Gossip Tao ranting

I have lived in Beijing for forty or fifty years. Although I have been to Taoranting Park once or twice, to be honest, apart from the tombs of Gao Junyu and Shi Pingmei in the park, I have not left a deep impression. I read a few essays about old Beijing, poems about Taoranting by predecessors, and the local historical records of Beijing, An Examination of Old News in the Sun, and so on. I was interested in revisiting Taoranting, so I went to Taoranting Park in autumn and winter, which was not the best season.

Lao She wrote in an essay entitled "Thinking of Beiping" in 193s: "Although I was born there, I didn't leave until I was 27 years old. In terms of places of interest, I have never been to Taoranting. How ridiculous! " This shows the position of Taoranting in the eyes of old Beijingers. Not only that, many writers from other places often mention Tao Ranting in their articles recalling Beijing. When Ding Ling lived in Beijing in the 192s, she seemed to have a preference for Taoranting. Yao Pengzi said that she "drifted to Beijing", "sank into a kind of depression that no one understood, and no one wanted to understand, but only felt deeply sorry for herself", and often "went to Taoranting alone" (Li Xiangjun and Wang Zengru's Ding Lingchuan). Yu Dafu said in the article "Autumn in the Old Capital": "It has been nearly ten years since the autumn in the north. Every autumn in the south, I always think of the reed flowers in Taoranting, the willow shadows in Diaoyutai, the insect singing in Xishan, the jathyapple in Yuquan and the bells in Tanzhe Temple. " Shi Pingmei's "Snowy Night" said: "I love the snowy night and the snow scene at this moment. Although I can't go to Taoranting, Shichahai, Beihai and Park because of the dead of night ..." In the 195s, Zhang Henshui's article "Taoranting" said: "Taoranting has a great reputation, just like the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuchang and Ji 'nan. When people who have been to Beijing come home, their families must ask,' Have you been to Taoranting?' Because of this, thirty-five years ago, the first thing I did in Beijing was to visit Taoranting. "(Beijing Daily on August 2/21, 1956) In the past, these celebrities often listed Taoranting as the first place of interest in Beijing, which is something that many of us can't imagine today.

Taoran Pavilion is a famous historical pavilion. Some people call it the four famous pavilions together with Chuzhou Zuiweng Pavilion, Changsha Aiwan Pavilion and Shaoxing Lanting (also known as Hangzhou Huxin Pavilion). Taoran Pavilion is three halls built by Jiang Zao, a doctor from the Ministry of Industry, on the west side of Cibei Nunnery in the Yuan Dynasty in the thirty-fourth year of the Qing Emperor Kangxi (1695). The name of the pavilion is taken from Bai Juyi's poem "Wait for the chrysanthemum family to be cooked, * * * you get drunk and become a Taoran" (Figure 1) ("Selling wine and drinking with your dream and making an appointment later"). It is also called "Jiangting" because it was founded by Jiang Zao, a doctor of the Ministry of Industry who was the supervisor of the kiln factory at that time.

Figure 1: One of the three plaques of Taoranting, inscribed by the pavilion builder Jiang Zao

According to the usual understanding, the pavilion refers to a building with a roof and no walls, and of course it also refers to a small house with simple buildings. According to the previous explanation, there is actually no pavilion in Taoran Pavilion. Some people admire Taoran Pavilion and made great efforts to go there, but they didn't see a pavilion with a top and no walls, which made them feel a little lost. Yu Pingbo's article "Snow in Taoranting" said that in the afternoon after a snowy winter, he made an appointment with a friend and hired two "rubber cars" (that is, rickshaws) from a small alley near Donghuamen to go to Taoranting. After getting off the bus, I walked through a piece of Yuan Ye through the snow and saw a tall house. I thought it might be Jiangting (Taoranting), but I didn't see any pavilions inside and outside. Fortunately, there is a plaque hanging on it. Otherwise, it would be a joke if it was Taoranting that day, if it is still in doubt. There is no pavilion in Jiangting, and such a name is really bad, which always makes us feel lost. " Zhang Henshui also said in the article Taoranting that "the so-called Taoranting is not a pavilion, but a mound with a temple built on it". In fact, the Qing dynasty had a poem, "The houses are covered with gauze, and the land is famous, but there is no pavilion" (Volume 1 of Jin Su Shan Fang Shi Chao), which expressed the regret and confusion about Tao Ran's pavilion.

after the completion of Taoranting, especially from Ganjia to the early years of the Republic of China, it became an elegant gathering place for literati. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Zhu Pengshou's "Essays on An Le Kang Ping Room" has six clouds: "Doumen is a place where people gather, and bureaucrats feast every day. However, the wine shop is like a forest, and the noise is very different. Therefore, the scholar-officials who are neutral and elegant often pretend to be in the ancient temple, lingering and talking about the end of the dynasty. After Yu Zichou (1889) entered Beijing, every time he met an elegant collection of literati, he was mostly in Taoranting and Ryujuji in Nanxiawa, Songyun Caotang and Songyun Temple in Zhaziqiao, Yunshan Villa in Xiaxie Street, Jifu Ancestor Temple, Chongxiao Temple in Baizhifang, Gaomiao in Jishuitan, Nanhebo outside Guang 'anmen, etc. "

At that time, Taoranting was the first choice for celebrities' banquets, such as the New Year's holiday season, promotion, relatives and friends coming to Beijing, and friends traveling far away.

