A brief account of Lu Shuiyan's writings

Note is a writing style recorded in essays, and the "pen" of note is the "pen" of writing, which refers to essays, essays and trivial notes. Notes include historical notes, textual research notes and note novels. It existed in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and its origin can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. There were many notes in the Tang Dynasty, which developed in the Song Dynasty. The use of the word "Notes" as the title of a book began with Song Qi's Notes in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the most developed notes were historical notes. Its main feature is to narrate the anecdotes of the dynasty by means of "personal experience", "personal experience" and "personal news", which is more practical and contains many first-hand materials. Lu Shui Yan Tan Lu is a representative work in historical notes of the Northern Song Dynasty.

"Talking about banter" is a joke. This kind of "banter" writing motivation is the general tendency of notes in the Song Dynasty, and it is a trend and fashion of the literati class at that time. Wang Bizhi wrote in the preface to Lu Shui Yan Tan Lu written in Shao Sheng's second year (1095): "I am old now, I have never left the county, I have never been hungry or cold, I can't talk about the imperial court, and I can't talk about books written by historians; When I am free, I talk with those wise men and scholars. If I have something I want, I need to remember it. After a long time, I got more than 360 things. I made up ten volumes privately and kept them in the middle. I thought it was the capital of the south window, and I was bulging with a stick. I used this to dispel my ambition and send it to my ear. " I wrote my creative psychology directly and clearly: the purpose of compiling Talking about Swallows in Lushui is to talk about money after drinking, which is a pastime in my later years. However, from the preface, we can read Wang Bizhi's feelings of "being far away in the rivers and lakes and worrying about his husband" and his feelings of caring about politics although he is old. From the sentences such as "Remember what is desirable", we can see that when Wang Bizhi records and sorts out anecdotes, he has political and aesthetic tendencies and makes them up by hook or by crook. Therefore, it can be seen from the preface that although it seems to be a leisurely and playful work, it actually contains the author's political ideal and moral judgment, and it is a historical note with serious creative motivation, pure purpose and elegant taste.

The summary of the catalogue of Sikuquanshu says: "This book records all the chores before Shao Sheng." * * * is divided into virtue, Kuang Lun, famous officials, knowing people, strange festivals, loyalty and filial piety, talent and knowledge, high righteousness, official system, palace residence, literati, omen, singing, calligraphy and painting, chronicle, miscellaneous notes, jokes and jokes, and more than 360 stories and fragments have been recorded.

From the writing characteristics, the value of Water Margin Tan Lu has three aspects:

1. is rich in content and wide in genre, which provides a large number of authentic and reliable historical materials for future generations to study the political, economic, military and cultural history of the Northern Song Dynasty, especially the life studies of some politicians and writers, the local history of Shandong Province and the study of Song poetry.

Wang Bizhi has been an official at the grass-roots level in the Northern Song Dynasty for a long time, and his contacts are mainly in officialdom, so he is very interested in and familiar with some hearsay stories within the ruling class. The first half of the book, such as Dide, Kuang Lun, Famous Officials, Knowing People, Strange Festival, Loyalty and Filial Piety, records the historical deeds of a large number of wise kings and ministers, such as "a glass of wine to relieve the worries of soldiers" and "opening a book is beneficial", and Teng, who is "the best in the world" and built Yueyang Tower. At the same time, Wang Bizhi is also a literati. He is very concerned about the anecdotes of poets, painters and other literary and art circles, such as the deeds of famous writers Su Shi, Ouyang Xiu, Athena Chu and Su Zhe, landscape painter Li Cheng and famous poet Liu Yong. It is particularly worth mentioning that the official system, tributes and literati in the book accurately recorded the official system and imperial examination at that time, leaving valuable first-hand information for future generations and providing a lot of real evidence for studying the official system and imperial examination in the Northern Song Dynasty. "Singing" and "Painting and Calligraphy" recorded a large number of creative experiences and artistic theories of poets and painters, which are indispensable reference materials for us to study the history of literature and painting and calligraphy in the Song Dynasty.

