It is a famous saying by Zhang Zai, a great figure in the Northern Song Dynasty. Contemporary philosopher Feng Youlan calls it the "Four Sentences of Hengqu". Because of its simplicity and grandeur, it has always been praised by people.

"Hengqu Four Sentences" comes from Zhang Zai's "Hengqu Quotations". The original text is as follows: "Establish a heart for the heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, carry on the unique knowledge for the saints, and create peace for all generations." Translation: Establish the mind of birth and rebirth for the world, point out a road for the common people to follow, inherit the knowledge that Confucius and Mencius and other previous saints did not pass on, and create a foundation of eternal peace for future generations of the world.

Zhang Zai (1020-December 6, 1077), courtesy name Zihou, was a thinker, educator and one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty. . He is known as Mr. Hengqu in the world, and is honored as Zhang Zi. He is honored as a sage and is enshrined in the 38th place in the west veranda of the Confucius Temple. His famous sayings of "establishing a heart for the heaven and earth, establishing a destiny for the people, carrying forward the unique knowledge for the saints, and creating peace for all generations" were called "Four Hengqu Sentences" by contemporary philosopher Feng Youlan. Because of their simplicity and grand meaning, they have been praised throughout the ages. Extended information

The "Four Sentences of Hengqu" include the following meanings:

1. "Establish a heart for heaven and earth." Cheng Mingdao said: "Heaven and earth have no heart, only living things are the heart." He also said: "Heaven and earth are transformed without a heart." Heaven and earth have no heart, but people have a heart. The human heart is the heart that enables people to be born with the heart of a benevolent person who loves and helps others, and the heart of a saint who is impartial and impartial.

In fact, the heart of compassion is the heart of being intolerant of others, which is Confucius's "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you," which is the starting point of benevolence. Mr. Ma Yifu summed it up by saying: "As a scholar, one should not seek benevolence, love benevolence and not be benevolent. To be able to do this is to establish a heart for the world."

2. "To establish a destiny for the sake of life and the people." ”, directly derived from Mencius’ thought of “establishing destiny”. "Mencius. There is a saying in "Exerting the Heart": "He who has exhausted his heart knows his nature. If he knows his nature, he knows the heaven. Preserve his heart and nourish his nature, so he serves the heaven. When he is young and his life is long, he must cultivate his body in time, so ”

Through self-cultivation and teaching, if you can finally reach a state where you can maintain your own integrity regardless of whether your life span is long or short, then this life will be perfect. The individual can be said to have settled down and settled down. Zhang Zai's statement of "establishing a destiny for the sake of the people" actually means "establishing a destiny" for the "people and our compatriots". The foundation of destiny lies in teaching, and "cultivation of the Tao is called teaching", and this is what it means.

3. "To carry forward the unique learning for the saints", so those who "went to the saints" are the ancient Confucians represented by Confucius and Mencius; As far as Confucianism is concerned, Confucius is certainly the master of all, but the masters of Lian, Luo, Guan, and Fujian in the Song Dynasty elevated Confucianism to a whole new stage. The only ones who can truly carry forward the legacy of Confucius and Mencius are the Confucians of the Song Dynasty.

4. "To create peace for all generations" expresses the eternal political ideal of the Confucians of the Song Dynasty and also of the Confucians of the Song Dynasty. "Open" is called expectation. To "create peace for all generations" and realize the cultural ideal described in Zhang Zai's "Xi Ming", the people are harmonious and all are benevolent, so that the confused and ignorant modern people can return to the spiritual home of human beings who are straightforward and honest.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Four Sentences in Hengqu