Hu Anguo

Biography

Family Background and Early Life Hu Anguo was born into a scholarly family in Chong'an, Jianning (present-day Wuyishan, Fujian). As a child he could recite the Rhymed Instructions for Children, showing unusual intelligence and diligence. At fifteen he entered the prefectural school. On one occasion, a major theatrical performance was staged outside the school and all the other students abandoned their studies to watch, while Hu alone remained inside reading. His teacher was deeply moved and rewarded him with paper, brushes, and a fine inkstone. This early episode came to represent the steadfast devotion to learning that characterized his life. In his youth he studied under Yang Shi, a disciple of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, focusing on the learning of human nature and destiny and thereby entering the intellectual lineage of the Cheng brothers. Two years later he entered the National University and studied under Zhu Changwen and Jin Caizhi, both associated with Cheng Yi. Jin Caizhi discussed the larger principles of the Classics and history with him and held him in high regard. During his years at the National University, Hu Anguo systematically absorbed the Neo-Confucian learning of the Cheng school, laying the intellectual foundation for his later interpretation of the Spring and Autumn Annals through moral principle. ### Entry into Office and Political Setbacks In 1097, the fourth year of the Shaosheng era under Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song, Hu Anguo sat for the imperial examinations. The officials responsible for the palace examination initially ranked him first, but the chancellor lowered his position because his essay contained no denunciation of Yuanyou-era politics. Emperor Zhezong then promoted him to third place, which the source describes as bangyan. He was appointed Doctor of the National University and supervisor of education on the Hubei Circuit, then transferred to the Hunan Circuit. While serving in Hunan, he recommended the commoners Wang Hui and Deng Zhang of Yongzhou, which aroused Cai Jing's resentment and led to Hu's dismissal. He returned to office in 1110, the fourth year of Daguan. In 1111, the first year of Zhenghe, Hu Anguo served in Chengdu Prefecture. The next year, after his mother's death, he moved to Jiangdong, where his father also died. He told his disciples, “In the past I served in office for the sake of my two parents. Now, even if I received a salary of ten thousand strings of cash, for whom would I use it?” He then withdrew from official life on grounds of illness, built a house beside his parents' graves, farmed for his livelihood, and prepared to spend the rest of his life there. In 1123, the fifth year of Xuanhe, he began writing the Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. At the end of the Xuanhe era, in 1125, he was recommended for a post as director in the Bureau of Agricultural Fields but declined it. ### The Jingkang Crisis and the Early Southern Song When Emperor Qinzong of Song ascended the throne in 1126, Hu Anguo was appointed Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and then diarist, but he declined both appointments. After the emperor issued an order pressing him to come, Hu went to the capital and requested leave on grounds of illness. When Emperor Qinzong summoned him, Hu memorialized that an enlightened ruler's most urgent task was to promote learning, and that the key to the teaching of the sages was to rectify the mind: the mind was the root of all affairs, and rectifying it was the prerequisite for judging matters and governing the myriad things. He urged the emperor to promote people who understood the principles of ordering the state and bringing peace to the realm, to consult them humbly, and to draw fully on their abilities. He further argued that a state must have stable and consistent policies, and that once plans had been settled ruler and ministers must uphold them. He warned that after half a year on the throne, court institutions remained confused, social customs were deteriorating, policies repeatedly departed from proper principles, ministers were beginning to exclude one another and form factions, offices and opportunities were being secretly sought after, slander was spreading, appointments were improper, and edicts were repeatedly changed, leaving subjects unable to trust the court. Unless such habits were swept away and policy fundamentally redirected, he warned, once the great structure tilted it might no longer be possible to set it upright. These frank remonstrances reflected the political responsibility he associated with Neo-Confucian scholarship. In 1126, the first year of Jingkang, Hu Anguo was repeatedly promoted and eventually became a drafter in the Secretariat. He was soon pushed aside by Chancellor He Zhuo and appointed a reviser in the Youwen Hall and prefect of Tongzhou. After the establishment of the Southern Song, he was recalled in 1131, the first year of Shaoxing, as drafter in the Secretariat and concurrent lecturer. He submitted twenty-one essays titled Discussions on Current Government, was appointed remonstrance official and concurrent reader, and lectured especially on the Spring and Autumn Annals. The following year he opposed appointing Zhu Shengfei to replace Qin Gui as chief minister and was dismissed by left chief minister Lü Yihao, losing office and being assigned to supervise the Xiandu Temple. ### Later Teaching and the Founding of the Huxiang School In 1132, the second year of Shaoxing, the Xiangtan scholars Li Ming and Yang Xun prepared a boat to welcome Hu Anguo. He traveled up the Xiang River to Xiangtan and settled at Biquan, becoming registered there. He built the Biquan Academy, wrote and lectured, gathered dozens of students, and continued working on the Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. Hu Anguo was committed to practical statecraft and public welfare, and in response to contemporary events he often used the Spring and Autumn Annals to convey moral and political meanings rather than restricting himself to philological glosses. His work became representative of the Song Neo-Confucian approach to the classic through moral principle. In 1135, the fifth year of Shaoxing, the Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals was completed. The court appointed Hu supervisor of the Wanshou Temple and concurrent reader. Before he assumed the post, remonstrance official Chen Gongfu submitted a memorial attacking those who inherited Cheng Yi's teaching. After Hu Anguo's own memorial reached the court, Chen Gongfu and others attacked Hu's views as absurd. The court appointed Hu prefect of Yongzhou, but he did not take office; he was then appointed supervisor of the Taiping Temple and Direct Academician of the Baowen Pavilion. In the fourth month of the eighth year of Shaoxing (1138), Hu Anguo died and was buried at Yinshan. Emperor Gaozong of Song bestowed the posthumous title Wending, granted gifts of gold and silk, instructed the Hunan supervisory authorities to arrange the funeral, and ordered the Tanzhou administration to construct the tomb.

