China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 65

Wu Jingzi, born in 1701 A.D., named Minxuan, was named Wenmu Laoren in his later years, was born in Quanjiao, Anhui Province, and was a famous writer in the Qing Dynasty.Wu Jingzi was admitted as a scholar at the age of 18, and he is a son of a noble family who has achieved great ambitions at a young age.Later, his father lost his official position and returned home because he offended his superiors, and soon died of illness.Before and after his father lost his official position, Wu Jingzi saw the ugliness of rivalry in the officialdom.After his father's death, the dispute over his family's property being seized by close relatives made him see that this kind of scholarly family was benevolent and moral on the surface, but it was intriguing and deceitful in its heart.After the Wu family fell, all the clansmen and neighbors discriminated against him, laughed at him, and regarded him as an unworthy descendant of the Wu family.He was also alienated by those whom he had generously supported.He could no longer live in his hometown, so he moved to Nanjing.All this made him very disgusted with the scholars who were good at making money at that time. He no longer wanted to take the imperial examination, and made up his mind to write a book to record the ugly bureaucracy of the Qing Dynasty and the dark politics of the Qing Dynasty.Therefore, Wu Jingzi sharply wrote China's first full-length satirical novel "The Scholars" with a pungent pen.

In Wu Jingzi's writing, there are generally three types of scholars: the first type is imperial examination fans whose only goal in life is to become an official in the imperial examination; A character who was defeated in the examination field, frustrated in his fame but unwilling to be lonely, and regarded himself as a romantic celebrity.By describing their arty and deceitful behavior, the work reflects the poison of the imperial examination on the mental state of the literati and the adverse social consequences it brought.The work freely arranges various people and organizes plots, thus broadly reflecting social life. With its high ideological and artistic achievements, "The Scholars" laid the foundation of Chinese classical satirical novels, and had a profound influence on late Qing denunciation novels and modern satirical literature.

●Pu Songling’s Tea for a Story
"Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" is the crown of short stories in classical Chinese, with 491 stories in it. "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" was written by Pu Songling in the early Qing Dynasty.Pu Songling, with the style name Liuxian and the word swordsman, was nicknamed Liuquan Jushi. His bookstore was named "Liao Zhai", and he was also known as Mr. Liaozhai in old age.Today, there is a village named "Manjing" in the east of Zichuan, because there is a well in the east of the village, and the well water is often full and overflowing, so it is named.The overflow of the well water forms a creek, with weeping willows lining the banks, so it is also called "Liuquan".In addition to the famous masterpiece "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" written by Pu Songling, there are more than 1000 poems, more than 100 lyrics, more than 400 prose pieces, 14 slang songs, 3 miscellaneous dramas, and various miscellaneous books.

For the book "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio", Pu Songling once set up a tea stall in Manjing, and provided free tea to passers-by who were thirsty.Over time, strange news and strange things from all directions gathered in his hands, and "colleagues from all directions continued to use postboxes one after another".However, the materials in various places are mixed, good and bad, and mixed. Once Pu Songling's magical pen is used, it will be full of literary talent and wit. Although "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" is written in classical Chinese, it is not dull and difficult to read.Its language style is not only elegant and beautiful, but also fresh and lively, which can be regarded as a model of ancient classical Chinese.

●Cao Xueqin and "A Dream of Red Mansions"

Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather, Cao Xi, was favored by Kangxi and sent to the south to weave in Jiangning.After Cao Xi's death, Cao Xueqin's grandfather Cao Yin and father Cao Fu took over the job. The family worked as weaving officials for 70 to 10 years for three generations. The family became richer and richer and became a wealthy family.After Emperor Yongzheng came to the throne, Emperor Yongzheng believed that the Cao family had opposed him, so he not only dismissed Cao Fu from his post, but also ordered his family to be searched.At that time, Cao Xueqin was a [-]-year-old child.Cao Fu lost his official position and couldn't stay in Jiangning, so he had to return to his hometown in Beijing. Life became poorer and poorer, and family disasters happened one after another.Later, Cao Fu also died, and Cao Xueqin's life became more difficult, so he had to move to the western suburbs of Beijing and study in a few simple houses.Sometimes even food is not enough to eat, so I have to drink some thin porridge to satisfy my hunger.Cao Xueqin's family was in decline, and he came into contact with some poor people. When he thought of the luxurious life at home when he was a child, he couldn't help feeling a lot.Later, he decided to write a novel reflecting the social life at that time based on his personal experience, which was "Dream of Red Mansions".

