Background information about Wen Tianxiang’s writing of Ling Ding Yang Shi

At the beginning of 1279 AD, the navy of the Yuan Dynasty escorted Wen Tianxiang to Yashan (in what is now Guangdong Province), preparing to attack the last position of the Song Army in the sea. On this day, the fleet passed Lingding (also written as Lingding) Ocean at the Pearl River Estuary. Wen Tianxiang stood on the bow of the ship, looking at the rough sea, thinking of his own experience of fighting against the Yuan Dynasty, and he felt very excited. He returned to the cabin and wrote a poem. This poem is called "Crossing the Lingding Ocean", and it is a good poem that has been praised by people for hundreds of years. Two of them are:

Who has never died since ancient times?

Leave a lasting impression on history!

The meaning of these two poems is, from ancient times to the present, who will not die? You must die worthy and leave your loyalty to the country in the annals of history.

At this time, the leader of the Yuan army Zhang Hongfan sent Yuan general Li Marshal to find Wen Tianxiang and said to him:

"Song general Zhang Shijie is guarding Yashan and will not surrender. Prime Minister Wen should write a letter Advise him not to resist anymore."

"Shut up!" Wen Tianxiang said angrily, "Saving the country is like saving my parents. How can I let others betray my parents if I fail to save them? "

After that, he handed over the poem "Crossing the Lingding Ocean" and said: "If you insist me to write it, just take this poem. Give it to Zhang Shijie to read!"

Marshuai Li handed the poem to Zhang Hongfan. Zhang Hongfan looked at it and sweat broke out on his face. He knew that if he gave Wen Tianxiang's poems to Zhang Shijie, it would be equivalent to sending thousands of troops. So, he hypocritically praised:

"What a poem, what a poem!"

After saying that, he never mentioned the matter of persuading Wen Tianxiang to surrender again.

Wen Tianxiang lived in a turbulent era when the Mongolian nobles attacked the Southern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty court came to an end. He was a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty's struggle against the Yuan Dynasty.

Wen Tianxiang, courtesy name Song Rui and nickname Wenshan, was born into a landlord family in Futian Village, Chunhua Township, Luling, Jiangxi (now south of Ji'an, Jiangxi) in 1236 AD. His father loved to read and often kept reading, and he also paid special attention to his children's studies. Try to hire a famous teacher to teach you. When Wen Tianxiang was a child, he would read, write, and talk about the past and the present with his younger brother in a study full of aphorisms and aphorisms, no matter the cold or summer. In addition, I often swim in the water with my friends and play chess verbally, and they never forget to leave. At the age of 18, Wen Tianxiang won the first place in the Luling Township School Examination. At the same time, he was moved by the deeds of rural sages Ouyang Xiu, Yang Bangren and others. At the age of 20, he went to Bailuzhou Academy in Jizhou (now Ji'an, Jiangxi) to study. In the same year, he was selected into Jizhou A Gongshi, he went to Lin'an (today's Hangzhou) with his father to take the imperial examination. During the palace examination, he made "imperial examination strategies" that addressed the current shortcomings, proposed reform plans, and expressed political ambitions. He was praised by the examiner as "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism as strong as iron stone." Emperor Lizong personally designated him as the number one scholar among 601 Jinshi. Unfortunately, his father died of illness four days later, and Wen Tianxiang returned home to mourn for three years. Later, the Mongolian army attacked the Song Dynasty in two directions, and Meng Ge led the west route to Sichuan to attack Chengdu. Kublai Khan led the east route and crossed the Yangtze River to encircle Ezhou (today's Wuchang) with another Mongolian army that came north from Yunnan to Tanzhou (today's Changsha). The Nanjing government and the public were shocked, and the eunuch Dong Songchen proposed to avoid the army and move the capital to Ziming (today's Ningbo) so that Lizong could escape to the sea at any time. In this regard, Wen Tianxiang only boldly wrote a letter as a Jinshi: "As the Lord of China, you must protect China; as the parents of the people, you must protect the people." Please behead Dong Songchen to calm people's hearts. However, because Meng Ge died of illness in the Mongolian army, Kublai Khan wanted to return north to fight for the throne, and allowed the right prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, Jia Sidao, to secretly surrender and pay tribute before withdrawing his troops. Jia Sidao then lied to the court about "a great victory on all fronts" and was granted the title of Duke of Wei, taking over all the power. Then Du Zong ascended the throne and indulged in drinking and sex. Jia Sidao deceived the superiors and concealed the situation, which made the country more chaotic. Wen Tianxiang's memorial was ignored and he was only sent on an idle mission. For more than ten years after that, Wen Tianxiang served intermittently as the magistrate of Ruizhou, the Tixing of Jiangxi, and the minister Zuosilang, for half a year or more than a month. When he was appointed as military weapons supervisor and bachelor's college Quanzhi, he was dismissed from office for ridiculing Jia Sidao. After Kublai Khan ascended the throne, he changed the name of the country to Yuan. In 1274 AD, he sent 200,000 Yuan troops to advance by land and water and march directly to Lin'an. The Southern Song Dynasty regime was in chaos, Du Zong died, and Zhao Xian, who was only 4 years old, came to the throne as Emperor Gong. The Empress Dowager Xie came to court and asked various places to raise troops to "King Qin".

