Is Zhu Xi Zhu Zi?

Yes.

Zhu Xi was born in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Xi’s life:

The Chinese have a tradition of deifying great men and creating a halo for them. Therefore, when a great person is born, there will always be auspicious signs. A well-known example is that the mother of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, met the gods in a dream during a dark night of thunder and lightning, and saw a dragon on top of her. As a result, she became pregnant and gave birth to Liu Bang. This is a famous example.

The birth of Zhu Zi is associated with the auspicious purple air. It is said that on the day Zhu Zi was born, in a well in the old house of Wuyuan, Zhu's former residence, the purple mist that suddenly rose continued to rise and condensed into a beautiful cloud in the sky. It did not slowly dissipate until Zhu Zi was born. This ancient well, which foreshadowed good luck, was later called the "Hong Kong Well", and it still lies quietly among the densely populated houses in Wuyuan County. The signs that Wuyuan would produce a great cultural figure were revealed as early as 100 years before Zhu Zi was born. On Furong Mountain outside Wuyuan County, Mrs. Cheng, the fourth grandmother of Zhu Zi, is buried. One day, two worldly masters passed by this mountain. As soon as they entered the mountain pass, a fragrant aroma hit their nostrils, which made them feel strange. One of them said that this mountain has excellent geomantic omen, and that among those buried here in 100 years, their descendants will have a peerless beauty and become a queen, because he smelled the aroma of rouge. But another person had a different opinion. He said, "What I smell is the fragrance of calligraphy and ink. In 100 years, a saint will appear from this person's descendants." Sure enough, 100 years later, Cheng's fourth grandson Zhuzi was born. Later, Zhu Zi was awarded a Jinshi title and returned home. He personally went to Furong Mountain to pay homage to the tomb of his fourth grandmother and planted 24 cedar trees. Mrs. Cheng's tomb is now well preserved. There are now 16 ancient fir trees planted by Zhu Zi, and they have already grown into towering trees that can only be hugged by several people. In order to commemorate Zhu Zi and that beautiful legend, people renamed Furong Mountain "Wengong Mountain". These somewhat bizarre legends are of course unsubstantiated, but Zhu Xi already showed extraordinary talent and enthusiasm for exploring the truth in his childhood, and I am afraid they are not the fiction of future generations. Zhu Xi started learning Chinese at the age of 4. One day, his father pointed to the sky and told him that this was "Heaven". His son, who didn't want to babbling, actually asked him: "What is in the sky?" This really surprised the father. When he was 6 years old, when other children only played on the river beach, he sat on the beach alone and drew gossip. Later, people called this sandbank in Youxi "Huagua Island".

Youxi is located in the hinterland of Fujian. Zhu Song once served as a county captain here, and later lived here and gave birth to Zhu Xi. Zhu Song's origin is Wuyuan, ancient Huizhou. This is a famous family name with a long history. Zhu Huai, who was revered by Zhu Xi as his first ancestor, led 3,000 troops to garrison Wuyuan under the orders of Shi Taoya under Tang Tianyouzhong (904-907). He settled here and was later appointed as an official in charge of tea administration. However, when the family came into the hands of the seventh generation grandson Zhu Sen, it was completely defeated and unable to recover. Zhu Sen's son, Zhu Song, became an official by studying hard and became an official in Fujian, and finally settled in Fujian.

Zhu Xi’s childhood was spent in the flames of war. His father, Zhu Song, was driven into hiding in Tibet by the war and lost his official position several times. Later, due to his opposition to Qin Hui's peace policy, he was hit and completely lost his future as an official. Therefore, he placed all his hopes on his son Zhu Xi. He used strict Confucian dogma to discipline his son and train him to become a learned Confucian. Zhu Song was deeply influenced by the Neo-Confucianism of Er Cheng (Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao). Both he and Li Tong studied under Cheng Yi's protégé Luo Congyan. When he summarized his academic thoughts in his later years, he said that in his early years, he traveled to the capital to study, studied Juziwen, and devoted himself to the study of Ci and Zhang. After the fifth year of Yihe (1123), he studied under Luo Congyan and began to hear about Heluo studies. From then on, he abandoned his old studies and devoted himself to the history of the Six Classics and the Second Cheng Neo-Confucianism. As a child, Zhu Xi grew up under the influence of his father's Neo-Confucianism. When he was eight or nine years old, he read "The Great Learning", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius" every day without interruption. When I read "Mencius: Bian Qiu Zhang", I understood what Confucius said: "Benevolence is far away. I want to be benevolent, and this is the end of benevolence." That is to work hard and do things without giving up. can succeed. So he was very angry about his own pursuit of knowledge. When I was 10 years old, when I read "Sages are the same as me" in "Mencius", "I couldn't help but think that it would be easy for a saint to do it". From then on, I established my life goal of being a "sage" as an example.