In "Dream of Red Mansions", Cao Xueqin wrote the story of the Jia family, a large aristocratic family, from prosperity to decline.When he wrote "Dream of Red Mansions", hard work and illness made him very weak.When he finished writing 80 chapters, one of his beloved children fell ill and died.Cao Xueqin was hit by this, and finally put down his unfinished works and passed away.After Cao Xueqin's death, his novel manuscripts were copied by friends and gradually spread.Many people were very moved after reading this novel.But it is always a pity that such an outstanding work has not been completed in its entirety.Later, another writer, Gao E, continued to write the last 40 chapters, making "A Dream of Red Mansions" a novel with a complete structure.The novel "Dream of Red Mansions" has been copied and reprinted, and it has spread more and more widely.Until modern times, it is generally recognized as one of the outstanding novels in ancient my country.

●Wu Changshuo, master of freehand brushwork
Wu Changshuo, named Junqing (a Jun), styled Changshuo (a Cangshi), nicknamed Chilu, Wutie, and later named Dadeaf, was born in Anji, Zhejiang.Influenced by his family since he was a child, he devoted himself to studying as an adult, and at the age of 30 he studied painting from Ren Yi.Under the guidance of Ren Yi, he absorbed the strengths of other artists, and finally became a school of his own in the history of painting, becoming the most outstanding master of flower freehand brushwork in modern times.

Wu Changshuo loves to paint plums, chrysanthemums, orchids, bamboos, peonies, narcissus, etc., which imply elegance and elegance, with abrupt compositional structures, interspersed left and right, forming a diagonal trend.Wu Changshuo comprehended the brushwork of seal script and cursive script in painting, and the running brushwork, knife handling and composition of seal cutting contributed to a unique style of painting that is majestic and has a taste of gold and stone.For example, painting plum blossoms was born out of the method of seal and official script, the so-called "tadpoles, old moss and branches and branches"; writing grapes and wisterias has the bold and unrestrained brushstrokes of wild grass, the so-called "cursive script for grapes, strokes like a dragon".In terms of color application, Wu Changshuo broke the old style of literati freehand brushwork since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. He liked to use western red, and sometimes he boldly piled up this red (or bright red) when painting flowers; Scorched ink, which absorbs the characteristics of folk painting colors.The colors on the screen are thick and complex, with strong contrast, but also dignified and reserved, and there is harmony in the conflict.

In 1904, Wu Changshuo, Wu Yin and others founded Xiling Yinshe in Gushan, West Lake, Hangzhou, with him as the president.His calligraphy, painting and seal cutting had a great influence on modern painters, especially in the Japanese painting circle.There are collections of works such as "Foulu Collection" and "Foulu Yincun".

There are many surviving works of Wu Changshuo, such as "Grape Gourd Picture", "Wisteria Scroll", "Narcissus and Tianzhu Scroll", "Autumn Chrysanthemum Scroll", "Peach Tree Scroll", "Mohe Picture Scroll", etc.

●Oracle Bone Inscriptions Rediscovered
In the autumn of 1899, Wang Yirong, the Jijiu winemaker of the Guozijian, suffered from malaria, and took many medicines, but nothing worked.An old Chinese doctor gave him a prescription. Among them was a medicine called "Dragon Bone", which is actually the fossil of ancient vertebrate bones, which can treat weakness and bruises. It is generally produced in Anyang, Henan.Wang Yirong looked at the prescription, but didn't pay much attention to it.

