Text/Guo Shan
"Chu Ci Fisherman" once borrowed a dialogue between Qu Yuan and The Fisherman's Father to put forward such a soul torture: In an era of "everyone in the world is turbid", is it to act opportunistically and go with the flow, or to maintain integrity and innocence, and never merge with the flow?
If Yang Fu of the Eastern Han Dynasty was upright and diligent in his administration because he had the privilege of encountering the Ming Dynasty, then in the last years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which was divided and turbulent about 300 years later, there was such a person, faced with a mouthful of "greedy springs" that were said to be greedy after drinking, dared to take risks and tried to make a mistake, and used his life's diligence and thriftiness and self-discipline to prove that greed was born in the hearts of the people, not in the environment, and set an example for future generations to serve as officials.
"The ancients clouded this water, and they were full of gold. Try to make Yi Qi drink, and in the end it will not be easy. This is the famous "Greedy Spring Poem" written by Wu Yinzhi, who was promoted by the Book of Jin as the "first good official of the Jin Dynasty".
Wu Yin's allusion to drinking "greedy spring" has been widely quoted by Wang Wei, Li Bai, Bai Juyi, Qian Qi, Su Shi and others, and is also famous for the famous sentence in Wang Bo's "Preface to the Pavilion of king Teng", "Drinking greedy spring and feeling refreshed, and handling the rut with joy" and being famous all over the world. This history took place in Shimen Village, Shijing Town, about 20 kilometers northwest of Downtown Guangzhou, and there is a stone monument on the original site of "Greedy Spring" to commemorate it.
In fact, the Eastern Jin Dynasty officialdom where Wu Yinzhi was located was far more testing of human nature than "greedy springs". Frequent wars, lives are ruined, the magnates are in charge, and corruption is rife... As Zong Baihua said in "Aesthetic Walking", the Six Dynasties of wei and Jin at the end of the Han Dynasty were "the era with the most artistic spirit" and "the most politically chaotic and socially painful era". When many readers of the same period were deeply disappointed in reality and turned to the occult and imaginary, Wu Yinzhi's story became more and more thought-provoking.
Being in a high position Is as frugal as ever
Yi Jie Buyi, born in a poor family, has no ancestral shadow, and has no assets, but he is recommended by celebrities and appreciated by powerful ministers, and under the repeated promotions of the secretary of state and even the royal family, he has been moving all the way to the official position...
Looking at his life, Wu Yinzhi's career path was incredibly smooth. Especially in the Jin Dynasty, the concept of mendi was deeply rooted, and the system of electing officials became a "fast track" for the promotion of the children of the family, so that "there is no cold door in the upper grade, and no power in the lower grade" ("Jin Shu • Liu Yi Biography"), Wu Yinzhi's encounter can be called a legend of civilian counterattack.
Wu Yinzhi, character for Silence, a native of Juancheng, Puyang, date of birth unknown. Zu Shang was one of Cao Pi's "Four Friends" along with Sima Yi, Chen Qun, and Zhu Shuo, and was able to be made a marquis because of his assistance to Cao Pi in making him emperor meritorious, and his descendants also served as officials.
In Wu Yinzhi's generation, the family fell in the middle. The "Biography of Wu Yin" of the Book of Jin says that he was "beautiful and beautiful, good at talking, involved in literature and history, and named as a Confucian", and that he had outstanding character in the year of the weak crown, even if he was poor enough to eat bean porridge every day, he did not take ill-gotten gains.
Before Wu Yinzhi became a Qing official, he was first of all a filial piety. He lost his father at an early age and served his mother very hard. When their mother died, Yin zhi and his brother Tan Zhi were devastated. Legend has it that the sound of the two weeping touched the heavens and the earth, causing the two cranes to cry and not to go away.
The "Book of Jin" records Wu Yinzhi's birth as a bit dramatic: the metaphysician Han Bo's mother and son are neighbors with Yinzhi. When Mother Han heard her crying, she was so sad that she couldn't swallow it, so she said to her son, If you become a high official in charge of personnel appointment in the future, you should recommend someone like Wu Yinzhi. Unexpectedly, a word came true, and Han Bo was indeed tired of moving to the official Shangshu, and under his strong recommendation, Wu Yinzhi began as a local grassroots clerk, Gong Cao, and embarked on the road of politics.
