"Make a heart for heaven and earth, make a life for the people, inherit the past and the future, and open a peaceful future." These four sentences are the end-result of Zhang Zai's lifelong study in the Northern Song Dynasty and the essence of his thoughts. Mr. Feng Youlan called it "four sentences in a horizontal canal".

Zhang Zai (1020- 1077), a native of Hengqu Town, Meixian County, Shaanxi Province, was a famous thinker and educator in the Northern Song Dynasty, one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism, and the founder of Guan Xue. He was praised as "Mr. Hengqu" by the world.

For the heart of the world

"The heart of heaven and earth" was first seen in the Book of Changes: "Fu, does he see the heart of heaven and earth?" The "heart of heaven and earth" here refers to the regularity of the ups and downs of everything in heaven and earth. Zhang Zai's thoughts are deeply influenced by Yi-ology. He once sat on a tiger chair in Chang 'an, talking about the Book of Changes and writing it in a horizontal canal. Therefore, his so-called "heart of heaven and earth" is closely related to the Yi-ology.

Zhang Zai's explanation of the origin of the universe and the noumenon of the world with "too empty is qi" is the embodiment of simple materialism. At the same time, he put forward the theory of "one thing and two bodies", arguing that everything is composed of two sides of unity of opposites.

Zhang Zai's "Heart of Heaven and Earth" reveals the laws of the movement and change of things, and it is a simple dialectical materialism based on the philosophy of Yi-ology. "Book of Rites" says: "People are the heart of heaven and earth, the end of the five elements, taste, not words, color and life."

Heaven, earth and man are an organic whole, and man is the knower between heaven and earth, so it is called "the heart of heaven and earth". This is an affirmation of man's position in the universe and a high degree of consciousness of man's subjectivity. There is no "heart" in heaven and earth, and people have "hearts". Because "man" is the heart of heaven and earth, "human heart" embodies "the heart of heaven and earth".

Zhang Zaiyun: "God has no intention, but the heart is in people's hearts." People project their own values between heaven and earth and integrate with them. "Mingxi" cloud: "Dry call father, Kun call mother; Treating us contemptuously is a complicated matter. Therefore, the plug of heaven and earth, my body also; The beauty of heaven and earth is my nature. People, my compatriots; Things, I am also. "

The thought of "people love things" inherits and develops the Confucian concept of "caring for people and loving things", pushes the object of benevolence to all things, and promotes the connotation and realm of Confucian values of "benevolence". The so-called "heart is heaven and earth" is to establish a value system with "benevolence as the core" for human society.

As Mr. Ma Yifu summed up: Scholars should not have different opinions, but have a heart of heaven and earth. In Zhang Zai's view, "establishing heart" is also the heart of "establishing righteousness", because justice "can make the world happy", so that "the world" (society) must generally accept moral values such as the principle of benevolence and filial piety. We got the word "benevolence".

Make a living for the people

"Life" originated from Mencius' thought. There is a saying in Mencius with all his heart: "He who does his best knows his nature. If you know its nature, you will know its nature. Keep your heart and cultivate your nature, then things will be natural. If you don't live long enough, you will cultivate yourself, so you will achieve life. " No matter how long a person lives, he should try his best to understand nature and master his own destiny through his own moral efforts.

Zhang Zai's so-called "for the people's livelihood" is to let all people in the world have a place to live. "settle down" means life stability, "settle down", that is, soul stability and spiritual return. Zhang Zai particularly emphasized the care and care for the lonely, weak, old, sick, disabled and other vulnerable groups, so that their lives can be taken care of as they deserve.

"Mingxi" cloud: "Respect for the elderly, so long; Kindness is weak, so it is young; Sage, its virtue; Sage, its show also. All the tiredness, disability, loneliness and widowhood in the world are the troubles of my brothers and I didn't tell them. "

"Spiritual dependence" is to strive to improve the spiritual level of ordinary people, so that they can establish a correct outlook on life, values and morality, and have noble sentiments and spiritual pursuits.

The Doctrine of the Mean says, "Destiny is nature, frankness is Tao, and cultivation is teaching". "Cultivation" is not only self-cultivation, but also based on self-cultivation, family harmony and self-respect, educating the world and returning it to benevolence, that is, making correct thoughts deeply rooted in people's hearts through various ways of education and enlightenment.

"Making a living for the people" is to establish a correct spiritual value orientation and values for the people and build a spiritual home. We got the word "teaching".