Major Activities

Scholarly Contributions Hu Anguo's most important scholarly achievement was his Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. He emphasized the Neo-Confucian ideas of embodying the primal principle and rectifying the mind. He wrote that the first year after a ruler's accession must be called the “first year” in order to make clear the function of the ruler; the great Qianyuan is the source from which all things begin and is the function of Heaven, while the supreme Kunyuan is likewise the source from which all things begin and is the function of Earth. The ruler occupies the position between Heaven and Earth; therefore embodying the primal principle is the ruler's duty, while harmonizing it is the chief minister's task. The primal principle is benevolence, and benevolence is the human mind. He thus treated the primal principle as grounded in the mind, arguing that by practicing benevolence and embodying the primal principle the human mind could become one with it, thereby emphasizing the role of the mind in apprehending heavenly principle. Hu Anguo interpreted benevolence through the mind and treated the mind as the locus of the primal principle in order to stress the ruler's capacity to act once the proper function of rulership had been clarified. He wrote that establishing all laws, responding to all affairs, commanding myriad men, and governing myriad states were all functions of the mind. In his view, the four beginnings, the five constant relationships, and all affairs and things were concrete manifestations of the mind's activity and were governed by the human mind itself. He advocated nurturing the original mind so that it could respond appropriately to circumstances, while also emphasizing investigation of knowledge and sincerity of intention as methods for rectifying the mind. Through extending knowledge and investigating principle without obscuring the original mind, one could pursue the learning of the sages, cultivate oneself, and ultimately order the state and the realm. Hu Anguo also accepted the capacity of innate knowledge and ability to function prior to deliberation or study. He wrote that innate knowledge knows without reflection and innate ability acts without learning, and that these are the original mind of loving one's parents and respecting elders. If Confucian scholars expanded and fulfilled this capacity throughout the realm, they could establish the great norms for all ages; when those norms were correct, the people's minds would flourish and heterodoxy would cease. Innate knowledge was thus the original mind: it enabled love of parents and respect for elders, and if expanded by scholars it could move from inner moral cultivation toward outward ordering of the world. By investigating the principles present in individual things, Hu argued, the mind could connect with the principles of the myriad things and achieve unity between inner and outer, before turning inward to seek and fully realize the mind. He wrote that principle is nowhere absent and the mind contains everything; by examining things one by one and turning them back toward oneself, mind and principle are not obscured, and those who knowingly follow principle are scholars. When all things are complete in oneself and one turns back and is sincere, mind and principle do not diverge, and those who delight in following principle are exemplary persons. When one's virtue is united with heavenly principle and one's order with the four seasons, mind and principle become one and there is no longer any need to “follow” principle; one then penetrates all with a single thread, as does the sage. This unity of mind and principle is realized as human nature, and the purpose of investigating principle is to fulfill that nature. He wrote that investigating principle and fulfilling nature are the work of the sages' tradition; examining things one by one is the beginning of knowledge, while penetrating them with a single thread is its culmination. The four beginnings are inherently present and not imposed from outside; the five constant relationships are ordered by Heaven and cannot be violated. In human beings there is one mind, and in things there is one principle. By fully developing the four beginnings one can perfect one's nature, and by honoring the five relationships one can fulfill human relations; when nature is perfected and human relations fulfilled, the