Since the Southern Jin Dynasty, the royal family has been weak and powerful, and various forces coveting the throne are eager to move, and rebellions have broken out. In the past, the northern countries headed by Qin were eyeing the tiger, and in the later period, a large-scale peasant uprising broke out, and internal and external troubles made the situation in the DPRK and China complex and unpredictable, and often "the head of the city changed the banner of the great king."
However, in the decades of his official career in the late Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wu Yinzhi seemed to be detached from the outside, and was repeatedly praised, successively holding important positions such as Feng Chao, Shang Shu Lang, Yu Shi Zhongcheng, Zuo Wei General, and Zhongshu Shilang.
Not only that, Sima Yao, the Emperor xiaowu of Jin, Sima Huanwen the Great, Xie Shi, the governor of the Jin army at the Battle of Shuishui, and Liu Yu, a general of the Northern Prefecture Army, all valued him a lot. These were all key roles at the peak of the power struggle at that time, the two major families of huan and Chen Junxi were sworn enemies of each other, and Liu Yu once led an army against Huan Wen's son Huan Xuanmou to rebel and usurp the throne, but he himself became the "first emperor of the Southern Dynasty" who ended the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Wu Yinzhi was able to be caught in the interests of various factions and parties to avoid impact, and was treated with courtesy from many sides, but the reason was that he made his name famous. Ren Jinling was too punctual, he was still the same as before Xianda, and the household chores such as firewood were still handled by his wife, and the rewards of Feng Lu were distributed to his relatives, so that the family had no surplus wealth, no winter moon, no extra clothes to replace during laundry, and had to wear cotton wool for warmth, "diligent and poor".
During the Long'an period (397-401), Wu Yinzhi served as the Assassin of Guangzhou, "Qing Cao was too strong", often could not eat vegetables and dried fish, and the official draperies, utensils, and clothes were discarded and handed over to the warehouse.
Subsequently, he was also promoted to the posts of Duzhi Shangshu and Taichang. From being in charge of a county (city), a state (province) to a country's fiscal revenue, he has always been frugal, and the monthly salary is still only used for basic purposes, and the rest is used for relief to others. The family weaves a living, the wife and children do not stick to the inch, encounter difficult times, even can not eat enough, wear worn clothes.
Wu Yinzhi's existence in the world is in stark contrast to the corrupt officials in history who come from the bottom and do their best to loot once they have great power. For example, in "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an", the villain official Yuan Zai, who was born of a commoner and relied on the climbing drill camp to ascend to the throne, has indeed been a person in history.
Lingnan Chu Fan Eliminate old shortcomings
Wu Yinzhi's style of forging ahead with the Qing Festival has also aroused criticism from "contrivance." Because of the social atmosphere of the era in which it lived, from the central to the local level, it was incompatible with the word "clean and honest".
There are many records in historical books and literary works such as "ShiShu Xinyu" and "Baopuzi" about the dimness, absurdity, cruelty, and extravagance of the princes and nobles of the Jin Dynasty, such as Emperor Wu of Jin forbade marriage in order to choose concubines, "Why don't you eat meat" of Emperor Hui of Jin, Shi Chong, and Wang Kaixuan Qibifu. When the second emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty ascended the throne, he was already "exploiting the people, ruling out of the masses, the discipline of the gang was bad, the goods were bribed, the loyal and virtuous were desperate, and the evil spirits were gained." (Book of Jin and The Chronicle of Emperor Hui)
In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Gate Valve clan was full of arrogance, wantonly annexed land, embezzled and accepted bribes, and was proud of its poverty and extravagance. Wu Yinzhi's former boss Xie Shi is a case in point. Xie Shi was born into a famous family and had outstanding military achievements, but he was "gathered and unsatisfied, and ridiculed the world". Fan Hongzhi, a doctor of Taixue, once criticized him for plundering property, building a large number of civil engineering projects, living a luxurious life, and sparing no expenses, which was really a "great harm to people and subjects." (The Biography of The Book of Jin and the Biography of Ru Linlie)
Interestingly, Xie Shi had taken the initiative to ask Wu Yinzhi to be his master bookkeeper. As the general's secretary, when Wu Yinzhi married his daughter, he actually sent servants to the street to sell dogs in order to raise dowry funds. Xie Shi took care of him a lot, knew that he was poor, and specially sent someone to arrange a wedding banquet for him. The two are one of great greed and the other of a good official, and this relationship is quite intriguing.
