Scholars › Philosopher / Thinker

Xu Heng

Major Yuan Neo-Confucian philosopher and scholar who co-directed the theoretical foundation of the Shoushi Calendar.

Also known as Zi Zhongping · Master Luzhai

Xu Heng (1209 CE–1281 CE) was the preeminent Neo-Confucian master of the Yuan Dynasty. He led the imperial educational academy and provided the theoretical framework that legitimized and coordinated the Shoushi Calendar reforms.

Life and times

  1. 1209 CEBornSongYuan
  2. 1280Promulgation of Shoushi CalendarTook partage 71Guo Shoujing, Wang Xun, Xu Heng, and their collaborators compiled the Shoushi calendar using observations gathered across an unusually broad network of sites.
  3. 1281 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Prose3
    1. Surviving Writings of Lu ZhaiYuanWritings of the early Yuan Neo-Confucian Xu Heng in fourteen juan, printed in 1525
    2. Surviving Writings of Lu Zhai: Juan 7 (Five Items on Current Affairs)Yuan
    3. Surviving Writings of Lu Zhai: Five Items on Current Affairs (Preamble; Essentials of the Secretariat)Yuan
  2. Literature · Sayings2
    1. Fretting Over Gain and LossYuanIdiom from the Analects, used by Xu Heng: anxious first to gain, then not to lose
    2. Afraid at the Head, Afraid at the Tail: Xu Heng on Using TalentYuanIdiom in Xu Heng's memorial to Khubilai: rulers too timid to act on what they know

Connections

  1. Shared events1
    1. Kublai Khan1215 CE–1294 CE
  2. Interactions2
    1. Guo ShoujingIntellectual: Worked together on the Shoushi calendar · 1231 CE–1316 CEPromulgation of Shoushi Calendar
    2. Wang XunIntellectual: Compiled the Shoushi calendar together · 1235 CE–1281 CEPromulgation of Shoushi Calendar

Records

Study of the Cheng and Zhu writings

Yuan period

The History of the Yuan says Xu Heng obtained from Yao Shu of Liucheng the writings of the Cheng family of Yi-Luo and the Zhu family of Xin'an, and gained much from them. He then became head of the Imperial Academy, and was later made Grand Scholar of the Jixian Hall while keeping that post, personally choosing Mongol youths to teach.

References (1)

Recommended to lead the new calendar

During the Yuan calendar reform

The History of the Yuan says Wang Xun was ordered to compile a new calendar and held that calendar makers knew the numbers but not the principles, so Xu Heng should lead it. Xu Heng and the Grand Astronomer Guo Shoujing and others made new instruments and gnomons. When the calendar was finished and presented, it was named the Shoushi Calendar and issued across the realm.

References (1)