As everyone knows, when the Cheng-Zhu School of Neo-Confucianism first emerged, it was far from the dominant school of thought.
At the time, the Northern and Southern Song dynasties had retreated into a corner of the realm, their survival hanging by a thread. Yet the emperor and the scholar-officials wallowed in pleasure and complacency, knowing only how to bow their heads and pay tribute.
The Neo-Confucian principle of “preserve heavenly principle and eliminate human desire” was originally directed at the scholar-officials themselves.
As for their frequent references to widows, those were largely metaphorical, much like the way many poems used the “chaste widow” as a symbol for the “loyal gentleman.” (Of course, that comparison itself reveals the oppression of women in feudal society.)
In reality, although the Cheng brothers often spoke about female chastity, they actually encouraged one of their nieces to remarry.
Moreover, the Cheng family strictly forbade the women of their household from binding their feet, denouncing footbinding as a vile custom.
Although Zhu Xi uttered many hidebound opinions in his lifetime, blaming him for supporting footbinding was entirely undeserved.
The only historical record linking Zhu Xi to footbinding came from the Republican-era scholar Hu Pu’an’s Survey of Chinese Customs. In the article Women’s Footbinding in Zhangzhou, it claimed, “When Duke Zhu governed Zhangzhou, he ordered women to bind their feet extremely small so that they could not walk well.”
Yet according to reliable historical records, very few women in Zhangzhou practiced footbinding during the Kangxi era, and it did not become widespread until the late Qing dynasty. The story was nothing more than an attempt to attach the custom to a famous name.
Zhu Xi’s disciple’s disciple, Che Ruoshui, openly criticized footbinding.
“Children younger than four or five have committed no crime, yet they are forced to endure limitless suffering.”
The attitude of Zhu Xi’s disciple was enough to indicate Zhu Xi’s own views.
It was perfectly understandable. Like the Cheng brothers, Zhu Xi was an old-school Confucian scholar who firmly believed that “the body, hair, and skin are gifts from one’s parents.” Naturally, he despised mutilating the body merely for the sake of beauty.
So how did Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism become associated with footbinding?
The answer was simple.
Because the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi died.
While they were alive, their Neo-Confucian teachings pointed directly at the noses of the Southern Song court and its ministers, criticizing them openly. As a result, they were ostracized and persecuted by the Southern Song aristocracy and the scholar-officials in power.
But once they died, they could be transformed into “sages.”
Their teachings became the official orthodoxy of the late Southern Song.
A living Buddha can only be burned alive.
Only the clay Buddha enshrined in a temple is the Buddha people truly want.
And so they became clay statues, covered in gold leaf and placed high upon sacred altars, worshipped by thousands amid curling clouds of incense.
If the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi were to be worshipped, then naturally their ideas had to be preached as well.
But the scholar-officials had no intention of “preserving heavenly principle and eliminating human desire.”
Thus, chastity gradually became something demanded only of women.
By the Yuan dynasty, “eliminating human desire” became even more appealing to the Mongol rulers.
After all, eliminating the desire to rebel could also be called eliminating human desire, couldn’t it?
Thus the Yuan court vigorously promoted Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, commissioning scholars to write countless treatises expanding its doctrines.
Those scholars all proclaimed themselves disciples of the Cheng brothers and Master Zhu.
The distorted version of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism became the “scripture” in the hearts of many scholars.
But not every scholar was deceived by that distorted doctrine.
Even within Neo-Confucianism itself, not everyone revered Cheng-Zhu orthodoxy.
Master Zhang Zai’s Guanzhong School, the School of Mind that began with Cheng Hao among the Cheng brothers, and the School of Practical Learning within the Eastern Zhejiang tradition all belonged, broadly speaking, to Neo-Confucianism. As early as the Southern Song, they stood in opposition to Zhu Xi’s Fujian School.
The Eastern Zhejiang School, in particular, had become embroiled in the famous historical dispute between Tang Zhongyou and Zhu Xi. Part of that controversy stemmed from the academic conflict between Practical Learning and the Fujian School.
During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the two largest branches of the Eastern Zhejiang School were the Jinhua School and the Yongjia School.
