Wu Minshu (1805-1873), founder of the Chinese Mubanhu Wen school

The flourishing of two hundred years of articles in Hunan was the first to recommend Zeng Wu" (Qing Guo Songtao). Zeng, referring to Zeng Guofan, Wu, is Wu Minshu.

Wu Minshu (1805-1873), a native of Baling Tongmu Banhu (present-day Youai Township, Yueyang County), because there was a study built in his hometown of Nanping Mountain, he called himself Nanping, and scholars called himself Mr. Nanping. He has been brilliant since childhood, and those who see him are amazed and think he is very human. At the age of 8, he entered the school and studied under the confucian Qin Shishe, and was read in biographical history books such as the Five Classics, the Four Books, the Zuo Zhuan, the Chinese, the Warring States Policy, the Records of History, and the Book of Han. Qin Shishe was familiar with ancient and modern times, and admired the ancient poetry since the Qin and Han Dynasties, believing that "lay masters teach people to take the eight strands as the right karma, and his art is called miscellaneous, this big fallacy, the humanities have no self-rising!" Under the guidance of this mentor, Wu Minshu was fond of ancient Chinese, "striving for the difference in the shore of the article and scraping away the worldly views." In 1832 (the twelfth year of Daoguang), the 29-year-old Wu Minshu was selected as an official in the township examination, and in 1844, the imperial court selected an elector to serve as an official, and Wu Minshu was appointed to Liuyang County as an official. Since then, he has refused to be shenghua, does not seek shijin, recites strings at home, devotes himself to the study of poetry and ancient literature, and eventually becomes a great instrument and becomes the founder of the Chinese Wooden Half Lake Literary School.

Wu Minshu is high and self-sustaining, neither loves to climb tall branches, nor does he like money. During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi years, Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang held military power and were famous, and those who had lofty ambitions and fame could not take the military fortress and rely on tongxian. Wu Minshu and Zuo Ben are the same people in the same list, and they have a good relationship with Zeng, but he has never asked Zeng and Zuo for help. At the beginning of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan ran the Xiang army in the name of Shilang and made enemies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and after the Xiang army captured the Yuezhou capital, Zeng Guofan specially invited Wu Minshu to be attentive in Yueyang Lou, asked him about military affairs, and asked him to serve as a staff member, and Wu immediately resigned on the grounds that "military strategy is not what I am used to". Zeng Guofan once made a request to Wu: "Once I am unfortunate, the tomb should be attributed to Er", but after Zeng Guofan died in the eleventh year of Tongzhi, Wu did not write an epitaph for him. Zeng Guofan once recommended him to be the envoy of the two Guangdong salt transports, which was the "fat difference" coveted by many bureaucrats and politicians at that time, and after a three-year term, at least 100,000 taels of silver could be seized, which was still considered a "clean official", but Wu Minshu laughed: "We Wu family are not salt dealers."

　　Wu Minshu has a special love for classical history and literature. When he was a child, he pondered the articles of Gui Youguang in the Ming Dynasty, and then specially found the "Gui Zhen Chuan Collection" and copied the better written sentences in it into a book. In 1844 (the twenty-fourth year of Daoguang), he entered Beijing to participate in the examination, and the "Gui zhenchuan Wenbei scribe" and the preface he wrote, which he selected and recorded, were borrowed for Ruian Xiang Chuanlin and sent to Mei Zengliang (Mei was one of the "four great disciples" of Yao Nai of the Tongcheng sect, who was advocating the ancient chinese and righteous law in Beijing at that time, and had a great reputation), after Mei Read, personally received Wu and often exchanged ancient texts with Wu, for a time, Wu Minshu's reputation for being good at ancient texts spread in Beijing, and many famous princes "sought to know each other". In fact, Wu Minshu did not like the Guishi ancient text. He believes that the ancient Chinese models are the Five Classics and Sima Qianwen, Han Yu learned Sima Qian and obtained its surprise, and Ouyang Xiu learned Han Yue wen and obtained its escape. He himself studied Ouyang Xiu, and emphasized that he should take the strengths of each family and oppose using one family as a standard to limit himself. Therefore, he did not want to belong to the "return body" himself, nor did he want to be among the Tongcheng Sect. When Zeng Guofan described the Tongcheng School in the Preface to the Collected Works of Ouyang Sheng, he classified him as the Tongcheng School, but he did not think so, and wrote the "Thesis School with Xiao Cen", affirming that his articles had their own style and characteristics, and disdained to agree with other schools. He saw that some Tongcheng writers at that time flattered the powerful with swaying, and he was very dissatisfied, and compiled the "History of Bei Scribe" to correct this decadence.

