The Research Of Confucian Official Yang Lian In Ming Dynasty

Yang Lian was a typical Confucian official in Ming Dynasty.Since Yang Lian became a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations in the 23rd year of Chenghua(1487),had served as an official for 36 years in four dynasties.Yang Lian Lived in a period of social change in the Ming Dynasty.There were eunuchs wield authority in the country and strong enemies outside which has led to the intensification of class contradictions.The government faced a serious social crisis.While on the academic stage,Cheng Zhu's Neo-Confucianism was declining,and the heart-mind theory was gradually emerging.At the same time,Yang Lian was deeply influenced by Confucian culture due to factors such as social environment and family background and contacted with many Confucians so he highly respected Cheng Zhu's Neo-Confucianism and his Confucian identity was recognized by later generations.This thesis takes Yang Lian as the research object,and makes a systematic and comprehensive investigation from four aspects:lifetime and friendship,political thought and achievement,academic writings and achievements,status and evaluation.By combing Yang Lian's life,we can find that his pursuit of learning is never-ending.In his early years,he was good at literature but gradually turned to Neo-Confucianism after preparin g for the imperial examination.He respected Confucianists in Song Dynasty and studied Cheng-Zhu's learning.There are many works explaining Cheng-Zhu's learning5and his words and deeds were also subject to Cheng-Zhu.It can be said that he is a successor of Cheng-Zhu's Neo-Confucianism.On the other hand,his actions in promoting the publication,revision and dissemination of other anthologies such asWu Yubi,Hu Juren,Chen Xianzhang objectively promoted the interaction between the Neo-Confucianism and the philosophy of the mind in this period.As an official,Yang Lian upheld the spirit of traditional scholar-bureaucrats which is upright,incorruptibility,and strictly observed his duties,pursued the prosperity in Confucian ideals.In order to realize this ideal,he was concerned about the people's livelihood in politics,emphasized the Selection of Officials,and advocated simplification of laws in order to better maintain state rule.As a famous Confucian minister in the Ming Dynasty,Yang Lianfs research has been relatively weak.This paper is the first time to conduct a comprehensive study of him.By studying Yang Lian,we can have a clearer understanding of this group in the Ming Dynasty,and have a deeper understanding of the state of social development and the evolution of academic thought during this period.