At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a “Mr. Xishan” who was as long as a broad forehead and as good-looking as jade (1178-1235). He analyzed the current problems of the dynasty and hit the nail on the head every time, so his reputation was shocking to the court. At that time, people from all over the world wanted to see his style. Whenever he visited a place, he caused a sensation. People who wanted to see him rushed out and blocked the roads. In the official history, he was a good official who advocated virtuous governance; in the folk stories, his legendary side is particularly fascinating.
Talented and intelligent, he did not claim to be brilliant
Born in September of the fifth year of Emperor Xiaozong’s reign (1178) in Pucheng, Fujian Province, De Xiu began to study at the age of four and was so gifted that he could memorize the books he read immediately.
When De Xiu was twelve years old, he attended the county school. Whenever he came home from the county school, he often put the book next to his pillow and read it until late at night. At night, the real Deok-su read books in the mosquito net, so that the mosquito net are smoked black by the oil lamp. When the other schoolchildren gathered to play during the holidays, he read their books and memorized them quickly.
In the fifth year of the 20th Qing dynasty (1199), at the age of twenty-one, Zhen De Xiu and his father-in-law, Yang Kyu, were both successful in the imperial examinations and entered the career from then on. He was appointed as a military magistrate in Nanjianzhou (present-day Nanping City) and served for seven years.
During his tenure, he was dedicated to his work and did not become headstrong because of his high reputation. When he was tired, he lifted his head to look at the scenery across the river. The water of the stream is clear and beautiful, and the pleasant scenery makes the lungs and liver awake.
He may have been a practitioner in his previous life
There is a folk legend about the origins of Zhen De Xiu.
There was a Taoist priest in a mountain hut to cultivate alone. One day before he was about to meditate, he said to his disciple, “I’ll be away for a while, or I’ll be back in five or ten days. You must not easily move my body.”
The child was obedient and kept a good watch over his master’s physical body. A few days later, the child suddenly heard a knock at the door, and it turned out that someone had come to see him. The child answered through the door and said, “My master has not yet come out of his determination!”
The person at the door said, “I know, your master has been dead for a long time. Now he has been included in the underworld and can no longer return. There is no good in keeping the flesh, it will soon be putrid.”
Stunned at hearing this, the child did not realize that this was a trick of the devil, and completely forgetting his master’s instructions, he lit a torch and incinerated the Taoist priest’s flesh.
Soon, the Taoist priest’s spirit returned, but found that the flesh has been burned, no one can not continue to practice. The Taoist priest went around the hut and called out, “Where is ‘I’?” The hue and cry continued for more than a month without stopping.
Later, an old monk heard the call of the Taoist, said in a stern voice: “You said to find ‘me’, then ‘you’ and who is it?” And so the shouting stopped.
At that time, True Deoksoo’s mother was pregnant and one day, she suddenly saw a Taoist enter the inner room, and True Mother then gave birth to True Deoksoo.
There is also a theory that the predecessor of Zhen De Xiu was a monk of Caoan (The Miscellaneous Knowledge of the Declination by Zhou Mi, Song Dynasty).
He did not admire powerful officials and asked for a local transfer
In addition to his official duties, he did not forget to further his studies. In the first year of the Kaixi era (1205), Zhen De Xiu applied for the subject of erudition and grand speech. This section selected officials to draft imperial edicts, forms, diagrams, etc. for the emperor and the central institutions, and only three or five were usually accepted each time. The emperor granted him permission to build a “Hongbo” plaque in his hometown as a token of appreciation for his good fortune in passing the examination.
Later, as the chancellor Shi Yiyuan was in sole control of the power, Zhen De Xiu did not want to cling to the powerful ministers, so he applied for a local transfer. In the seventh year of Jiading (1214), Zhen De Xiu was appointed as the deputy ambassador of the transit division of the East Road of Jiangnan. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the transfer department was in charge of the collection of financial resources along the way (equivalent to the province), and also had the authority to monitor officials. At that time, Jiangnan East Road covered nine provinces, states and armies, roughly covering the northeast of today’s Jiangxi, southern Anhui and southwestern Jiangsu.
In the following year of his tenure, a locust plague and a drought occurred in Jiangnan East Road. True Deoksoo went to the localities to provide relief, and at the same time impeached and dismissed corrupt local officials. At the end of the relief work, when he was ready to leave, thousands of people saw him off.
The people pointed to the graves on the roadside and cried, “These are the victims who died of starvation in the past. If you had not come, we too would have been buried here after starving to death.” True Deoksoo wrote about this experience as “The Record of the Relief of the Floods in Jiangdong”. The courtiers began to know that in addition to being a good reader, True Deok-su was also a good governor and had a good record.
Promoting foreign trade and suppressing pirates
Zhen De Xiu served in many states and counties, including Quanzhou and Tanzhou. At that time, Quanzhou was one of the important foreign trade ports. However, because of the heavy taxes imposed by the government on merchants, less than three or four foreign merchant ships came to Quanzhou for trade every year. When De Xiu arrived at Quanzhou, he first reduced the tax and admonished local officials not to extort merchant groups. After the tax rate was reduced, the number of foreign merchant ships trading in Quanzhou increased to thirty-six.
As Quanzhou was an important trading port, the merchant ships came to trade with large quantities of goods, and pirates often attacked merchant ships and robbed them heavily. Zhen De Xiu mobilized the government and the people to fight against the pirates, and built more military sites along the coast to strengthen the defense of the seashore. In the fifth year of Shao Ding (1232), Zhen De Xiu came to Quanzhou again to serve, the people of Quanzhou to welcome him blocked the Luoyang Bridge, even the 100-year-old people also came out of their homes with crutches to welcome him, the cheers of the people of the city shake heaven and earth.
A good official for the people, the people praised
When he was working in Tanzhou, he encouraged his officials with the words of “discipline, benevolence, fairness and diligence”. He praised the scholarly teachings of Zhou Dunyi, Hu Anguo, Zhu Xi and Zhang Shu, and encouraged the scholars. For the poor people, Zhen De Xiu made every effort to provide relief, and for this purpose established the Huimin Warehouse and the CiYu Warehouse. All the sick in the army, the dead who were not buried, pregnant women and those who got married were provided with compassionate food at their discretion. He vigorously promoted all the good policies for the people.
A student asked Zendeoksoo what was the most important thing in a person’s life. He said, “Study well and behave well.” Zhen De Xiu often said to them during his lifetime: “The life of a person is very short, and a thousand years is very long. Neither fame nor status can last, but only virtue can last.”
Reference.
History of the Song Dynasty, Volume 437
Compilation of Anecdotes of Song People, Volume 18
The Acts of Zhen De Xiu
The Records of Xishan Wei Guan
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