The Study Of Fan Zhongyan’s Yi-ology

Fan Zhongyan was a man of noble character,capable of literary and martial arts.He was not only an excellent prime minister,but also a famous sage.Whether to become an official or retire to the countryside,do not change their aspirations.He took the happiness of the world as his duty,and his life is fair and aboveboard.The former Confucian critic Fan Zhongyan ranked first among the figures of the Song Dynasty.Yue Yang Lou Ji has been handed down for thousands of years,the spirit of “the worries of the world under the sorrow and the happiness of the world” has influenced countless people.He encouraged young scholars and was known as the "teacher of all ages".As an outgoing statesman,moralist and litterateur,Fan Zhongyan was praised by people all over the world.However,scholars seldom pay attention to their academic thoughts due to scattered materials,which is regrettable.Therefore,the article takes Fan Zhongyan’s Yi-ology as the research theme,trying to present the origin,content and contribution of Fan Zhongyan’s thought of Yi-ology,so as to promote the understanding of Fan Zhongyan’s academic thought system.Fan Zhongyan’s existing Yi-ology works mainly include Annotation of Book of Changes,The Four Virtues and a number of rhymes on Yi-ology with titles from The Book of changes.In addition,he has dozens of poems and essays on the interpretation of The Book of changes.In terms of the origin of his thoughts,he insisted on the research aim of " learning from saints " and drew nourishment from the thoughts of former sages such as Wang bi.As for the author of The Book of Changes,Fan Zhongyan thinks that the original text and the Yi Zhuan are all written by "saints";for the three names of Yi,he only took the meaning of “change”.In addition,he regarded The Book of Changes as a book that explained the "gentleman’s way".Fan zhongyan always adheres to the spirit of interpreting The Book of changes in Yi Zhuan,the commonly used methods of his annotations ofYi-ology are as follows: to explain The Book of Changes by up-and-down hexagrams,to explain The Book of Changes by opportunity theory,to explain The Book of Changes by the position theory of Yao,to explain The Book of Changes by citing other Confucian classics,to explain The Book of Changes by historical events and to interpret The Book of Changes by comparing two hexagrams.The core content of Fan Zhongyan’s annotation of Yi-ology lies in the initial construction of a set of “Ming Ti Da Yong” theory,which aims at“Restoring kingcraft politics”.In the aspect of "Ming Ti",he believed that one should "cultivate the mind",advocate "benevolence" and "sincerity" and pursue the moral realm of " Confucius-Yan’s Happiness ".In the aspect of "Da Yong",Fan Zhongyan worried the fate of people and country,so he placed great emphasis on the people-oriented thought of "restrains the upper but benefiting the lower" and the reform thought of "reform for the people".Of course,like the "ancient benevolent people" whom he admires,the highest level of his study of " Ming Ti Da Yong " is to achieve the "harmony between heaven and man".In general,Fan Zhongyan’s Yi-ology mainly have the following two contributions: First,from the perspective of the history of Yi-ology,Fan Zhongyan was the first to eliminate metaphysics,promote Confucianism in the process of interpreting Yi Zhuan,and pioneered the school of interpreting The Book of Changes with Confucianism;Second,from the perspective of the cultural changes of the times,his thought of Yi-Ology supported him to take the lead in suppressing Buddhism and Taoism and valuing Confucianism,which created favorable conditions for the development of the study of Confucian classics in the Song Dynasty.