Wang Yirong is a well-known epigrapher in Beijing. In addition to his good character, many celebrities and scholars are willing to deal with him.Whoever gets any treasure, wants to ask him to appraise it.A few days later, a cultural relic dealer from the same village collected several treasures from Henan and asked Wang Yirong to appraise them. Among them were some "dragon bones", the difference being that there were some scratches on them.Wang Yirong pieced together these "keel bones" and thought they looked like turtle shells.Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he realized that those notches were not carved randomly, but were probably ancient characters!He couldn't sit still with excitement, and realized that these tortoise shell and animal bones engraved with ancient characters were precious cultural relics.In order to collect more "keel bones", he decided to pay a high price for them.

Wang Yirong proposed a method of buying by character, paying 2 taels of silver per character.The antique dealer saw the opportunity to make a fortune, so he sent all the "dragon bones" he could find to Wang Yirong's home.After careful research, Wang Yirong further concluded that this is an oracle bone specially used for divination in the Shang Dynasty, and the characters on it are the characters of the Shang Dynasty—oracle bone inscriptions.

In the Shang Dynasty, divination activities were often held.People process, polish, and drill tortoise shells or animal bones for divination, and then burn the processed tortoise shells or animal bones with fire, so that cracks will appear on the corresponding parts of the front. "The shape of the word.The king of Shang or the officials in charge of divination judged whether it was inauspicious or auspicious according to the length or length of the crack and the inclined shape, and engraved the words of the thing to be asked on the side of the crack.These characters are oracle bone inscriptions.Oracle bone inscriptions have been rediscovered after thousands of years of oblivion.

●The Three Great Novels Condemning the Qing Dynasty
The three major novels condemning the Qing Dynasty refer to the three condemning novels condemning the corrupt Qing Dynasty politics: "The Officialdom", "The Strange Situation Witnessed in 20 Years", and "Nie Haihua".

The author of "The Appearance of Officialdom" is Li Boyuan.Li Boyuan, a representative writer of denunciation novels in the late Qing Dynasty, named Baojia, was born in Wujin, Jiangsu Province. He once published a variety of newspapers and magazines. "The Appearance of Officialdom" is his full-length novel, with a total of 60 chapters. It describes various phenomena of corruption and extortion, persecution of the people, and surrender to imperialism in the late Qing Dynasty, showing a reformist tendency in thought.

The author of "Strange Status Quo Witnessed in 20 Years" is Wu Woyao.Wu Woyao, a representative writer of condemnation novels in the late Qing Dynasty, also known as Jian Ren, was born in Hainan, Guangdong.The Strange Situation Witnessed in 20 Years is a novel of 108 chapters, which focuses on describing officialdom and involves shopping malls and foreign markets. To a certain extent, it exposes the political corruption and social darkness of the late Qing Dynasty, showing the tendency of reformism.

The author of "Nie Hai Hua" is Zeng Pu.Zeng Pu, denunciation novelist, pen name Sick Man of East Asia, native of Changshu, Jiangsu. In 1904, Zeng Pu founded the novel Lin Bookstore and started writing "Nie Hai Hua".The book uses the stories of Jin Wenqing and Fu Caiyun as clues to describe the activities of some bureaucrats and scribes at that time, exposing the corruption of politics in the late Qing Dynasty and their illusions about the reformers.

●"Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes"

"Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" observes the society, and based on the viewpoint of the bottom, it writes about people and ghosts, stings greed and cruelty, and penetrates deeply.For example, criticizing the unfairness of the imperial examination system.In fact, the imperial examination system should be criticized for the content and standards of the selection, not the examination procedure.In the Qing Dynasty, the punishment for cheating in the examination room was particularly severe, and Pu Songling's failure was not the result of unfair examination.In fact, compared with the neat narrative in "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio", and then read the arrogant four liliu who are cherished by him, you will understand.It is difficult to draw correct conclusions when observing the imperial examination system with the resentment of those who failed the exam.A text with a strong sense of "expressing anger" often affects its objectivity in reflecting social phenomena.