There are different landscapes in spring, summer, autumn and winter, each with its own characteristics, and there are many visitors to Taoranting, especially on human days, Lantern Festival, Shangsi, Qingming and Chongyang. For example, Cha Shenxing's "Test the Lights in Wuhuangcun, Gather Taoranting in the Same Year" says: "Spring comes every day, and it's sunny, so invite me to visit the city that never sleeps. The lights are poor in the north of the pavilion, and the orchestral strings are crisp at the beginning of the month. " Wan Guangtai's "Taoranting on March 3" says: "The poem of repairing a poem has become ugly, and it will benefit the southwest if it is occupied by friends." Hong Liangji has a poem entitled "On Qingming Day, everyone brings wine to Taoranting, and Wu waits to read the rhyme of Xi Qi to get Guo Zi", and "Clear notes" and "seasonal notes" say: On September 9, Chongyang, "everyone needs to carry a pot and carry a jar, and go out to Guo Denggao. South is in Tianning Temple, Taoranting, Dragon Claw Sophora and other places, north is in the places such as Jimen Smoke Tree and Qing Purification City, and far away is in the places such as Xishan Eight Temples ",and so on, all of which are the works of Taoranting elegant collections such as Lantern Festival, Shangsi (March 3), Qingming and Chongyang of Qing literati.

The most intoxicating scenery of Taoranting is the reed flowers in summer and autumn. There are many poems about Taoranting's reed flowers by ancient and modern scholars, which are too numerous to mention. Li Guangdi's Autumn Watch at Taoranting in Qing Dynasty says, "To fulfill your promise in summer, come and sit in a small pavilion at leisure. The green is in the water, and there are three dragons in the water. Autumn sounds are heard in the middle of the night, and the bleak is just listening ... Friends will talk about the clouds and music, and the text will be moved and the words will be remembered. " Among them, "Cang Jian is in the water" will naturally remind us of the sentence "Cang Jian Cang, Bai Lou is frost" in the Book of Songs. Zan Jian and Ling are all the names of aquatic plants, and Zan Jian refers to reeds. Gu Taiqing's "Que Qiaoxian Early Winter Yunlin invites the same family Xiaxian Dragon Claw Huai to see chrysanthemums, crossing Taoranting and looking at the Western Hills" says: "I was invited by an old friend to visit chrysanthemums in the south of the city, and it is past the yellow flower season. Where to ask Qiu Fang, I saw all the way and the leaves in the frost forest. Your Excellency, outside Taoran Pavilion, there are cold reeds like snow. The cold smoke and mist are pale in the setting sun, and the western hills overlap. " Zhang Wentao's After Rain in Taoranting: "Jiangting looks at the rain in Chu Qing in the west, and the mountains embrace the setting sun and want the whole city. Qiu Shu's height is the same, but the wind cicadas have different priorities. Wine can be drunk when you are far away, and poetry is well known. Covered with a century-old banquet, Luhua should see the ancient and modern feelings. " Zhao Yi's "Taoran Pavilion": "Riding in the south of the city is close, and the virtual pavilion leans against the female wall. The lotus flower is red and the reed flower is white, and it is August and autumn in Jiangnan. " Cao Xi 'an has a poem "Wear a cart like a boat, and climb the mountain when you leave the Lin Gaoge" (quoted from the record of banana gallery, Volume II, "Taoranting in Jingshi"). Some critics say that the two sentences are well-known and can be transferred to couplets. Approached as Yu Dafu, "Every autumn in the south, I always think of the reed flowers in Taoranting".

As for the winter, enjoying the snow in Taoranting is also a great pleasure for scholars in ancient and modern times. Some colleagues or close friends even "book an elegant meeting of gathering and drinking Taoranting in case of heavy snow without inviting each other" (Chen Kangqi's Tales of Lang Qian, Volume X, Article 1, "Gathering and Drinking Taoranting in Case of Snow"). There is a saying signed by Shen Yin's "Feeling of Riding Donkeys and Stepping through the Snow to Taoranting at the End of the Year": "The mountains outside are all rogues, but the battlements in my eyes are like this. Xiao Shufeng Xue Jun stops complaining, and he always pays for his fame. " (Journal of the quintessence of Chinese culture, Volume 1, No.5, 195) Visiting Taoranting by riding a donkey and stepping through the snow is quite interesting. Yu Pingbo once made us feel lost because there was no pavilion in Jiangting, but the snow in Taoranting left an unforgettable impression on him, which made him "can't recall the story of playing with snow in Jiangting that year".

