Wu Cheng's translation of the biography of Yuan Dynasty is as follows:
Wu Cheng, whose courtesy name is Youqing, was a native of Chongren County, Fuzhou. His great ancestor Wu Ye began to live in Xiankou. When he was nine years old, he and other children took part in the township school examination, and Wu Cheng often came out on top. When he grew up, he became proficient in the scriptures and scriptures.
In the thirteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1276), the people had just surrendered to Mongolia, and thieves were rising everywhere. Zheng Song, a native of Le'an, invited Wu Cheng to take refuge in Bushui Valley. So Wu Cheng wrote the "Book of Filial Piety" there, and revised the "Book of Changes", "Book of Songs", "Book of Songs", "Spring and Autumn", "Ritual" and "Da Dai Li Ji" and Xiao Dai Li Ji.
In the early years of Yuanzhen (1295), Wu Cheng traveled to Longxing to study. Hao Wen welcomed him to the county school according to his experience as a chaplain. He listened to his lectures on classics and history every day, and recorded his questions and answers, which amounted to thousands of words. Zuo Cheng, Dong Shixuan, invited Wu Cheng to his home and prepared food for him personally, saying: "Mr. Wu is a rare scholar in the world." After he entered the court as an official, he recommended Wu Cheng as a visionary and the court promoted him to It should be written in Hanlin style.
In the first year of the Great Emperor's reign (1308), the imperial court recruited him as the Prime Minister of the State. After Wu Cheng took office, candles were lit in the hall every morning, and the Imperial College students received their studies in order. However, there was an endless stream of people who came to him with scriptures to ask difficult questions. Wu Cheng repeatedly explained and taught students according to their talents, often until midnight. It does not change regardless of the cold or the heat. When Emperor Yingzong came to the throne, there was an imperial edict requiring people who were good at calligraphy to write the Buddhist Tibetan Sutra with gold powder.
The emperor was in Shangdu and sent Zuo Cheng to quickly pass on the edict and order Wu Cheng to write the preface. Wu Cheng said: "Writing words cannot be shown to future generations. Please wait until the emperor returns to Beijing before reporting this matter." When the emperor died, the matter was left behind. In the first year of Taiding, Jingyan was just opened. Wu Cheng, Pingzhang political minister Zhang Gui, and Guozi Jijiu Deng Wenyuan were appointed as lecturers. At the end of Zhizhi period, an imperial edict was issued to build the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Commentators often saw the system of having different rooms in the same hall, so thirteen sacrificial rooms were built.
However, there was no time to move the sacrifices, and there was a big change in the country (referring to the death of the emperor). The relevant officials had questions about the order of the emperors, and the imperial court ordered the emperor to discuss the matter together. Wu Cheng suggested: "The ancestors unified the world, and all the ancient systems were studied and implemented. In ancient times, the emperor had seven temples. Each temple was its own palace, and each temple was promoted in order. The palaces of its temples were very similar to those of the Zhongshu Province today.
The establishment of provincial departments is also modeled on the official system of the Jin and Song Dynasties. How can we not consider the ancient system just because of the order of ancestral temples!" The officials in charge were eager to complete the matter, and finally followed the original system. The order was done. At that time, Wu Cheng already had the idea of ??resigning, so he left the city by boat. Wu Cheng usually wrote books and essays when he had a little leisure time, and he continued to write until the end of his life.
He has his own writings on the "Book of Changes", "Spring and Autumn", and "Book of Rites", (and) he can break through some of the far-fetched explanations in the past to explain the profound truths in the book and analyze them step by step. , the insights are precise, the writing is concise, the knowledge is outstanding, and it has become a family.