Cheng Yi's main achievements

Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi are brothers, known internationally as "Cheng Er". When Cheng Cheng was fifteen or sixteen, he studied under Zhou Dunyi, the founder of Neo-Confucianism. Song Shenzong established his own system of Neo-Confucianism during the Zhao Zhuan period. Although Cheng's theory is different in some aspects, the basic content is the same. They all take "reason" or "Tao" as the basis of all theories, and think that "reason" is the heavenly principle that precedes all things, "everything is only heavenly principle", "everything originates from reason" and "reason leads to anger". The current social order is natural and logical, otherwise it will go against the sky. Put forward the simple dialectical thought that things are human beings. Emphasize that human nature is good and "human nature is rational". Because of different temperaments, human nature is good and evil. Therefore, turbidity and malignancy are actually human desires. People's desires blind their own hearts and will damage justice. Nobody wants to be natural. Therefore, it teaches people to "save righteousness and destroy human desires." To "uphold justice", we must first "manage tomorrow". If you want to "manage tomorrow", you must understand the truth of things day by day, and if you accumulate more, you can suddenly get through it. Advocate the cultivation method of "self-cultivation needs respect, learning depends on knowledge" Cheng advocated feudal ethics and advocated the formation of the relationship between monarch and minister in the family.

Er Cheng was not only one of the "five philosophers" who initiated Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty, but also the "Luo Xue" they founded gave a complete form to Neo-Confucianism, so they were the actual founders of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties.

Brother Cheng has been familiar with sage books since childhood. Later, the two brothers finally became a generation of Confucian masters, respected by scholars from all over the world and became apprentices. They not only tried their best to spread it, but also founded their own school-Luoxue. Cheng Yi became famous in imperial academy when he was young. In his twenties, he began to accept students and teach Confucianism. Cheng Hao boasted that "Mencius does not preach saints, but takes Sven as his own responsibility." ("II" p. 638) In the fifth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty (1072), Cheng Hao retired to his hometown and lived alone with his younger brother. They spent two days trying to persuade students to study. At that time, "scholar-officials talked about scholars from it, and people were full every day, and people got their place." Because the two brothers have been giving lectures in Luoyang for a long time, the school they formed is called "Luo Xue", which has a great influence on China's academic thought.

Cheng has been engaged in academic activities for many years, and trained a large number of Neo-Confucianism talents, especially many disciples who studied under Cheng Yi, including famous figures Xie, You Zuo, Lu Dazhong, Lu Dajun, Lu Dalin, Shao Bowen, Su Kou, Yin Huo Xiang, Zhang Yi and others. Among them, He Xie is the most prominent, and they have played an important role in the contribution of Luo Xue and the inheritance of Cheng Neo-Confucianism.

Heaven and man are identical. / Man is an integral part of nature.

From a philosophical point of view, the central issue of Neo-Confucianism is still the essence of the universe and life, and its focus is mainly on social life. For Confucianism, the discussion of the nature of the universe has been ignored. "The Analects of Confucius Gongye Chang" said: "Confucius' articles can be obtained and heard; The nature of Confucius' words and nature of heaven cannot be obtained and heard. "On the question of human nature, Confucius only said that" sex is similar, but learning from each other is far away ". He basically doesn't talk about heaven, but takes an attitude of putting aside the relationship between nature and society. This is probably influenced by the idea that "the sky is far away and people are close". But Confucius attached great importance to "destiny" and believed in destiny or the day of domination, because this "day" was unpredictable and uncontrollable. Empirically speaking, heaven seems to have a will, but it seems to have no will, so Mencius said, "If you don't do it, it will be heaven. "Never give up until we reach our goal" (Mencius Zhang Wan). Confucius emphasized that they should try their best to understand their destiny and do their best to do just cause beneficial to society and the country. As a "gentleman", they should be responsible to the society to the end. If they can do it, they will do it. If they fail, they will also "don't complain, don't treat people". Xunzi attached great importance to the study of the relationship between heaven and man, and put forward theories such as "the separation of heaven and man" and "the use of destiny". He doesn't believe in "destiny", thinks that heaven is a natural phenomenon without will, and especially emphasizes the status and role of human beings. Dong Zhongshu of Han Dynasty advocated "the unity of heaven and man" from the theological point of view, asserted that heaven has the will to dominate all things and social personnel, and described all natural phenomena as the will of heaven, even saying that man is a replica of heaven, which is copied by heaven according to its own appearance. He also put forward the preaching of "harmony between man and nature", asserting that all personnel are dominated by heaven. Starting from "Ram Spring and Autumn Annals", he combined Confucianism with destiny theology, thus deifying Confucianism. This theory can not stand the test of social development and human social practice, thus losing its spiritual pillar role as a feudal ruler.

