Zhou Dunyi was born in Lou Tianbao, Daozhou, Northern Song Dynasty. His father is Zheng and his mother is Zheng. At first, his name was Cheng. Later, he avoided Song Yingzong's taboo and changed his name to Yiyi (now called Dunyi, so this example is used), and the word Mao Shu. Zhou Dunyi's father was a scholar in the Song Zhenzong era. He worked in Huanggang and Guiling, and Zheng was his successor. Zhou Dunyi died when he was a child, so Zheng took Zhou Dunyi to his brother Zheng Xiang, who was a straight bachelor in Longtuge. Zheng Xiang loved this nephew very much and specially trained him to learn Confucian classics, which laid the foundation for him to become the founder of Confucianism in the future. Later, Zhou Dunyi became the main book of Fenning County in Hongzhou and began his career for more than 30 years. Taoist scholars do not study Taoism, but inherit and develop the study of Confucian orthodoxy. Because the central concept of Taoism is "reason", it is also called "Neo-Confucianism", and Zhou Dunyi is regarded as the originator of Taoism (Neo-Confucianism) by later generations. Later generations summarized his contribution to ideological philosophy as "the heart inherits Confucius and Mencius, and the Tao starts from Zhu". Hu Hong's "A Brief Introduction to the General Book" said: "The Cheng brothers did not tell wonders this week. The light of the ages is like a sunny day, benefiting Yu Yongsheng like running water, and the merits and demerits are covered between Confucius and Mencius." The reason why Zhou Dunyi has such a high position in history is closely related to his personality, handling affairs and knowledge.
First, innocence and integrity
Huang Tingjian, a writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, once commented on Zhou Dunyi in the Preface to Xi Poems of Ji Lian in yu zhang: "Zhou Maoshu, who is in Fuling, has a very high personality and no distractions, like a romantic moon." It can be seen that Zhou Dunyi's character is very noble and praised by people at that time. Zhou Dunyi is innocent and upright, and his name goes down in history. Here is an example of a story recorded in the history of the Song Dynasty. According to the biography of Zhou Dunyi in the Song Dynasty, "Zhou Dunyi took Zheng, a bachelor of Longtuge, as the grading master book. If you stay in prison for a long time, you will make up your mind. People in the city were surprised and said,' The old official is not as good as you. Our emissary recommended that the commander of Nan 'an Army join the army. If a prisoner dies unjustly, transshipment makes Wang Kui want to treat him deeply. Wei Xiao is a fierce official and dare not argue. Dunyi argued with him alone, but refused to listen, so he entrusted the handwritten version to be returned, abandoned the official and left, saying,' That's so decent! I won't kill and flatter others. "If you are enlightened, you will be free from jail. "That is to say, when Zhou Dunyi first entered Ren Fenning's official career book, there was a case in Fenning County, which could not be finalized for a long time. After Zhou Dunyi arrived at the case, he was pronounced immediately after the trial. Therefore, people in Fenning County are amazed that even the old collectors are not as good as Zhou Dunyi, so Zhou Dunyi is also recommended to be transferred to Nan 'an Army Manager to join the army. After Zhou Dunyi took office, he happened to encounter a case, that is, a prisoner died unjustly, but his luck made Wang Kui intend to severely sentence the prisoner. Wang Kui was a famous and cruel official at that time, and no one dared to argue with him. Only Zhou Dunyi and his theory, but Wang Kui didn't listen, so Zhou Dunyi left the Water Bureau and prepared to resign and go home, saying, "Can you still be an official?" I won't do anything to please others by killing people! "Wang Kui repented and changed his major, so the prisoner was exempted from the death penalty. From this story, we can not only see Zhou Dunyi's extraordinary ability to handle affairs, but also see his naive, upright, firm view of right and wrong and unflattering personality, which makes him shine in history. Zhou Dunyi once said: "I don't know how tired things are, and the official is better than the dream." "This is actually a true portrayal of his career for more than 30 years.
Second, to be honest and clean.
