Zhang Heng was born in Shiqiao, Xi 'e County, Nanyang County, Henan Province (now 50 miles north of Nanyang County, Henan Province).
When Zhang Heng was a child, he was intelligent, studious and good at writing articles, which won the praise of his neighbors. Because his ancestors died young, he lost the condition of being an official by the shadow of his ancestors. Only through his hard work can he constantly change his poor family. Therefore, he studied hard and persevered. "If Sichuan dies, it will not be abandoned day and night."
Zhang Heng's learning method and path are unique and unique. When Zhang Heng was young, study tour was very popular. Children from official families begin to enter school at the age of six or seven, and after mastering certain basic knowledge, they go abroad for further study by famous teachers. When Zhang Heng was sixteen or seventeen, he bid farewell to his family and went out to study alone. At that time, Luoyang was the center of politics, economy and culture, and scholars eager for career were willing to study there. Luo Yang was recommended as a doctoral student by the county magistrate before he could enter the business school. Imperial College London was the highest institution of learning at that time. After studying there for one year, officials can be appointed as junior officials after passing the imperial academy officials' examination. With his talent and grandfather's achievements, Zhang Heng can be recommended as a doctor's son. However, Zhang Heng attaches great importance to learning in practice and improving his ability. So he didn't go to Luoyang directly, but went to Sanfu area for three years.
During his inspection in Sanfu area, Zhang Heng visited the vast Weihe Plain, visited the scenery of Taihua and other famous mountains, and inspected the local customs, especially the court buildings in Chang 'an, which aroused his great interest and made him observe more carefully. Through the tour, Zhang Heng accumulated a lot of literary materials, which laid a solid foundation for future literary creation.
After visiting Sanfu, Zhang Heng crossed Baqiao in the seventh year of Yongyuan (AD 95) and came to Mount Li. During his stay in Lishan Mountain, he wrote an essay "Hot Springs Fu", which is his earliest literary work that has been circulated so far. During the two or three years of study tour, Zhang Heng always wrote down his feelings, exercised his literary thinking and improved his observation and thinking ability.
Zhang Heng often said, "It's a shame to know nothing." After he came to Luoyang, he couldn't enter the business school because he couldn't get the recommendation from the county. Zhang Heng seizes every minute and worships everywhere. [Celebrity Story] China Inspirational Network Celebrity Biography
During his five or six years in Luoyang, Zhang Heng was well-read and knowledgeable. At that time, students in imperial academy studied the Five Classics (referring to Poetry, Calligraphy, Rites, Yi, Spring and Autumn) and Six Arts (Rites, Music, Shooting, Calligraphy, and Numbers). When they graduated, each of them failed to master an art, but Zhang Heng has reached the point of "mastering the Five Classics and Six Arts". Zhang Heng also studied astronomy, geography, meteorology and calendars. His good friend Cui Yuan commented on Zhang Heng: "If you don't learn, why not learn from your teacher?"? Only by working with Yingke can we succeed. " It's a pity to know nothing. It's great to hear a good word. "
In the hard study life, Zhang Heng cultivated his own opinion. He has his own opinions on observing and dealing with some things, and his belief is firm, so he is not easily disturbed by other factors. At that time, Zhang Heng studied hard and achieved excellent results, and was inspected by Nanyang County Magistrate. Then the government scrambled to ask him to take office, and a smooth road to his career has paved the way for him. It is extremely difficult for a scholar without power and influence to get a good job and explore, and he must have extraordinary moral character and talent recognized by society. It is considered a great honor to be inspected or requisitioned. However, to people's surprise, Zhang Heng did not go to Kyoto to be a "dutiful son", nor did he go to the official court to get an official position. He is still eager to study in Beijing, devote himself to study and constantly broaden his knowledge.
At that time, Xuan Jing, written by Yang Xiong, had been published, which was written in imitation of the Book of Changes. The truth is difficult to understand, and the words are difficult to understand. Few scholars dare to ask. Zhang Heng was so intoxicated that he read Xuan Jing day and night and constantly appreciated Yang Xiong's profound philosophy. In Xuan Jing, there are both materialistic things; There is also idealism, which stresses both metaphysics and dialectical thought. Yang Xiong clearly warned people that we must understand nature according to the true colors of things, and should not arbitrarily increase or decrease objective nature. He also pointed out that things are not static, but developing and changing. This materialistic trend of thought in Tai Xuan Jing had a great influence on Zhang Heng's scientific research.
After studying in Sanfu, Zhang Heng became an outstanding and prestigious scholar. He is not only a great fu master comparable to Ban Gu, but also a master of "Yin and Yang in the Middle Ages". He is proficient in astronomy, geography, calendar, painting, etc. He knows almost everything and is called "Nanyang Taoist". From then on, he began to show his talents in all aspects.
literary work
Zhang Heng's creative activities began with literary works.
