Lin Zhaotang, the only number one scholar in western Guangdong for thousands of years!

Lin Zhaotang (1786~1872), courtesy name Aifeng, nickname Funan, posthumous title Wengong, was born in Xiajie Village, Wuyang (Xiajie Village, Wuyang Town, Wuchuan City, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province).

His father, Taiwen, served as an eunuch in Dong'an County.

As a young boy, Zhaotang studied at his father's school.

Lin Zhaotang was a man of integrity, disinterested in officialdom, loving integrity, attaching great importance to industry and peasants, and pitying the poor.

In the eighth year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1803), he became a scholar at the age of 17, and was praised by the scholar Yao Wentian as "a talented person on the seaside".

In the seventeenth year of Jiaqing, the scholar Cheng Guoren reviewed his examination papers and thought he was very promising. He selected him as a tribute student and asked him to study with his son.

In the 21st year of Jiaqing's reign, he passed the first prize in the Guimo family.

The emperor read the final batch of the volume and said: "I won a good title in this subject, and the radical of a word is wrong, and it has nothing to do with knowledge."

Appointed as editor and editor of Hanlin Academy.

In the fifth year of Daoguang's reign (1825), Ding You returned home due to the death of his father.

In the eighth year of Daoguang's reign, he returned to Beijing to serve.

In the eleventh year of Daoguang's reign, he served as the chief examiner of Shaanxi and Gansu.

This time, 65 people were selected, including 11 such as Hu Yanjia, Zhang Fu (former governor of Guangdong), Niu Shumei, etc., all of whom later became Jinshi and were quite successful.

The next year, he felt deeply that his sense field was polluted, so he took leave of absence and returned home in the name of serving his mother for the rest of his life.

In the thirteenth year of Daoguang's reign (1833), Zhaotang was hired as a lecturer at Duanxi Academy in Zhaoqing Prefecture. For 15 consecutive years, he promoted culture, cultivated many talents, and made indelible contributions to education.

For example, Shun Luo Xiangyan Shangshu, Gaoyao Feng Yuqidai Lang, etc. all received education.

In the 19th year of Daoguang's reign (1839), Lin Zexu came to Guangdong to ban opium. He exchanged letters with Zhaotang, consulted and discussed the people's livelihood and the administration of officials, and gave Zhaotang a couplet: "The colorful clothes are like the three public halls, and the five-color clouds are auspicious." Daoguang

In the 22nd year (1842), in the same year, Huang Guangyin of the Hanlin Academy took office, and Zhaotang resigned.

Huang Guangyin's reply said, "The holy family is in the Yin Dynasty, and the minister's heart is like water, how noble it is!" Huang Suzhi Zhaotang lived an indifferent life, and also received Wuchuan Yanwei supply silver from Kyoto to send to Zhaotang, but he did not accept it, and kept the money for many years.

Later, Hanlin Chen Liqiu was asked to send him back to the court.

Created the first "goodwill warehouse" in the village to help the poor.

He initiated the "Binxing" (scholarship foundation) for the county and wrote the article "A Brief Discussion on Wuchuan Binxing".

Lin Zhaotang's mother died at the age of 59. Since then, he has not left home. He built a "sheltering house" next to the "Jinlian Temple" at the edge of the village, with the title: "Forty Trees Peach Blossom Zen Room", tied with thatch and planted flowers and trees. Every spring

On a bright day, when the tide rises and the moon rises, I wander among the forest mist with my stick, or invite friends to meet up, drink wine on the lotus pond, and recite poems under the plum trees.

In his spare time, he would burn incense and sit quietly, reading books and posting them, with a transcendental interest.

He is the author of "Poetry Cun", "Wen Cun", "Notes" and other books handed down to the world.

In the twelfth month of the lunar calendar in the 11th year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1872), Lin Zhaotang died at home at the age of 87.