Zixia (507 BC – 400 BC), real name Bu Shang (布商), courtesy name Zixia, was a native of Wenyi (present-day Wen County, Henan) in the jin state of late Spring and Autumn. A famous disciple of Confucius, he was listed as one of the "Seventy-Two Sages of Confucius" and the "Ten Philosophers of Confucius", and was honored by later generations as "Buzi".
Zixia Xiao Confucius was 44 years old, the best of Confucius's late disciples, known for literature, and was approved by Confucius as a high-talented student in his "literature" subject.
Zixia studied under Confucius, but also had his own thoughts, he put forward the idea of "Shi and excellent learning, learning and excellent Shi", advocating that "to be an official to win the trust of the people, and then to make the people serve".
After The Death of Confucius, the disciples of the Various Disciples passed on Confucianism to the Four Directions, and the Chronicle of Ru LinLie records: "Since the death of Confucius... Zilu Juwei, Zi Zhang Ju Chen, Zi Tai Zi Yu Ju Chu, Zi Xia Ju Xi He, Zi Gong finally Qi. For example, Tian Zifang, Duan Ganmu, Wu Qi, and Bird Slippery belonged to Zi Xia Zhilun and were the masters of the king. At that time, Du Wei Wenhou was eager to learn. ”
The above paragraph tells that after the death of Confucius, Zixia went to the West River (Jishui and Yellow River) in the Wei kingdom to give lectures, and also served as a teacher of Wei Wenhou, who advocated Confucianism.
Zixia's missionary teachings to Xihe were of great significance to the development of Confucianism, not only spreading Confucianism to the land of the Three Jins, but also enabling Confucianism to be promoted for the first time with the power of the state, and then spread to the surrounding countries of Qin, Zhao, and Chu.
The modern scholar Liang Qichao said: "When Confucius was alive, his scholarship was not seen as more important than Shi Junye, and Wei Wenhou was followed by Duan Ganmu and Tian Zifang, so Confucianism began in Xihe, and Wenhou initially placed doctoral officers, which was actually the beginning of the promotion of Confucius students with national strength. The first hero of Confucianism, the Shesi people have no subordinates. ”
In fact, as Mr. Liang Qichao said, when Confucius first taught in the country of Lu, he was not valued by the monarch, so he took his disciples around the world to promote his doctrine and propositions, and the result was caused by the environment of the times, and when he traveled around the countries, he was not valued by the monarchs of the countries. When Confucius and his disciples were at the junction of chen and cai, they even ran out of grain for seven days.
Once Confucius and his disciples were separated, Confucius sat alone by the East Gate in a daze, and Zigong asked The Zhengguo people where Confucius was. Zheng Guoren laughed and said that there was an old man at the east gate who was in a daze like a lost dog, and it might be the person you were looking for.
When Confucius was alive, Confucianism was not taken seriously, and if it were not for the unremitting efforts of Zixia and Zengzi to spread Confucianism later, it is estimated that Confucianism would not have become the first university school in later generations.
Among the disciples of Confucius, at least Zixia, Zengzi, Zilu, Zizhang, and Zitai Ziyu were among the disciples who initially made outstanding contributions to the spread of Confucianism, but later with the development of the times, except for Zixia and Zengzi, the teachings transmitted by others did not have a major impact in later generations, and the main reasons for this phenomenon were twofold: first, they had no works, or they had works but died, and later generations could not observe their learning; second, there were no prominent people among their disciples, and they failed to inherit, summarize, and even carry forward their teachings.
Since the Han Dynasty, most scholars believe that Confucian classics were originally mainly taught from the Zixia lineage, such as Xu Fang of the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Poems, Books, Rituals, and Music were set by Confucius; the invention of chapters and verses began with Zixia." ”
The Book of Later Han quotes the Records of History as saying: "Confucius did not, Zixia lived in Xihe, taught three hundred disciples, and was the master of Marquis Wen of Wei." ”
Marquis Wenhou of Wei was the founding monarch of the State of Wei during the Warring States period and the founder of the century-old hegemony of the State of Wei. Wei Wenhou was the first to implement the change of law and reform politics in the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, and the later famous "Shang Martingale Transformation Law" was actually modeled on the Wei State Change Law.
Marquis Wen of Wei worshiped Zixia as his teacher and raised the status of Confucianism to a very high position, and as a result, Zixia became the first owner of the name of "Imperial Master", and his teacher Confucius did not receive such a high honor during his lifetime. Therefore, Zixia actively preached and lectured in Xihe, attracting a large number of people with lofty ideals to come to study.
It should be noted that Zengzi, who was preaching in the country of Lu at that time, promoted Confucianism, which was a school represented by heavy rites, especially heavy filial piety, and cultivated Confucianism, but these people did not have the specialty of applying the scriptures to the world, so their political status in the various princely states was not high.
Zi Xia taught Confucianism, which was widely pervaded the bureaucratic systems of various countries, and was the most influential School of Confucianism at that time.
Therefore, after Zixia went to Xihe to give a lecture, the scholars who sought to enter the body transferred to Xihe to study, thus forming the first academic town in the early Warring States period- the Xihe School, also known as the "Study of the West River".
After these scholars completed their studies, they generally naturally stayed in the State of Wei and served for them, so that a large number of talents gathered in the State of Wei. The State of Wei was able to continue to flourish for more than a hundred years, and Zi Xia's contribution was indispensable.
The study of the West River produced a large number of celebrities, such as a group of famous politicians and military experts such as Li Wu, Wu Qi and Shang Martin during the Warring States period. Xun Zi, Li Si, and Han Feizi were his disciples who passed on two or three generations apart. The grandeur of its door style made many people at that time even mistakenly think that Zixia was Confucius.
As a generation of masters, after Zixia founded the "Study of the West River", and then through Wei Wenhou to promote and disseminate Confucianism with the power of the state, so that the Qin, Chu, and Zhao countries where the Yi culture of the border areas prevailed were influenced by the Central Plains culture, and the State of Wei replaced the State of Lu as the cultural suzerainty of the Central Plains countries.