In the 12th year of Yongyuan (A.D. 100), Zhang Heng wrote a five-character poem "Simultaneous Songs" in the first year of Nanyang. In the poem, Zhang Heng compares himself with his concubine, with Baode and a gentleman, expressing his excitement as the main book of Baode and his determination to help Baode handle the county government well. Zhang Heng's simultaneous song plays an important role in the development of five-character poetry in China. It absorbs the nutrition of folk literature Yuefu poetry, contains the charm of popular literature, is mature in content and form, and has a great influence on the literary development of later generations.
In addition to the simultaneous songs, Zhang Heng also wrote Love Songs (AD 99) and Bian Fu (AD 10 1 year). Unfortunately, none of them have been handed down, and only quoted fragments can be seen from other people's works. Ding Qingfu's disappearance made us unable to understand Zhang Heng's marital status, so we had to lament.
What made Zhang Heng famous in the history of literature was his immortal work Erjing Fu, which was written in 97 AD and completed in 107 AD and lasted for ten years.
Erjing Fu consists of Xijing Fu and Tokyo Fu, which is thousands of words long. Xijing Fu describes in detail the prosperity of Xijing, the luxury of the emperor's life, the novelty of the people, such as the activities of city businessmen, envoys and debaters, as well as acrobatics and acrobatic performances. Another feature of Erjing Fu is the introduction of argument and reasoning in narrative to express the author's ideological tendency.
After Erjing Fu, Zhang Heng wrote Dunan Fu, which was full of infinite love for his hometown, praised the beautiful scenery of Wanzhou and described the developed economic construction of Wanzhou.
In the second year of Yang Jia (A.D. 133), Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty appreciated Zhang Heng's talent and appointed him as an assistant.
Zhang Heng was not afraid of power, and his behavior of colluding with others annoyed the eunuch. They rejected Zhang Heng very much and kept blowing into the emperor's ear, framing Zhang Heng. In the first year of Yonghe (A.D. 136), Shun Di listened to rumors and decided to transfer Zhang Heng to Hejian. [Celebrity Story] China Inspirational Network Celebrity Biography
Zhang Heng was extremely dissatisfied with this and wrote down his anger to vent his resentment.
After Zhang Heng served as Hejian Xiang, he "ruled with dignity, and the law was completely honest", arrested and punished a number of Hao * * * parties, and he also cleaned up unjust prisons and released innocent people, which was praised by local people.
Four Sorrow Poems is a poem written by Zhang Heng in the second year of Yu Yonghe (AD 137), which occupies an important position in the history of China poetry. It expresses Zhang Heng's depressed mood, which is different from previous poets' works in content, and has also made bold innovations in form. It adopts the form of seven-character metrical poem, which enhances the expressive force of the poem and is the earliest seven-character metrical poem in China. Zhang Heng is a pioneer in the development of China's seven-character poems.
After Four Sorrow Poems, Zhang Heng also wrote Zhuanlou Fu, Zhuanlou Fu and Guitiancai. Among them, Guitian Fu is a brief introduction of Zhang Heng, and it is a lyrical little fu, which shows the author's life pleasure after retiring to the countryside under the environment of Japanese eunuch's authoritarian power and ruling politics.
In Returning to Tianfu, Zhang Heng described the natural scenery with fresh language, and also expressed his calm and comfortable mood after returning to the field. Love and scenery are in harmony, and there are quite even elements in the language. These are all turning points in the development history of Fu. Since Zhang Heng, the lyric fu in the Eastern Han Dynasty has been developing continuously, which has had a great influence on the development of lyric fu in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Therefore, Zhang Heng is a fu writer who connects the past with the future and has made outstanding contributions to the development of China ancient literature.
scientific invention
Zhang Heng not only made achievements in literary creation, but also made brilliant achievements in scientific research.
In the second year of Yongchuan (A.D. 108), due to his outstanding achievements, Baode was transferred to the capital by the imperial court and was promoted to senior secretary of agriculture.
In the second year of Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1 15), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard that Zhang Heng had profound attainments in astronomical theory, so he appointed him Taishiling and made Zhang Heng the chief official in charge of "Weather Ephemeris". This position made Zhang Heng come in handy, and he was quite satisfied.
After Zhang Heng took over Taishiling, he immediately came to Lingtai, which is located in the south of Pingchang Mountain in Luoyang. Lingtai was an observatory at that time. Zhang Heng climbed to the top of the platform and looked up at the astronomical phenomena. He found that the instruments for observing astronomical phenomena were too old and disrepair for application. He decided to rebuild the instrument for observing astronomical phenomena. The armillary sphere designed and developed by him vividly reflects the general situation of armillary sphere theory.
