How did Zhu Xi gradually become a Neo-Confucian master from an unknown person?
In the fourth year of Jianyan's reign, he was born in Nanxi Academy, which is now near Sanming City, Fujian Province. The academy has also been renovated by later generations and is a famous scenic spot nearby. When he was born, there were seven black moles at the corner of his right eye, like a Big Dipper. His parents invited a nearby Feng Shui master to read his face. The teacher looked at his face for a long time and said to his parents: This son will definitely be a good boy in the future. Become a great weapon. This made his parents very happy, so they taught him to read and recite poems since he was a child. He also showed extraordinary intelligence and could understand everything at once, which made his parents very happy.
In the seventh year of Shaoxing, his father was called to Beijing. Before entering Beijing, he and his mother were placed in Pucheng, Jianzhou. Although his father was not around, he still maintained the habit of never letting go of his books. He was immersed in books all day long. Five years later, his father died of illness. Before his death, he entrusted him to his good friend Liu Ziyu. His father also wrote to several friends with outstanding academic qualities, hoping that they could teach him. His son, these literary giants all agreed! Liu Ziyu was very kind to his family, and treated Zhu Xi as his own. He took his old friends' family to his side to take care of him, and built a house next to his home for them to live in, named Ziyang Tower. .
At the age of 17 and 18 in Shaoxing, he passed the Gongsheng examination and was admitted to Jinshi one year later. Then he began his short official career. He served as the chief secretary of Tong'an for four years. During his term of office, he advocated using Confucian thought to govern Tong'an. During his term of office, he also advocated the spread of Confucian thought. Four years later, he resigned after his term expired, but he felt that his talents and learning were not sophisticated enough. , so he decided to restart his academic journey. He decided to become a disciple of Li Dong, a disciple of Liang Cheng, to improve his knowledge and explore the way to govern the country. From Li Dong, he learned the orthodox thoughts of Liang Cheng, which was very important to him. The later improvement of Neo-Confucianism played an important role.
After accepting the ideas of the two ministers, he decided to start engaging in educational activities. In the 32nd year of Shaoxing, the emperor asked the subjects of the world how to govern the country. He was called to write a letter advocating anti-peace war. He also advocated opposing Taoism and Buddhism, which was appreciated by the emperor, so he was called into the Chui Gong Hall and presented three letters to the emperor. He urged the court at that time to fight with Jin Li and oppose peace, but the peace within the court was helpless. The power was too strong and his ideas were not adopted. Later, he was appointed as a doctor of the Imperial College, but he did not accept it and resigned and returned to his hometown.
In the fifth year of Qiandao's reign, his mother passed away. He built Hanquan Jingshe to guard his mother's tomb. From then on, he began a six-year writing period in Hanquan. During the six years of guarding his mother's tomb, he He made many initiatives and was praised by later generations. In the seventh year of Qiandao, he built a "shecang" in Wufu. Together with the local squire, he borrowed 600 shi of rice from the government and lent it to the government when there was a famine. To help the victims tide over the difficulties, and then return the borrowed rice and millet when the farmers harvest in winter, and charge two cents of interest. If there is a minor famine, the interest will be halved. If there is a major disaster, the interest will be waived. This move It has achieved great success, effectively solving the problem of farmers being at a loss when encountering famines, and also easing the pressure on the court during famines. Within ten years, all the rice grains lent by the government were returned, and rice storage warehouses were also built to alleviate the pressure on the people. Because of the good effects achieved here, this move began to be imitated by various places. This is very important. It solved the people's famine problem and eased the pressure on the court, and was loved by everyone.
In the fifth year of Chunxi Emperor Xiaozong appointed him to supervise the internal affairs of the Nankang Army. After he took office, there was a severe drought and the people were in dire straits. He immediately started building water conservancy projects to combat the disaster. At the same time, he also requested the court to reduce taxes for local disaster victims, which was well received by the local people. In October, Zhu Xi found the abandoned site of Bailudong Academy through the guidance of a woodcutter while traveling, so he decided to start teaching again.
He first set out to repair the academy, then invited famous teachers, enriched the academy with books, and purchased school fields to support poor students. He also personally formulated academic rules to discipline his students. This is the earliest academic standard in the world. Then he started his lecturing career in the academy. At that time, many students came here to accept his teachings, and he spared no effort to teach them his thoughts! When he was fifty-two years old, he successfully completed the annotations on the Four Books. This move played an important role in the dissemination of Confucius and Mencius' thoughts. The Four Books he annotated also became an important part of the imperial examinations in later generations, which can be said to be a great contribution. .
In the second year of Qingyuan, the famous "Party Ban" incident occurred in the Song Dynasty. Shen Jizu confused the right and wrong and charged him with ten major crimes, leaving him helpless and imprisoned, and his knowledge was also criticized by the people at that time. It was called pseudo-study and students were forbidden to study. In the fifth year of Qingyuan, he was plagued by illness and felt that his life was not long, so he accelerated his studies. However, this accelerated the worsening of his illness. In the spring of the next year, this great The thinker died in prison, and after receiving the news of his death, all his students cried in grief, and thousands of people came to see him off on the way to his funeral! And we in future generations will always remember this person!