Although the founders of Neo-Confucianism also paid attention to the study of human nature, they also paid attention to the study of the relationship between man and nature, in order to demonstrate the supremacy of "the way of saints" and ethics from a metaphysical height and achieve the unity of man and nature. Shao Yong, one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism, said: "It is not enough to learn from heaven and man." They believe that everything and people in the world are unified in the Tao. Cheng advocates "reason" or "Tao". Cheng Hao said: "Reason is heaven" (suicide note), and said: "Reason is invisible" and "Invisible is Tao" (national quintessence). "Heaven governs, saints follow, so-called Tao" (national quintessence), so people also call it Neo-Confucianism. Cheng Yi was a philosopher and an educator in the Northern Song Dynasty. For Hao Cheng's brother. At the age of 24, Cheng Yi taught in the capital (now Kaifeng, Henan). Song Shenzong Xining for five years (1072) taught in Songyang with his younger brother. In the first year of Yuanfeng (1078), Fugou County was famous for "establishing a state of emergency, and the sons of Juyi should teach it". In the fifth year of Yuanfeng, Wen Yanbo presented the manor of the town (now Yichuan County, Luoyang, Henan Province) to Cheng, who built his own academy and gave lectures for nearly 20 years. Like Cheng Hao, he advocated that the purpose of education is to cultivate saints. "The sage's ambition is only for the elderly, friends believe, and a few are pregnant." The sage takes heaven and earth as his heart. "Everything is repeated, but it is appropriate." Therefore, education must take cultivating saints as its professional ambition.

In terms of educational content, it advocates taking ethics as the foundation, and "a scholar must be a prophet." Benevolence is the same thing, and righteousness, wisdom and faith are all benevolent. The History of the Song Dynasty says that he "studies with sincerity as the foundation, and takes The University, The Analects of Confucius, Mencius and The Doctrine of the Mean as the key links to reach the Six Classics". He is not only studious, but also modest and generous. I studied under Zhou Dunyi.

Education focuses on moral education, emphasizing self-cultivation, and "taking things as the foundation to know the end". Its ways are knowledge, taking things as the foundation and poverty. "Knowing it, wisdom gradually becomes clear", knowing it lies in poverty, that is, doing justice. The way to know is to "do things right". "Ge Zhe, Zhi Ye" and "Ge" are the inner feelings of things and the understanding of their causes. "If the eyes and ears can see and hear but not be far away, the qi is limited and the heart is far away", so the key to understanding things lies in the "heart". The heart is "in harmony with heaven and earth, with the sun and the moon, not outside", so knowledge attaches importance to "inner feelings" rather than external things. In learning methods, emphasis is placed on seeking the meaning. "Anyone reading a text must first understand its meaning and then seek its meaning. Without knowing its meaning, no one will understand it. "

In addition, it advocates thinking when reading, "if you don't think deeply, you can't achieve your studies." Or: "Did the scholar get it without thinking?" His educational ideas and thoughts have a great influence on later education. Later generations once set up academies in the places where he gave lectures as a memorial, such as Henan Songyang Academy and Yichuan Academy. In addition, there are academies in memory of him all over the country, which are intended to follow suit and show his thoughts. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi founded the theory of "natural justice". Cheng Hao once said: "Although I have learned something, the word' natural justice' is considerate of myself.