On the contrary, Ji Yun is an "absolutely correct" person.Although Qianlong respected Neo-Confucianism as usual, he secretly attacked Neo-Confucianism.Because once a kind of thought has gained a status close to religion, even if it itself defends the imperial power, its fanatical admirers may put the "eternal principles" above the imperial power, resulting in a relationship with the ever-expanding emperor's personal Power conflict.Undoubtedly, Ji Yun has a deep understanding of the "highest spirit", so in "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes", there are a lot of mockery of the "inhumanity" of Neo Confucianism (Mr. Lu Xun once discussed it).Since he opposed the "unhumanity" of Neo Confucianism, it is natural to try his best to flaunt his balancing skills between heaven, law and human heart.Readers can find that "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes" strives to reflect its fairness and fairness everywhere, that is to say, Ji Yun's moral judgment is not the most severe or the most avant-garde, but "the most correct".The views he expressed were relatively close to the general standards of public opinion at that time.

"Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes" is different from "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" in that it does not follow the legends of Tang and Song Dynasties, but the road of Wei Jin Zhiguai. "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" is a description and imagination of heaven and earth, (Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes) is a short story close to "original ecology". Ji Yun admired Confucius' "telling but not writing" and devoted himself to textual research , has written a lot, especially the 200 volumes of "Summary of the General Catalog of Siku Quanshu", and only this novel (poetry and prose collection) is left in his literary creation. In this novel, he tried his best to downplay the traces of creation. .Most chapters of "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes" must indicate the source of the story. Every narrator has a name and surname. If he has not heard it himself, he must indicate the circulation link. He sometimes provided two different versions of a story, and even questioned the authenticity of the story, pretending to have carefully researched it as if he had treated historical materials. At the same time, he also slyly reminded readers: You just believe in the truth, as for the story , so you don’t have to take it too seriously. One of the titles of the sub-volumes of "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes" is "Just listen to it". For a novel about foxes talking about ghosts and Shinto teachings, the author tried his best to clarify the relationship with creation. It's ridiculous. But it undoubtedly shows that Ji Yun's intention is to restore human feelings and the state of the world through ghost novels.

The text of "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes" is particularly good.Mr. Lu Xun once praised: "Ji Yun's long writing style is often used by secretaries, and he has a wide-eyed mind. Therefore, anyone who detects the emotions of ghosts and gods, reveals the subtleties of the world, and entrusts fox ghosts to express his own opinions. Thinking and witty words are enough to relieve your worries; There are also insights in the textual research. The narrative is graceful and elegant, full of natural interest, so no one can take it away later, and it is not just someone who borrows the high prestige to pass it on." "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" is fascinating with its plot and description. Ji Yun is good at telling stories calmly, with a few words, it contains a wealth of information, and unconsciously transmits his own value judgments to readers.He also likes to make moral evaluations very much. At the end of the story, he often sends out a sentence or two of warnings, or makes a humorous metaphor.This makes the preaching of "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes" both implicit and eye-catching.When preaching, he also pays special attention to the embarrassing situation of "what to do when reason and reason fight", and sometimes even has a real or fictional debate (by the mouth of gods and ghosts), so that readers can see the positions and judgments of multiple parties.This feature makes the social ethics it reflects more complete.

Like all moralists and novelists, Ji Yun has a hypocritical side.Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng's writing is obviously a big "poisonous weed" for "declaring obscenity", but he always has to remember the judge who plays the role of "punishing obscenity".Ji Yun’s background and upbringing predestined that he would never be as straightforward as Xiao Xiaosheng, no matter whether he proclaimed or punished adultery, but sometimes he would “cleanly and happily” tell pornographic stories one after another, and in the blink of an eye he would have to bear the burden again. function as a judge.The role changes too quickly, and the smile on the face is too late to restrain. It is not difficult for readers to detect the insincere words.However, when we examine a text, we should not only look at what a person said, but also pay attention to why he said it.Since Ji Yun is a "most correct" person, his moral judgments may not represent his real opinions, but he has such opinions, which are exactly the opinions "needed" by society.Therefore, the sincerity of Ji Yun's moral judgment often does not affect the results of the analysis.