Their greatest common belief was that scholarship should serve practical governance and that righteousness and profit should both be valued.
The Jinhua School drew upon Neo-Confucianism, the School of Mind, and Practical Learning alike, hoping to reconcile their differences while preserving the strengths of each.
The Yongjia School absorbed the more radical Yongkang School from within the Jinhua tradition.
Together, the Yongjia and Yongkang Schools formed a purely Practical Learning tradition.
They emphasized the study of politics, history, and economics. Domestically, they advocated commerce, industry, and policies benefiting the people. Externally, they supported both kingly and hegemonic statecraft, believing that:
“When an achievement succeeds, it is virtue. When an undertaking benefits the people, it is principle.”
And Yongjia was located in Wenzhou, Zhejiang.
Unfortunately, although the Practical Learning school of Wenzhou had flourished during the Song dynasty, it virtually disappeared during the Song-Yuan transition.
One only had to look at its doctrines to understand why.
Its followers were men of action.
Some devoted themselves to economic affairs.
Some went to war.
Some composed essays and poems denouncing the Jin and Yuan.
Naturally, they followed the Southern Song court until there was nowhere left to retreat, dying for their country one after another. Those who survived could only hide away in remote mountain valleys.
Even now, with the Yuan dynasty on the verge of collapse, followers of the Practical Learning school still kept their heads down under the dominance of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.
Whenever anyone asked, they simply replied,
“Ah, yes, yes. I study Neo-Confucianism too.”
The factional struggles of the Song dynasty had long demonstrated that academic disputes among scholars could end with one’s family exterminated.
They weren’t fools.
Thus, the lineage of the Practical Learning school was severed during the Yuan and Ming periods, when Neo-Confucianism flourished.
It would not be until the Qing dynasty that thinkers such as Wang Fuzhi, Huang Zongxi, and Gu Yanwu revived its finest ideas, inspiring many Confucian scholars of the late Qing and early Republican eras and encouraging them to rethink their beliefs.
Now, only a pitiful handful of scholars from the Yongjia and Yongkang Schools had gathered together in secret, quietly discussing Zhu Yuanzhang’s latest decree from neighboring Yingtian.
“My, this Commander Zhu is rather interesting. Since the Cheng-Zhu crowd refuses to help him… perhaps we…”
“Fang Guozhen occupies Wenzhou, Taizhou, and Qingyuan, yet all he knows is how to play both sides, currying favor with both the Yuan court and Zhu Yuanzhang. He has no ambition whatsoever to contend for the realm. Worthless!”
“And what kind of ‘respect for scholars’ does Zhang Shicheng have? Is showering them with fine robes and luxurious mansions enough to count? Has he ever listened to a single suggestion from any scholar under him? He merely gathers them together day after day for entertainment!”
“Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism certainly doesn’t teach people to praise an age of prosperity while the common folk starve to death! Zhang Shicheng is serving the Mongol officials right now, collecting grain for the Yuan! How could he possibly end this chaotic age?”
“I think Zhu Yuanzhang is quite good. Encouraging women with bound feet to unbind them and work, encouraging widows to remarry and bear children—those are benevolent policies! As for scholar-officials obsessing over women with tiny bound feet, that was always a vulgar indulgence unfit to be spoken of openly. It should have been banned long ago!”
“But I’ve heard Zhu Yuanzhang is extremely brutal toward scholars. If they don’t satisfy him, he has them sliced into pieces and uses the meat as a drinking snack.”
The Practical Learning scholars exchanged glances.
They were tempted.
They were hesitant.
Ye Zheng stroked his scholar’s beard and said, “Gentlemen, why don’t you wait here? I’ll go first.”
The others immediately objected, all volunteering to go in his place.
Ye Zheng was fifty-two years old.
He was the greatest living representative of the Yongjia School and a descendant of Master Ye Shi, known as the Recluse of Shuixin.
When Master Ye Shi retired from public life, he had already foreseen the fall of the Southern Song.
Disheartened, he instructed his descendants to withdraw into the mountains and never again seek official office lightly.
Yet his descendants never ceased studying Practical Learning.
Among them, Ye Zheng was the most outstanding.
Talented men could never completely suppress their desire to realize their ambitions.