two are no longer separate. ### Political Activity Although Hu Anguo was best known for scholarship, he remained deeply concerned with politics and repeatedly submitted memorials on government. In 1131, the first year of Shaoxing, while serving as drafter in the Secretariat and concurrent lecturer, he submitted twenty-one essays titled Discussions on Current Government. Their topics included fixing policy, establishing the capital, securing strategic positions, ordering the state, caring for the people, establishing government, upholding resolve, rectifying the mind, and nurturing vital energy. In the essay on fixing policy, he argued that the emperor had already been on the throne for six years, yet there was still no clearly defensible capital, no stable strategy for campaigning against enemies, no consistently implemented policy, and no ministers trusted without suspicion; if the present opportunity to strengthen the state were abandoned, regret would come too late. In the essay on establishing the capital, he argued that the capital should be fixed at Jiankang (Nanjing), near the routes toward Guanzhong and the interior, as a base for restoration. In the essay on strategic defenses, he maintained that securing the upper Yangtze required holding the Han and Mian rivers, securing the lower Yangtze required holding the Huai and Si rivers, and securing the middle Yangtze required stationing strong forces at Anlu. In the essay on resolve, he called for a determination to recover the Central Plains and respectfully sacrifice at the former emperors' tombs, and to sweep away enemy forces and welcome the two captive emperors home. In the essay on rectifying the mind, he wrote that the most urgent task was military affairs and urged the appointment of upright ministers who were widely informed, concerned for the state, and willing to speak frankly, so that they could remain by the emperor's side and discuss state affairs from morning to evening. In the essay on nurturing vital energy, he argued that victory and defeat in war, the strength and weakness of armies, and the courage or timidity of commanders were directly related to the moral energy cultivated by the ruler. He hoped the sovereign would devote himself to good conduct and renew his moral cultivation, so that his commands could be carried out within China, the people would trust them, neighboring peoples would know of them, and upright energy would fill Heaven and Earth, allowing the ruler to bring order to the realm. In 1132, the second year of Shaoxing, Hu Anguo opposed the appointment of Zhu Shengfei to replace Qin Gui as chief minister. Left chief minister Lü Yihao consequently demoted him and removed him from office. The episode was presented in the source as evidence of Hu's adherence to principle and refusal to flatter powerful men. ### Travels and Places of Residence Hu Anguo's life took him across northern and southern China. He grew up in Chong'an, Fujian, and later entered the National University at Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan). After entering official service, he successively held posts in Jingnan Prefecture (present-day Jiangling, Hubei), as education supervisor on the Hubei and Hunan circuits, and in Chengdu Prefecture. After the Jingkang Incident he moved repeatedly to escape warfare and at one time lived in Jingmen, Hubei. In 1132, at the invitation of the Xiangtan scholars Li Ming and Yang Xun, he traveled up the Xiang River to Xiangtan and settled at Biquan. Thereafter he wrote and taught around Biquan in Xiangtan and Mount Heng at Nanyue, where he died in 1138, the eighth year of Shaoxing. ### Relations with Contemporaries Hu Anguo studied under Yang Shi in his youth, focusing on the learning of human nature and destiny, and later studied under Zhu Changwen and Jin Caizhi, giving him close intellectual ties to the Cheng school. He also associated with Cheng-school disciples such as Xie Liangzuo and You Zuo. Xie Liangzuo compared him to pine and cypress trees standing out green when all other vegetation has withered under heavy winter snow. During Hu's years of teaching in Xiangtan, dozens of students studied with him, including the local scholars Li Ming and Yang Xun. His scholarship was transmitted to his sons Hu Yin, Hu Ning, and Hu Hong; Hu Hong in turn transmitted it to Zhang Shi, forming a complete line of transmission for the Huxiang School.

