Cui Shi

Cui Shi

Cui Shi (about 103-170 years) was born in Anping County, Jizhou (now Anping County, Hebei Province). In the Eastern Han Dynasty, he was a minister, an agronomist, a litterateur, the grandson of the litterateur Cui fan, and the son of the calligrapher Cui yuan.

In the first year of Yuanjia (151), he established Langguan, presented political commentary, and successively served as Yilang and general (Liangji) Sima. He served as the governor of Wuyuan and Liaodong. He ruled the border areas, which was quite beneficial to the government. He moved to Shangshu after many years. Jianning three years (170 years), died, later respected as the "Boling Cui family" ancestors.

His work Si Min Yue Ling reflects the family affairs plan of the aristocratic landlord manor in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, which has an important guiding significance for later generations to carry out agricultural activities.

Life of the characters

Cui Shi was quiet when he was young and loved classics. After his father Cui yuan died, he reduced his property, built tombs and built steles. After burial, he lived in seclusion beside the tomb and ran out of assets. Because of poverty, he was engaged in selling wine. Many people laughed at him at that time, but Cui Shi never changed. But it's just enough for the family, not for the surplus. After mourning, all the three gongs came to call, but he didn't answer. in November of the first year of Yuanjia (151), the imperial court called Gongqing county to recommend people with filial piety. Cui Shi was elected by the county and was taken to the bus. Because of illness, he was unable to deal with it except Wei Lang. Knowing the system of government, he was able to be an official. He talked about dozens of convenient things in the world, which was called "political commentary". The argument is to the point, and the speech is pleasant and accurate. After that, Cui Shi was called up by Yuan Tang, the supreme lieutenant, and Liang Ji, the general. Da Si Nong Yang Fu and Shao Fu He Bao wrote to recommend Cui Shi to be a good and wonderful person, so he should work in the imperial court. The imperial court called him as Yilang, promoted him to liangjisima, and wrote books in Dongguan with bianshao and Yandu. He went out of Beijing to be the governor of Wuyuan. Professor Cui Shi made tools to avoid suffering from cold. At that time, Hu Lu invaded Yunzhong and Shuofang, killed and plundered officials and civilians. Cui Shi reorganized his troops and paid attention to Fenghou, so that Hu Lu did not dare to invade, and often became the strongest troops on the border. Later, Cui Shi was called up to discuss the five classics with other Confucian doctors. In 159, Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty killed Liang Ji with the help of eunuchs. Cui Shi was removed from office and imprisoned for many years because he was an official. At that time, Xianbei invaded the border many times, and the imperial court ordered Sangong to recommend a powerful and resourceful person. Sikong huangqiong recommended Cui Shi and worshipped him as the governor of Liaodong. On the way to his post, Cui Shi's mother Liu died of illness. He went to Shujing to beg for his hoof to be buried. After mourning, the imperial court called him as minister. Cui Shi said he was ill because of the unrest at that time. He was dismissed from office and returned home a few months later. In the third year of Jianning (170), he died of illness, and his family was surrounded by his disciples. He did not collect funeral expenses. Guanglu Xun Yang Ci, his servant Yuan Feng, and Shaofu Duan Kai prepared the coffin for him, and dahonglu yuan Kai made a monument to praise him.

