Origins

Shao's ancestors were from Fanyang. He was born in 1011 in an area known as Hengzhang county (衡漳, now Anyang, Henan) to Shao Gu (邵古, 986–1064) and Lady Li (李氏, d. 1032 or 1033). Shao's mother, Li, was an extremely devout practitioner of Buddhism. This link with Buddhism proved to be a major influence on Shao's thought throughout his life.

Shao Yong's first teacher was Shao Gu, his father. This was common practice in the familial environment of China at the time. Shao Gu was a scholar in philology and his influence can be discerned in Shao's literary works. Guided by his father, he studied the Six Confucian classics intensively at a young age. Shao also sought out the scholarship of private schools, many of which were run by monks and heavily influenced by Buddhism.

Around 1020, the Shao family moved to Gongcheng county (now Xinxiang, Henan). Shortly after his mother's death in 1032 or 1033. Shao met his most important teacher, Li Zhicai (李之才). Li was a former pupil of ancient prose specialist Mu Xiu (穆修, 979–1032). Under Mu Xiu, Li had studied the I Ching extensively.

Career and later life

Shao was a member of a group of thinkers who gathered in Luoyang toward the last three decades of the 11th century. This group had two primary objectives. One of these was to draw parallels between their own streams of thought and that of Confucianism (儒教) as understood by Mencius.

Secondly, the men set out to undermine any links, real or otherwise, between 4th-century Confucianism and what they viewed as inferior philosophical schools of thinking, namely Buddhism and Taoism. Other loosely connected members of this so-called network of thinkers include: Cheng Yi, Zhang Zai, Cheng Hao (程顥, 1032–1085) and Zhou Dunyi. Central to each of these men was the ancient text I Ching, which each had studied closely. The way in which Shao studied this ancient text, however, differed from the other members.

During the Song Dynasty, there were two main approaches in I Ching studies. Together with the majority of scholars, the other members of the group took the yili xue (義理學, "principle study") approach, which was based on literalistic and moralistic concepts. The other approach, taken by Shao alone, was the xiangshu xue (象數學, "image-number study") approach, which was based much more on iconographic and cosmological concepts. An approach to I Ching divination known as Mei Hua Yi has been attributed to him.

Sima Guang (a close friend of Shao Yung) edited the Taixuanjing by Yang Xiong (written in 10 AD). Influenced by the Base 3 number system found in the Taixuanjing, probably drawing on this association and the realization of a base 3 system employed in the Taixuanjing Shao Yong then set the Hexagrams of the I Ching into a binary sequence (the Fu Xi Ordering). This in turn influenced Leibniz and his thinking on binary arithmetic, and in turn the language of modern computers.

Descendants

Shao Yong's offspring held the title of Wujing Boshi (五经博士; 五經博士; Wǔjīng Bóshì).

In 1452 Wujing Boshi was bestowed upon the offspring of Mengzi-Meng Xiwen 孟希文 56th generation and Yan Hui-Yan Xihui 顔希惠 59th generation, the same was bestowed on the offspring of Zhou Dunyi-Zhou Mian 週冕 12th generation, the two Cheng brothers (Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi-Chen Keren 程克仁 17th generation), Zhu Xi-Zhu Ting 朱梴 (Zhu Chan?) 9th generation, in 1456-1457, in 1539 the same was awarded to Zeng Can's offspring-Zeng Zhicui 曾質粹 60th generation, in 1622 the offspring of Zhang Zai received the title and in 1630 the offspring of Shao Yong.

Poetry

Shao is also famous for his poetry and for his interest in the game of Go (wéiqí). He wrote a Great Ode to Watching Wéiqí (觀棋大吟), one of the longest surviving classical Chinese poems, as well as a Long Ode to Watching Wéiqí (觀棋長吟), which is translated below.