When Zhu Xi was 14 years old, his father Zhu Song became ill due to overwork and unfortunately died in his prime, leaving Zhu Xi's mother and son orphaned.

Before his death, Zhu Song did not forget to entrust him with his funeral arrangements, especially his son’s studies and future. He said to Zhu Xi on his sickbed: "These three gentlemen, Hu Zhai from Jixi, Liu Mianzhi from Baishui, and Liu Zihui from Pingshan, are my good friends. Their knowledge is related to each other and I am in awe of them. I am going to die." You should treat them as your own father and only listen to their words. In this case, I will die without regrets." At the same time, he wrote to Liu Zihui to support his wife and son. After Zhu Song's death, Liu Zihui took Zhu Xi's mother and son from Jian'ou to Wufuli, which opened the curtain of Zhu Xi's life under the shelter of others.

After arriving in Wufuli, Zhu Xi entered Liu's family school and studied under Mr. San. Here, he received a strict and comprehensive Confucian education, which laid the foundation for his future academic development.

While teaching Confucian classics, Mr. San also instilled Buddhist and Lao ideas into Zhu Xi from time to time. The mixing and mixing of Confucian and Buddhist thoughts was a common phenomenon in the cultural and ideological circles at that time. The decline of Confucianism and social turmoil made helpless intellectuals look to Buddhism and Taoism for spiritual comfort and a way out. Under this kind of cultural thought, it is not surprising that Mr. San liked Buddhism and Laoism, mixed Confucianism with Buddhism and Taoism, and taught this Confucianism, which is full of Zen ideas and mystical principles, to Zhu Xi. The influence of Buddhism and Taoism that Zhu Xi received in his youth made him obsessed with the classics of Buddhism and Taoism and the sermons of Zen masters for a long period of time, and he was unable to extricate himself. But this also prepared the conditions for him to integrate Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in the future and establish New Confucianism.

In the autumn of 1147, a "township tribute" was held in Jianzhou. Examiner Cai Zi discovered among a group of candidates that "the three policies of one candidate were all intended to deal with major events for the imperial court." He asserted that this man "will definitely be very ordinary in the future." This candidate is 18-year-old Zhu Xi.

In the second year, Zhu Xi was awarded Jinshi again. Three years later (1151), he was awarded the title of Zuodi Gonglang and was appointed as the chief registrar of Tong'an County, Quanzhou.

Zhu Xi, who had just entered his official career, was very ambitious in bringing Qi to peace and peace in the world. At the same time, he did not stop his pursuit of knowledge and truth at all. He is seeking to improve and deepen his academic thinking. On the eve of Tong'an taking office, he made a special trip to visit his father's "comrade" Li Tong. Li Tong and Zhu Song once studied under Luo Congyan, Cheng Yi's second disciple. Zhu Xi met Li Dong and worshiped him as his teacher, which determined the transformation of Zhu Xi's academic thought from a mixture of Confucianism and Buddhism to pure Confucianism, and also made him truly a direct disciple of Ercheng Neo-Confucianism. From then on, Zhu Xi, who had the goal of revitalizing Confucianism and the inheritance of Taoism as his own responsibility, appeared on the big stage of the history of Chinese culture and thought, and performed a live drama that was both evocative and evocative.

In 1162, Emperor Gaozong Zhaogou of the peace faction announced his abdication, and Xiaozong Zhao, who supported the anti-Jin Dynasty, succeeded to the throne. The new emperor wanted to make a difference, so he issued an edict shortly after he ascended the throne asking him to speak out. Zhu Xi seemed to see the hope of resisting the Jin Dynasty and saving the country from this new monarch, so he actively responded to the call, went to "address matters" to speak out on politics, and put forward three suggestions for revitalizing the imperial court and restoring the Central Plains: 1. "The study of emperors is indispensable." Speak familiarly." 2. "The plan to repair the conflict must be decided early." 3. “The original place cannot be neglected.” That is to ask Zhao to use Confucianism as the theoretical guide for governing the country and bring peace to the world, to repair political affairs and eliminate barbarians as major national policies, to rectify the political agenda and select talents as the breakthrough point to eliminate bad governance, so as to enrich the country and strengthen the army, resist foreign aggression, and restore the country. Central Plains. In this "confidence", Zhu Xi's social and political thoughts first emerged, and he showed a strong and resolute idea of ​​war and anti-peace.

After that, Zhu Xi was recruited by the imperial court to serve as local chief executive many times. However, he did not intend to be an official, so he resigned many times and concentrated on academic research and teaching. History books say that the total number of days he served as an official abroad was only 9 years, and he was in the central government for only 40 days. But even in these short nine years, Zhu Xi's political achievements were outstanding.

