A Study Of Yanzi 's Studies In The Northern Song Dynasty

The study of Yan Zi originated from the Northern Song Dynasty, it had close connection with the historical and cultural background at that time. At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, the rulers of implemented the policy of " Beat swords into plowshares " because of the disorders of warlordism in Late Tang Dynasty, making the independent consciousness of the literati enhance unprecedentedly. Besides, many eminent monks emerged after the flourishing of Buddhism and Taoism in the Han and Tang Dynasties. In the face of this situation, the Confucian not only needed to find a spiritual example for the literati to compete with Buddhism and Taoism, but also needed to find a faithful practice example of Confucian ethics. However, no one can shoulder the responsibility except Yan Zi among Confucian scholars. On the other hand, being a saint is a tradition of Confucianism from ancient times to the present, so it conforms to the Confucianism’s development track that regarding Yan Zi as a representative of moral personality.The thesis is mainly based on the studies of Yan Zi of Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and Lv Dalin in the early Northern Song Dynasty. The thesis consists of three parts, the first part is the formative phase of the study of Yan Zi, Zhou Dunyi and Zhang Zai were the main representatives at this time. Zhou proposed "Learning the ambition of Yi Yin and the knowledge of Yan Zi" firstly, in his eyes," Learning from Yan Zi " means people should learn Yan Zi’s effort to be saints that" never transfer one’s anger on others, and never make the same mistake."In Zhang Zai’s eyes, Yan Zi wais a "concrete saint", and the efforts to be a saint of Yan Zi mainly concentrated on " do not talk about and touch those things which are not conform to social institutions". The second part is the developing phase of the study of Yan Zi, Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi were the major schlors. They thought that Yan Zi is an example that the literati should learn from, because he had wisdom, benevolence and courage as well as the capability of helping the emperors achieve great feats. When it comes to the effort to be a saint, Ercheng analyze Yan Zi’s path to be a saint deeply from " To deny oneself and return to propriety", "Never transfer one’s anger to others, and never make the same mistake", " Nature with sentiment" and "Broadening one’s intellectual horizon and keeping within the bounds of propriety". The third part is the confluence of the study of Yan Zi, which mainly made by Lv Dalin, in his view, Yan Zi had been a saint. What’s more, he thought that "Learning from Yan Zi" mainly lie in learning his efforts to be a saint of "Holding an impartial position", "Understanding and knowing each other" and "self-denial", which reflects not only in the effort of "From enlightenment to perfection", but also in the cultivation of "From perfection to enlightenment". Especially at last, Lv Dalin said "He loses Yan Zi in his purifying the heart", this represented the secret of" Learning from Yan Zi" was purifying the heart, which was a state of psychic communion.In short, Yan Zi was praised and respected by the literati as a typical representative of Confucianism since ancient times. But during Han and Tang Dynasties, as a benevolent, the statue of Yan Zi was not higher than Zi Lu, Zi Gong and other Confucian disciples. However, since the Song dynasty, due to the special historical background, Yan Zi was admired by the Neo-Confucianism scholars very much. And "learning from Yan Zi" became a trend at that time, and the status of Yan Zi increased unprecedentedly at the same time. Along with more attention was paid to the study of Yan Zi by the Neo-Confucianism scholars, more and more literati found the path to be saints, meanwhile, it left a profound impact on the development of late Neo-Confucianism.