If you don’t study with sincerity, you will be miscellaneous. This is Cheng Yi’s famous saying.
Cheng Yi (1033-October 5, 1107), courtesy name Zhengshu, was born in Huangpi, Hubei (now Ercheng Town, Hong'an County), and his ancestral home is Yichuan County, Henan Prefecture (now Tianhu Town, Song County). Chengcun), known as Mr. Yichuan in the world, was a Neo-Confucian and educator in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was the younger brother of Cheng Hao. Together with Cheng Hao, he founded "Luo School" and laid the foundation for Neo-Confucianism, which is known as "Er Cheng" in the world.
His theory is mainly based on "poor principles", believing that "everything in the world can be poor, but it is just one principle", "the principle of one thing is the principle of all things", and advocates that "cultivation requires respect, The self-cultivation method of "advancing to study leads to knowledge" aims to "get rid of human desires and preserve the principles of nature". It believes that "death by starvation is a small matter, but disobeying one's moral integrity is a huge matter", and promotes the theory of "qi innateness". He served as an officer in Ruzhou Tuanlian training department and as a professor at Xijing Imperial College. In the first year of Yuanyou (1086), he was exempted from the position of Secretary Provincial School Secretary and was awarded Chongzhengdian Storytelling.
Character biography:
Cheng Yi’s ancestors have lived in Boye County, Zhongshan for generations. The great ancestor Cheng Yu served as the third envoy during the Taizong period of the Song Dynasty. In order to assist Yi with his outstanding achievements, he was gifted by the emperor. To the "Prince's Young Master", he was given a residence in Kaifeng Mansion, the capital. His great-grandfather Cheng Xizhen was appointed as Yuanwailang, Minister of the Ministry of Finance, and moved to Luoyang, Henan Prefecture; his grandfather Cheng Yu was gifted to the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Yitong, and the Third Division of the Kaifu.
Father Cheng Ju, during the Tiansheng period, Song Renzong remembered the old ministers of Taizong Dynasty and appointed a descendant of the old ministers. Cheng Yi's father Cheng Ju was selected as the county captain of Huangpi County and the magistrate of Xingguo County. He had known the states of Gong, Feng, Ci and Han, and later he became an official in Shangzhu state. Cheng Yi was born on August 15th in the second year of the Ming Dynasty (1033) of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty in Caomiao Lane, Huangpi County, Huangzhou (now Qianchuan Street, Huangpi District, Wuhan). Cheng Yi was smart since he was a child. When he was fourteen or fifteen, he and his brother Cheng Hao studied at the same time as Zhou Dunyi, the founder of Neo-Confucianism.