The manufacture of the armillary sphere alarmed scholars in Kyoto. They came to Taishiling House one after another to visit Zhang Heng's masterpiece, but they doubted whether it could accurately represent the astronomical phenomena. A scholar asked Zhang Heng: "You can demonstrate the celestial phenomena with the armillary sphere, let's have a look!" Zhang Heng said, "Yes, after dark, you will be divided into two groups. One group looked at the armillary sphere in the room and reported the astronomical phenomena indicated on the instrument to the outside. One group observed the starry sky outside the house to see if it was consistent with the instrument demonstration inside the house. " Scholars are very happy. According to Zhang Heng's arrangement, night falls and stars appear in the bright sky.
After a while, the people in the room reported to the outside that "the moon has risen." People outside also saw a bright moon rising from the southeast. Then people in the room kept reporting: "A star has risen, a star has gone up into the sky, and a star has gone underground ..." These are all consistent with the actual astronomical phenomena seen outside the house. At the end of the experiment, scholars inside and outside the house congratulated Zhang Heng and praised him: "What an amazing invention." Zhang Heng also cherishes the armillary sphere. He said: "I am willing to lie under this armillary sphere and study all my life."
In the fifth year of Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1 18), Zhang Heng broke through the fog of theology and divination at that time, inherited and developed the materialistic philosophy of his predecessors, and wrote the world-famous astronomical work Lingxian. In Lingxian, Zhang Heng described the evolution of celestial bodies, constantly discussed the laws of planetary motion, and found the relationship between the speed of planetary motion and the central body that affects planetary motion on the basis of careful observation, and clearly put forward that the speed of planets depends on the distance from the sky.
At that time, the law of planets revolving around the sun had not been discovered, so it was a far-sighted discovery to put forward the above viewpoint.
In addition, Zhang Heng also made a scientific explanation for the solar eclipse in Lingxian County. He clearly pointed out that the moon itself does not shine, and its light is a reflection of the sun's light. The earth blocked the brightness of the sun, so the moon could not be seen, which led to an eclipse. At the same time, he also observed the angular diameters of the sun and the moon. One seventh of 360 degrees on Sunday is 29 44', which is very close to the current scientific basis. Zhang Heng explained the cause of the eclipse in a scientific way for the first time.
Zhang Heng stood on the position of materialism and insisted on the superstition of critical prediction. In the first year of Yang Jia's reign (A.D. 132), Zhang Heng wrote "On Uncle", sharply attacking the practice of entrance examination. In A.D. 133, he wrote a book "Refuting the Illusion of Numbers" and asked the emperor to ban it by administrative order. Zhang Heng strongly opposed Chen Wei at that time, which showed the fearless innovative spirit of scientists, because Chen Wei was supported by the ruling class and advocated for the feudal ruling class at that time, and opposing Chen Wei would be fatal. At that time, Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty was more cheerful. Although there was no administrative order prohibiting divination, he felt that Zhang Heng's refutation of divination was reasonable. He especially appreciated Zhang Heng's spirit of speaking out and remonstrating, so instead of punishing Zhang Heng, he promoted him to be a waiter.
Zhang Heng not only made great contributions to astronomy, but also showed extraordinary talents in mechanical manufacturing. In the fifth year of Jian Guang in Andi (A.D. 12 1 year), Zhang Heng became a coach commander (one of the nine ministers, Wei Yan's junior officer, rank 600). Although the official is not big, there are many things in charge. Shortly after Andy became the bus commander, he ordered the manufacture of a guide car. Without any information, Zhang Heng thought hard and was inspired by the gear system of Du Shishui, the chief of Nanyang, to build a guide car and a drum car in Ji Li. [Celebrity Story] China Inspirational Network Celebrity Biography
The south guide car made by Zhang Heng is a two-wheeled vehicle with a woodcarving portrait standing high on it. No matter which direction the car drives, Woodenhead's hand always points to the south.
Zhang Heng's Ji Li Drum Cart is a two-story carriage. There is a big drum in the middle of the upper floor, and there are two Woodenhead beside it, holding a drum stick in their hands, pretending to knock. There is a bronze bell hanging in the middle of the lower floor. On both sides of the clock are two wooden figures holding a clock hammer. When the car is lined up for a mile, the wood on it will automatically knock once. When the car is ten miles in a row, the Woodenhead on it will ring the bell automatically. In the third year of Jianguang (A.D. 124), when Andi went to Mount Tai to pay homage, he used the brief introduction of Zhang Heng's guide car and drum car, which revived the imperial power.