Taoranting is a place where candidates who come to Beijing or scholars in Beijing meet their relatives and friends in the same year. Qian Yiji compiled "Biography of Monuments", Volume 49: "All the cities are places where people gather together. When Shuntian has obtained the provincial examination and does the examination, the people from all directions are especially prosperous. Before the announcement, Mr. (Zhu Yun) invited five or six celebrities to recruit talented candidates, and chose a day meeting in Taoranting, where he would have a banquet, rhyme poems and taste algae for a while, which was regarded as good or bad. " The preface to the reprinting of Ji Hai's Tooth Record in the Same Year says: "In April, people who have tasted Ji Hai will draw a picture in Taoranting, south of the city, and remember it." (Sheng Yu's Eight Banners Classic, Volume XIII) Jin Hajj (Noon Pavilion) "Poems and Notes of Sanhuai Bookstore" contains that because they went to other places in the same year, they "invited all the people to gather in Taoranting for a drink in the same year" and wrote a poem as a farewell. In the poem, there is a sentence "Ten years ago, they led the spring breeze together, and several people were so drunk today." Baoting has a poem entitled "Tao Ranting sends Xiang Tao as Guangdong and Zhang Youqiao as Fujian": "Life has its own things, and you can stop at the same time. After a hundred years, everyone is willing to suffer. A few great men and women in ancient and modern times have friends. Parting is common, but don't cry. Today, the weather is fine, there is wine and it is * * *. Don't look at your ancestors' accounts, but visit the Jiangting Pavilion. Overlooking the vast land, looking up at the sky. The rest of my life is still geometric, and I would rather be drunk than wake up. " In the poem "Four Poems of Diaojian Lake" by Wu Zhiying (Zi Ying) in modern times, it is said: "When Jianhu (Qiu Jin) traveled eastward in previous years, Yu Ji's sisters from the capital were married in Taoran Pavilion in the south of the city, so as to strengthen their behavior, and Jianhu had a" Baodao Song ",which was passed down for a while." Qiu Jin once wrote a poem for this gathering and sent it to Linjiang Fairy. A small preface says, "Mrs. Tao Di Zi invited Tao Ranting to say goodbye, and Zi Ying Meng's sister wrote a couplet to express her farewell. Time flies, gathering for a year, romantic clouds, far apart, can not help but feel gloomy. When I study abroad during my spare time, Ziying wants to return to the south. " It expresses the infinite feelings of the gathering of the Xia and the sisters Tao Ranting, while the song of Baodao expresses the tragic feelings of "following the great reputation of my Lord Huangdi and washing away the strange shame of national humiliation for thousands of years".

The most famous gathering of courtiers and celebrities in the history of Taoranting was the Ryujuji Ode Meeting in Tongzhi. Ryujuji is located in the northwest of Taoranting. According to Zhicheng Deng's "Notes on Bone Dong and Xuannan Famous Sites", Ryujuji Ben Tang Xingcheng Temple and nearby Dragon Claw Sophora were replanted in Jiaqing, and it was abandoned for a long time. Two plants were replanted in the cave of Zhang Wenxiang in Nanpi, "recruiting celebrities to praise it, and now it is a temple to worship Wen Xiang". According to Liu Yusheng's "Miscellaneous Memories of the World Hall": At that time, the ban on literature was strict, "Chao Shi did not dare to talk about current politics in vain, competing for literary words, and his poems were unique, with Pan Boyin (Zuyin) and Weng Pingcuo (Tongzhi) as his predecessors. Li Keke (Ciming) of Huiji also went out to compete with Zhang Xiangtao of Nanpi for the altar. At first, Li and Zhang still had words to return. Later, when Zhang Zhidong was in charge of Hubei's political studies, he invited Li Ciming. Li was so unhappy that he left the museum. After entering Beijing, Li Ciming repeatedly failed in the Jinshi and took his anger out on the Hanlin at that time, saying that most of them did not learn, and some people accused him of being angry with Zhang Zhidong. After ten years of Tongzhi, Xin Wei, Zhang Zhidong returned to Beijing at the end of his term in Hubei, and Zhang and Li have not yet shown cracks. At that time, "the officials and celebrities in the DPRK were full of enthusiasm and pushed to offer sacrifices to wine", and the elders were the leaders of the feast. At that time, Zhang Zhidong invited Li Ciming to Ryujuji, and Ci Ming took Pan Boyin as the leader, so he invited him to participate. Zhang Zhidong initiated the Ryujuji Conference and sent a letter to Pan Boyin: "The four directions win the flow, and all the collections are under, so you can't have a unique collection. This was my intention in the evening. Tao Ranting sat with his back to the window, and Xie Gong Temple could not bring his own kitchen. Tianning Temple is a little far away, and Ryujuji is better. " Participants in this day included Wuxi Qin Bingwen, Nanhai Gui Wencan, Yuan He Chen Zhuo, Jixi Hushu, Huiji Zhao Zhiqian, Li Ciming, Wu Gengyang, Xiangtan Wang Kaiyun, Suixi Chen Qiaosen, Huangyan Wang Yongni, Qian Tang Zhang Yu, Chaoyi Yan Naitong, Nanhai Tan Zongxun, Fushan Wang Yirong, Ryan Sun Yirang, and Hongtong Dong. Drawing by Qin Bingwen, writing poems by Wang Renqiu and writing notes by Gui Wencan. Bing Wen's title says, "It's sunny when it rains, and the green reeds are rustling. On the whole, it lingers in the past and present, so it's a picture for Ji Hong's paw." From the end of Tongzhi to the beginning of Guangxu, these years were the key to the biggest friction between the north and south clean streams. Li Ciming is the leader of the South School, and Zhang Zhidong is the leader of the North School. There is no longer an elegant gathering of North and South Schools.