Wang Bizhi, a native of Linzi, spent most of his later years in Linzi. Therefore, Lu Shui's Talks recorded a large number of people and events in Linzi and its surrounding areas in the Northern Song Dynasty. For example, Jia Gongshu, a native of Linzi, took writing as his own responsibility and wrote seven articles of unofficial history in Shandong. Ma Ximeng, a long-lived old man in Linzi, teaches well and has little lust; Zhao Shimin, a famous Confucian in Linzi, has profound knowledge and noble moral character, and so on. In the book, Fan Zhongyan's understanding of Qingzhou is also recorded in great detail, with nearly ten articles.

In addition, Wang Bizhi's Notes on Swallows in Lushui also created several firsts intentionally or unintentionally:

First, the eighth volume has the earliest record of "tile dang". The record of events, which is unprecedented in the history of tile-dang's collection and research, is of great significance The original text is: "Qin Wugong is the Yuyang Palace, located in Baoji County, Fengxiang. Too old to know where it is. In the first month of the sixth year of Yuan You, the county gate was 100 paces east, and the residents' rights deepened the pool, and they got bronze tiles, all of which were broken, only one tile was finished. The surface diameter is four inches and four minutes. There are four words hidden on the tile surface, saying that Yuyang has a thousand years, and the seal script goes with the flow, not taking the square. The original site of Yuyang is also known. Its land is plateau in the north, Weihe River in the south and Qunfeng in front. The situation is magnificent and it is a real holiday resort. The early years of Wu Gong were 788 years ago. Fang Shu, a martial arts expert, visited Qin Feng Prison, copied it with a stone, and placed it in Ruifeng Pavilion on Yangxian Tower to recruit talents. " Thus, from the Northern Song Dynasty 1000 years ago, Wadang became a table of appreciation for literati.

Second, in the history of China's classical literature, the word "Three Sus" also originated from this book. According to "Volume 4, Talent", "Su Xun, a native of Meishan, doesn't like learning, but he still doesn't know books when he is strong. At the age of 27, I began to study hard. Jinshi and maocai both missed it. Yue: "This is not enough for me to learn. "Burning books and burying Confucianism behind closed doors for five or six years is a major study of the classics. At the beginning of Jiayou, he went to the capital with his second son, Shi. Ouyang Wenzhong gave books to the DPRK, and the scholar-officials competed for their writings. The second son gave scholars to higher education. Therefore, the father and son named the capital. Su Wen is good at the world, and his articles are called "Three Sows", "Old Sows", "Big Sows" and "Little Sows". " This book also records many deeds of Su Shi, which is of great value to our study of Song Dynasty literature today. In particular, it is mentioned in the book that Zhang Yuncuo, the envoy of the Song Dynasty, was sent to Liao country, and Su Shi's poems were found hanging on the wall in hotels in Youzhou by Liao people. It is also said that the bookstore in john young once published Su Shi's poems, which is of great significance for us to study the influence and spread of Su Shi's poems.

Thirdly, the records of Qingzhou Fangongting and Fangongquan are the earliest. Volume 8 Records of Events records: "Emperor Zhong You, a native of Qingzhou, was born in Fan Wenzheng, a public town, and in the southwest stream of Longxing Monk's House, where there was a fountain spewing out, and a pavilion was built on it, carved with stones to record it. Later, the virtue of young people thinking for the public was named Fan Gongquan. The old trees around the spring are dense and dusty, and it is only a few hundred steps to the city, just like in the mountains. Naturally, you hackers often recite poems and play the piano and make tea on them. The sunshine is fine, the rare birds are up and down, and the tour outside the real thing ... is the best place for camping. "

Fourthly, the record of "Hongqiao" in the book is the earliest, so that some contemporary bridge history experts who don't know Wang Bizhi's history gave Wang Bizhi the title of ancient bridge expert. According to Volume 8, Xia Song, the magistrate of Qingzhou, saw that the bridges in the city were often damaged by floods, so he tried to rebuild them. At this point, he just got a "waste pawn" in the prison city. "Abolished soldiers" are disabled soldiers held in prisons. This person has "intellectual thinking", which means extraordinary wisdom. This "waste pawn" connected dozens of big trees into a bridge, thus creating a columnless Hongqiao. This is one of the earliest "Hongqiao" in Chinese history.

