The Mother's Womb Began to Simulate, and She Was Invincible in the World

At the same time, this was also related to his deep belief in Buddhism and strict adherence to precepts in his later years.

In her later years, Wu Zetian favored male concubines such as Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and established the ”Konghe Office.”

No one in the court dared to advise her, only the deeply trusted Di Renjie stood up to remonstrate directly.

Di Renjie bluntly demanded the abolition of the Konghe Office.

Wu Zetian explained that favoring male concubines was for ”maintaining health.”

But Di Renjie insisted on remonstrating: ”To nurture the imperial body, one should also regulate with moderation; indulging in desires will only cause harm.”

In the end, Wu Zetian accepted it and restrained herself somewhat.

Regarding this, Zhu Yuanzhang also once said: ”Sensual pleasures are the axe that cuts down one’s nature, easily drowning people,” and warned, ”Once one is drowned in it, disaster and failure follow.”

He often warned his ministers that a monarch must ”keep away from sensual pleasures, abandon extravagance,” and be cautious about his hobbies, otherwise the country would fall into Chaos.

Meanwhile, as the synthesizer of Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, Zhu Xi raised ”abstinence from lust” to the height of philosophical ontology.

He did not want to eliminate all human physiological desires, but advocated using ”Tianli” (Heavenly Principle/moral guidelines) to restrain excessive ”human desires” (selfish desires), including inappropriate sexual lust.

When explaining ”The human heart is perilous, the Dao Heart is subtle” in the Book of Documents, he emphasized that through self-cultivation, one should let the ”Dao Heart” dominate the ”human heart.”

He believed that marital ethics themselves are ”Heavenly Principle,” but the pursuit of beauty and unrestrained indulgence are ”human desires” that need to be restrained.

This theory became an important criterion for self-cultivation among scholars of later generations.

Qian Liu, the founder of the Wuyue Kingdom during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, had a very deep relationship with his wife, Lady Zhuangmu, Madame Wu.

Madame Wu returned to Lin’an every year during the Cold Food Festival to visit her relatives.

One year, the princess did not return, and the spring scenery was fading.

Qian Liu wrote a letter urging her to return, but when he picked up the pen, he wrote down a nine-character motto full of deep affection and restraint: ”The flowers are blooming on the path, you may return slowly.”

This eternal famous saying, while expressing longing, embodies a kind of Advanced ”abstinence.”

What he abstained from was the tyranny and impatience of a king, replacing it with respect for his wife, compliance with natural seasons, and deep, restrained emotional expression.

Sima Guang, a famous minister and historian of the Northern Song Dynasty, known for his frugality and rigor, was a model of practicing Confucian self-cultivation thought.

In ”Instructions on Frugality for Kang,” where Sima Guang admonished his son Sima Kang, he emphasized throughout that ”It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.”

He himself did not like sensual pleasures, and his life was extremely simple.

After his wife passed away, he was so poor that he had no money to bury her, and had to ”mortgage land to bury his wife.”

In Sima Guang’s view, restraint towards material enjoyment (including sensual pleasures) is the root of cultivating integrity, maintaining an independent personality, and focusing on learning and state affairs.

His ”abstinence” is a holistic self-discipline that runs through his life.

Zeng Guofan, a famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty, was hailed as a perfect man who achieved the ”three immortalities”: establishing virtue, establishing merit, and establishing words.

His achievements began with strict self-management.

In his youth, Zeng Guofan had many bad habits and once set for himself ”Twelve Rules for Self-Cultivation.”

An important item among them was ”sitting in meditation” and ”protecting the body” (restraining labor, restraining desires, restraining diet).

He frequently recorded and denounced his ”lustful” heart in his diary; for example, when he felt moved upon seeing a friend’s beautiful wife, he would curse himself in his diary as ”truly a beast,” conducting deep self-reflection.