In Shichi, the story of Cao Duan is widely recited. He was a master of science in the early Ming Dynasty and one of the five sages of the Confucius Temple in Henan. He practiced in practice, pioneered public honesty, was close to the people and loved the people, worked hard as a teacher, and was admired by all generations of benevolent people.
One day in early winter, bathed in the warm sunshine, we interviewed Cao Yuanlong, a descendant of Cao Duan.
Mr. Cao Duan is a model of diligent reading. He named his study "Diligent And Diligent", and wrote "Diligent and Diligent, Not Diligent and Difficult to Be a Superior, Bitter and Bitter, Not Suffering How to Pass Through ancient and modern times." Before the age of eighteen, Cao Duan had read through the Four Books, the Book of Poetry, the Book of Rites, Zhou Yi, spring and autumn, etc. Because of his diligent and hard reading, Cao Duan had accumulated rich knowledge and ideas. He wrote many works in his lifetime, and the Ming history records that "there are not less than a thousand kinds" of them. He led by example and brought the wind of diligence from Shichi to Huozhou.
Throughout his life, Mr. Cao Duan carried forward the "Four Religions of Confucius" of "self-cultivation, family unity, governance of the country, and peace in the world" to the fullest, and he taught people morality first, and his teaching was more important than words. When Huozhou suffered a rare drought, Cao Duan took out all his silver to give relief to the students who had dropped out of school due to hunger; for three years, he took care of Gongsheng Xingqing's mother, so that Xing Qing could study in Taixue with peace of mind; he gave exiled officials and sick people road expenses and dry food, and supported countless elderly and children who had no one to rely on. Mr. Cao Duan took people by virtue and Confucianized people, so he influenced the folk customs of the whole Huozhou.
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > ancestors like Cao Duan</h3>
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > when Mr. Cao Duan was in office in Puzhou, Guo Sheng, a senior disciple in Huozhou, asked about the way of government</h3>
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Haiqin's paper-cut work</h3>
The most admirable thing about Mr. Cao Duan is his broad-mindedness, and his "Doubtful Records" summarize and classify difficult problems in the classics, with the purpose of "just saving things". Cao Duan called himself "Yi luo" and consciously lowered his position in the ideological academia. A generation of Shuo Confucians, showing their own shortcomings, this is his diligent, rigorous, humble and noble qualities. Cao Duan taught students that there is a superiority, he reformed the shortcomings of the eight-strand education, compiled the "Notes on the Four Books" as a teaching material, and the teaching style is closer to reality. In the Jiawu Township Examination, 8 of his students were lifted at the same time, causing a sensation in the township; Ding Youxiang was tested, and 5 people were simultaneously lifted, which was called "Wugui Lianfang" at that time; in the Zhenwu Township Examination, 4 people were lifted at the same time, called "Four Juns And Receiving Wu". Therefore, Cao Duan's fame spread far and wide. Even officials from Fenxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Baoding, and the imperial court sent their sons to Huozhou for education. He immersed himself in a position of nine pins and scholars for 25 years, and every year the officials were evaluated as excellent, and they were not promoted to a knighthood. Mr. Regards fame and fortune as a floating cloud, breeding materials for the country, and has no complaints or regrets until death.
Impartiality and honesty are the virtues of Mr. Cao Duan, so they have also won the praise of Shaanxi Province. His idea of honesty is reflected in his most famous "Theory of Public Honesty": "Officials are not afraid of my strictness, but fear my honesty, the people do not obey my ability, and if they serve my father, the public does not dare to slacken off, and the honest people do not dare to deceive. This is actually his experience and feeling of focusing on The study of Confucianism for decades, and it is also the conscious practice of his practice in the official field for more than ten years. The 36-character official proverb, passed down from generation to generation, still has very important practical significance today.
Huo State Department
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > a woodcut relic of ancestral writings made during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty</h3>
Teacher Hu Zhonghua of Huozhou City once described it this way: This thousand-year-old whitebark pine seems to have the secret of eternal youth. It grows on the head of the wall, there are no other trees and debris around, there is a kind of solipsism, solipsism, elegance and grace. A gust of wind blew through, the branches swayed, it was really a jade tree facing the wind, and the temperament was extraordinary. President Zhang Mingguang looked at me there in a daze, smiled and said, "How? It is said that Cao Duan looks upright and is upright, this sacred pine, a righteous, righteous and bright, like Cao Duan? ”
Cao Duan has three ends, the heart end, the appearance end, and the line end. He is sincere every day, not worried or afraid, not impatient, not sad or happy, can be described as hearted; he is dignified and atmospheric, calm and calm, not flustered and not busy, can be described as good looks; he is honest and honest, rigorous in learning, filial piety, and not humble and profane. Mr. Cao Duan will always be a mirror, a banner and a benchmark for the party members and cadres in Shichi. As Shichi people, we are proud of him!
lacebark pine
Cao Duan
Bronze statue of the ancestor of Caoduan Elementary School in Shichi
On February 7, 2016, the Henan Provincial Government announced the seventh batch of cultural relics protection units, and the tomb of Cao Duan in Shichi County was listed among them.