The reason why the Jin bureaucracy like Xie Shi respected honest officials was because they were well aware of the importance of honest and honest government. During the Cao Wei period, the first supervision regulation in China's history, the Six-Article Inspector, appeared. On this basis, the Western Jin Dynasty also promulgated the "Eight Articles of The Inspector General" and the "Five Laws of Cha County", which respectively clarified the scope of supervision of senior officials (chief officials) and the performance of the county and county government and people's livelihood.
In the case that there was a law to refer to, the Eastern Jin court was afraid that large-scale anti-corruption and rectification would shake the foundation of its rule and lose the support of the powerful and prestigious families, so on the one hand it adopted an ambiguous attitude of "calming down and not being observed", tolerating laissez-faire and even colluding; on the other hand, it pinned its hopes on a virtuous person like Wu Yinzhi and sent him south to Guangzhou to "eliminate old evils."
At that time, Lingnan was a long way away, and the plague epidemic was a hub for land and water freight since the Han Dynasty, and the mountains and seas were rare and exotic, and it was the envy of the world," "Jinshan Zhuhai, Tianzi Nanku" (Qu Dajun's "Guangdong Xinyu"), plus the Tiangao Emperor was far away, neglecting supervision, and it was very easy to breed corruption. The Book of Southern Qi and the Biography of Wang Kun have clouds: "The southern soil is fertile, and those in office often become extremely rich, and Shiyun 'Guangzhou stabs the history but once it passes through the city gate, it will get 30 million'." And Shimen is located in the northwest of Guangzhou, the key to the waterway, for the new must pass through the place, "a drink of greedy spring, honest people will be greedy" the saying came from this.
In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of his predecessors, Wu Yinzhi deliberately visited the "Greedy Spring" on his way to office, and drank water in public to write poems to break the rumors. After taking office, he did not fail in his mission and vigorously punished greed for money and bribery. In order to show his kindness, some subordinates removed the fish bones when they brought him fish, and Wu Yinzhi was very disgusted and drove him out of the tent.
Through his efforts, Lingnan's style and discipline have greatly improved. Emperor Sima Dezong of Jin'an praised him: "The husband is in the land of desire, and he can not change his behavior... The southern region has changed. (The Book of Jin and the Biography of Wu Yin)
Honesty and prudence have far-reaching influence
Before leaving office, the peasant revolt led by Sun Enlu Xun spread to Guangzhou, and Wu Yinzhi and his family were once captured by Lu Xun. At the critical juncture, fortunately, Liu Yu intervened to mediate and was rescued.
On the day of his return to the boat, Wu Yin's luggage was thin and "loaded with no spare assets". Today, there is a small island near the "Greedy Spring" in Shijing Town, Guangzhou City, in the lower reaches of the Liuxi River. Legend has it that Wu Yinzhi counted the accompanying items on the boat and found that his wife had brought a pound of agarwood, and because he suspected that the source was unknown, he threw it into the water. As soon as the agarwood enters the river, it immediately turns into a sandbar, so it is named "Agarwood Sand", also known as "Agarwood Pu".
After returning to their hometown, the Wu family only had a few acres of small houses, six huts, and bamboo hedges as courtyard walls, all of which were simple. Liu Yu gave Wu Yinzhi a car and livestock, and built a house for him, but he refused.
In the eighth year of Yixi (412), Wu Yinzhi officially retired and was awarded the title of Guanglu Doctor, and died the following year. He was awarded many awards by the imperial court, and the honest people of the world were proud of him.
At the beginning, Wu Yinzhi's ancestor Wu Qian, who was also born in a humble background, was only knowledgeable, but because of Cao Pi's grace and "arrogance", he was posthumously called "ugly marquis", or relied on his son's perseverance to write for more than twenty years to get rehabilitated. Whether Wu Yinzhi was affected by this is unknown, perhaps for him, only the word "honesty" is the only way to settle down in the vast eunuch sea. After his death, these two words became the family rules of Wu's descendants, and his descendants passed on from generation to generation in terms of "filial piety and cleanliness" for people.