There is a big table with things on it in the house where Zhang Heng lives. This thing is cast in bronze. Round, like a big wine jar. Eight dragons are embedded around the jar and arranged in eight directions: east, south, west, north, northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest. There is a small copper ball in the dragon's mouth, aimed at the mouth of the faucet, and there are eight big-mouthed copper toads in it. This is the seismograph invented by Zhang Heng, the first instrument to measure earthquakes in the world. Where there is an earthquake, the longkou aimed in that direction will open, and the copper ball in the longkou will fall into the mouth of the copper toad, telling people that there is an earthquake in that direction. Zhang Heng's seismograph was invented in the first year of Yangjia (A.D. 132), which was more than 700 years earlier than similar instruments in other countries in the world. In April of the second year of Yangjia (AD 133), an earthquake occurred in Kyoto, which was accurately detected by seismograph. One day six years after the seismograph was made (AD 138), the head of the seismograph vomited a copper pill at a dragon in the northwest, but no one felt the earthquake at all. Therefore, some scholars who are skeptical about the seismograph made by Zhang Heng laugh at it as "the art of killing dragons" and don't believe it will have such effect.
Zhang Heng himself is a little worried. Until five days later, I suddenly saw an emissary running from the west gate of Luoyang on a fast horse, and went straight to Taishi Museum to record the history and send a report to Taishi Museum. The report wrote: "Five days ago, there was an earthquake in Longxi." In the face of facts, everyone is convinced of the accuracy of the seismograph. The invention of Zhang Heng's seismograph enabled China to observe and record the history of earthquakes from a distance with instruments.
While making the seismograph, Zhang Heng also developed an instrument for measuring the wind direction-a meteorological instrument. Unfortunately, there is no written record about the manufacturing process and shape of this musical instrument in history, and later generations can't understand it.
Zhang Heng has been engaged in scientific research for many years, and has made an exquisite armillary sphere, a drum car for automatically measuring the journey, a compass for pointing out the direction, a seismograph for identifying the direction of earthquakes, and a meteorological instrument for identifying the direction of the wind, thus establishing his prominent position in the fields of world literature, seismology, and machinery manufacturing.
Zhang Heng is indeed a rare all-round development figure. He has made great creations and inventions in literature, scientific research and other aspects, and he also has a deep foundation in painting, showing extraordinary talent.
According to historical records, Zhang Heng especially likes to draw monsters. There is a record in Taiping Guangji: In a pool in the thin mountain near Zhang Heng's hometown, there is a monster called the God of Terror. Its head looks like a human, its body looks like a jackal, and it looks so ugly that even ghosts are afraid of it. Terror often climbs the rocks near the water to play. One day, Zhang Heng came to the pool with a pen and paper to draw a monster. However, Zhang Henggang took out his pen and began to draw. The monster quickly jumped into the water and disappeared. He waited a long time, but Time monster didn't come out. Zhang Heng went home and asked others, only to know that the scary god was most afraid of others drawing its shape, so when he saw someone drawing it, he quickly jumped into the water to hide. So the second time Zhang Heng came to the pool empty-handed, just as the monster was playing. He arched his hands, motionless, and secretly drew a scary god on the ground with his toes.
Since then, people have called that pool a painted animal pool. [Celebrity Story] China Inspirational Network Celebrity Biography
Zhang Heng also has many paintings. For example, according to his own research on geographical science, he drew a topographic map, plotted the geographical positions of the main mountains and rivers in the country, and vividly showed the geographical features of various places. This painting not only has great geographical value, but also occupies an important position in the history of China painting as an artistic treasure. Therefore, Zhang Heng also became the first of the four great painters in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
In his later years, Zhang Heng was extremely dissatisfied with the corrupt political situation in which eunuchs and consorts fought fiercely at that time, and had no intention of continuing to go into politics. Around the 3rd year of Yonghe (A.D. 138), Zhang Heng formally wrote to Shun Di to express his idea of resigning from his post and returning to his hometown, but he was not allowed to be called to the capital and promoted to the position of Shangshu. Zhang Heng, who had already seen through the times and was disheartened by officialdom, went to Luoyang for me, but he was never able to get up. He was bedridden soon after taking office and died in the office the following year. A generation of cultural giants left this world prematurely, full of sadness.
But the descendants of the Chinese people have not forgotten him, and they miss and commemorate him from generation to generation. Zhang Heng was buried in the suburb of Nanyang in western Hubei. Scholars of all ages often come here to pay homage to his mausoleum. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, a man named Zhou Ren rebuilt Zhang Heng's tomb. 1955, China issued stamps to commemorate Zhang Heng. 1956 * * * allocated funds to rebuild Zhang Heng's Tomb Peace Reading Platform. Pines and cypresses are planted in front of the tomb, surrounded by brick tunnels and walls, and a tombstone protected by archways stands on both sides, which looks quaint, quiet and solemn.
People all over the world have not forgotten him. 1970, a crater on the back of the moon was named after Zhang Heng internationally. 1977, another planet numbered 1802 in the solar system was named Zhang Xingxing. Zhang Heng's name is with the whole world, with mankind and with the universe.
Xu Zai's Hundred Biographies of China Celebrities (four volumes in total)