Wu Ding 武 丁

 

Wu Ding 武  丁

 

    Wu Ding was the Zhongxing Emperor of the Yin Dynasty—Yin Gaozong.

After Pan Geng resurrected the Yin Dynasty, his younger brother Xiao Yi came to the throne, and the country's fortunes declined again.

Xiao Yi died and passed the throne to his son Wu Ding.

He wanted to revitalize(振興) the Yin Dynasty, but there were no good auxiliary officials in the court.

After his father's death, Ding You During this period, he slaughtered the powerful officials of the government, retired to Liangyin (Note 1),

respectfully and quietly thought of ways to restore and rejuvenate the country,

and did not care about political affairs for three years.

  After being full of mourning, I became more sincere in seeking talents, working day and night, sincerely understanding.

One day, I dreamed that a saint named Sage was sent from heaven to assist in the affairs of the country, and I was very happy.

The next day I went to court and looked at the ministers, but they were not what I saw in my dream.

So he painted a portrait and ordered hundreds of officials to visit the people.

At that time, Wu Ding was building a wall with a group of plasterers.

He was found by the officials and brought back to the palace.

 When Wu Ding saw him, he was surprised and said,

 "It's exactly the person he saw in his dream."

He talked with him about the way to govern the country and ensure peace.

He responded fluently, and he was indeed a saint with outstanding talents and extraordinary knowledge.

Wu Ding was very happy.

 

From then on, he appointed him as prime minister, gave him the surname Fu,

and said that he would discuss all major national affairs with him,

so that the country would be peaceful and the people would be safe.

武  丁

 

    武丁。即位。思復興殷。而未得其佐。三年不言。政事決於冢宰。

武丁夜夢得聖人。名曰說。以夢所見。視群臣百吏皆非也。於是迺使百工營求。

之野。得說於傅險中。（險。亦作巖。傅說版築之處。）見武丁。曰是也。與之語。果聖人。舉以為相。殷國大治。（殷本紀）

    武丁是殷代中興皇帝—殷高宗。殷代自盤庚中興後，他的弟弟小乙即位，國運又衰微，小乙崩，傳位給兒子武丁，

他想振興殷朝，然而朝中沒有良好的輔治官，因在父喪丁憂期間，將朝政大權委大宰，自己退藏亮陰（註一），

恭敬靜想復國興邦的方法，三年不問政事。

    喪滿，求賢之心更加懇切，日夜無間，精誠感通，一天夢上天賜一聖人，名叫說，來輔國政，心中大喜。

第二天臨朝，觀看朝中大臣，都不合夢中所見。因此畫了像，命百官到民間查訪。

    那時，說正和一群泥水匠在築牆，被官吏們找到了，帶回宮中，武丁見了驚喜的說：「正是夢中所看到的人。」

和他談論治國安邦之道，說應答如流，果然是才能出眾，見識超凡的聖人，武丁非常高興，自此任用說為宰相，賜姓傅，稱傅說，

國家的大事，必定和他商議，因此國泰民安。

 

    「註一」亮陰—天子居喪之廬