? Tang Xianzu: a "hard bone" in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty

159 1 year, a comet was seen as an ominous year. He witnessed the disaster of Taihu Lake, with thousands of miles of bare land along the coast and "bones all over the river". The court sent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to help the victims, and also sent special envoy Yang Wenju to help them. Yang Wenju took the opportunity to misappropriate relief funds, accept bribes and betray his official position. The most irritating thing is that Shen Shixing, the prime minister of the dynasty, actually promoted him to a big official and knighted him, and demoted some court advisers who were loyal to their duties and dared to expose them. & gt The dramatist once wrote an inscription at the beginning of his monumental masterpiece The Peony Pavilion: "I don't know what happened, but it goes on forever. The living can die and the dead can live. Life cannot be born with death, and death cannot be resurrected. It's not emotional. A few strokes can be called the truest and boldest annotation of love in the ethical code era. Tang Xianzu established his position in the literary world with a Peony Pavilion, and later generations even compared him with the top western drama masters, calling him "Shakespeare of the East". > regard your reputation as a virgin's chastity > Compared with the love comedy of talented people and beautiful women in Peony Pavilion, Tang Xianzu's life is undoubtedly a tragedy. His name is still Hai Ruo. His ancestral home is Linchuan, Jiangxi, and he moved to Tangjiashan (now Fuzhou, Jiangxi). & gt Tang Xianzu was born in a scholarly family, and his ancestors enjoyed the literary name for four generations: great-grandfather Tang Xuan, who loved books and was good at writing articles; Grandfather Tang Maozhao, with a new word, read widely, elaborated on Huang Lao and was good at writing poems, and was praised as a "famous poet" by scholars. My father, Tang Shangxian, is a knowledgeable Confucian scholar. He was a famous scholar and bibliophile in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, and attached importance to family education. In order to promote Confucianism, he also founded Tangjiaxue in Tanggong Temple in Linchuan City, and hired Luo Rufang, a master of Neo-Confucianism in Jiangxi Province, as a teacher to teach clan children. & gt Tang Xianzu was born in 1550, and was born with outstanding intelligence. History records that he is "slim and handsome" and everyone who meets him praises him. It is said that they can be paired at the age of five, and the neighbors will check and find out a few pairs. There is no one who doesn't answer. /kloc-When he was 0/3 years old, the governor rewarded his talents and made him an apprentice. As a result, he was among the best in every exam. When he was only a weak scholar, he was already familiar with the Five Classics and History, and he was proficient in Yuefu and Wuqiyan Poetry. Besides, by the way, astronomy, geography and medical divination can be described as "all-rounder" at the age of 26. Tang Xianzu's first collection of poems "A Grass in a Spring" came out, and the collection of poems "Yong Zao" was published the following year, which made him famous for a time, and people at home and abroad regarded making friends with him as a blessing. & gt, such a brilliant young talent, suffered a heavy blow on the way to the imperial examination. 1577 and 1580, Tang Xianzu took the imperial examinations twice and failed. In fact, his reputation in China is the result of the secret manipulation of Prime Minister Zhang. & gt At that time, Zhang's son had just taken the exam, and it was already a default for him to be a scholar in the exam, but at the same time, Zhang hoped to find a few people with real talent and learning as a foil to hide his eyes and ears. After inquiring, I learned that the most prestigious candidates were Tang Xianzu and Shen Maoxue, so I tried my best to win them over, claiming that as long as I was willing to cooperate with him, I would guarantee their high school. & gt Shen Maoxue succumbed to Zhang's * * *, and as expected, he was on the same list as the Prime Minister's son; The upright Tang Xianzu lived a clean and honest life. He refused to recruit twice and sarcastically said, "I dare not lose my virginity from other women." He thinks his reputation is more important than virginity. In the face of fame and fortune, he would rather cut off the glitz than lead an honest and clean life. The result of ignorance of the times is extremely cruel. On the way to the imperial examination, Tang Xianzu was frustrated year after