Main achievements

Political theory

Cui Shi's political theory is mainly embodied in political commentary. The specific contents of political commentary include advocating thrift, forbidding extravagance and blasphemy, opposing corruption and oppression, advocating that local officials should be appointed for a long time, improving the treatment of officials in order to maintain integrity, and moving people to the border to adjust the proportion of population and cultivated land. Cui Shi has the following views on the issue of legal system: 1) he thinks that "the punisher is the medicine to control the disorder; the moralist is the Liang Rou to prosper the peace", and the use of "Virtue" and "punishment" varies from time to time. At that time, it was a turbulent time when "I should inherit the fate of a hundred kings, and I should be punished severely.". He praised Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty for adopting severe punishment and laws to stabilize the society, and criticized emperor yuan of the Han Dynasty for pursuing Confucianism and "practicing more lenient policies" to become the "master of basic disasters" of the Western Han Dynasty. (2) oppose amnesty. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, especially in the later period, the rulers frequently issued amnesty orders to relieve class conflicts. Cui Shi was extremely opposed to this practice, and thought that "amnesty should be given to those who are interested in cheating, and vice should be given to those who are interested in cheating.". Frequent pardoning of criminals can not stop crimes, on the contrary, it makes people "commit more crimes" and "commit more crimes". So mutual promotion, "two can not stop.". It is not easy to issue amnesty. It is better to grant amnesty only once every ten years.

Agricultural achievements

In his political commentary, Cui Shi said that "the upper family" has "a huge amount of money" and "Mou is the land of the monarch"; while "the lower family" has "nothing to do with it"; he also said that "farming and mulberry industry are industrious but profit is meager, industry and commerce are easy to enter and thick", "a valley does not rise, then hunger and despair will flow to death"; and "the country takes the people as its root, the people take the valley as their life, when their life is exhausted, the root will be pulled out, and when their root is pulled out, this is the most toxic worry of the country.". These remarks show that he has a strong agricultural thought. Cui Shi's agricultural theory is embodied in Simin Yueling. "Four people's month order" is actually the manor landlord's management manual, but its monthly agricultural production arrangements, such as arable land, germination, sowing, planting, hoeing, harvesting, storage and management of fruit trees and trees, are really agricultural production knowledge. The whole book arranges the plan according to the month, in which the decisive role is still agricultural measures and agricultural operations. Everything is planned according to the needs of farming, mulberry and other matters. Different from the general monthly book, it has always been regarded as the agricultural book, and it is the earliest representative work of the system of "farmers' monthly book" in ancient Chinese agricultural books. It represents the latest development of Agronomy and agricultural technology after the book of Pansheng in the Western Han Dynasty.

Character evaluation

Fan Ye of the Southern Song Dynasty's "the book of the later Han Dynasty": 1. Shi Zhi's "political commentary" says that the world is disordered, although the wrong people can't live. (2) Cui is Wenzong, a Buddhist and dragon sculptor. Build new shame and purity, destroy ambition and seek tolerance. Forever long Cen, in the Yin of Liao. If there is no straight way, he will take the mud. Yuan did not speak of Lu, but also from the injustice. Zizhen's insistence on the subject made him feel faint and vulgar. Sima Guang's Zi Zhi Tong Jian in the Northern Song Dynasty: the law of the Han family is strict, but Cui Shi is still lenient. What's wrong? The king who covers the decaying world is cowardly. The only way to help the fool is to forgive him. He does not sit down with his lucky and powerful officials when they are guilty, and he does not punish the crafty people when they break the law. His benevolence and kindness are limited to the present. He does not set up a record when he has achieved his ambition. Therefore, Cui Shi's theory is not the general meaning of a hundred generations. Confucius said, "if the government is lenient, the people will be slow; if it is slow, it will be corrected with violence; if it is fierce, the people will be disabled; if it is disabled, it will be lenient. Leniency helps violence, violence helps leniency, and politics is peace. " It's not easy.

Relative members

personal works

Cui Shi's works include steles, commentaries, proverbs, inscriptions, answers, seven words, ancestral texts, tables, records and books. Among them, political commentaries and Simin Yueling are the representatives.

Historical records

Fan Ye of the Southern Song Dynasty, Volume 52 of the later Han Dynasty, biography 42 of Cui Fei, Sima Guang of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zizhi Tongjian, Hanji 45

Commemoration of later generations

Cui Shi's tomb is located 500 meters southeast of donghuangcheng village, Anping County, Hebei Province. It is also called Cui cemetery. It is a part of Cui's tomb group in Anping, a key cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level in Hebei Province.

Chinese PinYin : Cui Shi