Song Lian

Song Lian

Song Lian (November 4, 1310 - June 20, 1381) was first named Shou, named Jinglian, Qianxi, longmenzi, XuanZhen dunsou, etc., Han nationality. His ancestral home is Qianxi, Jinhua (now Yiwu, Zhejiang), and later he moved to Pujiang, Jinhua (now Pujiang, Zhejiang). At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the famous statesman, writer, historian and thinker, together with Gao Qi and Liu Ji, were called "three masters of poetry and prose in the early Ming Dynasty", and together with Zhang Yi, Liu Ji and ye Chen, they were called "four masters of eastern Zhejiang". Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, praised him as "the first literary Minister of the founding of the country", and scholars called him Taishigong and song Longmen.

Song Lian was ill since childhood, and his family was poor, but he was intelligent and studious, known as "child prodigy". He once worked in Wenren Mengji, Wu Lai, Liu Guan, Huang Zhen and others. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he left the imperial court and wrote books. At the beginning of Ming Dynasty, he was appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang and was honored as the "Five Classics" teacher, lecturing for Prince Zhu Biao. In 1369, he majored in Yuan history. From the official to the academician, the court etiquette was mostly made for them. In 1377, he resigned as an old official and returned to his hometown. Later, he was exiled to Maozhou because his eldest grandson song Shen was implicated in the case of Hu Weiyong. On the way, he died of illness in Kuizhou at the age of 72. In Ming Dynasty, Wu Zongshi was named "Wen Xian", so it was called "Song Wen Xian".

Song Lian and Liu Ji are both famous for their prose creation, and they are also known as the "masters of a generation". His prose is simple, elegant and has its own characteristics. He highly praised the literature of Taige, and his style of writing was simple and elegant, which provided a model for the later "Taige style" writers' literary creation. Most of his works have been combined into 75 volumes of the complete works of song Xueshi.

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Life of the characters

Memory of Yingmin

Song Lian was born on October 13 (November 4), 1310, the third year of the reign of emperor Wuzong of the Yuan Dynasty. Because he was born on the same day as his grandfather, he was named Shou, and later changed his name to Lian. His ancestor song Bai moved to Qianxi, Jinhua in the Southern Song Dynasty (< I > Yiwu, Zhejiang today) < / I >), and later moved to Pujiang, Jinhua in Song Lian's time (< I > Pujiang, Zhejiang today) < / I >). Song Lian was born after her mother was only seven months pregnant, so Song Lian was very ill when she was a child. She was often in a coma for several days every time the wind was dizzy. Thanks to the care of her grandmother Jin and her mother Chen, she was able to spend her childhood smoothly. He is intelligent and has a strong memory, so he is called "child prodigy". He once worked in Wenren Mengji, Wulai, Liuguan, Huangzhen, etc., and was proficient in Wujing. All his life, he studied hard. "From young to old, he never went to school and learned everything.". In the ninth year of Zhizheng reign (1349), Emperor Shun summoned Song Lian to edit the Imperial Academy because of the recommendation of crisis. He refused to accept the call on the ground of supporting his parents. In 1350, he went to Xianhua mountain as a Taoist, but in fact he went to the mountain to write books. On October 4, 1356, he entered xiaolongmenshan to write books.

Professor Prince

In March of 1358, Zhu Yuanzhang's army captured muzhou. Song Lian sent his family to gouwushan in Zhuji, but he left behind. In November, Wang Xianzong, the prefect, was hired as a teacher of the five classics, and Song Lian declined. In the first month of the 19th year of Zhizheng (1359), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Wang Xianzong, who was promoted to magistrate, to set up a school in Wuzhou Prefecture and called Song Lian to be the master of Wujing. In 1360, at the recommendation of Li Shanchang, Song Lian, Liu Ji, Zhang Yi and ye Chen were called to yingtianfu by Zhu Yuanzhang. In July, Song Lian was appointed as a Confucian advocate in Jiangnan and other places. In October, he was ordered to teach "Five Classics" for Zhu Biao, the son of Zhu Yuanzhang, and later participated in the compilation of living notes. In May 1363, Zhu Yuanzhang built Lixian hall, in which Song Lian and others lived.

Major in Yuan history

In December of the first year of Hongwu (1368), Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to compile and revise the history of the Yuan Dynasty, ordering Song Lian and Wang Heng to be the chief executives. In the second year of Hongwu (1369), Song Lian went to the imperial edict to revise the history of the Yuan Dynasty, which began in February. Song Lian and Wang Heng were the presidents. In June, he was a Bachelor of Hanlin academy, a doctor of Chinese medicine, a scholar of patent making, and a student of national history. In August of the same year, the history of the Yuan Dynasty was completed, and Song Lian was appointed a Bachelor of the Imperial Academy. In the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang renewed the history of the Yuan Dynasty at the beginning of February 6 due to Ouyang you and other Confucian scholars' achievements in the Yuan Dynasty. He still appointed Song Lian and Wang Heng as the president of the Yuan Dynasty. On July 1, the book was completed. In July, he was demoted to the position of Hanlin editor due to his loss of court.