year. It was not until 1583 one year after Zhang's death that he was admitted to Jinshi with a very low ranking. & gt the criticism is directed at the emperor > I thought life set sail from here. As a result, two powerful ministers, Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing, became prime ministers one after another, promising Tang Xianzu the position of Hanlin and trying to win him into the shogunate. Tang Xianzu still refused. He said, "Yu is strong, so he has no wimp", which means that he is a hard bone and will not compromise. & gt Tang Xianzu's official career is naturally full of setbacks because he has offended all those in power. He first worked as a junior official in Beijing, and in the second year he was sent to Nanjing to be a doctor in Taichang Temple, and then moved to Nanjing to be the director of the etiquette department, where he stayed for seven years. Nanjing has been the capital of the Ming Dynasty since the Yongle Emperor Judy moved to Beijing. Although there are various yamen, they actually have no power and exist in name only, especially the Taichang Temple and the Rites Department. During his stay in Nanjing, although Beijing bureaucrats invited him back to work, he failed in the end. & gt Fortunately, although Nanjing has lost its position as a political center, it is still a place where scholars gather, and poets, dramatists and artists often gather here to talk about literature and art. Tang Xianzu is here, learning knowledge and chatting with some people who write poems and songs. Although he stayed up until midnight, he was still studying. So, his family laughed at him: "Why did the old doctor write? Tang Xianzu replied: "I don't ask for a doctor, and I don't ask for a doctor. & gt Tang Xianzu's arrogance and awe run through his whole official career. One of his poems is recorded in the Chronicle of Ming Poems, which reads: "You don't have to talk about chess after playing chess." I heard that Liaoyang was born in the sun, and no one dared to write farewell poems. This is what he wrote on his way to Nanjing. At that time, Tang Xianzu passed through Dongguang County, Hebei Province, and saw many poems engraved on the wall of the post station to commemorate Mrs. Liu's suggestion. Liu Taiceng impeached Zhang at will, was arrested and imprisoned, exiled to Guangxi, and died in a post office in Dongguang County. After Zhang died, people passed by Dongguang and wrote poems on the wall of the post station to show their condolences. It is these people who expressed their condolences that Tang Xianzu satirized in his poems: when Liu Tai was exiled before his death, let alone seeing him off. How many people dare to write farewell poems? & gt Tang Xianzu showed no cowardice towards the emperors of the dynasties. During his tenure in Nanjing, once, the emperor thought the official was cheating and ordered him to stop paying 1 year. Tang Xianzu immediately wrote a letter, saying that officials were not all people who ignored the righteousness of the monarch and his subjects, but the powerful people in the DPRK stole the power of the emperor and cultivated party member, so the loyal and straight people could not be reused. This is the fundamental reason why officials dare not speak out. Now that the emperor has investigated the charges of blinding officials, why not investigate the charges of holding the assistant minister of the Ministry of Housing! Dare to point the criticism at the emperor, indicating that Tang Xianzu is a man. & gt 159 1 year, a comet was seen as ominous, and that year was also an ominous year for Tang Xianzu. He witnessed the disaster of Taihu Lake, with thousands of miles of bare land along the coast and "bones all over the river". The court sent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to help the victims, and also sent special envoy Yang Wenju to help them. Yang Wenju took the opportunity to misappropriate relief funds, accept bribes and betray his official position. The most irritating thing is that Shen Shixing, the prime minister of the dynasty, actually promoted him to a big official and knighted him, and demoted some court advisers who were loyal to their duties and dared to expose them. Tang Xianzu's repressed dissatisfaction can no longer be concealed. He wrote "On Assistants, Ministers, Ministers" in one stroke, pointing to the wrong behavior of Shen Shixing and others, and demanding a thorough investigation of a group of corrupt officials such as Yang Wenju. & gt The throne was like a blockbuster, which shook the whole court. Some attacked officials did not appear in court angrily, while others threatened to resign. The emperor indiscriminately