What do the four sentences of Hengqu refer to?

"Make a heart for heaven and earth, make a life for the people, carry forward the past and forge ahead into the future, and make the world peaceful": establish a heart for heaven and earth, point out a common path for the people, inherit the knowledge that Confucius and Mencius and other saints have not passed on, and open up a permanent and peaceful foundation for future generations.

Zhang Zai (1020—107765438+February 6th), born in Hengqu Town, Fengxiang County (now Meixian County, Shaanxi Province), was a thinker and educator in the Northern Song Dynasty and one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism. Known as Mr. Hengqu in the world, Zhang Zi is honored as a saint, and he is thirty-eight in the west of Confucius Temple. His famous saying of "making a heart for heaven and earth, making a life for the people, connecting the past with the future, and opening up a peaceful future for generations" was called "four sentences in a horizontal canal" by contemporary philosopher Feng Youlan.

Zhang Zaijin retired as a national sage, and opened up a new situation for Confucianism under the historical conditions at that time with practical actions. Zeng Guofan, the "first minister of ZTE" in the late Qing Dynasty, once wrote A Portrait of a Sage, and selected 32 great men in China history who have been in Starlight Glimmer for thousands of years as the portal for future generations to learn:

Confucius and Mencius, Ban Ma Zuo Zhuang, Ge Lu Fan Ma, Zhou Zhang,

Ozen, Duma, Wang.

Among them, "Zhou Zhang" refers to Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Yi brothers (regarded as one person), Zhu and Zhang Zai respectively. In the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Zai gave lectures in Guanzhong, and his academic thought was called "Guan Xue", which was called the four schools of the Song Dynasty together with Zhou Dunyi's "Lianxue", Er Cheng's "Luoxue" and Zhu's "Xue" in the Southern Song Dynasty.

"Monk died. For thousands of years, only Zhou Cheng, Zhang Zhu and other people have been favored by Confucius." This is the consensus of China for 800 years. "Luo Guanmin" and "Zhou Zhu" became the mantra of people calling Neo-Confucianism in Song Dynasty. In order to rhyme, Zeng Guofan changed it to "Zhou Zhang".

Extended data:

The conclusion of the sentence "four sentences in a horizontal canal" provides a useful reference for the construction of philosophy and social sciences with China characteristics.

For Zhang Zai, one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism, the biggest challenge at that time was the prosperity of Buddhism, especially Buddhism. The smartest people in the world are attracted by the past. As the backbone of China local culture, the cultural confidence of Confucianism has been greatly challenged.