试论叶梦熊的“三不朽”功绩

On Ye Mengxiong's“Three Immortalities”

叶梦熊曾任兵部尚书,是"惠州历史上任职最高、影响最大之人"。叶梦熊以进士出身而善用兵,立德、立功、立言之"三不朽"在他身上表现十分明显。就其立德而言,廉洁勤政,刚正不阿,谦退不居,忠心体国;就其立功而言,赣州平巨寇,制火器定边,靖哱拜之乱;就其立言而言,以兵书为其著述之大端,有《运筹纲目》与《决胜纲目》之撰述,此外,还有诗集、文集传世。总括言之,叶氏这种型范,是传统农业社会孕育的帝国精英,与此前的王阳明及此后的曾国藩相类。其人的出现,为惠州文化乃至岭南文化增色不少。

Ye Mengxiong,one of the three ministers from Huizhou during Ming Dynasty as Minister of the Board of War,is regarded as a civil official with the highest position and the greatest influence in Huizhou history.Ye Mengxiong was of metropolitan graduate origin and good at use of military force,and the＂Three Immortalitie＂s of virtue setting,contributions and expounding ideas in writing is distinctly on his performance. In terms of virtue setting,he was upright,honest,diligent,modest,and loyal;in terms of contributions,he eliminated bandits in Ganzhou,manufactured firearms to defend the border,and put down the rebellion in Bobai;in terms of expounding ideas in writing,he wrote such masterpieces on war as＂Management of Materia Medica ＂and＂Runoff of Materia Medica＂,and he also left the world with poems and essays. In a word,Ye Mengxiong was an elite that a traditional agricultural society gave birth to the empire,similar to Wang Yangming before him and Zeng Guofan after him.The emergence of this man glorified the Huizhou culture and even the Lingnan culture.