You Zuo (1053–1123) was a Northern Song Neo-Confucian scholar, educator, and calligrapher. His courtesy name was Dingfu, with Zitong as an alternative; he was a native of Jianyang in Jianzhou, in present-day Fujian. Scholars called him Lushan xiansheng; he was also known as Guangping xiansheng and Zhishan xiansheng. His father was You Qian, and his elder brother was You Chun.
Life
In 1072, You Zuo went to Luoyang in Henan. He studied under Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi; with Xie Liangzuo, Lü Dalin, and Yang Shi, he was counted among the four leading disciples of the Cheng school. After passing the jinshi examination in the fifth year of the Yuanfeng era (1082), he was appointed county lieutenant of Xiaoshan in Yuezhou. Recommended for his ability by court officials, he was summoned as a recorder at the Imperial Academy; in the first year of Yuanyou (1086), he was made Xuande lang and appointed a doctorate there. Because serving his parents was inconvenient, he requested appointment as magistrate of Heqing County.
In the fourth year of Yuanyou, Fan Chunren, then governor of Yingchang, appointed him professor at the prefectural school; after Fan became chief minister, You returned as a doctorate. In the second year of Shaosheng, after Fan left the chief-ministership, You requested an external post, became a signing judge in Qizhou, was transferred to Quanzhou, and later returned as an Investigating Censor. Under Huizong, one chronology places him as governor of Hezhou in the first year of Chongning (1102), manager of Nanjing Hongqing Palace in the fourth year, resident in Taiping, governor of Hanyang Military Prefecture in the first year of Zhenghe (1111), governor of Shuzhou in the seventh year, and governor of Haozhou in the first year of Xuanhe (1119). Another set of office dates places his terms in Hezhou, Shuzhou, and Haozhou in 1096–1098, 1098–1100, and 1102–1104, respectively.
After leaving office, he lived in Liyang; he died in the fifth year of Xuanhe (1123), aged seventy-one. He received the posthumous name Wensu.
Scholarship and works
You Zuo was a friend of Yang Shi, and students including Chen Shen and Zeng Kai studied under him; Chen Shen is described as receiving from him principles of cultivating qi and the mind and conducting oneself and dealing with others. He became known for his literary attainments and conduct.
His writings include 易說, 詩二南義, 中庸義, and 論語孟子雜解; his collected works appear under both the titles 廌山文集 and 游廌山集. Book lists also give 中庸義一卷, 論語雜解一卷, 孟子雜解一卷, and 薦山集, as well as the family genealogy （游氏）家譜; he also compiled 錄二程先生語一卷. An original ten-volume collected works was lost. Later editors produced 游廌山先生集 and 游定夫先生集, whose fascicle numbering varies; nineteen poems are included in the present selection.
Later reception
During the Qiandao era, the magistrate of Jianyang established a Shrine of the Three Worthies, enshrining You Zuo, Chen Zhu, and Chen Shixi as scholars worthy of emulation and encouraging later students. In Yuan times, You Zuo's ninth-generation descendant, You Yizheng, built the Shrine of Censor You Dingfu in the village. Zhu Xi wrote an account for his living shrine, and Zhang Shi wrote a shrine record for him.
References
- CBDB You Zuo (11885)
- 搜韵 游酢 (28519)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 游酢 (A009547)
- Wikidata You Zuo (Q4533465)