Xu Heng

Life

His family had been farmers for generations.

Passionately devoted to learning, he obtained the writings of the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi from Yao Shu, lived in seclusion at Sumen with Yao Shu and Dou Mo, and studied with them, making the practice of the Way his personal charge.

In the fourth year of the Xianzong era (1254), Kublai summoned him to serve as educational commissioner of Jingzhao, but he declined. After Kublai's accession, he was summoned as Grand Guardian to the Crown Prince; he did not take up the post and was appointed Libationer of the Imperial Academy instead.

Early in the Zhiyuan era—given more precisely as its second year (1265)—he was ordered to deliberate affairs in the Secretariat and submitted memorials running to tens of thousands of words. He argued that a northern power ruling the Central Plain could endure only by implementing Han institutions, and warned that compelling the meritorious families of successive dynasties to adopt the customs of a fallen state would meet strong resistance. Much of what he said was kept secret and rarely became known; he also determined court ritual and official institutions.

In the seventh year of Zhiyuan (1270), he was appointed Zhongshu zuocheng, or left vice chancellor of the Secretariat (also styled Zhongshu sheng zuo chengxiang). In office, he impeached Ahema for monopolizing power, deceiving the sovereign, and harming government and people. He was then made Grand Academician of the Jixian Hall concurrently Libationer of the Imperial Academy, and selected Mongol youths for instruction.

In the sixteenth year of Zhiyuan (1279), he was recalled to supervise the Taishi Yuan, where he and Guo Shoujing completed the Shoushi calendar. Illness led him to request retirement; the court appointed his eldest son, Xu Shike, governor of the Huai-Meng Circuit to facilitate his care, and Xu Heng died at the age of seventy-three.

He told his son that he had been burdened by empty fame and had ultimately been unable to decline office, urging him not to seek a posthumous title or erect a stele after his death. Xu Shijing is also identified as his fourth son.

In the second year of Dade (1298), he was posthumously granted the title Situ and the posthumous name Wenzheng. In the second year of Zhida (1309), he received the additional honors of Taifu, Kaifu Yitong Sansi, and Duke of Wei; in the second year of Huangqing (1313), an imperial decree placed him among those enshrined in the Temple of Confucius.

Thought, education, and associations

Scholars called him Master Luzhai. Wang Yun recommended him, and his students included Yelü Youshang and Lü 𡌳.

Works and literary legacy

His works include 《魯齋遺書》, 《讀易私言》, and 《魯齋集》; other titles include 《許氏詩譜鈔一卷》, 《大學直解一卷》, 《中庸直解一卷》, 《稽古千文》, 《許文正公語錄二卷》, 《大學要略》, 《許魯齋先生訓子詩一卷》, 《小學大義》, 《授時歷經一卷》, 《陰陽消長論》, and 《揲蓍說》.

In literary terms, Xu Heng was a founding grand Confucian rather than a figure known chiefly for literature; his classical verse formed a distinct style, and his regulated verse occasionally contained fine lines.

His regulated poems include 《登東城》, 《秋寒》, 《用吳行甫韻》, 《謝梁安撫》, and 《秋霖初霽》; four ci poems survive, found in 《魯齋遺書》 and 《草堂詩餘》.