In 1178, Zhu Xi learned about the Nankang army. Just in this year, the Nankang Army suffered a drought that had never happened in a century. Zhu Xi showed outstanding administrative talents in leading this large-scale famine relief. His meticulous and meticulous famine relief measures, his daring work style, and his indomitable fighting spirit finally lifted the victims out of their desperate situation. History books say that he "lived many lives", and the people praised him as "the most innocent person in politics". When Zhu Xi was a local official, he vigorously promoted two reform measures to benefit the people: one was "setting up social warehouses" and the other was "zhengjingjie".

"Shecang" was used to provide disaster relief and famine relief, so that poor farmers could avoid being exploited by usurious loans; "Zhengjingjie" was to eradicate the disadvantages of land annexation by wealthy people and bureaucratic landlords. When Zhu Xi was an official, wherever he went, he never forgot to build schools, promote education, and gather disciples to give lectures. During his stay in Nankang, he restored the long-abandoned Bailudong Academy and formulated academic rules for the academy. On the day when the academy officially opened lectures, he gave lectures to the students in person. Every day off, he always went to Bailu Cave to discuss and debate with the students and answer their questions. At the age of 64, Zhu Xi was appointed as the pacifier of Jinghu South Road in Zhitan Prefecture. Shortly after taking office, he immediately began to restore Yuelu Academy. According to records, Zhu Xi handled government affairs during the day and worked hard; at night, he discussed academic matters with the students in the academy and answered questions without feeling tired. His lectures were down to earth, pragmatic, current, cordial and sincere, which moved the students who attended the lecture. For a time, Yuelu Academy became a holy place for Sanxiang scholars to inquire and study the classics. "More than a thousand scholars gathered together, each questioning their doubts and discussing tirelessly." (Volume 11 of "Guangxu Shanhua County Chronicle")

In addition, Zhu Xi also founded Wuyi Jingshe, Kaoting Academy, etc. Everywhere, he would establish academies, and when he was an official, he would rectify county schools and cultivate a large number of talents for Neo-Confucianism.

Zhu Xi’s life was mainly a life of academic research and writing of books. If formally accepting Li Dong as his disciple in 1160 marked the beginning of Zhu Xi's path to Neo-Confucianism, then in the next 40 years of his academic career, there were several important connections and links in his academic thoughts and activities.

In 1168, "Cheng's Posthumous Letters" was compiled. This is a book compiled by Zhu Xi about what Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao and their students "saw, heard and answered questions". Er Cheng was the founder of Neo-Confucianism. After Zhu Zi entered Confucianism from a mixture of Buddhism and Taoism, he first set out to sort out Er Cheng's writings and teachings, with good intentions. Er Cheng's life was more than a hundred years away from Zhu Zi's time, and many of their remarks and writings have been changed by later generations. Zhu Zi believed that the essence of the teachings of the founders of Neo-Confucianism had been distorted, and "if even the slightest mistake was made, the absurdity would be unspeakable." (Chronicles of Zhuzi, Volume 1, Part 1) Therefore, the revitalization of Neo-Confucianism must start from its roots. He emphasized that when reading Cheng Zi's book, "Sincerity can establish its foundation with respect, exhaust the principles to advance its knowledge, make the foundation established and the knowledge will be brighter, and the knowledge will be refined and the foundation will be strengthened. Then in daily use, you will be able to gain knowledge." It depends on the teacher's intention, but he can sit down and judge the transmission of doubts and beliefs." ("Chronicle of Zhu Zi", Volume 1, Part 1)

In 1170, when Zhu Zi was 41 years old, his mother, Mrs. Zhu, passed away. Zhu Xi built the Hanquan Jingshe at his mother's grave, firstly to observe the three-year mourning period, secondly to welcome scholars who wanted to study, and thirdly to devote himself to writing. The years of Hanquan Jingshe were the years when the scholars made great progress in their knowledge and had a good harvest of writings.

First of all, he completed the construction of the basic theoretical framework of philosophy in his own Neo-Confucian system. The writing and publication of "Explanation of Tai Chi Diagram", "Explanation of Xi Ming" and "Explanation of Tongshu" are important signs of the completion of this construction.

Secondly, he began to compile the "Collected Commentary on the Four Books" and began to reconstruct the Confucian classic system.

Third, he completed the historical masterpieces that marked his own unique Neo-Confucian historiography system - "Tongjian Gangmu", "Records of the Words and Deeds of Famous Officials of the Eight Dynasties" and the first school of thought in Chinese academic history , a monograph on academic origins "Yi Luo Yuan Lu".

