"bookworm"
Li Zhi was born in Jinjiang County, Quanzhou, Fujian Province in the sixth year of Jiajing (A.D. 1527). His ancestors have been engaged in overseas trade for generations. His father and grandfather were both Muslims, and Li Zhi himself believed in Islam. So modern scholars say that Li Zhi is a Hui nationality.
At the age of 26, Li Zhi passed the provincial examination in Fujian and became an official at the age of 30. He has been an official for more than twenty years. From Jiao Yu in * * * City, Henan Province (now Huixian County, Henan Province), to Dr. imperial academy (teacher imperial academy) in Nanjing, secretary of the department of rites (clerical staff), and then to Yuan Wailang (general officer) in Nanjing, there are all positions with few official positions and meager salary.
At the age of fifty-one, Yuan Wailang from Nanjing was transferred to the magistrate of Yao 'an, Yunnan. A county magistrate is an official who can make money. As the saying goes, "the magistrate is three years old and a hundred thousand snowflakes are silver." Li Zhi doesn't want to get rich. He just wants to save some money during his tenure as magistrate, so that he can devote himself to learning knowledge in the future. However, Li Zhi has been a magistrate for three years, and he still remains uncorrupted when he comes back, with only a few books in his bag. In this way, he never got rid of the troubles of life, and his two daughters died of famine; Grandfather and grandmother have been dead for more than 50 years. Because they can't afford a piece of land, they haven't been buried. Mother-in-law is blind and misses her daughter, but he has no money to let his wife go home to visit. The poor life tempered Li Zhi, who was not afraid of poverty and suffering and devoted to the pursuit of truth.
Be denounced as a "devil"
At that time, Neo-Confucianism was popular in academic circles, also known as Taoism. This school appeared in the Song Dynasty, and Taoism advocated feudal morality, believing that it was inherent in human beings, a "natural conscience" and called it "Tao". They pay attention to "benevolence, righteousness and morality", "courtesy, honesty and shame" and "loyalty, filial piety and righteousness", and publicize feudal ethics under the signboard of Confucius. From Song Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty, from Yuan Dynasty to Ming Dynasty, Taoist thought became more and more fierce. When Taoism was all the rage, Wang Gen, a native of Ding Yan, Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, founded a new school, namely "Taizhou School". This school is opposed to Taoism's "Tao" and thinks that dressing, eating and doing things in life are Tao. This idea reflects the requirements of working people, so it is believed by farmers, salt miners, loggers, potters and small traders. This faction exposed the masks of Taoists and their self-evident ugly behavior, so they were persecuted by Taoists and feudal bureaucrats and landlords and were slandered as "left wing" and "devil".
When Li Zhi was in Beijing, he kept in frequent contact with Zhao Dazhou, a scholar of Taizhou School, and listened to Zhao Dazhou's lectures. When he was in Nanjing, he studied the theory of Taizhou School with Wang Zhi, the son of Wang Gen, and got a deep understanding of Taizhou School, and he became a scholar of Taizhou School himself.
After more than 20 years of bumpy official career and officialdom career, Li Zhi clearly realized the darkness and corruption of Ming Dynasty politics and the filth of officialdom, and saw the faces and eyelids of Taoist gentlemen. He wanted to oppose, fight and expose the mask of Taoism, so he became a rebel of the feudal landlord class.
In order not to be controlled by local officials, after returning from Yunnan, Li Zhi decided not to go back to his hometown and came to live in Hubei with his friend Geng Theorem.
Anger is a hypocrite
Who knows that coming here is not calm? As soon as he arrived, there was a fierce conflict with Geng Ding, Geng's brother.
When Li Zhi came to Gengjia, he taught several children in Gengjia to read. He advocated that children should be allowed to develop their free spirit and intelligence, and should not be bound by feudal ethics to suppress their naive and lively nature. Geng Dingxiang is a big official and a Taoist. He naturally disagreed with Li Zhi, and there was a contradiction. In particular, the murder of He made them incompatible.
