The four sentences in Hengqu refer to the famous saying of Zhang Zai, a great master of the Northern Song Dynasty, which is: "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."

Contemporary philosopher Feng Youlan calls it the "Four Sentences of Hengqu". Because of its simplicity and grandeur, it has always been praised by people.

These four sentences by Zhang Zai were summarized by the contemporary philosopher Feng Youlan as the "Four Hengqu Sentences". In September 2006, Wen Jiabao, then Premier of the State Council, quoted this sentence to express his feelings in an interview with foreign reporters on the eve of his trip to Europe. "Four Sentences of Hengqu" include the following meanings:

1. "Establishing a heart for heaven and earth." Cheng Mingdao said: "Heaven and earth have no heart, and living things are the heart." He also said: "Heaven and earth are formed without a heart. ." Heaven and earth have no heart, but people have a heart. Human heart is the heart of a benevolent person who can be born with fraternity and charity, and the heart of a saint. 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, don't do to others", 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 "To establish a life." Through self-cultivation and teaching, if a person can finally reach a state where he can maintain his integrity regardless of whether his life span is long or short, then this individual can be said to have settled down and established a life. . 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 the "going to the saints" are the ancient Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius; the "excellent learning" is the Taoism promoted by the ancient Confucianism 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 took the development of 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.

Ye Cai explained: "The heaven and the earth are centered on life, and the sage counsels the transformation and education, so that all things can have their own lives. This is the heart of the heaven and the earth; establishing righteousness and principles, supporting the principles and principles, this is the way of life for the people; continue Juexue refers to the narration of Taoism; the creation of peace means that when a king rises, he will surely reap the benefits of the law and perpetuate it for all generations. "Note: Scholars in the Song Dynasty believe that the Confucian Taoism originated from Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, and King Wen of Zhou, to Confucius, and to Mencius. . Since Mencius did not exist, his teachings were not spread. It was not until the rise of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty that a learning that had not been passed down for thousands of years was advocated. Therefore, it is called "continuing the unique learning of the past saints". To establish a way for the livelihood of the people, "Hengqu's Collected Works·Xingli Supplements" is written as "to establish a destiny for the livelihood of the people".

Introduction to the author

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Zhang Zai

Zhang Zai (1020-1077), courtesy name Zihou, was a great Confucian in the Northern Song Dynasty and a philosopher. He was one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism and the founder of "Guan Xue", a branch of Neo-Confucianism. He was honored as a sage and was enshrined in the 38th place in the west veranda of the Confucius Temple. His ancestral home is Daliang (now Kaifeng, Henan), and he moved to Hengqu Town, Fengxiang Prefecture (now Mei County, Shaanxi). Scholars call him Mr. Hengqu. In the second year of Jiayou's reign, Renzong of the Song Dynasty, he became a Jinshi. He was successively awarded Chongwen College Book and learned about Taichang Liyuan. Later, his younger brother Zhang Jian, the supervisory censor, was demoted for opposing Wang Anshi's reform, and Hengqu resigned. After returning home, he focused on reading and teaching, and founded "Guan Xue", which became famous for a while. In the tenth year of Xining (1077), Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty died of illness in Tongguan.

In the thirteenth year of Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty (1220), Ningzong of the Song Dynasty granted the posthumous title "Ming". In the first year of Chunyou of Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty (1241), he was granted the title of Yi Bo and worshiped in the Confucius Temple. In the ninth year of Jiajing reign of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty (1530) Changed his name to the Confucian Zhang Zi.

When he was young, he read a lot of books and had great ambitions to become an official. However, with the encouragement of Fan Zhongyan, he devoted himself to academic research.

After visiting Buddha and Lao Lao, he finally formed his own unique Confucianism.

Hengqu advocated "practical learning" throughout his life, emphasized practical application in managing the world, and had a wide range of research. He made unique achievements in natural sciences such as astronomy and calendar, as well as agriculture, military, and politics. Different from Er Cheng's "Luo School", Hengqu believes that the "origin" of the world is "Qi" rather than "Li". Through the concept of "Qi", Zhang Zai constructed a unique "monistic" philosophical system. "Feng Youlan evaluated it as Zhang Zai's major original contribution to Chinese philosophy.

Hengqu's philosophy starts from the way of heaven, starting from the explanation of "Yi Zhuan", and discusses that the ontology of the universe is "qi". The original state of Qi is "Tai Chi". Since Qi has the opposite attributes of Yin and Yang, it is always in a state of movement. "One" conclusion. In "Zhengmeng Qiancheng Pian", he regarded heaven, earth and the universe as a big family. People should be close to the same kind and all things. He said: "People are our fellow citizens, and things are with me."

His academic thoughts occupied an important position in the history of Chinese ideological and cultural development and had a great influence on future intellectual circles. His works have been regarded as one of the representatives of philosophy by the governments of the Ming and Qing dynasties. A must-read for exams