Famous Confucianists in the early period of the Republic of China

In February 1371, Song Lian was promoted to Fengyi official and guozisiye, but he was demoted to Anyuan County Magistrate in August because he failed to present the memorial to Confucius on time. In February 1372, Song Lian was called back to be the head of the ritual department. In December, he was promoted to Prince zanshan. In the same year, the dew came down repeatedly. Zhu Yuanzhang asked Song Lian what the omen of such celestial phenomena was. Song Lian told Zhu Yuanzhang in the spring and Autumn Annals that he was not influenced by the celestial phenomena when he was ordered to do things. Zhu Wenzheng, Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, committed a crime. Song Lian pleaded for Zhu Wenzheng, saying that Zhu Wenzheng could be demoted to a remote place instead of being sentenced to death. Zhu Yuanzhang asked Song Lian what kind of books he should read as an emperor. Song Lian recommended the book Da Xue Yan Yi to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered him to paste the contents of the book on the walls of the palace and summon the minister to tell him the contents of Da Xue Yan Yi. In February of the sixth year of Hongwu (1373), Zhu Yuanzhang summoned dozens of scholars from all over the world, including Zhang Wei and Wang Hui, and appointed them as editors of the Imperial Academy, with Song Lian as his teacher. On July 30, he was promoted to be a scholar of Imperial Academy. He learned how to make a patent, studied the history of the country, and still praised the good doctor. On August 16, he was appointed as president with Zhan Tong. He was ordered to revise the Daming calendar, which opened in September and was completed in May of the next year. He also compiled five volumes of it as Huangming Baoxun. In September of the same year, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Song Lian as Zhongshun's doctor and ordered him to take part in Zhongshu's great politics. Song Lian declined politely. On November 1, 1374, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Song Lian to study the funeral dress system. In October 1375, Song Lian talked about the capital of Wuzhong with Prince Zhu Biao and others. On the 10th of the first month of the ninth year of Hongwu (1376), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Song Lian and Zhu you to fix the ceremony used by the kingdom. In June, in addition to the Hanlin bachelor, the rest of the official as usual. In 1377, Song Lian returned to his hometown. Zhu Yuanzhang personally bid farewell and ordered song Shen, Song Lian's grandson, to send him home. Song Lian kowtowed his thanks and agreed to say, "before I die, please allow me to come to the palace to see your majesty once a year." After returning home, Song Lian took the opportunity of emperor's day to visit Beijing every year.

Old age brings disaster

In 1380, song Shen was involved in the case of Hu Weiyong, which led to the disaster of Song Lian's family. Song Shen and Song Lian's second son, Song Feng, were both killed. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to put Song Lian to death. After empress Ma and Prince Zhu biaolibao, they were saved from death and moved to Maozhou, Sichuan.

Die on the way

Song Lian died of illness in Kuizhou (now Fengjie, Chongqing) on May 20 (June 12), 1381, at the age of 72. On his deathbed, he was sitting with his hands folded. At that time, officials from Kuizhou came to present him with a crying sacrifice. Governor ye Yicong buried Song Lian at the foot of Lianhua Mountain. Zhu Chun, the king of Shu, admired Song Lian and buried him in the east of Huayang city. During the reign of Chenghua (1465-1487), Emperor Xianzong of Ming Dynasty, Zhu shenzao, king of Shu, went to the tomb of Song Lian to worship. In the ninth year of Hongzhi (1496) of emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, because Ma Jun, governor of Sichuan Province, complained for Song Lian, Emperor Xiaozong ordered Song Lian to resume his official post after consultation with the Ministry of rites, and held sacrifices in the place where he was buried every spring and autumn. During the Zhengde period of emperor Wuzong of Ming Dynasty (1491-1521), Song Lian was granted the posthumous title of "Wen Xian".

Main achievements

thought

Song Lian studied Buddhism and Taoism, especially Buddhist classics, and learned a lot from them. In the view of nature, he borrowed the theory of "Qi mother" which was used by doctors and early Taoists. He believed that the ascending and descending movement of the universe and the prosperity of the common things in the four seasons were the reasons for the operation of "Qi mother" which was "Yuan Qi". This kind of "Qi mother" or "Yuan Qi" has no root and no door. It is boundless. Although people can't perceive it, it does exist. Song Lian believes that reason, that is, the heart of heaven and earth, is absolute. It creates all things and movements through vitality. The reason why nature is full of vitality is that the "heart of heaven and earth" works through vitality. In his opinion, the pursuit of Tao and learning and the cultivation of morality lies in the realization and acquisition of the "heart of heaven and earth", so that "my heart" can be "chongran", "yuanran", "Hunran", "ningran" and "chongran". In this way, man can move with heaven and earth, with the sun and the moon, and with the four seasons, thus realizing "the way of a gentleman". The reason why people can realize the "heart of heaven and earth" is that "my heart" originally has "Tai Chi", which is not big but small, so it can react with "Tai Chi" of heaven and earth and "drum". The so-called understanding of "heart of heaven and earth" is just to express the "heart of heaven and earth" of "my heart". The essence of the six meridians is to record the reason of "my heart", so the six meridians and "heart" have the same absoluteness, "the heart is the meridians, the meridians are the heart", such as the shape and shadow can not be separated. This attitude reflects the tradition of paying attention to Confucian classics and history. Song Lian called the "heart of my body" the "most precious treasure" in the world. Therefore, people "have saints in their hearts" and don't need to admire them. The key lies in how to "know their hearts" and "understand their hearts". The method of "knowing the heart" and "knowing the heart" is to constantly eliminate the "human falsity" and achieve "intention". The way to get rid of "human falsity" lies in learning, the content of which is to record the six classics of the heart of sages. At the same time, Song Lian also talked about learning from things, but did not discuss its specific methods and steps, and was more enthusiastic in advocating Buddhism to break through the two sides of the only way

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