Ye Zheng eventually bid farewell to his family, left Shuixin Village alone, and traveled throughout Wenzhou, teaching students wherever he went.
Through all these years of chaos, he had watched the warlords contend for supremacy with cold eyes.
Yet not one had seemed worthy of serving.
He had already given up hope and planned to return to the mountains.
But Zhu Yuanzhang’s willingness to isolate himself from nearly all orthodox scholars over the matter of women’s bound feet rekindled a glimmer of hope.
“When an achievement succeeds, it is virtue. When an undertaking benefits the people, it is principle.”
To Ye Zheng, Zhu Yuanzhang’s actions embodied both virtue and principle.
Since ancient times, scholars had sacrificed their lives for benevolence and given themselves for righteousness.
Even with Zhu Yuanzhang’s fearsome reputation, Ye Zheng was willing to risk his own life for his ideals.
Seeing they could not dissuade their teacher, several disciples packed their belongings and insisted on accompanying him to Yingtian.
Ye Zheng had three disciples.
His eldest disciple, Chen Qi, was a clansman of Chen Liang, the famous representative of the Yongkang School known as Master Longchuan. He specialized in kingly and hegemonic strategy, military affairs, land reclamation, and raising armies.
His second disciple, Chen Lin, was a clansman of Chen Fuliang, the leading figure of the Yongjia School known as Master Zhai. He criticized the notion of valuing righteousness while despising profit and rejecting commerce in favor of agriculture. Instead, he advocated giving equal importance to farming and trade, possessing profound knowledge of taxation and commerce.
His youngest disciple, Xue Zhimo, descended from Xue Jixuan, the Yongjia School’s Master Genzhai. He studied everything, though he excelled most at philosophical debate.
All three were descendants or clansmen of the leading figures of the Yongkang and Yongjia Schools.
Naturally, that was because everyone else had long abandoned Practical Learning to study the dominant Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.
Young people often strayed from the mainstream because they admired their ancestors.
Thus, stirred by the endless praise heaped upon Zhang Shicheng by the scholars under his rule, the four men mounted their scrawny old horses, blended into the streams of refugees, and set out with their bundles toward Yingtian.
As they departed, three other men in eastern Zhejiang were also preparing to journey to Yingtian.
Remarkably, two of them were members of the famed “Four Masters of Eastern Zhejiang.”
Song Lian and Ye Chen had repeatedly declined Zhu Yuanzhang’s courteous invitations.
In actual history, they would not travel to Yingtian until the following year, after receiving joint recommendations from Li Shanchang and Hu Dahai and after Zhu Yuanzhang’s invitation had become considerably less courteous.
Yet now, while scholars all around them denounced Zhu Yuanzhang, they chose to go of their own accord.
Accompanying them was Song Lian’s junior fellow disciple, Wang Yi.
Entrusted by a friend, Liu Ji came to persuade them otherwise.
“Brother Jinglian, both you and your junior brother Wang Zichong are direct disciples in Master Zhu’s lineage. How can you defy the opinion of the entire scholarly world by joining that bandit Zhu Yuanzhang?!”
Beginning with Zhu Xi’s disciples Xu Qiao and He Ji, Zhu Xi’s teachings had been passed down through Jinhua.
Song Lian and Wang Yi both belonged to Xu Qiao’s branch and were genuine successors to Zhu Xi’s lineage.
Liu Ji simply could not understand why the two of them wanted to join Zhu Yuanzhang.
Song Lian remained silent.
Wang Yi merely laughed with easy composure.
“Brother Liu, what are you talking about? Zhu Yuanzhang prohibited footbinding. How is that defying the world? Our Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism has never taught that women should bind their feet.”
Liu Ji frowned.
“I have no desire to argue semantics with you. Scholars across the realm despise Zhu Yuanzhang not because of women’s feet! It’s because of the contempt for scholars and disregard for morality he displayed in this matter! For the sake of women, he had scholars compose poems attacking the sages, and even forced them to wash and sketch the bound feet of the women in their own households! That is why he is hated!”
Wang Yi smiled.
