Late-Southern-Sòng / early-Yuán 宋-元 loyalist scholar and Daoist intellectual. 1247–1306 (CBDB 33896). Zì Mù xīn 牧心 (“Shepherd-Heart”); hào Sān jiào wài rén 三教外人 (“Outsider to the Three Teachings”), reflecting his heterodox stance. One of the most intellectually distinctive late-Sòng figures.
Origin. Native of Qián táng 錢塘 (Hángzhōu 杭州) — the former Southern-Sòng capital.
Loyalism. When the Southern Sòng fell to the Mongols in 1279 (Dèng was 32), he refused to serve the Mongol-Yuán, retreating into Daoist seclusion. One of the paradigmatic yǐ mín 遺民 (“remnant people”) of the SòngYuán transition.
Works.
-
Bó yá qín 伯牙琴 — a collection of political-philosophical essays often described as “proto-democratic” or “anti-authoritarian” by modern scholars. Dèng’s political thought critiques imperial absolutism and advocates a kind of communal-egalitarian governance. These essays are one of the most distinctive Sòng loyalist political documents.
-
[[KR5c0179|Dà dí dòng tiān jì]] 大滌洞天記 (DZ 782) — gazetteer of the Dà dí grotto-heaven Daoist sacred site.
-
Dòng xiāo tú zhì 洞霄圖志 — illustrated gazetteer of the Dòng xiāo palace 洞霄宮.
-
Various other essays, poems, and Daoist works.
Intellectual position. Dèng Mù was a self-identified “Outsider to the Three Teachings” (Sān jiào wài rén) — critical of orthodox Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism alike. His thought combines Daoist political critique, Confucian ethical conservatism, and distinctively loyalist anti-Mongol stance.
CBDB: 33896. Primary source: Sòng yuán xué àn 宋元學案.