Chen Xianzhang, a native of Xinhui Metropolitan Village, Guangdong Province, moved to the foot of Lu Xiao Mountain in Baisha Township with his grandfather when he was a teenager, and later generations addressed him as "Mr. Baisha". Chen Xianzhang was born in a wealthy family. My grandfather's name is Yongsheng and his name is Weichuan. "I don't know the world, so I can read old books." My father's name is Cong. He is good at poetry and songs and likes to live in seclusion. He died young at the age of 27.
Mother Lin, who lost her husband at the age of 24, gave birth to a posthumous child, raised orphans all her life and kept a family. Xian Zhang was weak and sickly when he was young, claiming that "no one was sick, and he was breast-fed at the age of nine." The special family environment makes Chen Xianzhang especially filial to his mother.
Although the love between mother and child in the world is the same, no minister's mother will worry about me and miss me deeply. ""I'm worried about my mother. The more I worry, the worse I feel. The more I worry about my illness, the more difficult it is to manage it for a long time. I am worried about my mother, because I am ill and dying. I have hope in my heart, but there is nothing I can do. Although I want to be effective, there is nothing I can do! " ("Begging for the End")
2. Study hard since childhood
Chen Xianzhang is young, alert, well-read and studious. /kloc-at the age of 0/9, he took the Guangdong Provincial Examination and got the ninth place. At the age of 265,438+0, he took the examination of the Ministry of Rites and was admitted as a scholar to study in imperial academy (the highest national institution of higher learning established in ancient China). Later, although Chen Xianzhang failed to go to Beijing twice to catch the exam, he still persisted in seeking knowledge.
At the age of 27, he heard that in Linchuan County, Fuzhou, there was a famous scholar, Mr. Kang Zhai (formerly known as Wu Yubi), with profound knowledge and accomplishments. He read Zhu's The Origins of Ilo Prefecture, and also studied the origins of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties, the way of sages in the Ming Dynasty, and the biography of Confucius and Mencius. In order to visit famous teachers, Chen Baisha was not afraid to travel long distances, crossing Gengling and Meiguan to reach Ganzhou (now Jiangxi Province).
From then on, Chen Baisha lived in seclusion, concentrated on reading and never left home. In order to reduce the disturbance to him, the family cut a hole in the wall, through which food and clothes were handed in.
Baisha Village faces Pengjiang River, with its back leaning on Lushan Mountain, green sunflower and green bamboo in front of the village and behind it, swaying with the wind and beautiful scenery. There is a Tiansha River outside the village, and there are many glittering white sands in the river, hence the name Baisha Village.
Chen Xianzhang lived in seclusion on the balcony in spring, studying classic works and discussing the philosophy of his ancestors. Cold comes to summer, autumn goes to spring. Exactly: wild birds fly quietly in the window, and butterflies return in spring unknown; Cicada chirps in summer and the moon shadows in winter. Unconsciously, I passed ten years.
3. Teaching through the establishment of a library
After ten years of hard study, meditation, abandoning complexity and simplicity, Chen Xianzhang has mastered the key to the harmonious unity of mind and reason, knowledge and cultivation, and has made great progress. /kloc-in the spring of 0/465 (the first year of Ming Chenghua), Chen Xianzhang decided to set up a lecture hall on the pure balcony. As soon as the news spread, the nearest country, the distant neighboring city and students came, and the door was empty, and Baisha Village suddenly became lively.
Chen Xianzhang's teaching methods are different: first, sit quietly before reading; Second, teach yourself more and instill less; Third, think hard and take its essence; Fourth, re-doubt and seek truth; Fifth, poetry leads to teaching, and philosophy enters poetry.
After the start of school, the vast majority of students are diligent, but some of them are infected with bohemian, idle and lazy nature. I made up several poems, such as Song of Abstinence, Song of Abstinence, and Article of Abstinence, as my motto, and read them to the students. Disciples, listen to this teaching: when the moon is dying, you will not be lazy. Write an article from scratch with a pen and stick it on the right side of the seat as a warning.
Chen Baisha was a famous poet in Ming Dynasty, and his poems were based on the study of nature. His poems are lofty, simple and free and easy, with the profound style of Tao Yuanming, Xi and Cheng. Although an ordinary woman has a complete sutra in her chest, so does the origin of this elegance. "Chen Baisha's love for poetry is the greatest feature of his poetics.
