Hometown of Shao Yong

Hometown of Shao Yong

The Hometown of Shao Yong is a cultural tourism attraction.

Located in Anlewo Village, south of the Luohe River Bridge on Dingding Road in Luoyang City. This was once the residence of Shao Yong, a renowned Neo-Confucian scholar of the Song Dynasty.

Shao Yong, courtesy name Yaofu, was originally from Fanyang, Hebei. He was born in the fourth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era (1011) during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty and died in the tenth year of the Xining era (1077) during the reign of Emperor Shenzong. When Shao Yong was 30 years old, he traveled to the western capital, Luoyang. He saw that Luoyi (Luoyang) was located at the center of the realm, blessed with beautiful mountains and rivers for sightseeing, and bustling with a gathering of talented individuals. Considering it a great metropolis where one could observe scholars from all directions, he decided to settle in Luoyang. When he first moved to Luoyang, his living conditions were very humble, with a dwelling that offered little protection against wind and rain, making life quite difficult. Later, he became friendly with the retired chancellors Fu Bi, Sima Guang, and Lü Gongzhuo, who were also residing in Luoyang. Sima Guang and others pooled money to purchase more than 30 rooms of a former residence that had belonged to An Shenqi, a military governor of the Five Dynasties period. Shao Yong named his living quarters "Anlewo" (Happy Nest) and styled himself the "Recluse of Happy Nest." The present-day Anlewo Village derives its name from this. Shao Yong’s residence was abandoned by the public in the late Northern Song Dynasty and converted into the “Jiuzhen Taoist Temple” during the Jin Dynasty. During the Jingtai era of the Ming Dynasty (1450–1457), Yu Tingxi, the governor of Henan, rediscovered the site of Shao Yong’s former home. He then “encircled it with walls, planted trees, constructed a three-room hall, and placed a statue of Kangjie (Shao Yong) inside.” It was later expanded and restored, and has been preserved to this day. The existing Shao Yong Ancestral Hall is located on the east side of Luolong Highway within the village, facing south. Of the original structures, only three Qing Dynasty-era "Huangji Book Pavilion" rooms with flush gable roofs and four other buildings remain, along with several steles from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Shao Yong was one of the founders of subjective idealist Neo-Confucianism during the Northern Song Dynasty. The core of his philosophy is mainly reflected in his work, Huangji Jingshi (The Supreme Principles Governing the World). Although he did not hold a high official position, he was very well-known. People from many counties and prefectures were eager to visit him. After his death, he was posthumously honored with the title "Kangjie," and was later revered as a "Sage" or "Master," with his spirit enshrined in Confucian temples. During the reign of Emperor Duzong of the Southern Song Dynasty, Shao Yong was further posthumously titled "Duke of Xin’an." In the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, he was referred to as the "Venerable Shao." Today, Anlewo Primary School still houses numerous steles and memorial archways related to Kangjie from the Ming and Qing periods.

Shao Yong (1011–1077), courtesy name Yaofu, was a renowned Neo-Confucian scholar, mathematician, and poet of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was born in Shanggan Village, Lin County (present-day Shaokang Village, Liujiastreet, Linzhou City, Henan Province; some sources say he was born in Fanyang, now Dashaocun, Zhuozhou, Hebei Province), and is grouped among the “Five Masters of the Northern Song” alongside Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, Cheng Hao, and Cheng Yi. In the fourth year of the Tian Sheng era (1026), when Shao Yong was 16 years old, he traveled with his father to Sumeru Mountain in Gongcheng and chose to settle there. In the first year of the Kangding era (1040) during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, Shao Yong was 30 years old and traveled through Henan. Because he buried his parents on the banks of the Yi River (a tributary of the southern Luo River in Henan) … Shao Yong detailed information++