Fourth, he collaborated with Lu Zuqian to complete the first philosophical anthology in Chinese history, "Records of Modern Thoughts". This is a ladder and introductory book of Neo-Confucianism, as well as a summary of Zhu Zi’s thoughts over the past few years since he wrote Hanquan Jingshe. In this book, he borrowed the language of Zhou Dunyi, Er Cheng, and Zhang Zai to express his own Neo-Confucian system in a concise and sophisticated manner. This book later became the most basic textbook on Zhu Xi's studies.

In 1194, Guangzong entered Zen, and Ningzong Zhao Kuo ascended the throne. In order to "win the hearts of the people in the world" (Volume 26 of Meigui Collection), Zhao Kuo adopted the recommendation of Prime Minister Zhao Ruyu and appointed Zhu Xi as the minister and lecturer of Huanzhang Pavilion. The ministerial lecturer in the Song Dynasty was a very special official position, and his task was to study history, lecture on classics and meanings, and prepare advisers for the emperor. Obviously, this was a good opportunity to get close to the emperor and exert influence over him. However, Zhao Kuo was not a monarch who really wanted to learn how to govern the country from Neo-Confucianism. His purpose in recruiting Zhu Xi to his subordinates was just to whitewash peace and improve appearance. Therefore, when Zhu Xi, as the emperor's teacher, once preached to him "the art of the emperor", asked him to "be honest, sincere, sincere, tolerant", and asked him to study and understand, the new monarch An instinctive revulsion immediately arose. He felt that Zhu Xi was a nosy and boastful scholar.

So an edict was issued to expel the great Confucian, who was regarded as "the best man in the world" by the ministers, from the palace. At this time, it was only 40 days before Zhu Xi entered the palace to give lectures.

When Zhu Xi was a lecturer, he went on several occasions to comment on politics. He advocated limiting the power of the monarch, opposed Jin Xi's interference in government affairs, opposed ministers acting exclusively for their own interests, and opposed the arbitrary dictatorship of the monarch. This not only caused the emperor's rebellion, but also caused dissatisfaction with the careerist Han Zhou who entered the government through nepotism and became arbitrary. This triggered a well-planned political persecution, with Zhu Xi and his school as the main target.

In December 1196, Zhu Xi was dismissed from office. His scholarship was denounced as "pseudo-science", and some people even wrote a letter demanding that Zhu Xi be killed as a Taoist scholar. Zhu Xi's student Cai Yuanding was also dismissed from office and exiled. Zhu Xi's works were destroyed and banned. For a time, dark clouds fell over the city and the public opinion became fierce. In 1197, the "Pseudo-Xue Nijue Ji" was also published, in which 4 prime ministers, 44 ministers, 3 military ministers, 88 scholars, and 59 emperors were blacklisted.

Under such cruel political pressure, Zhu Xi showed the fearless spirit of a pure Confucian who was unfazed by chaos and detached from others. In 1194, he retired from the capital to Jianyang, Fujian Province. He lived in the picturesque Kaoting and built the Bamboo Forest Jingshe (later named Cangzhou Jingshe). He continued to gather his disciples to give lectures and spread Neo-Confucianism. When someone told him that the imperial court was strictly prohibiting Taoism, and someone wrote a letter asking for his death, he laughed it off and said: "Death, life, misfortune, and blessings have been ignored for a long time, so there is no need to worry about it." ("Chronicle of Zhu Zi" Volume 4 Part 2) At the same time , he still devoted himself to writing and kept writing. In the short four years between his dismissal from office and his return to his hometown until his death, he completed the following works: "Comprehensive Interpretation of the Classics of Rites and Rites", "Hanwen Kaoji Biography" (not all completed, later completed by Cai Chen), "Collected Commentary on the Songs of Chu" and "Afterwords" , Dialectics". Until the day of his death, he was still revising the "University·Chapter of Sincerity".

At noon on the ninth day of March in 1200, Zhu Xi, a generation of cultural giants, finally completed his tortuous and glorious path of theoretical thinking, and passed away with regret and humiliation.

However, the legacy he left behind is indeed an ode to humanism that will never die and a path of Neo-Confucian culture that will never end. As time goes by, his doctrines, thoughts, and theories increasingly show special value that transcends time and history.

Shortly after Han Zhou's death, Zhu Xi was rehabilitated by Zhaoxue and his reputation was restored. He was given the posthumous title "Wen" and was honored as "Zhu Wengong" from then on. In 1227, Lizong issued an edict saying: "I observe Zhu Xi's annotations on "The Great Learning", "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius" and "The Doctrine of the Mean", bringing into play the hidden meanings of the sages and supplementing the way of governance." Since then, Zhu Xi has been continuously praised by rulers of all dynasties. His works were listed as official textbooks for the imperial examinations, and his portraits were included in the Confucius Temple for worship.