MUZIChinese Matrix
Scholars › Philosopher / Thinker
Southern Song official and follower of Zhu Xi who wrote the Extended Meaning of the Great Learning for Emperor Lizong and died as assistant chief councillor
A thatched pavilion open on three sides stands among tall bamboo; one person sits with their back turned at the veranda rail beside a zither and a stack of bamboo slips, while a stone path runs to a calm pond reflecting clouds and distant hills.
Also known as Zi Jingyuan · Hao Xishan · Xishan Xiansheng · Shi Wenzhong · Zi Jingxi
Zhen Dexiu, courtesy name Jingyuan and later Jingxi, sobriquet Xishan, came from Pucheng in Jianzhou; he passed the jinshi examination in 1199 and the special examination for broad learning in 1205. In the Jiading years he served as court diarist and fiscal official in Jiangdong, writing repeatedly on frontier defence and policy, and later governed Quanzhou and Fuzhou. A follower of Zhu Xi, he wrote the *Extended Meaning of the Great Learning* (*Daxue yanyi*), which arranges classical and historical passages under the headings of the *Great Learning* to show how a ruler should cultivate himself and order his household, and presented it to Emperor Lizong in 1234. He became assistant chief councillor in 1235 and died the same year at fifty-eight, named Wenzhong. He also compiled the anthology *Wenzhang zhengzong*, and the first Ming emperor had the *Daxue yanyi* written on the walls of a palace hall so he could consult it.
SongThe History of Song says Zhen Dexiu took the cause of learning on himself with deep feeling, studying it and putting it into practice. The study of setting the mind right and making the will sincere had been slandered as a hunt for fame; once the ban was lifted, orthodox learning became clear to later ages, and the History credits this largely to his efforts.
Zhen Dexiu was called back as Minister of Revenue and, on being received, presented his Daxue yanyi; the emperor accepted it gladly and made him Hanlin Academician and drafter of edicts. A year on he presided over the examinations and then became Participant in Governance, jointly compiling the statutes and the Jingwu yaolue. After his death he was granted the rank of Yinqing Guanglu daifu and the posthumous name Wenzhong.