Zhou Dunyi (周敦頤) | 24 Histories

Overview

Zhou Dunyi was a scholar and Philosopher.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal name	Master Zhou	周子

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 1017 to AD 1073 AD 1017-1073
Strongly inferred · History of Song 436, passage 292
AD 1017 to AD 1073 周敦頤之世
Strongly inferred · History of Song 430, passage 37
AD 1011 to AD 1200 宋代學者
Directly stated · History of Yuan 171, passage 15
AD 1017 to AD 1073 宋大儒活動之世
Directly stated · History of Yuan 146, passage 261

Key source chapters

History of Yuan, Chapter 171 Volume 171 Biographies 58: Liu Yin, Wu Cheng 3 passages
History of Song, Chapter 430 Volume 430 Biographies 189: Taoist Scholars 4: Zhu Shimenren, Huang Gan, Li Fan, Zhang Qia, Chen Chun, Li Fangzi, Huang Hao 1 passage
History of Song, Chapter 436 Volume 436 Biographies 195: Confucian Scholars 6: Chen Liang, Zheng Qiaolinting, Li Daochuan 1 passage
History of Yuan, Chapter 146 Volume 146 Biographies 33: Yelü Chucai, Zhanhezhongshan, Yang Weizhong 1 passage

Career and standing

great Song Confucian 宋大儒
Directly stated · History of Yuan 146, passage 261
proposed for attendant sacrifice in Confucius temple 從祀孔子廟
AD 1208 to AD 1224 嘉定 · Proposed
Dated from the passage context · History of Song 436, passage 292

Places and affiliations

Polity Song 宋 · Relation Lived under
Strongly inferred · History of Song 436, passage 292
Polity Song 宋 · Relation Lived under
Directly stated · History of Yuan 146, passage 261

Events and relationships

Attendant sacrifice in Confucius temple proposed
AD 1208 to AD 1224 嘉定 · Ritual · Proposed honoree · With Confucius (孔子)
Dated from the passage context · History of Song 436, passage 292
Enshrined among the four masters at Hanyang by Huang Gan
AD 1210 其在漢陽立祠 · Ritual · Honoree
Directly stated · History of Song 430, passage 37
Shrine established
AD 1236 惟中立祠 · Ritual · Honoree · Mode retrospective-commemoration
Directly stated · History of Yuan 146, passage 261

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · History of Song 430, passage 37; History of Yuan 146, passage 261

References in the histories

History of Song, Chapter 430Volume 430 Biographies 189: Taoist Scholars 4: Zhu Shimenren, Huang Gan, Li Fan, Zhang Qia, Chen Chun, Li Fangzi, Huang Hao · 1 passage

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其在漢陽，即郡治後鳳棲山為屋，館四方士，立周、程、游、朱四先生祠。 At Hanyang he built halls on Phoenix Perch Hill behind the yamen to lodge scholars from afar and raised shrines to the four masters Zhou, Cheng, You, and Zhu.

History of Song, Chapter 436Volume 436 Biographies 195: Confucian Scholars 6: Chen Liang, Zheng Qiaolinting, Li Daochuan · 1 passage

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願下明詔，崇尚正學，取朱熹《論語》、《孟子集注》、《中庸大學章句》、《或問》四書，頒之太學，仍請以周惇頤、邵雍、程顥、程頤、張載五人從祀孔子廟。」 Issue a clear edict to honor true learning, distribute Zhu Xi's Four Books—the 《Analects》, 《Mencius》, 《Great Learning and Mean》, and 《Questions》—through the academy, and add Zhou Dunyi, Shao Yong, the two Chengs, and Zhang Zai to Confucius's temple.'

History of Yuan, Chapter 146Volume 146 Biographies 33: Yelü Chucai, Zhanhezhongshan, Yang Weizhong · 1 passage

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克宋棗陽、光化等軍，光、隨、郢、復等州，及襄陽、德安府，凡得名士數十人，收伊、洛諸書送燕都，立宋大儒周惇頤祠，建太極書院，延儒士趙復、王粹等講授其間，遂通聖賢學，慨然欲以道濟天下。 He captured Zaoyang, Guanghua, and other garrisons and the prefectures of Guang, Sui, Ying, Fu, Xiangyang, and De'an; he gathered dozens of eminent scholars, sent books from the Yi and Luo regions to Yan, built a shrine to Zhou Dunyi and the Taiji Academy, and invited Zhao Fu, Wang Cui, and others to lecture there, opening the way to sage learning and resolving to save the world through the Way.

History of Yuan, Chapter 171Volume 171 Biographies 58: Liu Yin, Wu Cheng · 3 passages

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及得周、程、張、邵、朱、呂之書，一見能發其微，曰：「我固謂當有是也。」 When he came upon the works of Zhou Dunyi, the Cheng brothers, Zhang Zai, Shao Yong, Zhu Xi, and Lü Zuqian, he grasped their subtleties at once and said, "I always knew such teaching must exist."

周，至精也； Zhou Dunyi reached the utmost refinement;

近古之統：周子其元，程、張其亨也，朱子其利也，孰為今日之貞乎？ The lineage of recent antiquity: Zhou Dunyi is the Origin, the Cheng brothers and Zhang Zai the Flourishing, Zhu Xi the Advantage—who is today's Steadfastness?