Fresh Ideas On Mei Zengliang

Mei Zengliang is a famous ancient prose writer of the Tong Cheng School in the Jia-Dao period in the Qing Dynasty, and he is one of Yao Nai’s four famous students. This thesis, on the basis of predecessors’ research results, strives for innovation and development, lest following an old routine. This thesis is discussed and digs deeply from three different angles (1. Mother education; 2.Confucianism of East Asia; 3. Xi Bao Xuan Letters), widely quoting many materials, and try to show the relationship between Mei Zengliang and literature at home and abroad. therefore, there is three corresponding monographic researches.Chapter Ⅰ, Mei Zengliang and his mother Hou Zhi. Hou Zhi is fond of literature, and has higher literary attainments, and is also a famous woman poet and Tan Ci reorganizer at that time. The Mei family has long and deep family scholarship, especially is well known for mathematics and calendar. Mei Zengliang is clever and intelligent in the childhood, and has favorable literary endowment, so is highly praised by his grandfather, old uncle, mother’s brother and father’s friend. In the adolescent period of Mei Zengliang, his father, Mei Chong, went to the Capital and was prepared for official entrance examination, and he stayed in the Capital chronically, so his mother, Hou Zhi. bear the hard task of educating her son. After hard-work, Hou Zhi, in the spare time, diligently tutored her son learning, and Laid a solid foundation for her son’s growth and success. In the course of educating her son, Hou Zhi pays attention to the combination of severity and mercy, and encourages her son has lofty ambition, and try his best to near those famous persons in the ancient times. In the middle and old age. Hou Zhi devotes herself to the adaptation and creation of Tan Ci novel, and gets certain achievements, and promotes further development of women Tan Ci novel in the Qing Dynasty.Chapter Ⅱ, Mei Zengliang and Confucianism of East Asia. Dazai Jun (1679-1747),is a famous Confucian in the mid Edo period (1603-1867) in Japan. He composed a book called lunyu Guxun Waizhuan in his old age, and the book has a very important impact for Japanese academic circles. After his death, the book spread to Korea, and it shocked Korean scholar strongly at once. Kim Mae-Sun (1776-1840), is a Cabinet bachelor and famous scholar, and he criticized the book of Dazai Jun fiercely. Dazai Jun upholds Confucius and doctrine of ancient emperors, but dissatisfied with Song Dynasty Confucianism and Mencius, and he fiercely criticizes Chu Hsi in the lunyu Guxun Waizhuan. However, Kim Mae-Sun adores Chu Hsi, looking him as criterion, and considers that Chu Hsi and Confucius and Mencius are successive Confucianism systems. On the problem of condemning Chu Hsi and respecting him, the two men form a sharp opposition and argument. Their opposition on the academic point of view, originate from the difference of Their own teacher’s doctrine and traditional knowledge of family. Simultaneously, it reflects different nature and ways of academic atmosphere and research methods between Japan and Korea that are both belonged to Chinese cultural circle in East Asia. In the argument, Mei Zengliang approves Kim Mae-Sun, denouncing Dazai Jun, and criticizing that he is "special heresy"Chapter Ⅲ, Mei Zengliang and Xi Bao Xuan Letters. Xi Bao Xuan Letters is a book that comprise a great number of letters sent to relatives, own students, old friends and the following scholar by Yao Nai. These Letters reflect various conditions that contact mutually between Yao Nai and them really and Specifically, and has higher academic value and literature value. By means of these Letters and other related materials, we can see, in the eyes of Yao Nai, his students praised especially by him are mainly four men:Guan Tong, Zhang Congxian, Liu Kai and Fang Dongshu. He doesn’t treat equally the four men in his heart, but look upon them differently. Yao Nai and the two prominent families in Xin Cheng, Jiang Xi --Chen family and Lu family have close contacts, and Chen Yongguang coming from Chen family is an apprentice praised especially by Yao Nai, and is also an able person educated and fostered elaborately by Yao Nai in his old ages. Chen Yongguang has played an important role at the following aspects:carrying forward his teacher’s theory, correcting the decadent official atmosphere and literary style, uniting comrade and promoting following scholar and so on. Therefore, he can be called ’Yao Men backbone’. While evaluating the Xi Bao Xuan Letters, Mei Zengliang think that the purpose of the book on discussing scholarship and article, and those ancient proses in the corpus of Yao Nai, is to echo each other. That is to say, letters and ancient proses are "Confirming each other between implicitness and lucidity", or forming an integral part. At the same time, he also pointed out that handful scholars believe in Yao Nai’s scholarship, and his lonely voice had few followers.