Yu Ji (March 21, 1272 - June 20, 1348), whose courtesy name was Boxeng, whose name was Daoyuan, was known as Mr. Shao'an in the world. Famous scholar and poet in Yuan Dynasty.
He was less educated at home and tried to travel with Wu Cheng. At the beginning of Emperor Chengzong's reign, he was recommended as a professor of Confucianism in Dadu Road, and Li Guozi was an assistant professor and a doctor. During the reign of Renzong, he moved to Jixian to compile and compile the book, except for the Imperial Academy. When Emperor Wenzong came to the throne, he eliminated all the bachelor's degree clerks in Kuizhang Pavilion. He led the revision of "The Classic of Classics" and wrote "Ancient Records of Daoyuan Studies" and "Daoyuan Manuscripts".
Yu Ji is famous for his literary works, and is known as the "Four Yuan Confucians" together with Jiexisi, Liu Guan, and Huang Shu; in poetry, he is as famous as Jiexisi, Fan Zhen, and Yang Zai, and is known as "Yuan Shi". Four?.
Biography of the characters
Yu Ji’s ancestral home is Renshou (now part of Renshou County, Meishan City, Sichuan Province). He is the fifth grandson of Yu Yunwen, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. His father Yu Ji once served as Huanggang Wei and died in the Song Dynasty. Later, he moved to Chongren, Linchuan (now part of Jiangxi Province). His mother is the daughter of Yang Wenzhong, the son of the emperor. All of his ancestors were famous for their literature. Yu Ji was born in Hengyang, Hunan on February 20, the eighth year of Xianchun in the Southern Song Dynasty (March 21, 1272). At the end of the Song Dynasty, wars were raging. In order to avoid the war, he moved with his father to Chongren, Jiangxi Province (today's Shizhuang Township). .
Yu Ji was smart since he was a child. He knew how to read at the age of 3. When he was 4 years old, his mother Yang dictated "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", "Zuo Zhuan" and the articles of famous writers Ouyang Xiu and Su Shi. recite. At the age of 9, he already understood the main themes of Confucian classics. At the age of 14, he studied under the famous Neo-Confucianist Wu Cheng and gained a better understanding of the Confucian worldview. After the Yuan Dynasty unified the country, Yu Ji first taught in the mansion of Dong Shixuan, the prime minister in Taichung, south of Jiangxi Province.
In the first year of Dade (1297) of Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan Dynasty, Yu gathered in Dadu (now Beijing).
In the sixth year of Dade (1302), he was recommended to Beijing as Professor of Confucianism on Dadu Road. Soon, he became a teaching assistant for Guozi. He took it upon himself to be a teacher, and his reputation grew day by day, attracting many scholars.
In the first year of Huangqing (1312), Renzong of the Yuan Dynasty came to the throne, and Yu Ji was appointed as Dr. Taichang and compiled by Jixianyuan. He wrote extensively on school education issues and had many insights, which were appreciated by Renzong.
In the sixth year of Yanyou (1319), he was a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and the Academy of National History.
In the first year of Taiding (1324), he was the secretary of the state, and later the secretary and young eunuch.
In the fourth year of Taiding (1327), he made an appointment with the king to follow Emperor Taiding to Shangdu and explain the scriptures in Mongolian and Chinese. The ministers of Shangdu were impressed by his erudition and understanding of the present. During the reign of Emperor Taiding, he was promoted to a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and a minister of state. He suggested that the land along the coast of Jingdong should be reclaimed by the people and embankments should be built to prevent the influx of tides. This can not only increase tax revenue year by year, but also allow tens of thousands of people to gather around the capital and strengthen the power to defend the capital. Although these ideas were not adopted, they were adopted later when the Ten Thousand Households Plan was established in Haikou. Before Wenzong ascended the throne, he knew something about Yu Ji. After ascending the throne, he appointed him as the scholar of Kuizhang Pavilion. Emperor Wenzong had the purpose of collecting and compiling the laws and regulations of this dynasty, imitating the Huiyao of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and compiled the "Jingshi Dadian", and ordered Yuji and Pingzhangshi Zhao Shiyan to serve as presidents. Later, Zhao Shiyan resigned, leaving Yu Ji solely responsible. Yu Ji worked hard and reviewed it for two years, and compiled it in the second year of Zhishun (1331). It totals 880 volumes and is an important material for studying the history of the Yuan Dynasty. After the book was completed, Emperor Wenzong ordered him to serve as a lecturer and a doctor in the Hanlin Academy. He begged for external appointments on the grounds of his eye disease, but was not allowed to do so. It was not until Wenzong and his younger brother Ningzong died one after another that they were able to report their illness and return to Chongren.
