Kong Yingda (; 574 – 648),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

s Chongyuan () and Zhongda (), was a Chinese philosopher during the Sui and

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

. An amorous

Confucianist Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

, who is considered one of the most influential Confucian scholars in Chinese history. His most important work is the ''Wujing Zhengyi'' ("Correct Meaning of the Five Classics"), which became the standard curriculum for the

Imperial Examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

s, and the basis for all future official commentaries of the

Five Classics The Four Books and Five Classics () are the authoritative books of Confucianism, written in China before 300 BCE. The Four Books and the Five Classics are the most important classics of Chinese Confucianism. Four Books The Four Books () are C ...

. He was also "skilled at mathematics and the calendar."

Early life

Kong Yingda was born 574 in

Hengshui Hengshui () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Shandong to the southeast. At the 2010 census its population was 4,340,373 inhabitants whom 522,147 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') are ...

, Jizhou (), in the state of

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

of the

Northern Dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Jin dynasty (266–420)#Eastern Jin, Eastern Jin dy ...

. He was said to be a 32nd-generation descendant of

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

, and his father Kong An (), grandfather Kong Shuo (), and great-grandfather Kong Linggui () all served as high-ranking government officials. Kong began studying

Confucian classics Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...

in childhood. He later became a pupil of Liu Zhuo ( 劉焯), a renowned scholar of the time, and studied the ''

Shangshu The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorica ...

'' and

Du Yu Du Yu (223– January or February 285), courtesy name Yuankai, was a Chinese classicist, military general, and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the late Three Kingdoms period and early Jin dynasty. Life Du Yu was from Duling County ( ...

's annotations of the '' Zuo Zhuan'' under his guidance.

Sui dynasty

After Emperor Yang ascended the throne of the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

in 604, the emperor invited famous scholars and their students to his court, including Liu Zhuo and Kong Yingda. Kong excelled in scholarly debates, and was appointed to a high post at the age of only 30. His eminence caused envy in some established scholars, who were ashamed of being inferior to him and made an abortive attempt to have him assassinated.

Tang dynasty

After the

replaced the short-lived Sui, Kong Yingda became one of the "Eighteen Scholars" in the court of

Emperor Taizong of Tang Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty ...

, along with the likes of

Du Ruhui Du Ruhui (585–630), courtesy name Keming, posthumously known as Duke Cheng of Lai, was a Chinese official who served as a chancellor under Emperor Taizong in the early Tang dynasty. He and his colleague, Fang Xuanling, were often described a ...

and

Fang Xuanling Fang Qiao (; 579 – 18 August 648), courtesy name Xuanling, better known as Fang Xuanling, posthumously known as Duke Wenzhao of Liang, was a Chinese statesman and writer who served as a chancellor under Emperor Taizong in the early Tang dynas ...

. He served in several top positions of the Imperial Academy, and participated in the composition of the ''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

'', the official history of the Sui dynasty. The emperor awarded him the nobility rank of

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

. To reconcile the conflicting versions and traditions of the

, in 637, Emperor Taizong sponsored a project to create a standardized compilation and interpretation of the texts. Kong Yingda was appointed the head of the project, and he gathered a team of experts including

Yan Shigu Yan Shigu () (581–645), formal name Yan Zhou (), but went by the courtesy name of Shigu, was a famous Chinese historian, linguist, politician, and writer of the Tang Dynasty. Biography Yan was born in Wannian (, in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi). Hi ...

, Sima Caizhang (), Wang Gong (), and Wang Yan (), who spent five years to finish the project, and Emperor Taizong personally named the work ''Wujing Zhengyi'' (五經正義, "Correct Meaning of the Five Classics"). However, their work was criticized for verbosity by other scholars including Ma Jiayun (), and the emperor ordered further revisions to be made. Kong Yingda died before the revision was completed, and

Zhangsun Wuji Zhangsun Wuji (; died 659), courtesy name Fuji (輔機), formally the Duke of Zhao, was a Chinese politician who served as a chancellor in the early Tang dynasty. He was Empress Zhangsun's brother, which made him a brother-in-law of Emperor Tai ...

was appointed to finish the work, which was finally approved in 653 by the next emperor,

Gaozong Gaozong () is the temple name of several Chinese monarchs. It can refer to: * Emperor Yuan of Han (reign: 49 BC–33 BC) * Emperor Gaozong of Tang (reign: 649–683) * Emperor Gaozong of Song (reign: 1127–1162) * Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dyn ...

. Kong Yingda died in 648, at the age of 74. He was given the honour to be buried in the Zhao Mausoleum, accompanying Emperor Taizong in death.

Legacy

Kong Yingda's ''Wujing Zhengyi'' became the canonical interpretation of the Confucian classics, and the standard curriculum for the

s. He coined the Chinese word for curriculum, ''kecheng'', in a commentary to the ''

Classic of Poetry The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...

''. ''Wujing Zhengyi'' was also the basis for all future official commentaries on the

. As such, Kong Yingda is recognized as one of the most influential Confucian scholars in history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kong, Yingda 574 births 648 deaths Chinese Confucianists Descendants of Confucius Educators from Hebei People from Hengshui Philosophers from Hebei Sui dynasty philosophers Tang dynasty philosophers Writers from Hebei Chinese classicists