Chapter 47 Chapter 9 Aunt as Teacher

Fang Yizhi, a great thinker and scientist during the Ming and Qing dynasties, was a rare academic master in ancient China.He is the author of more than 10 books, including "Tongya", "Little Knowledge of Physics", "Yaodi Paozhuang", "Dongxi Jun", "Yi Yu", "Boyi Collection", "Questions and Answers", "Fushan Front and Back Collection" and so on. This kind of work is still shining with the light of wisdom. However, who would dare to believe that Fang Yizhi's strict teacher turned out to be his middle aunt Fang Weiyi.

Fang Weiyi (AD 1585-1668), courtesy name Zhongxian, was influenced by family studies since childhood and had a solid foundation in knowledge.She was married to the Yao family in Tongli at the age of 17, but soon after her marriage, her husband fell ill and became a widow.The next year, she gave birth to a posthumous son, who was less than one year old, and unfortunately died young.The grief-stricken blow, coupled with the abuse by her husband's family, later returned to her parents' house as a widow with anger, and stayed in the Qingfen Pavilion. While weaving and cooking, she devoted herself to poetry and prose, and sang among her sister and sister-in-law.She has studied Confucian classics and history, crafted poetry and prose, and is the author of "Qingfen Pavilion Collection".In addition, she is good at calligraphy and painting, and has profound attainments. She is more than 70 years old, and she can still paint in regular script tirelessly. Zhongda Fang’s famous pens can compete with those who are no more than two or three times.”

Fang Weiyi lived in her natal family as a widow. Because of her profound knowledge and good conduct, she was respected by her family.Fang Weiyi regarded herself as a female teacher in Qingfen Pavilion, and first taught her sister-in-law Wu Lingyi's poetry, calligraphy and painting. Wu Lingyi's poetry was very advanced.It is a pity that Wu Lingyi died young at the age of 30, leaving behind his son Fang Yizhi and daughter Fang Ziyue.Fang Weiyi acted as an aunt on behalf of her mother. On the one hand, she assisted her family in raising her nephews and nieces. On the other hand, she taught scriptures and poems to her nephews in Qingfen Pavilion.Yizhi's younger sister studied etiquette and writing with her aunt for a long time. Her calligraphy and painting are very similar to Fang Weiyi, and she became a famous talented woman in Tongcheng.Fang Yizhi was carefully cultivated and educated by his aunt.He said in "Knee Yu Letters": Zhonggu "pityed me for the loss of my mother and taught her", "The one who caresses me like a son for eight calendar years is inseparable."

Under the guidance of Zhong Gu, Fang Yizhi worked extremely hard. At the age of 15, Zi Shi Lue was able to recite Qunjing, and learned a lot.Yizhi also envied her aunt's poetry, calligraphy and painting since she was a child, but her aunt believed that a man should be responsible for the country. In view of the frequent wars and political turmoil in the late Ming Dynasty, she hoped that her nephew would become an indomitable hero to save the world. She asked to train him, and taught her nephew to use her extensive knowledge to apply the knowledge of the world. In addition to a subset of classics and history, she also taught medicine, law, military science, rituals and music, etc. At the same time, she also encouraged her nephew to extensively study physics, Technology.

During the turmoil in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, although Fang Yizhi failed to become the savior hero expected by his aunt due to objective reasons, he played an important role in the development of Chinese culture academically. Teaching, sound, writing, calligraphy, painting, medicine, and the skills of qin and sword are all analyzed for their purport, and they have written hundreds of thousands of words, and they are famous overseas." ("Tongcheng Old Biography" Volume 6) Fang Yizhi's teachings to his aunt's upbringing It has always been engraved in my heart, and I will never forget it. I wrote affectionately in "Knee Yu Letter Paper": "Thanks to Zhong Guti? It's my luck!"