“The body, hair, and skin are gifts from one’s parents. Certain scholars shattered women’s foot bones to satisfy shameful private tastes. Shouldn’t such behavior be condemned? Just because those scholars are famous, are we forbidden to criticize them? Enough. Stop trying to persuade us. My senior brother and I are merely going to take a look for all of you. If things are bad, we’ll resign and come home.”
Song Lian nodded.
“Zhu Yuanzhang and Fang Guozhen now divide eastern Zhejiang between them. Fang Guozhen lacks ambition, while Zhu Yuanzhang alone possesses some qualities of a true ruler. Since we live in eastern Zhejiang, sooner or later Zhu Yuanzhang will summon us. My junior brother and I will go ahead first and scout the road for everyone.”
Hearing those words, even Liu Ji wavered.
How could he not know?
The realm was filled with rival warlords, yet none truly looked like a future emperor.
Comparing them one by one, Zhu Yuanzhang’s territory alone enjoyed relatively stable conditions. At least he appeared to be genuinely striving to unify the realm.
If Zhu Yuanzhang eventually abandoned courtesy and compelled their service, then for the sake of their families and homeland, they would have little choice but to obey.
Liu Ji’s tone softened.
“If you insist on going, at least don’t go now. Scholars throughout the realm are condemning Zhu Yuanzhang. If you leave now, you know full well what they’ll say about you.”
Song Lian answered sternly,
“If we don’t go, Zhu Yuanzhang will be surrounded only by petty men. Wouldn’t that be even worse for us? Or do you truly believe Zhang Shicheng will be the one to end this age of chaos, Brother Bowen?”
Liu Ji’s eyes trembled slightly.
He let out a long sigh.
In scholarship, he admitted he was no match for Song Lian.
But in strategy and understanding the currents of the age, he believed himself far superior.
If Song Lian could see it, how could he fail to?
Unless another truly exceptional ruler emerged, the man who would end this age of chaos could only be Zhu Yuanzhang.
How was it that all these competing warlords of the late Yuan were so… unimpressive?
Had Zhu Yuanzhang actually become the tallest among dwarfs?
Liu Ji found the current state of the realm profoundly disappointing.
Unable to persuade Song Lian and Wang Yi, he turned instead to Ye Chen, who had only recently returned from Jianning in Fujian after fleeing the fighting.
Ye Chen had long served under the Yuan general Shimo Yisun in suppressing the Red Turban rebels in Chuzhou.
Earlier that year, Zhu Yuanzhang had captured Chuzhou. Ye Chen fled with Shimo Yisun to Jianning in Fujian and had only now managed to return to eastern Zhejiang.
Liu Ji could no more understand this than the others.
“You just fought Zhu Yuanzhang this year. How have you already packed your bags to join him?”
Ye Chen’s expression was even more solemn than Song Lian’s scholarly face.
“After fighting Zhu Yuanzhang, I realized that without proper guidance, the soldiers under his command may well bring disaster upon the common people. Then he issued a decree that isolated him from all orthodox scholars in the realm, confirming my fears even further. Confucius spoke of dying for benevolence. Mencius spoke of sacrificing oneself for righteousness. I now walk willingly into a tiger’s den, offering my life in hopes of restraining the tiger. If I succeed, it will be a great act of virtue. If I fail, Brother Bowen, then you can make up your mind to serve another.”
Song Lian cast Ye Chen a meaningful glance.
Ye Chen returned the look, his expression as righteous as ever.
Wang Yi nodded vigorously.
“Brother Liu, you possess the talents of Wolong and Zhang Liang. Whichever great ruler gains your service will surely soar to greatness. If Zhu Yuanzhang kills us, then scholars throughout the realm will lose all hope in him. At that point, if you join another lord, you will surely help establish a new order beneath Heaven.”
Song Lian blinked and withdrew his searching gaze.
“Exactly. Bowen, our families are in your hands.”
Looking at the earnest hopes and unwavering resolve on the faces of the three men, Liu Ji was filled with admiration and emotion.
He cupped his hands, bowed deeply, and declared with absolute conviction,
“I, Ji, will never fail your trust.”
Liu Ji departed.
Song Lian, Wang Yi, and Ye Chen set out.
The three men glanced at one another from horseback.
Then, almost simultaneously, each turned his face away, refusing to look at the others.