In addition, the two idioms "Open book is beneficial" and "Strive for profit with hands" originated from this book, and Huai 'an dim sum "bee candy cake", Jiangnan "teahouse", playing cards, mahjong predecessor, Annan coconut and other products were recorded earlier. There is also the earliest prescription of "curing leprosy with Mongolian Scotch pine" in the book.

2. From the moral standpoint of feudal scholar-officials, the author praised the wise monarch who loved the people and respected the sages, and the honest and pragmatic honest and upright official who was self-denying. Praise some writers for their noble and proud qualities and sensitive and witty creative talents; He satirized and criticized the ugly phenomena such as counterfeiting, untruthfulness and harming the people.

For example, The First Dede recorded such a story: Song Zhenzong once had a good impression on a Langguan who was sent abroad as an official, praised him for his noble character and decent work, and promised to transfer him back to the central government at an appropriate time and entrust him with an important task. However, after this Langguan returned to Beijing, he made connections everywhere, went through the back door and paid bribes everywhere. After it was known to Shinchan, he was not promoted. This story shows Song Zhenzong's hatred for those officials who leave their posts without leave, and praises Song Zhenzong's character of adhering to principles, which is of great educational significance to people today.

For example, as recorded in Volume II of Kuang, there was a solar eclipse, when it was cloudy and Peking man couldn't see it. The official in charge of astronomical calendar used this to invite the emperor, who thought the solar eclipse was an ominous sign, but now the capital has not seen it. This shows that the emperor is auspicious and the world is at peace, so he should have a big banquet to celebrate. Sima Guang remonstrated with the emperor and said, "The rest of the country saw the solar eclipse, but the capital did not. God seems to say that the emperor was cheated by the wicked, and everyone knows it, but the court doesn't know it. This is very unlucky and should not be celebrated. " Song Renzong listened to Sima Guang's suggestion and didn't hold a congratulatory ceremony that wasted manpower and material resources. In this story, Sima Guang's brave words and honest and astute personality are vividly displayed, and Song Renzong's spirit of being brave in taking advice and being good at listening to others' opinions is also evident. The demeanor of a wise man and a wise king is fully displayed in the ultimate space.

Another example is the story "Wandering Monk" in the ninth volume of Miscellanies, which reveals the trick of a temple in the south of the Yangtze River to make monks dress up as arhats in Luohantang, playing tricks and deceiving people. According to this story, there is an ancient temple in the countryside of a county in the south of the Yangtze River, which is sparsely populated because of its seclusion and danger. Once, a traveling monk went to an ancient temple and thought of a good way to attract pilgrims. There are 500 arhats in the temple. He put on his clothes, put on his robe, went down to the county seat and shaved his head with a mord. While shaving, he deliberately moved and cut his head. At this time, take off your clothes, put on Baiyao, and leave the mord as collateral. He made an appointment to call the barber to the temple and said that he would give him 1000 yuan as a reward. The barber went on the appointed date and was about to enter the temple when the doorman grabbed him and beat him up, saying, "Luohan left his mord in the temple for half a year, and you stole it!" The barber explained the process to his staff and went to see the abbot with the doorman. Everyone felt very strange, so they opened the arhat hall together, only to find that the lock on the door was rusty and the arhat couch was covered with dust, as if it had not been opened for a long time. The barber examined Lohan who had lost his mord. All he has seen is his clothes and hat. He has a wound on his head, and his blood and medicine are the same as before. There is a thousand dollars in front of the Luohan seat, all of which are ancient money, and the rope for wearing money is almost rotten. Everyone was surprised. The story spread immediately, so people came to give money every day, and the ancient temple flourished. A few years later, some monks quarreled over money, and the trick of cheating money was exposed.