Qu Dajun finally commented in "Guangdong Newspeak" that "Cantonese started with poetry in Qujiang (Jiuling) and started with pottery as poetry in Baisha". Chen Baisha's poems are full of philosophy, and later scholars explored them from fragments of his poems in order to study Chen Baisha's Neo-Confucianism.
4. Seek retreat after entering the official position
1466, Chen Xianzhang received a letter from Champ, Shunde County, urging him to use the ceremony of the new emperor to teach, rectify the Chaogang, gain fame and serve the country. So I decided to go to Beijing again and go to Imperial College again. Chen Xianzhang was 38 years old.
The official in charge of imperial academy is Xing Jean, who offered a glass of wine. Once participated in the expedition 1448 (Chen Wu) with Chen Xianzhang, and Chen Baisha got the vice list (equivalent to a preparatory student). Xing Rang was a scholar, worked as a Jishi Shu in the Imperial Academy, compiled a record of the emperor, and was just promoted to a drink offering in imperial academy. Xing Jean intends to test Chen Xianzhang's knowledge and ask him to write a poem "Heyang Guishan Rhyme".
After the poem was written, a group of people with lofty ideals in the DPRK were amazed and rushed to tell it. Xingrang praised Chen Xianzhang's comeback as a true Confucian, and recommended Chen Xianzhang to Wei Ao, a senior official of the official department, as the official department's senior minister. Later, Chen Xianzhang did receive the official decree, but he was a junior clerk in the yamen of the official department, responsible for recording cases, copying and checking, and sealing delivery.
Finally, I wrote a copy of Begging for Endurance and Keeping Sparseness to Tang Xianzong, asking him to go home and serve his elderly and sick mother. The emperor was moved by the article Begging for Last Support. He thinks that Chen Xianzhang is not only good at learning, but also worthy of filial piety. He was allowed to return to his foster mother and was awarded the title of "imperial academy Review". Chen Xianzhang lived a poor and happy life all his life. "On February 28th, Jiangmen Market bought hoes and books.
Fields can be cultivated, books can be read, and people are half-agricultural and half-Confucian. "Plain poetry shows the mind of a generation of literati. Due to the failure of many imperial examinations, the relationship with the official career is shallow, and there are few big names in future generations. " Chen Baisha was a man who didn't seek fame and fortune, and his descendants also chose farming instead of taking the road of fame and fortune in the imperial examinations. "
5. Learn to educate people
Chen Xianzhang returned to Xinhui and presented an article with his mother, wife, children and brothers to celebrate family happiness. Since then, Chen Xianzhang has devoted himself to studying philosophy and revitalizing the teaching circle. At that time, Chen Xianzhang's reputation spread far and wide, and scholars from all over the world came to consult and attend school. Chen Xianzhang has been teaching for more than ten years, and many students have benefited from his teaching and become the pillars of the imperial court, thus forming Lingnan School.
Chen Xianzhang was poor all his life. Deng Tingyou, the capital, ordered Panyu County to send rice and stones every month, but he insisted that he "has two hectares of land, which is enough for farming". Another provincial judge spent a lot of money to buy him a garden mansion, and he also politely refused. Since then, Chen Xianzhang has been living in seclusion, serving his mother, continuing to give lectures and cultivating many talents.
Later, Zhan Ruoshui, who was also an important official of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Government and the Ministry of War, and Liang Chu, a famous minister given to the Taishi by the university student Wen Huating, were all his disciples. Other disciples are Zhang Xu, Zou Zhi, Chen Maolie, He, Ye Mengxiong, Chen Wude, Lin Jixi, Zhang, Rong Yizhi, Luo Fuzhou, Pan Han, Xie You and Lin Tingsui.
Chen Xianzhang put forward the famous "doubt theory", emphasizing the significance of "asking questions" to learning and growth. He believes: "The predecessors said that' learning is expensive and knowing doubts', small doubts are small, and big doubts are big. Skeptics, opportunities for realization. " Although Chen Xianzhang is a great scholar, he is good at "teaching poetry" and sometimes sings poetry with his disciples. His poems are easy to understand, plain and touching.