Song Lian was a direct successor of Zhu Xi.
After the founding of the Ming dynasty, he would write a biography vindicating Tang Zhongyou, Zhu Xi’s academic rival and a leading scholar of the Eastern Zhejiang Jinhua School.
The disciples of Zhu Xi bought up every copy of Song Lian’s Supplementary Biography of Tang Zhongyou and destroyed them all.
Yet Song Lian never relented, insisting that the true value of Confucianism lay in actively governing the world rather than engaging in empty metaphysical speculation.
Wang Yi’s grandfather, father, and Wang Yi himself represented three consecutive generations of direct successors to Zhu Xi.
After the founding of the Ming dynasty, Wang Yi lavishly praised Tang Zhongyou’s theories of imperial governance, calling them “the very Way by which sages become sages.”
When he discovered that Lü Zuqian, founder of the Eastern Zhejiang Jinhua School, had left no true successor to inherit his scholarly lineage, Wang Yi taught himself Lü Zuqian’s teachings and compiled an additional one hundred volumes for Lü Zuqian’s Chronicle of Great Events.
As for Ye Chen…
Well…
The great Practical Learning master Ye Shi, the Recluse of Shuixin, originally came from Chuzhou in Zhejiang—modern-day Lishui.
Ye Chen just so happened to be from Chuzhou, Zhejiang.
The three men kept their faces turned away awkwardly for a while.
Eventually, no one knew who looked back first.
Then they met each other’s eyes and burst into laughter together.
Song Lian was the first to cup his hands.
“The School of Ordered Governance.”
Founded by Tang Zhongyou, the School of Ordered Governance opposed empty scholarship and sought to apply the Confucian classics to practical affairs.
Ye Chen laughed and returned the salute.
“The School of Practical Benefit.”
As a follower of Ye Shi’s Practical Learning tradition, that said everything.
Wang Yi hurriedly cupped his hands as well.
“I follow no single doctrine. I study Neo-Confucianism, the School of Mind, and Practical Learning together.”
Song Lian shook his head.
Ye Chen laughed aloud.
The two spoke in unison.
“You must have inherited Master Lü Chenggong’s tradition.”
The three men cracked their whips and urged their horses forward.
Their laughter rose high into the air along with the dust kicked up by the galloping hooves.
…
Zhu Yuanzhang had no idea that, in actual history, before he forcibly recruited the Four Masters of Eastern Zhejiang, his army had possessed almost no famous scholars at all.
Virtually every renowned scholar had gone over to Zhang Shicheng.
Yet now, despite offending the vast majority of scholars in the realm, some were voluntarily packing their bags to join him.
The protagonist of this story, Chen Biao, knew even less.
Chen Wenzheng was not the sort who could stay idle.
Ever since remaining in Yingtian, he took Chen Biao out to play every single day.
Today, they happened upon a bully harassing innocent people.
They were delighted.
Without a word, Chen Wenzheng charged forward and unleashed a wild flurry of punches from every direction, knocking the man flat.
Who would have thought that after beating the younger one, the older one would appear?
A dark-faced middle-aged man rushed over with a squad of soldiers, frightening Chen Biao so badly that he nearly jumped out of his skin.
Just then, Li Shanchang happened to pass by carrying a stack of books with several generals.
Chen Biao shouted,
“Uncle Li! Save me! That black-faced uncle wants to beat me up!”
Li Shanchang threw down the books, rolled up his sleeves, and charged over.
“Chang Yuchun! Have you lost your mind?! How dare you lay a hand on Biao’er!”
Chang Yuchun, who had only just returned to Yingtian: “?”
The next moment, Zhu Yuanzhang’s fiercest general, Chang Yuchun—the man known as “Chang One Hundred Thousand”—was seized by the top of the head by Zhu Yuanzhang’s foremost civil official, Li Shanchang, and slammed face-first into the ground.
The generals who had come with Li Shanchang: “…”
The soldiers accompanying Chang Yuchun: “…”
Lan Yu and Chen Wenzheng, who were currently hugging each other while kicking and rolling around on the ground: “…”
Chen Biao’s jaw gave an audible crack, nearly dislocating because his mouth had fallen open so wide.