Zhou Dunyi once commented in Love Lotus that the lotus "emerges from the mud but is not stained, clear but not demon". In fact, this is Zhou Dunyi's motto as an official, and he has been practicing this value all his life. Pu Zongmeng's Tomb Inscription of Mr. Lianxi in the Northern Song Dynasty recorded such a story: "Today, Zhao Gong, the bachelor of the Prime Minister's Hall, is the messenger, and the villain is in the king. Zhao Gong is confused, but he still suspects that you do. Jia Youzhong, transferred to Dr. Guo Zi, was sentenced to Ganzhou. When Zhao Gong became religious, he knew what you had done. He holds your hand and says,' I've lost you several times! Today, I met Zhou Maoshu. In other words, Zhao Bian, who was known as the "tough suggestion" in the Northern Song Dynasty, was the messenger (assessing the political achievements of local officials). At that time, a villain secretly slandered Zhou Dunyi, and Zhao Bian was puzzled. When I left, I still suspected that Zhou Dunyi was wrong; Later, Zhou Dunyi was appointed as a former state official judge, and it happened that Zhao Bian was appointed as a former state magistrate. Zhao Bian carefully observed Zhou Dunyi's movements and knew that he had misunderstood Zhou Dunyi because of misinformation. He held Zhou Dunyi's hand tightly and said, "I almost lost you! Today I know who Zhou Maoshu is! " So, Zhao Bian and Zhou Dunyi became friends. Later, Zhao Bian twice asked the court to use Zhou Dunyi. On another occasion, Zhou Dunyi served as the transfer judge of Guangnan East Road and raised some criminal supervision. During this period, he went out to inspect all parts of Guangdong step by step, taking it as his responsibility to clear up grievances. He walked to Duanzhou step by step, only to know that Du Zi, the magistrate of Duanzhou, was in charge of the official business of Duanyan under the guise of the imperial court, colluded with Duanzhou officials, monopolized the mining, processing and trading of inkstone, competed with the people for profits, falsely accused a large number of craftsmen of being bandits, and was called "Du Shiwan" by the locals. Zhou Dunyi did his duty and pleaded for the people. Last week, the court approved that no more than two pieces of Duanzhou inkstones should be taken by officials in Duanzhou in the future, forcing the Duanzhou government to cancel the Duanzhou inkstone official camp and make the mining rights of inkstones belong to the local people. This incident became a monument in the history of the development of Duanyan, and was called "Zhou Dunyi's treatment of Duanyan greed in the Northern Song Dynasty" by later generations. As an official, Zhou Dunyi loves the people and thinks for them. "There are more than 90 cities in the south of the Yangtze River, and there is nothing like a gentleman." "The sage and gentleman of Shu don't like to call it". Even when he was working in Guangdong, which was considered a pretty place at that time, he went to various places to avenge his grievances. "You watch it with the court, work hard and feel the calendar. You are not afraid of diligence in and out, and you are not afraid of the invasion of poison. Although it is a cliff and an outlying island, people have nowhere to go. They all look down on Xu's press and take it as their responsibility to clear their grievances. " Therefore, Zhou Dunyi was honest and upright when he was an official, which was well known and praised by people at that time.
Third, distinguish between right and wrong.
Zhou Dunyi has a clear distinction between right and wrong. He is charitable and gives help to his relatives and friends. He is never tactful or greedy. Pan Xingsi's Epitaph of Mr. Lianxi in the Northern Song Dynasty said: "You are loyal and righteous, and you are proud of your self-discipline. Chen Shouping knows a gentleman best. He not only recommends him, but also gives him what he doesn't give. At the beginning of Taiping, the son was still young, so you should protect him from mourning and bury him. Scholar-officials' knowledge and ignorance of the monarch's style all mean that the monarch said,' He is the one who can bury the Lord. You support yourself. To be honest, the salary you get is given to the clan and the rest to the guests. Those who don't know think that a good name is good, and you are rich in it. When I was in Nanchang, I died suddenly, and I began to sue one day and one night. There are only a handful of things that serve the royal family, less than 100, which makes people have to admire. I'll give it to you myself. "In other words, Zhou Dunyi integrity, honor; When Li Chuping, the magistrate of Chenzhou, knew Zhou Dunyi best, he once recommended him and supplemented his lack of funds. Later, when Li Chuping died and his son was still young, Zhou Dunyi escorted Li Chuping's coffin for burial. At that time, the literati heard about Zhou Dunyi's weather vane, and whether they knew him or not, they all rated him as "the owner who could be buried with him." Zhou Dunyi lived a simple life, and his salary as an official was basically distributed to clans and guests. People who don't know think he likes to be famous, but he takes it in stride; When Zhou Dunyi was working in Nanchang, he was seriously ill once. It took him a day and a night to wake up. He was poor when his friends saw his home. "You have to pay for the royal things, and the money is less than 100", so "people can't help but admire", which was witnessed by his friend Pan Xingsi. Although Zhou Dunyi was helpful and gave all his wealth to his clan and friends, he was very rational and never allowed unreasonable demands from relatives and friends. It is said that once, Zhou Dunyi's nephew Zhou came to his office, hoping that Zhou Dunyi could help him seek benefits, but Zhou Dunyi flatly refused. Before leaving, Zhou Dunyi also asked him to bring back his calligraphy poem "I sent my hometown old customs" to show his hometown elders and show his personal wishes: "I was born with a cold bone, and my official situation will not change." Stop drinking fragrant mash and lift the ordinary dish and mussel. I don't know the fatigue of things, and the official is better than the dream soul. My old friend wants to ask me what else, because the Taoist tomb is just ordinary. "Although Zhou Dunyi refused his nephew's request, he gave him some money and cloth before he left, which shows that Zhou Dunyi handled the relationship between career and family very well in the face of right and wrong. Zhou Dunyi has his unique personality in dealing with people, so he is deeply respected by people of his time. Even Su Shi, a great writer of his time, spoke highly of him: "It is a corner for a gentleman to retire honestly with virtue; Because I threw away Peng Zemi, I was like Xishan Fu. "
Fourth, knowledgeable and talented.
