Understand the history, culture and customs of Pingjiang.

v iii. Romantic Nine Gentlemen

The most admired rural sage in Song Dynasty was the "Nine Gentlemen" represented by Li Ruyong.

a gentleman is a title of respect for a man with knowledge and good conduct.

the nine gentlemen of the song dynasty were: Li ruyong, Wu Xiong, Zou you, Mao youcheng, Xu bing, Fang Siam, Lu shineng, Fang you, wan Zhen and so on.

Most of them are Zhu Xi's students, who have a profound knowledge of Chinese studies, are good at poetry and writing, and have high moral character.

There are many deeds of nine gentlemen, and the Biography of the Scholars in Pingjiang County Records of Tongzhi recorded all of them.

here's an introduction to their similarities.

the relationship between the first and ninth gentlemen and Zhu Xi.

Among the nine gentlemen, Li Ruyong and Wu Xiong belong to Zhu Xi's direct students.

Although Zou You was taught by Zhu Xi, his time was not long.

Most of the others are disciples of Zhu Zi's protege.

Li Ruyong (Zhong Bing, scholars call him Mr. Lian Xi) and Wu Xiong (Bo Ying, scholars call him Mr. Yang Ping) have an unusual relationship with Zhu Xi, and they are very valued students of Zhu Xi.

They get along with Zhu Xi day and night, recording Zhu Xi's words and deeds, and Zhu Xi's speeches all have their contributions. In the words of Li Yuandu in the Qing Dynasty, "The books of Confucius and Mencius read by scholars are all the books interpreted by Zhu Xi, that is, all the books written by Lian Xi, Bo Ying and Liang Zhong." It can be seen that they made contributions to Zhu Xi's annotation of four books and five classics.

The second and ninth gentlemen are moral models.

all the nine gentlemen are noble in moral character, and they can be honest and self-disciplined regardless of serving the officials and the people.

Here, I want to talk about Xu Bing and Xu Zhongming in particular. He was a Jinshi in Jiading, and was appointed by the commander of Ningxiang in Tanzhou (now Changsha). During his tenure, he was honest and clean, and had a good reputation. He was one of the earliest * * * officials in ancient China.

in view of the corruption of officials at that time, officials often used money and grain to embezzle public property and enrich themselves. In the office lobby, he set up a large cabinet and publicly charged, "listen to the people, write and eliminate notes, and don't participate in the hands of officials."

The loopholes in management have been eliminated and many losses have been saved for the country.

At that time, Xu Bing won the good name of "County Commandant without money".

most of the third and ninth gentlemen can write good poems.

The Song Dynasty was the first time in Pingjiang's history when there were many talents and the humanities flourished, which was related to the basic national policy of the Song Dynasty, which emphasized literary talents.

"The son of heaven values heroes, and the article teaches Ercao.

everything is inferior, but reading is high. " Most of the Jinshi in Pingjiang were in the Song Dynasty, and among the nine gentlemen, there were four people, including Li Ruyong, Xu Bing, Lu Shineng and Wan Zhen.

most of them can write good poems.

Many works have been handed down from generation to generation, such as Li Ru's Collection of Ideas, Mao Youcheng's Playing with Handwritten Manuscripts, Wan Zhen's Ten Arguments on Zuo Zhuan, and Zou You's Collection from Le Xuan.

There are many poems written by the Nine Gentlemen, including poems written by Li Ruyong, Zou Wei, Fang Wei, Mao Youcheng and others.

Li Ruyong's "Wandering on the Spring River" has always been the representative of Pingjiang's poems: the mountains flow naturally from the green water, and the flowers and birds are singing all over the stream.

Taoist priests are not tired at this moment, and they have witnessed the sunrise emperor's coronation. "This poem has made a good evaluation of the fairyland on earth with beautiful scenery and flowers singing in Pingjiang, and has become a masterpiece that has been passed down to this day, and has been collected by many poetry collections and poetry walls in Pingjiang.

the nine gentlemen have both similarities and distinct personalities.

each of them has made his own contribution to the political, economic, educational and cultural undertakings in his hometown.

Here, I'd like to introduce Wu Xiong Wu Boying among the Nine Gentlemen.

This is a scholar who has persistent beliefs and is enthusiastic about the cultural and educational undertakings in his hometown.

when Wu Xiong was young, he studied in Lin' an and got to know Cai Yuanding, a disciple of Zhuzi at that time.

Cai Yuanding introduced him to Zhu Xi.

under the instruction of Zhu Xi, Wu Xiong made a lot of research on the object latitude, occupation, water conservancy and the art of war of Sun Wu, and made friends with famous figures at that time.

After Zhu Xi took office and went to the shrine, many of his followers were implicated.

Wu Xiong is not far from Wan Li, so please comfort and encourage them.

Some people are worried about Wu Xiong's safety, and Wu Xiong's "laugh at it and never stop" shows the noble character of a gentleman.

Wu Xiong's most commendable thing is that he founded Yangping Academy in his hometown, which enabled Cheng Zhu's Neo-Confucianism to be well passed down in Pingjiang.

In this regard, we might as well quote a passage from the writer Yu Qiju: Yangping Academy educates students from all over the world.

It not only educated a large number of children, but also weathered all levels of Pingjiang, such as scholars, farmers, workers and businessmen, making it gradually become a land of etiquette and civilization.

The effect of this influence can be seen from various local customs where ancient customs still exist.

The Confucian etiquette thought, represented by Li Ruyong and Wu Xiong, has been deeply rooted in Pingjiang people's hearts for thousands of years and manifested in their various production and life.