　　In 1868 (the seventh year of Tongzhi), Wu Minshu took a boat down the river and arrived in Nanjing after touring lushan, shizhongshan, big and small isolated mountains and Hangzhou West Lake. Zeng Guofan, who was then the governor of Liangjiang, personally welcomed him to the palace and honored him as a guest, and Zeng's staff of the Shuai Mansion, many celebrities and intelligent people, all rushed to establish diplomatic relations with Wu first. Zeng Guofan lamented in a poem entitled "Gift to Wu Nanping": "Gold can become a river, but it is not easy to open it." There are more than 300 famous poets and poets in the north and south of the great river, and the hai nei is said to be "Tai Singing and Poetry", and the poetry of Jinling is extremely popular.

　　Wu Minshu built the "Listening to the Rain Building" at home, and together with his brother Wu Yunsong immersed himself in studying articles, chanting poems and writing gifts, and honing Wenfeng. He sometimes rode a donkey alone, walking slowly on the shore of Dongting Lake, and when he met his father and fellow villagers, he drank on the donkey and composed small words as gifts; sometimes he wandered between famous places such as The New Wall River, Dayun Mountain, Acacia Mountain, and Nanyue in Shonan in his hometown, so that wenbi could get the help of the landscape. After the death of his brother, he and his cousin Wu Shi stepped into Jujun Mountain, built the "Crane Ming Hall" and "Beizhu Pavilion" in front of Wu's "Jiujiang Tower", often drove a boat from home to carry books, traveled 90 miles to here to study all kinds of studies, write diligently, even in the time of war and chaos, he followed himself with books, still recited endlessly, and wrote books without abandonment. He also became close friends with his local contemporary, Mao Guiming, and Du Guiqi, a junior, and often exchanged poems and sang with each other.

　　After years of hard-working stone sharpening, Wu Minshu's poetry and historical attainments have become more and more profound, and his writings have been fruitful, leaving us with valuable literary wealth. In terms of literature, there are "Records of Mu Banhu", "Poems of Mu Banhu", "Poetry Manuscripts of Mu Banhu", "Angler's Wind", "Talking about the New Year on the Lake", "Eastern Travel Grass", and "Crane MingZi Banknote". In terms of economic history, there are "Zhou Yi Zhuyi Supplement", "Spring and Autumn Three Transmissions of Righteousness", "The Original Meaning of poetry and national style", "University Examination Of Different Bills", "Zhongyong Examination Different Bills", "Filial Piety Chapters and Sentences", "Analects of Yifa" and "Mencius Kao Yifa". Wrote Tongzhi's "Chronicle of Baling County". These poems are discreet, meaningful, majestic and rhymed, light and thick, from the Tongcheng School, but they are also unique, single trees and half lake literary schools. His article was called by Zeng Guofan as "words like walking on dangerous stones, and falling paper is late and extraordinary".

　　Wu Minshu is also a very filial and benevolent person. When his parents died, he adhered to the ancient mourning system, living in mourning and fasting, and the tomb was finally mourned, and he was as thin as wood. In 1836 (the sixteenth year of Daoguang), his brother Banpu unfortunately died of illness at the age of 30, leaving behind a widowed wife and young son. He raised orphans and widows more thoughtfully than his own children, and every year on the Qingming Festival, he would go to his brother's grave to pay homage, and often wept bitterly. The rich wealth of the family was entrusted to his eldest nephews Chang Lie and Chang Yu to handle it, regardless of their profits and losses. In order to be frugal in his own right, whenever friends, relatives, and neighbors have difficulties, they try their best to help Zhou Ji, do not ask for repayment, and win the respect and support of relatives, friends, and neighbors.

　　In 1872 (the eleventh year of Tongzhi), the Tongzhi Bureau of Hunan Province hired Wu Minshu to preside over the compilation and revision of the "Hunan Tongzhi" and continue to revise the "Yuanxiangqi Old Poetry Collection". At that time, Wu was over the age of flower armor and was plagued by diseases, but in order to benefit Sangzi and benefit future generations, he resolutely took the illness and went to his post, waiting for the old and famous people to intersect in Changsha, and after the matter of repairing the zhi was slightly enlightened, he began to return home to recuperate. In May of the following year, Wu Minshu saw that the disease had not been cured for a long time, and he could not afford to live up to it, and he repeatedly dropped out of the editing and repairing, and decided to go to Changsha to take up his post again. Before leaving, the family members insisted on dissuading, and Wu Minshu replied with a smile: "There is fate, although it is outside, how hurtful." He helped the sick to strengthen, bid farewell to the group from his children, and then went to the Provincial Tongzhi Bureau, this time never returned home, in August 1873 (Tongzhi 12 years) died in the Provincial Tongzhi Bureau, at the age of 69.