Life

Cheng was born in Luoyang, Henan in 1033. Cheng entered the national university in 1056, and received the "presented scholar" degree in 1059. He lived and taught in Luoyang, and declined numerous appointments to high offices. He campaigned against the reformist policies of Wang Anshi, and after the reformers were dismissed from office, he was appointed expositor-in-waiting in 1086 to begin lecturing the emperor on Confucianism. He was more aggressive and obstinate than his brother, and made several enemies, including Su Shi, the leader of the Sichuan group. In 1097, his enemies were able to ban his teachings, confiscate his properties, and banish him. He was pardoned three years later, but was blacklisted and again his work was banned in 1103. He was finally pardoned in 1106, one year before his death.

In 1452 the title Wujing Boshi (五經博士) was bestowed upon the descendants of Cheng Yi and other Confucian sages such as Mencius, Zengzi, Zhou Dunyi, and Zhu Xi.

A well known chengyu 程門立雪 refers to an incident when two men (Yang Shi and You Zuo) requesting to be taken on as his disciples stood in the snow for hours at his door and became renowned examples of the Confucian virtues of devotion to learning and respect for one's master.

Cheng Yi is widely believed to be responsible for the rise of the cult of widow chastity. He argued that it would be improper for a man to marry a widow since she had lost her integrity. On the question of widows who had become impoverished due to the death of their husbands, Cheng stated: "To starve to death is a small matter, but to lose one's chastity is a great matter." (餓死事小，失節事大) The practice of widow chastity that became common in the Ming and Qing dynasty would lead to hardship and loneliness for many widows, as well as a dramatic increase in suicides by widows during the Ming era.

家庭

高祖父︰程羽

曾祖父︰程希振

曾祖母︰崔氏

祖父︰程遹

祖母︰張氏 (理學家張載之姑)

父親︰程珦 (張載表兄)

母親︰侯氏 (侯道濟第二女，侯可姐姐)

外祖父︰侯道濟

外祖母︰刁氏

外曾祖父︰侯嵩

外高祖父︰侯元

舅父︰侯可

舅母︰劉氏、劉氏，兩名劉氏是姐妹關係。)

表弟︰侯仲良

兒子︰程端輔、程端中、程端彥

生平

其祖父任黃陂縣令，卒于該縣。父程珦年幼無力返鄉，遂居于黃陂，後來還做了縣尉。二程就是在其父任黃陂縣尉時所生。程頤幼承家學薰陶，24歲時曾在京師（今河南開封繁塔之左）授徒講學。宋神宗熙寧五年（1072年）偕兄于嵩陽講學。元豐元年（1078年）知扶溝縣，「設庠序，聚邑人子以教之」。元豐五年，文彥博將其鳴皋鎮（今河南洛陽伊川縣境）之莊園贈給程氏，乃自建伊皋書院，講學其中幾達20年。元祐元年（1086年）除秘書省校書郎，授崇政殿說書。

宋寧宗嘉定十三年（1220年），賜謚程顥為「純」，程頤為「正」。理宗淳祐元年（1241年），又追封程顥為「河南伯」，程頤為「伊川伯」，並「從祀孔子廟庭」。元明宗至順元年（1330年），詔加封程顥為「豫國公」，程頤為「洛國公」。

思想

程頤政治思想頗受父程珦的影響，推舉其父反對王安石新法乃「獨公一人」，又說其兄程顥對王安石之說，「意多不合，事出必論列」，極加稱許。與其兄程顥教育思想基本一致，但學術思想略有不同。

程頤與程顥一樣，主張教育目的在于培養聖人，「聖人之志，止欲老者安之，朋友信之，少者懷之」，聖人以天地為心，「一切涵容複載，但處之有道」，因此，教育必須以培養聖人為職志。在教育內容上，主張以倫理道德為其根本，「學者須先識仁。仁者藹然與物同體，義、智、信，皆仁也。」

《宋史》稱他「學本于誠，以《大學》、《論語》、《孟子》，《中庸》為指南，而達于『六經』」。教育以德育為重，強調自我修養，其途徑為格物致知。

大程活潑自然，但小程嚴肅剛正，神聖不可侵犯，甚至不通人情，實為後世所見的「道學臉孔」。在婦女貞操方面，程頤認為：「……凡取以配身也，若取失節者以配身，是己失節也。」有人問程頤先生曰：「寡婦貧苦無依，能不能再嫁乎哉？」，程頤則提出「絕對不能，有些人怕凍死餓死，才用饑寒作為藉口，要知道，餓死事小，失節事大。」，作為衡量賢媛淑女的標準。朱熹（1130—1200）在〈與陳師中書〉也同意這樣的說法：「昔伊川先生嘗論此事，以為餓死事小，失節事大。自世俗觀之，誠為迂闊；然自知經識理之君子觀之，當有以知其不可易也。」主張婦女「從一而終」、壓抑「人慾」。

後人曾在他講學之地設書院以為紀念，如河南嵩陽書院、伊川書院等。另外，全國各地亦有紀念他之書院，意在追蹤繼軌，以示其思想綿長。其著作被後人輯錄為《河南二程全書》、《程頤文集》、《易傳》和《經說》。

《易程傳》（《伊川易傳》）

北宋程頤（伊川先生）晚年著有《易程傳》書稿，又稱《伊川易傳》、《周易程氏傳》、《周易程傳》、《程氏易傳》。其中，將〈序卦傳〉內容分置於六十四卦的卦首，並有〈彖傳〉、〈象傳〉、〈文言傳〉的註解，但無〈繫辭傳〉、〈說卦傳〉、〈雜卦傳〉。

軼聞

• 一日講罷未退，宋哲宗趙煦偶折柳枝為戲，程頤即正色指諫：「方春發，不可無故摧折」，皇帝聽了很不高興。

• 司馬光過世了，剛結束明堂祭祀大典的群臣欲往弔喪，但程頤認為不合孔子「是日哭，則不歌」的規矩，阻止群臣去弔喪。有一人曰：「孔子說當天哭了，則不唱歌，但沒有說唱歌了之後不能哭。」蘇軾嘲笑程頤說：「這是棄市枉死的叔孫通制訂的禮。」（真正的叔孫通是漢朝的禮學大師，且沒有枉死，蘇軾意指程頤是腐儒）由此事起，蘇軾、程頤兩人結怨。

• 蘇軾覺得程頤迂腐，常常開他玩笑，一次國家忌日，程頤要求群臣素食，蘇軾不但不願意，還要求秦觀、黃庭堅等人一起喫肉，完全不給程頤面子。

• 《邵氏聞見後錄》記載：「程叔微云：伊川聞誦晏叔原『夢魂慣得無拘檢，又踏楊花過謝橋』，笑曰：『鬼語也。』意亦賞之。」

注釋