Zhou Dunyi was rigorous in his studies and rich in knowledge. He deeply studied traditional knowledge (Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism) and combined them to create a new academic school-Neo-Confucianism. Zhou Dunyi wrote Taiji Illustrated Book and General Book, which became the philosophical central theory and ideological source of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties. According to the biography of Zhou Dunyi, the history of the Song Dynasty, "When Cheng Jun was in Nan 'an, he passed on military sentences, regarded his appearance as very human, and learned from his language. Because they are friends, they make the second son feel uncomfortable, eager to learn from his career and urge him to find what he likes in Confucius' music venue. This is the origin of his research. Therefore, Hao said:' See Uncle Zhou Maoshu again, singing the wind home, which means' Me and Point'. Hou Shi Sheng studied in Cheng Yi, but he didn't realize it. He visited Dunyi, and Dunyi said,' I am old and can't tell you anything. Stay on the sofa and chat at night, and return it in three days. I was surprised and said,' You're not from Uncle Zhou Mao, are you? It is good at developing human beings. "That is to say, when Zhou Dunyi was working in Nan 'an, Cheng Jun was sentenced to military service. As soon as Cheng Jun saw Zhou Dunyi's unusual appearance, he knew that he was a knowledgeable man, so he sent his two sons, Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, to study in Zhou Dunyi's place. Zhou Dunyi often looked for Cheng Cheng to discuss what Confucius and Yan Hui liked in those years. Cheng Cheng's learning originated from this, so Hao Cheng felt influenced by it. Later, after the second trip, Hou studied in Cheng Yi, but he was not enlightened, so he went to visit Zhou Dunyi, a teacher in Cheng Yi. Zhou Dunyi said to Hou Shi Sheng, "I am old and can't tell you anything." So he Liu Hou went to the couch to talk at night. Three days later, Hou returned to Cheng Yi. Cheng Yi saw that he was knowledgeable and exclaimed, "Did you learn from Zhou Maoshu?" This shows that Zhou Dunyi is good at developing people's minds. Zhou Dunyi's Neo-Confucianism inherited and developed the Neo-Confucianism of Cheng Er to Zhu in the Southern Song Dynasty, and became an outstanding scholar during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Zhou Dunyi himself is recognized by academic circles as the originator of Neo-Confucianism, as a master who directly inherited the Tao of Confucius and Mencius in the history of Confucian development, and as "one after Confucius and Mencius". Zhu once commented on Zhou Dunyi: "A thousand years of Daoism prospered my Song Dynasty, and the eternal master was the first." Huang Zongxi, a adherent of the Ming Dynasty, once took Confucianism in the Song Dynasty as an example: "After Confucius, Confucianism in the Han Dynasty only learned to pass on the classics, and naturally it has been a long time. The rise of Cheng Cheng's successor Yuan Gong ... If we discuss the subtleties of mind, nature and justice, we will break the darkness of several Yuan Gong. "
Zhou Dunyi was born on the fifth day of May in the first year of Song Tianxi, and finally on June 7th in the sixth year of Song Xining. On that year 1 1 month 2 1 day, Zhou Dunyi was at the left of the mother's tomb of qingquanshe, Dehua Township, Dehua County, and Pan Xingsi and Pu Zongmeng wrote an epitaph and set up a tomb for him. Zhou Dunyi, the daughter of a doctor from the Ministry of War, was named King of Jinyun County and gave birth to Zhou Shou. Pu Zongmeng's sister, Pu, who became a bachelor of Hanlin, was sealed in Deqing County Army and gave birth to Zhou Tao. At present, there is a tomb in Lianxi District, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province, namely the tomb of Zhou Dunyi, his mother Zheng, his wife Lu and Pu. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the "Lianxi Ancient Cinnamomum camphora" in the tomb was one of the famous "eight scenic spots in Jiangzhou". Zhou Dunyi's descendants are prosperous and widely distributed in Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and other provinces as well as Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and other places. Zhou Dunyi is the pioneer of Huxiang culture and the originator of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties. His Lian Xue is the first of the four Neo-Confucianism schools (Lian, Luo, Guan and Min). One of the five sons of the Northern Song Dynasty, seven sages of Shigu, and one of the top ten outstanding figures of Huxiang culture. In fact, Zhou Dunyi, Zhou Bangyan and Zhou Bida in the Song Dynasty were all giants and leading figures in the literary world at that time, which had a far-reaching influence on China culture in the Song Dynasty and later. After Zhou Dunyi's death, he was honored as the "Taoist Master" because of his integrity, incorruptibility, honest work and profound knowledge, which met the standards of virtue, merit and longevity. After Zhou Dunyi's death, the court posthumously awarded Dr. Jiading for thirteen years and named him "Yuan". In the first year of Chunyou, Ru Nanbo and Confucius Temple were sealed, and the Yuan Dynasty sealed Dao Guogong. Therefore, emperors of all dynasties revered Zhou Dunyi.
Now, Mr. Zhou Dunyi's 105 birthday is coming. On this special day, we should remember Zhou Dunyi, learn from his qualities in dealing with people, and pass on the culture created by ancient sages forever.
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