The four sentences of Hengqu are from Zhang Zai.

Zhang Zai (12—December 6, 177), with a thick word, was born in Chang 'an (now Xi 'an, Shaanxi Province) with a ancestral home in Daliang (now Kaifeng, Henan Province), and his later overseas Chinese lived in Hengqu Town, Meixian County, Fengxiang County (now Hengqu Town, Meixian County, Shaanxi Province), where they settled down and gave lectures, and were called "Mr. Hengqu" in the world. One of the thinkers, educators and founders of Neo-Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty, his famous saying of "making a heart for heaven and earth, making a life for the people, inheriting the past and learning from the past, and opening up peace for all generations" is called "four sentences in a horizontal canal". Because of its conciseness, it has been praised throughout the ages.

The words comparable to those in Hengqu's four sentences are: Worry about the world first, and enjoy the world later. Taking the rebuilding of Yueyang Tower as an opportunity, Fan Zhongyan wrote "Worry about the world first, and enjoy the world later", and established the spiritual coordinates of people in that era. In history, it can only be compared with Zhang Zai's four sentences of Hengqu, which clarify the intellectuals' sense of mission and responsibility, and point out an important way for scholars to realize their own life value.

Four sentences in the horizontal canal

The four sentences in the horizontal canal are: make a heart for heaven and earth, make a life for the people, carry forward the past and learn from the past, and make peace for all generations.

"Keeping a heart for heaven and earth" means having a firm heart for society, for mankind and for heaven and earth, and constantly exploring and contributing to human wisdom. "Making a living for the people" means to have a heart to find out the direction and path of life for the people's livelihood, the people and the society, and to constantly explore and contribute the value of life.

"To learn from the past" means to have a heart to inherit and carry forward the wisdom of the sages, and to constantly explore and study Chinese traditional culture. "To create peace for the world" means to have a heart to open a peaceful road for the future, future generations and the world, and to constantly explore and study the wisdom of governing the country.