From the large number of "original ecological" stories in "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes", we can get a glimpse of many interesting stories from the bottom to the top of the society at that time, people's belief in gods, attitudes towards ghosts and gods, perceptions of homosexuality, relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, master and servant Contradictions, the fashion of the capital, folk customs of the frontier, a glimpse of the way of being an official, the skills of being a person, and the philosophy of life of the Chinese people who have always advocated "the sophistication of human feelings is the article"... It is worthy of being an excellent textbook on human relations and sophistication in Qing Dynasty and even old China. .

##No.30 Series Exploration and Trek

●Yan Fu translated "Tianyanlun"

Yan Fu, with a few words, is from Fujian.When he was a teenager, he was admitted to the shipping school in his hometown and received extensive education in natural sciences. Later, he was sent to England by the Qing court with No.1 grades to learn how to drive a warship. However, Yan Fu began to be obsessed with Western social and political theories in England. , Read the works of great thinkers such as Montesquieu, Darwin, and Spencer.

After Yan Fu returned to China, the Sino-French War and the Sino-Japanese War occurred successively, followed by the frenzy of Western powers to carve up China, and the crisis of national subjugation was imminent.As a result, he began to write political commentaries advocating reform and reform, and also translated a large number of modern Western theoretical works.Among them, "Tianyanlun", which he translated and published before and after the Reform Movement of [-], had the greatest influence.

Evolution and Ethics, originally called Evolution and Ethics, is a collection of essays by the British biologist Huxley.Yan Fu chose the first two of them, and called them "Tianyanlun" for short, which means the theory of evolution.Since then, the theory of evolution has been introduced into China, shaking the ancient land of China.

Yan Fu's "Tianyanlun" is not simply a translation of the original text, but a selection, trade-off, commentary, and transformation.He expounded his views through the preface and a large number of notes, and combined with the actual situation at the time, he transformed the theory of the original book into a progressive theory that the Chinese could use to fight against feudalism and aggression.He said: "The reason why European countries dare to invade China is because they can continue to strengthen themselves. The reason why the aborigines in America and Australia are declining day by day is because they are muddle-headed and muddle-headed." It is self-proclaimed, but it should be honestly admitted that it is the "superior" who invaded China, and the "inferior" is the Qing court that was invaded.In the international competition for survival, the current Qing court is at a critical juncture of national subjugation and extinction!These insights sounded the alarm bell of national peril!

●Wuchang Uprising in [-]
Failure has brought painful lessons and summed up experience.After the failure of the Huanghuagang Uprising, the members of the Tongmenghui decided to turn their target to the Yangtze River Basin, preparing to launch a new armed uprising in the two lakes areas centered on Wuhan.

On September 1911, 9 (the Lunar Xinhai Year), the Literary Society and the Gongjin Association held a joint meeting in Wuchang, and elected Jiang Yiwu as the interim commander-in-chief and Sun Wu as the chief of staff. They formulated an uprising plan and planned to launch the uprising on October 24. Therefore, it was rescheduled to October 10.At the same time, people were sent to Shanghai to invite the leaders of the Tongmenghui Huang Xing, Tan Renfeng, and Song Jiaoren to come to Hubei to preside over the plan. At 6 a.m. on the 10th, Sun Wu and others tried to make a bomb at the headquarters of the Gongjinhui in Baoshanli, the Russian Concession in Hankou. Due to an accidental explosion, Sun Wu was injured and sent to the hospital. All documents were seized by Russian patrols and the organization was exposed.

(End of this chapter)