He is a famous scholar of Taizhou School and a better friend. Why was he arrested for opposing feudal ideas? The ruler created public opinion to kill him and posted his charges on the street. Anyone who can read the poster points out that this is a frame-up. Why do they regret it? Tens of thousands of people in Wuchang are complaining about him. However, as He's friend, Geng Ding didn't come to the rescue even if he had the ability to keep his official position and please Zhang's record. This Taoist gentleman, obsessed with wealth, boasted that he had a spirit of doing something for justice no matter what difficulties and obstacles he encountered.
Li Zhi saw through the essence of this hypocrite. After the death of his friend Geng Theorem, he sent his wife back to his hometown, left Geng's home angrily, and went to Zhifu Hospital on the Dragon Lake in Macheng County, a neighboring county. Li Zhi wrote many letters to Geng here, exposing his hypocrisy. Li Zhi said in a long letter: "You buy land, real estate, study for fame, be an official, seek good feng shui and seek happiness for your children and grandchildren, only for yourself, without considering others at all." But when I say home, I claim to be for everyone and for the benefit of others. In fact, you don't do what you say and you never say what you do. Your words and deeds are not as good as ordinary people. They say anything will do, business people say business, and farmers say farming. What an honor! You do this because you are so focused on getting a good reputation that you always try to cover yourself up. When will it be like this? You are obviously greedy for high officials and rich people, and you want to be a high official with three products and two products to honor your ancestors. This is what you really think. You call it Taoism, but in fact, you have neither the intention of preaching nor the idea of emphasizing Taoism. I advise you to stop lying! "These words exposed the hypocrisy of Gengnong and others to the fullest. In the 18th year of Wanli (A.D. 1590), Li Zhi's Burning Books was printed and published in Macheng, which included some of his letters to Geng. After reading the book burning, Geng flew into a rage, launched his students to attack Li Zhi, and fabricated rumors to frame Li Zhi as a "demon", "Left" and "rebellion" on purpose.
Li Zhi is not afraid. He wanted to liquidate Taoism from history, so he began to write another book, Collection of Books. In this book, he comments on historical figures with a unique anti-Daoism point of view. He praised Qin Shihuang, known as the "tyrant", as "an emperor through the ages", and thought that Zhuo Wenjun, a widow, ran away with Sima Xiangru bravely and decisively, and boldly pursued her own happiness. On the contrary, he thought that Cheng Yi and Zhu, the Taoists of the Song Dynasty, would only lie and deceive people. While Li Zhi was writing Collection of Books, the rulers persecuted Li Zhi more severely. They falsely accused 74-year-old Li Zhi of being "indecent" and threatened to destroy the magistrate temple where he lived. Li Zhi's friend Yang heard the news and came to protect Li Zhi in advance.
Later, Li Zhi was taken in by Ma, a friend of Tongzhou (now Tongzhou District, Beijing).
fight with death
Shortly after Li Zhi arrived in Tongzhou, rumors about Li Zhi spread to Beijing. Someone deliberately killed Li Zhi, saying that he had written a book to attack the then records of Shen. When Shen was in office, he heard about it and hated Li Zhi. At this moment, does not write a letter to zhangwenda, accusing Li Zan of demagoguery and sabotage, and framing Li Zhi with the old tune of "indecent assault". Ming Shenzong immediately arrested Li Zhi. In this way, Li Zhi was put into a prison in Beijing.
In prison, Li Zhi still read and wrote poems, and did not give in to the rulers. His interrogators asked him, "Why did you write those books?" Li Zhi confidently replied: "I have written many books, which are only good for people and not bad." The interrogator was rendered speechless.
Li Zhi fell ill soon after he arrived in Tongzhou. After he went to prison, his illness got worse every day. When he heard that he was asked to go back to his hometown in Fujian, he thought, I am too ill to walk. How can I go back to my hometown? Determined to fight to the death with the ruler, he wrote a poem "What if I don't die today? I wish I could die soon. ”。
On March 15th in the 30th year of Wanli (AD 1602), Li Zhi had his head shaved, and while the man was away, he took a razor and committed suicide, at the age of 75.
Li Zhi opposed Taoism and feudal ethics all his life, was framed, and finally accused the ruler of persecution with death. After Li Zhi's death, Ma buried his body outside the north gate of Tongzhou and set up a stone tablet. This stone tablet, which has suffered disasters, is still erected in Beiniufang, Tongxian County, symbolizing the integrity and integrity of this anti-Daoist fighter hundreds of years ago.