On May 23, the eighth year of Zhi Zheng (June 20, 1348), Yu Ji died of illness at home. He was posthumously awarded the title of "Investigator of Political Affairs of Jiangxi Province", and was posthumously granted the title of Duke of Renshou County, with the posthumous title of "Wen Jing".
Artistic Achievements
Poetry
Yu Ji has always been famous for his literary works. Song Lian said in the preface of "Liu Daizhi's Collected Works": "Since the celestial calendar, all the people in the country have The only ancestors were Bosheng, Duke Yu of Yong Dynasty, Man Shuo, Duke Jie of Yu Zhang, Duke Huang of Wu Shang, Jin Qing and Duke (Liu Guan). Those who know it think it is a famous saying?. Song Nao's "Man Tang Shuo Shi" says: "In the early Yuan Dynasty, the Jinyuan School was invaded, with Haowen as the main branch, and later it was called Yu, Yang, Fan, and Jie". Another example is Shen Deqian's "Shuo Shi Yu Yu": "The four schools of poetry of Yu, Yang, Fan and Jie are rivals." Among them, the old officials of the Han court were the most important. ?
Yu Ji said: ?Zhonghong (Yang Zai)'s poems are like those of a warrior who has fought in a hundred battles, Deji's (Fan Zhen's) poems are like Tang Lin Jin's poems, and Manshuo's (Jie Xisi) poems are like beautiful women's hairpins (one work) "The Three-Day Bride"), and his own poems such as "The Old Official of the Han Dynasty". It is said that Jiexisi was not happy when he heard such comments, because Jiexi's poems were written in a very serious way. The content of Yu Ji's poems shows strong national consciousness. In his poem "Elegy to the Prime Minister", he is full of condolences for Wen Tianxiang, a loyal minister of the Southern Song Dynasty who would rather die than surrender. Some people even said: "How can one read this poem without crying!" The words are also smooth and graceful. There is also "From Brother De Guanfu and Ji Tong came out of Xingzhou Prefecture. After the Song Dynasty, he lived in seclusion and died without official service. Ji came to Wumen to scan the tomb, and came to Qiong from abroad to find his brother's remains. "I broke up my family because of the country. Where is it that my lips are dead and my teeth are cold? I don’t know who I am writing it for? I can’t help but shed tears when I recite it, because it is a full chapter and contains hidden meanings.” The poem also reveals the same thoughts and feelings. In the poem "Zhao Qianli Xiaojing", he said: "The clouds and wild water have remained for three hundred years", which also means mourning the death of the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty died when Yu Ji was two years old. However, due to the tense ethnic relations in the Yuan Dynasty, national consciousness was revealed in his works.
Some poems in Yu Ji also write about the sufferings of people's livelihood, such as "Ci Yun Chen Xi Shan □ Lu", "Qi Juxuan" and so on. In addition, he was quite dissatisfied with the ethnic vendetta policy implemented by the Yuan rulers. Most of his poems are works in which gifts are given in return and have empty content. Yu Ji grew up in a period of social peace and stability, and his poems were generally written in a clear and distant manner. There is a peaceful atmosphere. For example, the poem "Untitled" expresses a hazy state, "Wen Ji Zhu" presents an elegant and light picture, and "Lasri Odd Titles", "Listening to the Rain", "Gong Ci", etc. give people a sense of tranquility and tranquility. impression. Yu Ji's poetry style is severe and the rhythm is mature.
Ci
Yu Jigong wrote more than 10,000 poems and articles in his lifetime, but only about 20 of his poems have survived. Most of them describe personal idle thoughts and lack of social The content of life and the description of scenery are also mediocre and featureless, but "The Wind Into the Pine" "Red Sleeves in the Painting Hall Relying on the Clear Sky" is eye-catching. There is a sentence in it: "Apricot blossoms and spring rain in the south of the Yangtze River" outline the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River, which is fascinating. Xinghua Chunyu was originally renovated with Lu You's poetic touch. It is said that his contemporaries Chen Lu and Zhang Qiyan admired this poem. At that time, Jifang even woven it on Luo Tie as a work of art for people to appreciate.
