Lei Siqi雷思齐

Style & Daoist names

courtesy name Qixian, sobriquet Kongshan

Period

Yuan

Dates

1231 — 1303

School

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism

Role

Daoist ScholarsScholar of the Book of ChangesScripture Commentator

Birthplace

Linchuan (present-day Fuzhou, Jiangxi)

Places of activity

Mount Longhu (Dragon and Tiger Mountain)

Life

Lei Siqi, style name Qixian, was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi, and a scholar at the Song–Yuan transition. After the fall of the Song he abandoned Confucian scholarship to become a Daoist priest, residing at the Wushi Guan; he was later invited by the thirty-sixth Celestial Master Zhang Zongyan to lecture at Mount Longhu, where he associated with Wu Cheng and others. He specialized in the Zhouyi and the study of Laozi, writing the Yitu tongbian (Comprehensive Changes in the Diagrams of the Changes) and the Yishi tongbian (Comprehensive Changes in Divination by the Changes), in which he opposed the theories of the Hetu and Luoshu current since the Northern Song, with rigorous critical argument; he also wrote the Laozi benyi (Original Meaning of the Laozi), interpreting the Daodejing with a rational approach. Lei Siqi's scholarship represents the rationalizing and Confucianizing tendency among the Zhengyi Daoist priests of Mount Longhu in the Yuan. He died in 1303. His Laozi benyi draws on earlier commentaries by various scholars while incorporating Confucian principles, reflecting the intellectual atmosphere of Neo-Confucianism in Jiangxi during the Yuan, and shows how Mount Longhu's scholarly climate was shaped by the influence of scholar-officials such as Wu Cheng.

Contributions & Influence

• Wrote the Yitu tongbian, critically examining the tradition of diagram-and-chart studies
• Wrote a commentary on Laozi in the capacity of a scholar, representing Yuan-dynasty Daoist scholarship
• Lectured at Mount Longhu, promoting interaction between Zhengyi Daoism and Neo-Confucianism (lixue)

Works

• Comprehensive Changes in the Diagrams of the Yi (Yitu Tongbian)
• Comprehensive Changes in Yi Divination (Yishi Tongbian)
• The Original Meaning of the Laozi (Laozi Benyi)
• The Purport of the Zhuangzi (lost)