Wu Yinzhi's deeds had a profound impact on the Lingnan officialdom. In the early years of the Song Dynasty, Li Wei and Li Lun, a native of Quanzhou, Fujian Province, went to Guangdong to serve as officials, and once raised a glass by the Shimen River and swore an oath: "If you defeat the military and the people, there is such water!" "After saying that, I threw the cup into the river, and it didn't sink." The two also fulfilled their promises and practiced honest government, which was supported by the people. Someone made up such a folk song to show praise: "The water of the stone gate is clear and clear, and the Jin officials have been glorious for thousands of years." Scramble for the Lee Referendum Cup Alliance, and the water flow stops. (See Siku Quanshu • Guangdong Tongzhi Vol. 39)
In fact, before Wu Yinzhi, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin dynasties, There were also Mao Jiu, Cui Yan, Hu Qian, Hu Wei, Fu Xuan, Tao Kan and other famous people known for their loyalty and honesty in Chinese history. In particular, during Tao Kan's tenure as the assassin of Guangzhou, he straightened out order, enforced the law incorruptibility, and left a good story of "moving bricks and encouraging themselves", which shows that not everyone will "cross the mountains and lose the qing".
According to Song Fangxinru's "Hundred Songs of the South China Sea", the rulers of the Southern Han Dynasty who divided the Guangzhou area during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period did not like the name of "Greedy Spring" and sent people to transport stones to fill it in, and the "Greedy Spring" never existed. In the early Qing Dynasty, being an official in Guangdong was still regarded as a "rich oil and water" beauty, and once officials received orders to go to Guangdong, they "did not rejoice and looked forward to it" and "thought that the ten counties were in a state of flux, and could be a cream of fat." (Qu Dajun's "Guangdong New Language")
The relationship between the existence of the "greedy spring" and the ancient officialdom in Lingnan is enough to prove that Wu Yinzhi's view of "honesty" is very incisive -- whether a person is incorruptible or not, in the final analysis, lies in whether his inner belief is firm. He once warned the people around him to "not see what is desired, so that the heart is not disturbed", to keep the state of mind clear, so that the turbidity can also be self-purifying; on the contrary, if the mind is shaken by greed, and then use the power to seek personal gains, but blame the temptation and misdirection of external factors, but only shirk responsibility, self-deception. Wu Yinzhi still understood this truth more than 1,000 years ago, and people today should take it as a warning.
Comment on Wu Yinzhi
Text/Tide
The story of Wu Yinzhi drinking the water of the spring is known to the world. He may have been the first official to testify against the "function" of the greedy spring, so the "Book of Jin" written by Fang Xuanling and others praised: "Wu Yinzhi drank water to be strong, and the Jin Dynasty was able to do it, and this yan was the most important." ”
Located in Shimen, Guangzhou, the Fountain of Greed not only has a less pleasant name, but also "it is said that those who drink this water are greedy and greedy", and there are "practical functions" that can make good people bad. The spring water can make people "change their hearts into ink", which is completely surprising and inexplicable. However, when Wu Yin took office, he specially went to the greedy spring to "drink and drink". The result? For the official, he was "clean and overbearing", and fulfilled his promise of "trying to make Yi Qi drink, and it will not be easy to be careful in the end". In the words of Emperor An of Jin, it was called "being in a place where you want to be able to change his behavior", and when he was sent here, it was precisely "the evil of wanting to revolutionize Lingnan". Later, Feng Li, the governor of Guangzhou in the Tang Dynasty, was also like this. In the face of greedy springs, he said: "Drink a glass of water, Ho Zu Dao Ya!" I should eat and drink, more than a cup of yes, an neng easy my sex! Say "Drink away." After several years in office, Feng Li was also "very beneficial".
Qu Dajun, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, was a native of Guangdong and was very dissatisfied with the notoriety of "greed" in the spring water of his hometown. He pointed out that if the greedy spring "makes people greedy when they drink", and there is still a lianquan in Dongguan, "those who have not heard of drinking and are honest", how come they have not become incorruptible after drinking? Why is it that the same spring water, "The incorruptible cannot make people incorruptible, but the greedy are the only ones who make people greedy?" Who's tired? Tired of springs? ”
Qu Dajun asked, how deafening! "Izumi's sin cannot be explained unless there is a history of Wu Thorn." Indeed, those who started from Wu Yinzhi's rehabilitation of Greedy Springs and who later still held the "easy heart for ink" argument only exposed their rogue side.
【Author】 Guo Shan
【Source】 Lianrun Nanyue Nanfang