When Lin'an was in crisis, he abandoned his official position and fled. After being demoted to the Yuan Dynasty, he served as the Minister of Rites of the Yuan Dynasty. When Wen Tianxiang saw Liu Mengyan's hatred, he scolded her fiercely, and Liu Mengyan had to retreat in embarrassment. Then, the 9-year-old Zhao Xian, the king of the Southern Song Dynasty, came again. After Wen Tianxiang repeatedly said, "Please come back, Holy Master," he became silent. Later, Ahema, the domineering prime minister of the Yuan Dynasty, came and asked Wen Tianxiang face to face: "Why don't you kneel when you meet the prime minister?" Wen Tianxiang said: "Why should the prime minister of the Southern Dynasty kneel when he meets the prime minister of the Northern Dynasty?" Ahema met Wen Tian. He was so powerful and unyielding, so he sarcastically said: "Then why did you come here?" Wen Tianxiang replied sternly: "If the Southern Dynasty had used me as prime minister, the northerners would not be able to go to the south, and the southerners would not come to the north. ". Ahema was speechless in reply, looking around sternly and inwardly. "This person lives and dies by me...". Wen Tianxiang immediately interrupted him and shouted: "Kill the people who have subjugated their country, kill them if you want, it is not up to you to say anything!". A month later, Wen Tianxiang was brought to the Privy Council to see Li Luo, the Prime Minister of the Yuan Dynasty. Wen Tianxiang stood calmly and calmly, and an official immediately shouted: "Kneel down!" Wen Tianxiang refused to kneel down. Li Luo ordered the officer to kneel down on Wen Tianxiang. Although a group of henchmen fought with fists and kicks, Wen Tianxiang still sat on the ground desperately after being dragged down. After giving in, the general (translator) sent a message: "What else do you have to say?" Wen Tianxiang replied: "I am loyal to the Song Dynasty, which is why we are here today. Please deal with it quickly!" Polo said again: "You throw away the king (Zhao Xian) , What kind of loyal ministers do you think of establishing two new kings (Zhao Shi and Zhao Bing)?" Wen Tianxiang replied: "The country is more important than the king." Li Luo asked again: "What achievements have you done?" Wen Tianxiang replied: "Being a minister for a day and doing your duty for a day is nothing!" He then said, "Now there is only one death, so there is no need to say anything else!" Li Luo shouted: "You want to die, but I won't let you die. I will imprison you!" , Wen Tianxiang replied solemnly: "I am not afraid of dying for the country, but I am afraid of being imprisoned!" The ruler of the Yuan Dynasty threw him into a prison again, imprisoned and tortured for three years, and made him read about being a maid in the Yuan Palace. The letter from his wife and daughter brought his brother who had been demoted to prison to visit him in prison. But Wen Tianxiang was not moved by all kinds of torture, all kinds of inducements, and countless family ties. He composed "Song of Righteousness" awe-inspiring, praising the immortal achievements of historical figures, saying "This is the majestic Qi, which will last forever. When it penetrates the sun and the moon, life and death will be the same." The ambition of "An Zu Lun". One day, Kublai Khan personally persuaded him to surrender, saying: "Now if you can treat me the way you treated the Song Dynasty, I will make you prime minister immediately." Although Wen Tianxiang was injured in the kneecap by the guards with a golden gun, he still took it calmly, stood upright, and replied solemnly: "There is nothing that can be done except death." The next day, Wen Tianxiang was killed in Chaishi at the age of 47. age. Wen Tianxiang was upright, country-oriented, and upright throughout his life, and was deeply respected by people of all generations. Qin Huang's poem from the Qing Dynasty says: "The broken rivers and mountains remain righteous, and the heroic spirits protect the barren hills in the wind and rain.