Sanqu
Among the Sanqu composed by Yu Ji, only one of them, "Zhe Gui Ling", has survived, which was highly praised by predecessors. Zongyi of the Yuan Dynasty said in "Zhuigeng Lu" that "even if it is entertainment for a while, it is far beyond the ordinary". Wu Mei's "Gu Ququ Tan" says: "Mr. Yu's (Yu Ji) articles are moral and righteous, illuminating the ages and revealing other threads. He is especially capable of such wonderful craftsmanship. It's rare to find a genius. This kind of "short column" syntax has been used since then. From the Yuan Dynasty to the present, there are very few people who have harmonized it. Only in the Ming Dynasty, Xu Tianchi imitated it in his "Four-Voice Ape", but it has not been seen since. Wang Jilie's "Qutans in the Hulu" commented: "The Order of Gui Gui" collected by Yu Xueshi is a poem about Shu and Han affairs. ?
Prose
Most of Yu Ji's prose is official entertainment writing, praising the powerful and advocating Neo-Confucianism. At that time, most of the ancestral temple and court records and the inscriptions of princes and officials were written by him. But there are also some letters and biographies that express the author's thoughts and temperament. For example, the "Biography of Chen □" describes the story of Chen □, a Jinshi scholar in the Song Dynasty, who died in Changzhou and praised his loyalty. Another example is the "Reply to Liu Guiyin", which highly praised Liu for not serving as an official. He praised Liu for "frost fell and the ice dried up, while the pines and cypresses withered, the sand and gravel disappeared, and the gold shined alone." The praise of characters loyal to the Zhao and Song dynasties here is consistent with the national consciousness revealed in his poems.
Yu Ji also has some prose that expresses his political ideals and his deep understanding of social human relations and physics. "Hai Qiao Shuo" emphasizes on the principle of "cooking a lot of food to nourish the virtuous and promoting it so that all the world can be nourished by it", "Yi Shuo Yi Jin" emphasizes that doctors should have a benevolent heart, etc.
Calligraphy
Yu Ji’s calligraphy was also very famous at the time and was quite popular among the people of the Jin Dynasty. Among the works handed down from generation to generation is "Master Baiyun's Notes" in running script, which was written in his later years. The calligraphy strokes are lingering, the words are continuous, the method is steep, vigorous and elegant. As Wang Shizhen said: "The brush strokes are careless, but the strokes are full of energy." ?There are records in "Mo Yuan Hui Guan Fa Shu Volume" and "San Yu Tang Calligraphy and Painting Catalog".
Water Conservancy
In his spare time when giving lectures to Renzong, Yu Ji once talked about the fact that the capital relied on transporting food by sea in the southeast area and engaged in extremely dangerous navigation, which was really a serious drain on the people's power, so Jin said: Thousands of miles away from the coast to the east of the capital are all reedy wastelands, from Liaohai in the north to Qingzhou and Qizhou in the south. The tides are alluvial every day, and over a long period of time they have become fertile land for farming. . If we use the method of Zhejiang people to build embankments to block the tide and turn it into cultivated land, let the wealthy men who want to be officials allocate these fields respectively, and the government will make regulations. If you can find 10,000 people to cultivate the fields, you will give them 10,000 shares. In the field, let him be the leader of the ten thousand people; and the following thousand and one hundred people will do the same. Within three years, depending on his results, the court will levy a fixed tax based on the fertility of the land and levy it according to grade. If he has savings after five years, he will be appointed as an official. The savings will be used as a salary, and he will be given a salary after ten years. Give him the talisman and seal the letter so that he can pass it on to his descendants. In this way, tens of thousands of militiamen can be obtained to defend the capital internally and defend the pirates externally. Moreover, the people can rest without having to rely on the southeast sea transportation. At the same time, the capital can get sufficient supplies by leveraging the mentality of the rich seeking official positions. With food supply, the people who travel around to eat can have a legitimate destination, and naturally they will not become pirates. ?But because the reviewers disagreed, the matter was dropped.