For heaven and earth, for the people, for the saints of the past to continue learning, for all ages to safeguard world peace.
Original text:
Establish a mind for the heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the living people, carry forward the unique teachings for the saints, and create peace for all generations.
This sentence is a famous saying of Zhang Zai, a great scholar 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.
Zhang Zai was a master of philosophy in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the second year of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, his younger brother was convicted for opposing Wang Anshi's political reform. He resigned and returned to his hometown to give lectures. He attached great importance to "Zhou Rites", established his mind for the world, and established his destiny for the people. In order to carry forward the unique knowledge of the past saints and create peace for all generations, these four famous sayings mainly talk about the restoration of Zhou Rite to create peace, but the official career is not smooth and the talents and ambitions cannot be displayed, so they can only lecture and write books.
He believes that establishing the heart is establishing the principles of heaven, because the principles of heaven can make the world happy and make the world accept benevolence, propriety, filial piety, and other moral values. This heart is also a heart of compassion.
When you are alive, you must respect the will of God, establish heaven, earth, and people, be sincere, upright, investigate things, gain knowledge, understand reason, cultivate yourself, manage your family, govern the country and bring peace to the world, and strive to reach the realm of sages and sages. , these four sentences also rebuilt the spiritual value of the society at that time, established the meaning of life for the people, inherited the unique academic tradition of the former saints, and opened up the foundation of peace for all things.
The ancients believed that people’s fate is destined by God, and individuals are powerless in the face of fate. Zhang Zai believes that through one's own efforts, people can control their destiny in terms of spiritual values ??and thus give life meaning.
The people have chosen the right direction of destiny and established the meaning of life; they must work hard to restore the academic tradition interrupted by Confucian saints and inherit innovations. Peace is what everyone hopes for. Zhang Zai not only hopes for peace, but also hopes for eternal peace.
Extended information:
About the author
Zhang Zai (1020-1077), courtesy name Zihou, was a great Confucian in the Northern Song Dynasty, a philosopher, and one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism. The founder of the branch "Guan Xue", 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. Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty became a Jinshi in the second year of Jiayou's reign, and was awarded the title of Chongwen Academy and Taichang Liyuan.
Later, his younger brother Zhang Jian, the supervisory censor, was demoted for opposing Wang Anshi's reform, so 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.
Hengqu advocated "practical learning" throughout his life, emphasizing practical application in dealing with the world. He had a wide range of research and 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 "monist" philosophical system. "Feng Youlan evaluated it as Zhang Zai's major original contribution to Chinese philosophy.
Baidu Encyclopedia - "Four Sentences on Hengqu"