accused Tang Xianzu of "attacking Fu Yuan under the guise of state affairs" and relegated him to xuwen county, the southern tip of Leizhou Peninsula, to correct history. & gt 159 1 year, a comet was seen as ominous, and that year was also an ominous year for Tang Xianzu. He witnessed the disaster of Taihu Lake, with thousands of miles of bare land along the coast and "bones all over the river". The court sent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to help the victims, and also sent special envoy Yang Wenju to help them. Yang Wenju took the opportunity to misappropriate relief funds, accept bribes and betray his official position. The most irritating thing is that Shen Shixing, the prime minister of the dynasty, actually promoted him to a big official and knighted him, and demoted some court advisers who were loyal to their duties and dared to expose them. & gt Let the prisoners go home for the New Year > After being demoted to the throne, Tang Xianzu returned to his hometown in Linchuan from Nanjing without his family. A malaria tormented him for four months. At the appointed time, he was forced by the emperor to drag his newly recovered body and trudge south to Xuwen. & gt Xuwen is located at the southernmost tip of Leizhou Peninsula, with very bad natural conditions and social environment. According to Kangxi's Records of Leizhou Prefecture, Xu Wen said that "before dawn, red mist was blocked", and the wilderness was full of scary crocodiles and baboons; Moreover, it is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with the invasion of the Japanese in the east and the rubber base (located in present-day Vietnam) in the west. The locals are also very tough and like to fight. In a letter to a friend, Tang Xianzu said that Xu Wen "people there are suicidal and don't know etiquette" and "it's always bad to write and write, and men are poor." He knows that the fundamental measure to reverse this vulgar custom is to strengthen education. On his third day in office, he visited the educational facilities on the spot. & gt At first glance, Tang Xianzu was quite disappointed: the county school was in ruins, and students had no books to read, so rebuilding the academy became a top priority. Insufficient funds > He and Xiong Min, a magistrate of a county, donated money; There is no place, so he chooses his own site. Within a few months, the academy was completed, "built in the east of the government" and named "Guisheng Academy". He wrote the famous Guisheng Academy here, and elaborated his original intention, idea and pursuit of running a school in detail. The article wrote: "Knowing life means knowing that everything in the world is precious." . Therefore, he emphasized personal value. & gt Tang Xianzu didn't stay in Xuwen for a long time, but he was obsessed with the Guisheng Academy he founded. Many years later, when he was ill, Xiong Min wrote a letter of sympathy. This made Tang Xianzu move south again. He wants to go to Xuwen again and stay in Guisheng College for a while to see if this college has trained talents. & gt Xu Wen 1 year, Tang Xianzu was transferred to Suichang County, Zhejiang Province for a term of five years, with remarkable achievements. Suichang, with overlapping mountains and barren land, is known as "nine mountains, half water and half fields", but Tang Xianzu shows his talents here. He implements the policy of "benevolent government and benefiting the people". Every spring, he prepares good wine, takes a bullwhip to the countryside to persuade farmers, and writes a poem: "Every official gives Chunchun a whip and asks him to whip the cow to learn farming. Flowers and flowers are rewarded, and joy on the face is better than years "; He tried to reduce the corvee of the people and resist the exploitation of the people's fat and paste by the imperial court. Three relatives and five relatives of the powerful came to have a windfall, and Tang Xianzu only treated them to a plate of fried peppers, a bowl of home-made tofu and a pot of loofah soup. He combines leniency with severity, leaving the door open at night in Suichang and not taking the road. As a result, "the mountains are clear, people go up the mountain, and spring clouds are everywhere." Officials also know that villagers have nothing to do in court and farmers sing three or two songs. & gt Tang Xianzu was also a rare "human nature" official in ancient China. His two most famous actions in Suichang were "sending prisoners on New Year's Eve" and "keeping prisoners under watch". He opened the prison gate and let the prisoners go home for the New Year's Eve and reunite with their families. When they left, none of the prisoners took the opportunity to escape, and everyone came back automatically. The Lantern Festival organizes prisoners to watch the lights on the river bridge in the north of the city and experience the joyful scene of "singing all over the county". & gt Although Tang Xianzu was popular, he eventually angered the powerful and local forces and caused criticism from his superiors. 