:::Long Ode to Watching Weiqi

生平

祖父邵德新，父邵古，皆隱德不仕。邵雍的祖先是范陽（今河北省涿州）人，幼隨父遷共城百源（今河南省輝縣）蘇門山下。後人稱雍為「百源先生」。

雍青年時期即有好學之名，《宋史》記載：「雍少時，自雄其才，慷慨欲樹功名。於書無所不讀，始為學，即堅苦刻厲，寒不爐，暑不扇，夜不就席者數年。已而歎曰：『昔人尚友于古，而吾獨未及四方。』於是逾河、汾，涉淮、漢，周流齊、魯、宋、鄭之墟，久之，幡然來歸，曰：『道在是矣。』遂不復出。」

雍後居洛陽，與司馬光、二程、呂公著等交遊甚密。邵雍與二程、周敦頤、張載，合稱為「北宋五子」。

宋仁宗皇祐元年（1049年）定居洛陽，以教授為生。嘉祐七年（1062年），移居洛陽天宮寺西天津橋南，榜其廬曰「安樂窩」，自號安樂先生。出遊時必坐一小車，由一人牽拉。

宋仁宗嘉祐與宋神宗熙寧初，兩度被舉，均稱疾不赴。邵雍病重時，程頤去看望他，問道：「從此永訣，列有見告乎？」邵雍說：「面前路徑須令寬，路窄，則自無著身外，況能使人行乎？」熙寧十年（1077年）卒。宋哲宗元祐中賜諡康節。著有《皇極經世》、《伊川擊壤集》、《漁樵問對》等。1975年江西星子縣宋墓出土《邵堯夫先生詩全集》九卷。

學說

先天八卦圖

邵雍對易經極有研究，開拓了「象數」學的領域，他「探跡索隱，妙悟神契，洞徹蘊奧，汪洋浩博，多其所自得者」。邵雍繼承並發揚了陳摶的「周易先天圖說」朱震說：「陳摶以《先天圖》傳种放，种放傳穆修，穆修傳李之才，之才傳邵雍。」朱熹則認為邵雍傳自陳摶，陳摶亦有所承傳：「邵子發明先天圖，圖傳自希夷，希夷又自有所傳。」。邵雍說：

邵雍是真正能繼承先秦(律數之學)與兩漢(卦變之學)以來易學象數派之理論精粹並能融合儒家經學之道德價值觀(即內聖外王之道)。

朱熹對《皇極經世》極為推崇。他說：「某看康節《易》了，都看別人的不得。」。朱熹將邵雍同周、張、二程和司馬光並稱為道學的「六先生」。

重要著作

• 《皇極經世》

• 《伊川擊壤集》

• 《漁樵問答》：全書以問答方式，將自然與人事變化之關係加以闡發。晁公武認為是張載所著，而朱子則肯定為邵雍所作。《黃氏日抄》認為其膚淺，但學者郭懿雲認為未必如此——其中論命運、論人鬼、以及小人不絕的道理，亦有其獨特之處。

• 《鐵版神數》

• 《梅花易數》

評價

• 《宋史．邵雍傳》稱：「乃事之才，受河圖、洛書、宓羲八卦六十四卦圖像。之才之傳，遠有端緒，而雍探賾索隱，妙司神契，洞徹蘊奧，汪洋浩博，多其所自得者。」

• 程頤在《邵雍節先生墓誌銘》中說：「（邵雍）德氣粹然，望之可知其賢。不事表，不設防畛，正而不諒，通而不汗，清明洞徹中外……群居燕飲，笑語終日，不取甚於人。」

• 二程並不太欣賞他的學說，嘗批其「邵堯夫臨終時，只是諧謔須臾而去；以聖人觀之，則亦未是」及「嘗觀堯夫詩意，纔做得識道理。卻於儒術未見所得。」

• 朱熹說：「程、邵之學固不同，然二程所以推尊康節者至矣。蓋信其道而不惑，不雜異端，班如溫公、橫渠之間。」

注釋

參考書目

• 華瀾：〈何為象帝——從邵雍看老子注 〉。

• 楠本正繼：〈邵康節的易學思想 〉。