Cheng Yi (1033–1107) was a Northern Song Neo-Confucian philosopher and thinker. His courtesy name was Zhengshu; he was styled Yichuan and known among scholars as Master Yichuan, and he was a native of Luoyang. He was also known by titles including “Little Cheng,” “Zheng Gong,” “Duke of Luo,” and “Count of Yiyang.”
Life
His great-great-grandfather (the fourth-generation ancestor) was Cheng Yu; his father was Cheng Xiang, his mother Madam Hou, his elder brother Cheng Hao, and his father-in-law Peng Siyong. His sons included the eldest, Cheng Duanzhong, and the second, Cheng Duanque; he also had a son-in-law, Xi Yanzheng. Cheng Duanque was born in 1064 and died in 1068.
As a young man, Cheng Yi studied with his brother under Zhou Dunyi. At eighteen, he entered the Imperial Academy, wrote the essay 《顏子好學論》, also found under the title 《顏子所好何學論》, and impressed Hu Yuan, who appointed him to a teaching post.
After failing the palace examination in Jiayou 4 (1059), he did not sit again; during the reigns of Yingzong and Shenzong, repeated recommendations did not bring him into office. His early offices included the Ruzhou tuanlian tuiguan; at the beginning of Zhezong’s reign, he was recommended by Sima Guang and Lü Gongzhu.
Accounts differ in the sequence of his appointments: one says that in Yuanyou 1 (1086) he was summoned to court, appointed Tongzhilang and Reader in the Chongzheng Hall, and sent the following year to administer the Western Capital Directorate of Education; another says that he was first summoned as a professor at the Western Capital Directorate of Education but declined, then appointed a collator in the Palace Library, promoted to Reader in the Chongzheng Hall after an audience, sent to administer the Directorate, and later given the nominal office of zhi Mige. Later official lists give both zhi Mige and zhi Longtu ge.
In Shaosheng 4 (1097), he was placed on the Yuanyou faction register; because of political disagreement, his official status was stripped and he was sent to Fuzhou under administrative confinement. After Huizong took the throne, an amnesty brought him back to Luoyang, where his Tongzhilang and acting administration of the Western Capital Directorate of Education were restored. In Chongning 1 (1102), the restored offices were again revoked; in the fifth year, he was reinstated as Tongzhilang and retired. He died in Daguan 1 (1107), aged seventy-five.
Learning and teaching
Together with his brother Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi was a founder of Northern Song Neo-Confucianism; together they were known as the Cheng brothers, or Er Cheng. Because he taught for many years in Luoyang, the tradition associated with his teaching came to be called Luoxue. His teaching centered on qiongli (“exhausting principle”) and emphasized gewu zhizhi (“investigating things and extending knowledge”); he also maintained that “human nature is principle” (xing ji li), and his thought opened the way for Zhu Xi’s learning.
He taught tirelessly and established Yigao Academy; his students included Yang Shi, Xie Liangzuo, and Yin Tun.
Works
His early essay 《顏子好學論》 is also found under the title 《顏子所好何學論》; his commentary on the Changes is titled 《伊川易傳》, 《易傳》, or 《易程傳》, and he also wrote 《春秋傳》 and 《伊川文集》. Later editors combined related works by Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao as 《二程全書》. These include 《河南程氏遺書》 in twenty-five juan, 《河南程氏外書》 in twelve juan, 《河南程氏經說》 in eight juan, 《河南程氏粹言》 in two juan, an eight-juan collected works, and a four-juan 《易傳》; 《二程語錄》 is also listed in twenty-seven juan.
Posthumous honors and influence
In Jiading 13, he was posthumously granted the name Zheng; in Chunyou 1, he was enfeoffed as Count of Yiyang and admitted to the Temple of Confucius. He was also later styled Duke of Luo.
References
- CBDB Cheng Yi (3105)
- 搜韵 程頤 (29922)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 程頤 (A007883)
- Wikidata Cheng Yi (Q558380)