"Reason" therefore became the core of Cheng philosophy, hence the name of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties. The so-called "reason" of the Cheng brothers refers not only to the universal laws of nature, but also to the natural principles of human society, which is applicable to nature, society and all concrete things. This expresses the traditional Confucian thought of "harmony between man and nature" in the form of "harmony between man and nature". The ontological position of "Heaven" in China's ancient philosophy has now been replaced by "Reason", which is a great contribution of Er Cheng to China's philosophy. In Cheng Yi's philosophy, Confucius' theory of "benevolence" has made new development. He believes that "the benevolent is sacred." He also said: "Scholars must be knowledgeable and benevolent, and benevolent people are exactly the same as things, and righteousness, courtesy, knowledge and faith are all benevolent people." He further developed the pre-Qin Confucian theory of benevolence, charity and self-denial to the realm of "integration with all things", thinking that the former is only the "use" (performance) of benevolence, and the latter is the "body" (fundamental) of benevolence. This thought has something in common with Zhang Zai's thought of "harmony of characters". On the training method, Cheng Yi put forward the theory of "quality". The so-called "quality" is actually "centering", that is, how to make people achieve inner peace and tranquility. He believes that if you want to make your heart calm and not be disturbed by external things, you must touch things, but don't cling to anything, "forget inside and outside" and surpass yourself. This theory of "quality" was formed after Cheng Hao developed Mencius' thought of "inaction" and absorbed the psychological cultivation experience of Buddhism and Taoism. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi's thoughts are generally called "two-course learning", but in fact there are still some differences between them. Cheng Hao pays more attention to personal inner experience than Cheng Yi. Some scholars believe that Cheng Hao's thought is the source of Lu Jiuyuan's "Mind Learning", while Cheng Yi's thought is the source of Zhu's "Neo-Confucianism". Cheng Hao had no special academic works in his life. His lecture quotations, some letters and poems were edited by later generations together with Cheng Yi's works, and now there is a collated and punctuated version of Two Seasons. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, two brothers, have similarities and differences in ideological system. Er Cheng raised the development of Yi-ology to a new level. Yi Zhuan laid a solid foundation for the interpretation system of Yi Xue. Cheng Yi Zhuan is the essence of Yi-ology in Yichuan. It inherited Wang Bi's tradition of Yi-ology and pushed the Confucian interpretation of Yi to the extreme, which can be said to be a masterpiece of Yi-ology and had an important influence on Zhu Yi-ology. If Wang Bi's Yi-ology is an important symbol of the rise of metaphysics and Yi-ology in Wei and Jin Dynasties, then Cheng Yi-ology realized the transformation of Wang Bi's Yi-ology from Taoism metaphysics to Confucianism. His works include Collected Works of Mr. Ming Dow, Collected Works of Mr. Yichuan, Essentials of Er Cheng's Ci and Jing Shuo compiled by later generations. Among them, Luo Xue's works include 25 volumes of Cheng Cheng's suicide note, foreign language books 12, anthology 12, and Yi Zhuan, Jing Shuo and Cui Yan. The first four volumes of the anthology are Cheng Hao's poems, and the last eight volumes are Cheng Yi's poems. Cheng Yi wrote the chapters, books, poems, The Spring and Autumn Annals and The Analects of Confucius. Correcting the university is for two students. Yi Zhuan Yi Zhuan is Cheng Yi's interpretation of The Book of Changes, which embodies Cheng Yi's Neo-Confucianism and is the most painstaking work of Cheng Yi's life. Cuiyan is a two-way quotation written by Shi Yang after careful selection. The above works have been co-edited as "Two Seasons" and published by Zhonghua Book Company.