, and his literary and academic thoughts changed accordingly.

How many people have been demoted

In 1533, Tang Shunzhi was transferred to the Imperial Academy as editor, and took part in the real record of the dynasty. Because Zhang Cong, the examiner who appreciated him, did not agree with him, he asked for leave to go home on the ground of illness. Zhang Cong began to shelve his approval. At this time, Zhang Cong's informers urged Zhang Cong to think that Tang Shunzhi intended to alienate him. In his anger, Zhang Cong drafted a document to ask the head of the Ministry of officials to approve his return to his hometown, and said he would never use it.

In the spring of 1535, Tang Shunzhi lived in Yixing and opened a library to teach students. Until 1538, Tang Shunzhi lived at home. After more than three years of living at home, Tang Shunzhi's writing style has changed.

In 1539, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty approved the restoration of his official position. Emperor Jiajing lived in the inner palace for a long time and was not congratulated by the imperial court. Tang Shunzhi was worried about the government affairs. He went to the east palace to ask the court to see Prince Zhu Zaiyu in the book of Chaohe Shu with Luo Hongxian and Zhao Shichun. So Tang Shunzhi returned to Changzhou. Although Tang Shunzhi left officialdom, as a responsible intellectual, he decided to retire and devote himself to study.

Devote oneself to study

From 1541 to 1557, he lived at home. "Dismissal" is equivalent to dismissal from public service, which can be regarded as a major turning point in Tang Shunzhi's life. After returning home, Tang Shunzhi bought a house in the city and abandoned it because it was too noisy. So he moved to Yixing mountain, and then moved to chenduzhuang, a more remote place. He closed his door and gave thanks to his guests. He devoted his time and energy to studying the six classics, the history of Baizi, and the ancient laws and regulations of the state Dynasty. He also studied archeology, mathematics, astronomy, law and calendar, mountains and rivers geography, military tactics and tactics, as well as small military skills. At the age of 36, he had learned how to shoot from Yang Song, a native of Henan Province. At the same time, many experts and scholars came to study with Tang Shunzhi. Tang Shunzhi also had frequent contacts with Taoists. Tang Shunzhi had been living at home for nearly 20 years. The imperial censor Zhao Bingran, Jiangnan inspector Shu Ting, cabinet bachelor Xu Jie, and Minister of industry Zhao Wenhua recommended him to resume his official post one after another, but he refused one by one.

At that time, he lived in a cottage near chenduqiao and slept on the door at night. Tang Shunzhi's clothes are very simple, often linen clothes for more than ten years. He also went in and out by boat with ordinary villagers. The people on the same boat didn't know who he was. For some verbal clashes, insults and even actions, he didn't care with others, and didn't show his identity as an intellectual or an official. He is strict with himself that he does not light a stove in winter, does not fan in summer, does not take a sedan chair when he goes out, does not lay two mattresses on the bed, only makes one piece of cloth clothes a year, and only eats meat once a month. He wants to use this way to get rid of the temptation of all kinds of material desires, in order to treat the objective world calmly and correctly.

In the middle of Jiajing period, Japan was in the period of "Warring States". The defeated generals in the civil war gathered warriors, ronins and profiteers to plunder China's southeast coast, which was called "Japanese pirates". At that time, the collusion between Chinese businessmen, pirates and Japanese pirates resulted in serious Japanese invasion. In order to make huge profits, the "sea merchants" and "Zhejiang and Fujian surnames" in the coastal areas carried out smuggling on a large scale. They organized parties and berthed in different ports. Later, they became both merchants and robbers and plundered. When Emperor Jiajing heard the news, he immediately sent Zhao Wenhua to investigate.

Return to court to fight against Japanese

In 1554, the imperial court ordered Zhao Wenhua to go to Zhejiang Province to sacrifice to the sea and supervise the coastal military affairs. At that time, Zhang Jing, who was the governor of the Ministry of war of Nanjing and the military affairs of Zhejiang and funanji, defeated the Japanese pirates in wangjiangjing. Because he couldn't bear Zhao Wenhua's bossing and the two lost touch, Zhao Wenhua falsely accused Zhang Jing of being ineffective in the Anti Japanese War and took along Li Tianchong, the governor of Zhejiang Province. The court believed the one-sided words and arrested Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong. Zhao Wenhua took the opportunity to recommend Hu Zongxian as the governor of Zhejiang Province, and later became governor.

In the 35th year of Jiajing (1556), Zhao Wenhua took charge of Jiangsu and Zhejiang military affairs as Minister of the Ministry of industry. Tang Shunzhi and Zhao Wenhua were both Jinshi in the eighth year of Jiajing period (1529). They knew Tang Shunzhi had the ability to manage the world and help the time, and they were familiar with the situation of coastal defense in the south of the Yangtze River. They knew that Tang Shunzhi was very talented. He was not only well versed in economics, but also had the ambition of governing the country and pacifying the world. He was well versed in military affairs and once served in the Ministry of war. So as soon as I went to Jiangnan, I went to visit him and ask him for advice. Tang Shunzhi knew the situation of coastal defense in the south of the Yangtze River like the palm of his hand. According to the situation of various places, he put forward the plan of military deployment and defending the enemy in peacetime and wartime. When Zhao Wenhua heard Tang Shunzhi's comments, he was so impressed that he wanted to use Tang Shunzhi for himself. Zhao Wenhua wanted to pay for the repair of Tang Shunzhi's ancestors' tomb, which was firmly rejected by Tang Shunzhi. Tang Shunzhi pointed out in "with Zhao Yongjiang Sikong" that Zhao Wenhua had ulterior motives, "the act of repairing the ancestors' tombs makes me duty bound to help. It's important to know each other. " Zhao Wenhua was hit by a nail, but he still didn't give up and wanted to recommend Tang Shunzhi's comeback. Tang Shunzhi simply avoided it.

In the 36th year of Jiajing (1557), Zhao Wenhua returned to Beijing to resume his life. The first thing he did was to recommend Tang Shunzhi to the imperial court, so Tang Shunzhi was appointed head of the Nanjing Military Department. According to records, there were more than 50 memorials recommending Tang Shunzhi to come out of the mountain at that time.

Tang Shunzhi knew that the Japanese pirates, who were endangering the major cities along the southeast coast, were attacking cities and plundering homes everywhere. Suzhou, Songjiang, Ningbo and Taizhou were all ravaged by them. Tang Shunzhi was also extremely indignant in the face of this reality. He was heartbroken and determined to wipe out the Japanese pirates. However, Tang Shunzhi knows that Zhao Wenhua is Yan Song's confidant and has been despised by scholars for a long time. If he comes back with Zhao Wenhua's recommendation, he will be regarded as Yan Song's accomplice, which will inevitably lead to criticism. Therefore, he refused the appointment of the imperial court on the ground of mourning his father. Yan Song

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