Since Taoranting is a gathering place for scholars and officials, there are many excellent couplets besides many poems and fu, which are fun for people. For example, "No one came to the ancient temple where the smoke was hidden, and there was a moon on the couch", which was written by the famous scholar Weng Fanggang. Liang Zhangju's "Couplets Conghua" Volume III: "Guanyin tuas has the most couplets, but Taoranting, the capital of Beijing, has several couplets better than others, and all forget the names of the writers. Lianyun:' Fa Yun Guang Yin has no shelter; There is a sky hanging high in the sky. " There is another cloud:' The bubble is dry, and the makeup is precious; The world of color and fragrance conjures up empty flowers. " There is another cloud:' Lian Yu is dying, and I will go to Tianchiwu to face Weiqu; Lutang Miao Man, in the middle of the water to recognize Tuo. " Then you can cut the scenery of Taoranting. "Volume 2:" Lin Shaomu (Zexu) has a set of sentences titled Jingshi Taoranting Lianyun:' It seems that Tao Ling has opened three paths; Come to a shrine with amitabha. " The post in the pavilion should be regarded as the first. Up to now, Taoranting has inscribed plaques by founders Jiang Zao, Qi Baishi, Guo Moruo and others.

In the Qing Dynasty, there were senior officials, famous politicians, thinkers and scholars in Taoranting, such as Li Guangdi, Cha Shenxing, Zhao Yi, Weng Fanggang, Hong Liangji, Gong Zizhen, Wei Yuan, Gu Taiqing, Zhao Zhiqian, Li Ciming, Weng Tonghe, Wang Kaiyun, Zhang Zhidong, and so on.

after the 192s and 193s, due to the current turmoil and other reasons, although Taoranting's reputation existed, it gradually lost its former prosperity and tended to decline. Ding Ling said in a lecture given by the Chinese Department of Tsinghua University in 1952: "When I was a student in Beijing (according to the author, Ding Ling was an auditor in a literature class in Peking University in 1924), I read a poem about Tao Ranting and heard people say how good Tao Ranting was, so I went there. At first glance, I really felt that Tao Ranting was good." At that time, the Taoranting was just "a reed and a few mounds", with few people and desolate scenery, but it felt good because it was in line with the lonely and depressed mood of the visitors (see Li Xiangdong and Wang Zengru's biography of Ding Ling). In the 193s, an unsigned "Autumn Scenery in the Old Capital" also revealed that Taoranting was desolate: "The bright moon is bleak in autumn, and the romantic resort is in ruins." When I boarded the Taoran Pavilion, a bleak scene came into my eyes. In the past, the literati sang songs, but today it has become a place for people to mourn the dead. This romantic relic has become an unguarded ruin, which is shocking to the speed of vicissitudes (New Life Weekly, Volume 1, No.68, 1935). When talking about Tao Ranting at that time, the essay on An Le Kang Ping Room quoted earlier (written in 194) also said: "The world has changed and the wind has moved, so don't be fashionable. Those who used to call places of interest were overwhelmed and covered with clouds at that time, but now they are desolate and horses and chariots have disappeared." It' s true that the gas and fruit are declining, and it' s also transferred with personnel! " From the above literature and poems, we can generally appreciate the trajectory of the rise and fall of Taoranting from the Qing Dynasty to the 193s and 194s (Figure 2).

Figure 2 Qi Baishi's "Xijiang Moon, Returning to Taoranting and Looking at the Western Hills"

in the first two of the 2th century.