Personal Relations

• Mother: name unknown
• Eldest son: Hu Yin
• Second son: Hu Ning
• Third son: Hu Hong
• Eldest daughter: Hu Shen, married Xiang Shen, who held the rank of Digonglang
• Nephew: Hu Xian
• Grandsons: Hu Dayuan, Hu Dazhuang, Hu Dashi, and Hu Daben ### Teachers and Friends - Yang Shi: Hu studied under him in his youth and investigated the learning of human nature and destiny
• Zhu Changwen: teacher at the National University and friend of Cheng Yi
• Jin Caizhi: teacher at the National University who discussed the larger principles of the Classics and history with Hu
• Xie Liangzuo: disciple of the Cheng school and Hu's friend, who praised him highly
• You Zuo: disciple of the Cheng school who associated with Hu
• Li Ming: Xiangtan scholar who prepared a boat to welcome Hu to settle at Biquan
• Yang Xun: Xiangtan scholar who joined Li Ming in welcoming Hu ### Ruler–Minister Relations - Emperor Zhezong of Song: personally raised Hu Anguo to third place in the 1097 jinshi examination
• Emperor Qinzong of Song: summoned Hu in 1126 and appointed him Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, diarist, and drafter in the Secretariat
• Emperor Gaozong of Song: recalled him in 1131 as drafter in the Secretariat and concurrent lecturer and later bestowed the posthumous title Wending ### Conflicts - Cai Jing: resented Hu for recommending the Yongzhou commoners Wang Hui and Deng Zhang, leading to Hu's dismissal
• He Zhuo: chancellor during the Jingkang era who pushed Hu out of court
• Lü Yihao: left chief minister in 1132 who demoted Hu after he opposed the appointment of Zhu Shengfei
• Chen Gongfu: remonstrance official in 1135 who attacked followers of Cheng Yi and criticized Hu Anguo's views as absurd

Historical Assessment

Song Dynasty and Contemporaries - Xie Liangzuo compared Hu Kanghou to pine and cypress trees standing upright and green when all other vegetation had withered beneath heavy winter snow, as quoted in the Wuyi case in Records of Song-Yuan Scholars.

• Hu Yin wrote of his father that in his youth he had intended to make a name for himself in later ages through literary composition, but after devoting himself to the learning of Heaven, humanity, nature, and destiny he no longer pursued such writing, in the preface to his father's collected works.
• Hu Yin also wrote that his father brought out the deep meanings and subtle implications of the classic through its larger principles and applications, while avoiding habits of mere memorization, philological glossing, argumentation, and literary ornament.
• Emperor Gaozong of Song bestowed the posthumous title Wending, granted gold and silk, instructed Hunan officials to arrange the funeral, and ordered the Tanzhou government to construct the tomb, demonstrating the court's esteem for him. ### Song and Yuan Periods - Huang Zongxi, a scholar of the Ming–Qing transition whose Records of Song-Yuan Scholars systematically organized Song intellectual history, wrote that the Hunan branch was at the time the most flourishing, affirming the importance of the Huxiang School.
• During the reign of Emperor Lizong of the Southern Song, descendants of the Hu family and people in Hunan who admired Hu Anguo, Hu Hong, and Zhang Shi established a “Shrine of the Three Worthies” to sacrifice to them, reflecting Hu Anguo's respected scholarly position in the later Southern Song.
• The History of Song included a biography of Hu Anguo, establishing his official place in the historical record. ### Ming and Qing Periods - Wang Fuzhi praised Hu Anguo's emphasis on the great principle of honoring the Zhou cultural order and resisting outsiders, while disagreeing with his view that military authority should not be entrusted to others, reflecting a critical inheritance of Hu's learning of the Spring and Autumn Annals.
• Wang Kaiyun wrote that Hu opened the learning of Xiangtan and Zhu and Zhang carried on its echo; he also wrote that although the Learning of the Way began with Zhou Dunyi, it was Hu Anguo and his sons Hu Yin and Hu Hong who came to develop it in Hunan, and that Huxiang learning could stand alongside the traditions of Guanzhong and Luoyang.
• Zeng Guofan wrote in his record on rebuilding the academy of Duke Wending of Hu that among the academies of the realm, those of Chu were especially flourishing, and among those of Chu, those of Hengzhou were especially flourishing.
• Tan Sitong praised the tradition with the line, “When all things revive and Heaven and Earth brighten, one must rely on a clap of thunder from Nanyue.” ### Modern and Contemporary Assessments - Modern scholars generally regard Hu Anguo as a prominent classics scholar, Neo-Confucian thinker, and political figure of the transition between the Northern and Southern Song who had substantial influence in both political and intellectual life.
• Scholarship commonly holds that Hu Anguo's Discussions on Current Government, Discussions on Governing the State, and Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals helped establish a Huxiang style of learning that combined moral psychology with practical statecraft. This both contributed to the development of Neo-Confucianism and supplied rulers with a body of political thought.
• Modern researchers note that Hu's Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals was highly valued by rulers and became an officially favored text in later imperial examinations, exerting lasting influence on classical education and political thought under the Yuan, Ming, and Qing.
• Research on the Huxiang School recognizes the historical limitations of traditional Neo-Confucianism while emphasizing its advocacy of self-cultivation, practical statecraft, education, moral integrity, disdain for profit-seeking, and opposition to wrongdoing, all of which had a lasting influence on cultural education and moral values in Xiangtan and Hunan.