Life and career

Zhen was born in Pucheng (now part of Fujian province). His original family name was Shen (慎), but was changed to Zhen (真) owing to the naming taboo of Emperor Xiaozong. He earned his jinshi qualification in 1199. He held a number of court positions, including Prefect of Quanzhou, Vice Minister of Rites, Minister of Revenue and eventually Vice Counsellor. He was also appointed to the Hanlin Academy. During the early part of his political career Zhen enjoyed the patronage of the Prime Minister Han Tuozhou, despite the latter's opposition to the Neo-Confucianist school of thought that Zhen represented (based on political rivalries with the Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi). It was not until Han Tuozhou's death that Zhen started to openly advocate the positions of Zhu Xi. Zhen was widely regarded among his peers as the successor to Zhu Xi's teaching, and was able to overturn the ban on the Cheng-Zhu school implemented during Han's premiership.

During the reign of Emperor Lizong, he was known for his uprightness and integrity. Shi Miyuan, then the prime minister, saw Zhen as a potential threat to his political monopoly and removed him from the imperial court. Zhen had not returned to the central government until Shi passed away. During this time, he served as government official in various counties while gaining positive reputation. He died in the year of 1235, several years after his return to the court.

Philosophy

Zhen was a student of Zhan Tiren (himself a student of Zhu Xi's school), but adapted Zhan's philosophy to incorporate doctrinal elements of Daoism and Buddhism, modernising it and making it more palatable to the politicians of his day. He also included elements of Lu Jiuyuan's "School of the Universal Mind", despite the rivalry between this school and Zhu Xi's. As a result, Neo-Confucianism became the primary philosophy of the Song court. His works continued to be influential long after his death; more than a century later, Song Lian was recommending Zhan's work to the Hongwu Emperor, the first of the Ming dynasty, who was so impressed that he had the text of Zhan's Expanded Meaning of the Great Learning copied onto the walls of his palace so he could review it daily.

The Sinologist Wm Theodore de Bary regarded Zhen's Heart Mind Classic as the quintessential expression of the Heart-Mind school of Neo-Confucianism, considering it to be Confucian equivalent to the Heart Sutra. In this work, Zhen advocated strict personal discipline and an ascetic lifestyle, focused on personal morality and social reform. He believed that the moral rectification of one's own spirit was the foundation of correct rulership, and felt that it was the duty of the court to encourage the ruler's efforts in personal moral improvement.

Zhen's short primer Instructions for Children expounds his view on education, showing that he felt the purpose of education was to replace the wild nature of childhood with the dignity and respectability of adulthood as quickly as possible. Taking the form of a selection of short aphorisms and instructions, it was a popular text in schools for many years, though it fell out of favour after Western pedagogical methods were introduced to China.

Zhen also touched on literary criticism with his Writings of the Orthodox School, which addressed literature from a Daoist perspective. Unlike other literary critiques of the time, which classified writings in to as many as 100 categories, Zhen felt that there were only four major categories of literature: instruction, discussion, narration and poetry.

List of works

• Expanded Meaning of the Great Learning (Daxue yanyi 大学衍义)

• Heart Mind Classic (Xinjing 心经)

• The Classic on Government (Zhengjing 政经)

• Notes of the Secretariat (Du Shu ji 读书记)

• Writings of the Orthodox School (Wenzhang zhengzong 文章正宗)

• Instructions for Children (Jiaozi zhaigui 教子斋规)

• Collected works (Zhen Xishan quanji 真西山全集)

生平

四岁开始读书，过目成诵。十五岁父逝，其母吴氏力贫教之。同郡杨圭让他与自己的孩子一起学习，又把女儿许配给他。后来又师于朱熹弟子詹体仁。真德秀于宋宁宗庆元五年（1199年）登进士，开禧元年（1205年）中博学宏词科。嘉定元年（1208年），升任太学博士，侍奉经筵。后因与史弥远对金和战的立场产生矛盾，遂力请去。嘉定十五年（1222年），真任湖南安抚使兼知潭州，他立有《西山政训》，以四事与同事共勉。

宋理宗宝庆元年（1225年），真德秀被召回，任中书舍人，后升任礼部侍郎，负责领导学士院，但不久后仍然因为不能容于史弥远而去职。

绍定五年（1232年），史弥远失势，真德秀被重新起用，先后在泉州、福州任知府。

传说泉州大旱时，真德秀向安溪县的守护神清水祖师求雨，果然立刻下起大雨，真德秀为感谢神威，于是在祖师庙「真人」之匾额之上，添上一个「真」字，成为「真真人」，其意为夸奖清水祖师是「真人」之中的「真人」。

端平元年（1234年），史升任户部尚书，真德秀被改任翰林学士知制诰，宗端平二年（1235年）任参知政事，时已得疾，不久因病辞职，同年五月初十日午时逝世，諡文忠。

一般以为真德秀是程朱理学的继承者。陈衍锟说：「闽学之倡也始于龟山，其盛也集于朱子，其末也振于西山。」全祖望也说：「乾淳诸老之后，百口交推，以为正学大宗者，莫如西山。」但有学者以为还接受了陆九渊之说。

真德秀的著作有《西山甲乙稿》、《大学衍义》、《西山先生真文忠公文集》等书，不止于此，真德秀也是宋朝著名的诗词作家。真德秀第十九代孙真采编有《西山年谱》。

嘉定年间废除岁币争议

宋宁宗开禧二年五月（1206年，金章宗泰和六年），主战派的韩侂胄对金发动战争，史称开禧北伐，结果为金人所败。史弥远为首的主和派因此兴起，南宋最后以「伯侄关系、岁币增为银绢各30万、疆界如旧」与金订立嘉定和议（1208年，宁宗嘉定元年）。嘉定七年（1214年，金宣宗贞佑二年）七月，金人遣使告知迁都汴京一事后，南宋兴起反对输纳岁币的言论。其中，真德秀在同年七月、十一月提出罢岁币、北伐的主张，使得主战言论获得支持。

真德秀立场的转变

关于真德秀在嘉定年间岁币争议的立场，过去对此多注意于真德秀反对求和、罢岁币，但真德秀在嘉定六年（1213年）对金的态度仍是支援金朝，以抗衡蒙古。当时真德秀奉命出使金国，并藉此研究形势，提出与蒙古交涉是最难处理的状态。而在得知金人南迁至汴京后，南宋反对输纳岁币意见兴起，真德秀原本「因而抚柔，尚易为力」的立场，转变为罢岁币，支持主战、北伐。