1598, he abandoned his official position and returned to his hometown. After coming back, he lived in poverty, and sometimes he could only live on porridge, but he pointed to a bed full of books and laughed at himself: "Not poverty!" " He also called his apartment Tang Yuming, regarded Tang Yuming as a virtue and Tang Yuming as nourishment. Yu Minghua with high rhyme is a true portrayal of Tang Xianzu's life. > how many sad people have been provoked by Peony Pavilion > In his later years, in his hometown, Tang Xianzu completely gave up the idea of official career and turned from the political stage to the drama stage to concentrate on drama and poetry creation. Living in Tang Yuming, sitting with guests and friends, pitching and singing may be the best way of life for a generation of playwrights. & gt Tang Xianzu finished the Peony Pavilion when he was nearly 50 years old, and gave a public performance in Tang Yuming. Linchuan city, empty alley, everyone chanting, several orders "The West Chamber" price reduction. Tang Xianzu wrote Conan Ji and Handan Ji successively, and changed his early Zi Xiao Ji into Zi Chai Ji, thus completing his "Linchuan Four Dreams". 16 16, Tang Xianzu died in Linchuan. According to the Ming History, there are only four words in his life, that is, "poverty, old age and death are not related", which is a bit mean, but it is also a true portrayal of this literati. & gt As far as writing is concerned, Four Dreams in Linchuan is neck and neck. But from the spread, the Peony Pavilion has been enduring for hundreds of years. The die-hard fans of Peony Pavilion are mostly young girls with beautiful faces and poems in their bellies. At that time, there was a girl who was fascinated by The Peony Pavilion. It is said that because of her love of literature, she imagined Tang Xianzu as a romantic genius like Liu Mengmei, the protagonist of Peony Pavilion, and finally saw that the author was a bad old man and died of despair! & gt According to the Notes of Plum Blossom Cottage written by Buddha Zhang, Yu Erniang, a woman from Loujiang, is beautiful and literate, and has not yet married. Her lifelong hobby is reading the Peony Pavilion, and she annotated a book full of reading experience in small print. As time goes by, I feel sad about my life experience and deeply hate that I can't get a good marriage, Du Like Li Niang. /kloc-died at 0/7. After learning the news, Tang Xianzu wrote "Two Crying Loujiangnv" to express his condolences. There was also a female singer named Shang Xiaoling in Ming Dynasty, who was famous for her color art and was best at playing Du Liniang. She has a heart, but for some reason she can't get what she wants, so she is depressed and sick. One day, I went to Du Liniang Garden to find a dream, and suddenly fell to the ground and died. & gt The most famous story in the reading history of Peony Pavilion is passed down through the ages with a poem. There was a woman named Feng Xiaoqing in Guangling who died after watching The Peony Pavilion. A dying poem said: "You can't listen to the cold rain in the secluded window, but read the peony pavilion at night." . The world has different infatuations for me, and Xiaoqing is sad. > The Ming Dynasty, when The Peony Pavilion was written, was the era when Neo-Confucianism reached its peak, and the bondage of a complete moral system to women also reached its peak. Du Liniang, the heroine, is sleepy during the day and visits the garden privately. As long as she goes beyond the moment, she will be reprimanded by her parents. Just like this, her strong longing and yearning for youth and love, taking "love" as the pursuit of life, the struggle between life and death has a huge contrast with the reality of iron bucket bondage, which can arouse strong repercussions of her contemporaries. & gt It is not difficult to find that the female "fans" in Peony Pavilion often have a rough love life, and their lives all end in a beautiful woman. With a brush stroke by Tang Xianzu, Du Liniang can fight for love, come back from the dead, and finally achieve a Chinese-style reunion with his best lover, the emperor and a happy couple. The Peony Pavilion has created countless dreams of Li Niangs, but those Li Niangs can only leave their souls and never reach their own Peony Pavilion. & gt