For example, there is a very interesting story in book 10: telling jokes. When talking about Wang Anshi's political reform, some scholars like to talk about water conservancy. One person said that Liangshan should be drained of water and transformed into farmland. Someone asked him: "Water margin was a huge wild river in ancient times, with an area of several hundred miles. Now it has been drained and turned into farmland. If floods gather in autumn and winter, where can they be accommodated? " Liu Gongfu happened to be in the room and said unhurriedly, "What does it matter? As long as you dig a big lake next to the water margin, the area is just the same as that of the water margin, so you can accommodate the accumulated water? " People who laugh and talk nonsense are ashamed to transform the water margin. This story satirizes some uneducated, unrealistic and boastful officials; He also praised Liu Gongfu's wit and playfulness, which made people think deeply in laughter.

In a word, Lu Shui Yan Tan Lu is not a pure historical work that introduces knowledge and records historical facts. The author often sees the big from the small, with profound praise and criticism between the lines, and the ideological connotation is still rich and profound. In this sense, this work is not "doing nothing", but "doing something". Of course, due to the limitations of history and class, there are also many things in the book that promote loyalty and filial piety, karma and metaphysical superstition, which we must pay attention to when reading this book.

3. Talk about Lushuiyan's artistic attainments .. Its language is concise, narrative is refined, and its style is elegant and humorous. Although there are only a few words, the characters are often vivid and meaningful.

For example, Ten Volumes records a story about Ouyang Xiu's aversion to Buddhism: "Ouyang Wenzhong doesn't like to explain his family background. When scholars talk about Buddhist books, they must treat them positively. And the youngest son, the little monk. Or ask, "I don't like Buddhism or pagodas, but I am named after a monk." "The public said," So it's very cheap. Now people name their children's ears after cows and donkeys. "The questioner laughed and the debate between the public and the public was heard." Although the length of the article is extremely short, the narrative is concise and clear, and the writing is repetitive, which fully shows Ouyang Xiu's integrity and humor. Very comic, giving people a relaxed smile after reading it, and there is a feeling of watching sketches or cross talks.

Another example is the second volume. The famous minister, the author wrote that Sima Guang was highly respected and deeply loved by the people. Instead of writing directly about his love for the people, he used the words "Shi Jun is what a scholar-bureaucrat knows but doesn't know" and "You can't help Sima if you go down to an ordinary woman." The profile technique shows Sima Guang's approachable and amiable personality charm, especially with a sentence, "At the end of Xining, I stayed at the North Hippo Store in Qingzhou, and set out in the morning, and saw more than 100 villagers cheering enthusiastically, from north to south. I was surprised and asked, "Sima is the Prime Minister. "A typical example shows that Sima Guang loves the people and enjoys high prestige among the people. The whole article is cleverly conceived, which shows the author's sincere admiration for Sima Guang's love for the people.

In a word, Tan Lu of Swallows in Lushui is outstanding in literariness, and its concise, vivid and interesting style has a great influence on the creation of note novels in later generations, and even traces of this style can be seen in the collection of short stories Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio.

To sum up, Lu Shui Yan Tan Lu is rich in historical materials, which can help us understand the history of the Northern Song Dynasty. High ideological content can help us think about society and life; Good artistry can help us learn some skills of biography and short stories. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that Lu Shui Yan Tan Lu is a masterpiece with great value and vitality. ① Emperor Taizong: Song Taizong and Zhao Guangyi reigned from 976 to 997.

(2) Dynasty: the rule of a generation of monarchs.

③ Right Army: refers to Wang Xizhi, a famous calligrapher in Jin Dynasty.

(4) Hanlin: the emperor's literary attendant.

5 Listening to politics: dealing with government affairs.

⑥ chamberlain: This refers to eunuch.

⑦ ⑦: In a hurry.

Rule 8: Encourage.

9 advantages: more.