10 Facts About Kong Yingda

Kong Yingda, courtesy names Chongyuan and Zhongda, was a Chinese philosopher during the Sui and Tang dynasty.

Kong Yingda was born 574 in Hengshui, Jizhou, in the state of Northern Qi of the Northern dynasties.

Kong Yingda was said to be a 32nd-generation descendant of Confucius, and his father Kong An, grandfather Kong Shuo, and great-grandfather Kong Linggui all served as high-ranking government officials.

Kong Yingda later became a pupil of Liu Zhuo, a renowned scholar of the time, and studied the Shangshu and Du Yu's annotations of the Zuo Zhuan under his guidance.

Kong Yingda's eminence caused envy in some established scholars, who were ashamed of being inferior to him and made an abortive attempt to have him assassinated.

Kong Yingda served in several top positions of the Imperial Academy, and participated in the composition of the Book of Sui, the official history of the Sui dynasty.

Kong Yingda was appointed the head of the project, and he gathered a team of experts including Yan Shigu, Sima Caizhang, Wang Gong, and Wang Yan, who spent five years to finish the project, and Emperor Taizong personally named the work Wujing Zhengyi.

Kong Yingda died before the revision was completed, and Zhangsun Wuji was appointed to finish the work, which was finally approved in 653 by the next emperor, Gaozong.

Kong Yingda was given the honour to be buried in the Zhao Mausoleum, accompanying Emperor Taizong in death.

Kong Yingda coined the Chinese word for curriculum, kecheng, in a commentary to the Classic of Poetry.