Literary scholar Li Xian

Literary scholar Li Xian

Often zhenhui

Li Xian (1409-1467), literally" was a Chinese poet. In the Ming Dynasty, dengzhou changlelin (now Xiaoliying Village, Linpu Town, Dengzhou City) was a native of Ming Dynasty. In the seventh year of Xuande (1432), Henan Township Tried xieyuan, and the following year, the joint jie examination was entered into the jinshi, and Jingtaichu was worshiped by Wenxuanlang Zhongchao to worship the official shilang. Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, and he was also a Hanlin scholar, entered the Zhiwen Yuan Pavilion, and entered the Shangshu. Emperor Xianzong ascended the throne, entered Shaobao and Huagaiden University, and knew the feast of the scriptures. When Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang used things, Xian hesitated not to say everything, but every time he calmly discussed the right, so the one who cut it down was even. Chen Theory is generally maintained, especially the urgency of cherishing talents to open up the road of meritocracy. Li Xian successively assisted the four emperors of the Five Dynasties of Xuanzong, Yingzong, Daizong, Yingzong, and Xianzong, and was a rare elder of the Five Dynasties in the eunuch sea, and was the first assistant of the cabinet during the reign of Emperor Yingzong and the early years of Emperor Xianzong's Chenghua. During the Zhengde period, Wang Jun, a scholar of Wuyingdian University, said that "after the three Yangs of the State Dynasty, the one who has won the longest reign is no one like Li Xian," and Huang Ruliang, the Rebbe Shangshu of the Heavenly Apocalypse, praised him even more for "Wenda Xiangye, and regarded the Three Yangs as inferior" (Ming Huang Ruliang's "Wild Ji And Hazy Search"). The "History of Ming" commented on him: "Wei Zhao, the prime minister is also talented." ”

As an important politician in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Li Xian was included in the Dictionary of Chinese Emperors and Prime Ministers (edited by Xiong Tieji Yang Youli, published by Hubei Education Publishing House, pp. 1043-1044), Biography of The Prime Minister in Ancient China (edited by Cai Jingxian, Inner Mongolia Publishing House, p. 311), and Biography of The Chinese Prime Minister (edited by Shi Haiyang, Chinese Publishing House, May 2003, p. 295). At the same time, Li Xian is also a literary scholar, and was included in the Dictionary of Chinese Literary Scholars by the Literary Appreciation Dictionary Compilation Center of Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House (Shanghai Dictionary Publishing Group, Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, November 2017 edition, pp. 359-360).

I. Li Xian's Writings

Li Xian said in the poem "Giving embroidered Qilin Red Robe" that he was "an inch of Dan's heart to serve the country, and his life energy is being spent" (The Complete Book of the Four Libraries of the King's Dynasty, vol. 1244, p. 720), and regarded virtue, meritorious service, and speech as his lifelong goal. Even if the official is the first assistant, "the books he lives in, the oral recitation of the handwriting, although old and unremitting, every time he has it, he will know it" (Cheng Minzheng wrote for Li Xian, "Guanglu Dafu Zhu Guo Shao Bao Official's Shangshu and Huagaidian University Scholar Gift Special Entry Guanglu Dafu ZuoZhu Guo Taishi Yu Wenda Li GongXing", King Ding Siku Quanshu "Huangdun Anthology" volume 40). Throughout his life, he worked tirelessly and wrote a lot of books.

As the first assistant to the cabinet, Li Xian was appointed as the chief executive of the Records of Emperor Ming Yingzong and the Records of the Unification of the Ming Dynasty. In August of the eighth year of Tianshun (1464), Emperor Xianzong appointed Li Xian, the first assistant of the cabinet, and Chen Wen and Peng Shi, the attendants of the left and right of the bureaucracy and hanlin scholars, as presidents to revise the Records of Emperor Mingyingzong. It was completed in August of the third year of Chenghua (1467). The first month of the tenth year of Xuande (1435) and the first month of the eighth year of Tianshun (1464), the beginning and end of the 30 years, a total of 361 volumes, including 87 volumes of the deeds of Emperor Jingtai. In the second year of Tianshun (1458), Emperor Yingzong appointed Li Xian as the chief official, organized the revision of the official, and added and deleted the "Huanyu Tongzhi" that was revised during the Jingtai period, and tianshun wrote a book in the fifth year (1461), and Emperor Yingzong gave him the name "The Unified History of Daming". This chronicle consists of 90 volumes, divided into two capitals and 13 political divisions, and each province and prefecture are divided into ten numbers, such as history, county names, shapes, customs, and historical sites, and characters, and also attached to the "Waiyi" countries. This zhi preserves a large number of Ming Dynasty materials, which are still valued by scholars today.

Li Xian also drafted a large number of edicts on behalf of the emperor. According to the "Inscription of Li Gong Shinto, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty Feng Guanglu Dafu Zhu Guo Shaobao And a scholar of Huagaidian University, Li Gong Shinto inscription" written for Li Xian by Shaoqing of Taichang Temple and Hanlin scholar Peng Shi, Li Xian "must give priority to the military and the people." He is especially good at enlightenment, and will follow it to become his beauty, and he will cover the people of the journal, which is deeply impressive. This means that the edicts and edicts written by Li Xian put tolerance and relief for the military and the people first. According to the emperor's intentions, he was good at guiding things according to the situation and getting things done. Kindness or removal of people is deeply and thoughtfully considered. Unfortunately, we can't see these edicts now.

According to relevant historical records, Li Xian's works include one volume of "Experience Record", one volume of "Reading Poems", one volume of "Reading Yi Record", several volumes of "Reading Book Record", three volumes of "Tianshun Rilu", three volumes of "Gu Rang Miscellaneous Records", twenty volumes of "Gu Rang Sequel", "Gu Rang Collection", "He Du Shi", "Yong Yi Collection", and so on. The Records of Tianshun Andi and the Miscellaneous Records of Gu Rang were originally written separately, and later Cheng Minzheng compiled them into the "Collection of Ancient Rangs". At present, except for the "Ancient Collection", other works have been lost, and only the title of the book can be known from the historical materials.

2. The naming, version and content of the Ancient Collection

The Collection of Ancient Songs, also known as the Collected Works of Gu Rang, is a collection of Works by Li Xian compiled by Cheng Minzheng, Li Xian's son-in-law. After Li Xian died of illness in Beijing in December of the second year of Emperor Mingxian's reign, Li Xian's eldest son Li Zhang and second son Li Jiu collected Li Xian's poems from his lifetime and handed them to Li Xian's son-in-law Cheng Minzheng to compile and organize. Because Li Xian was a native of Dengzhou, Henan, and Dengzhou was the hometown of Deng Guo during the Xia Shang Zhou Dynasty, Chu Place Yongyi, Qin Place Yong County, so he was ordered to set it up as "Gu Rang".

The earliest edition of the Gu Rang Collection is the Engraving of Li Zhang in the Tenth Year of Ming Chenghua (1476), and the re-revised version of Li Hongxun, the seventh grandson of Li Xian, in the forty-sixth year of the Ming Wanli Calendar (1618). When compiling the "Four Libraries complete book" during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the "Gu Rang Collection" was included in the "Collection Department and Other Collection Category"; in 2002, the Compilation Committee of the Continuation of the Four Libraries Complete Book included the "Tianshun Rilu" as a historical material and included it in the "History Department Miscellaneous History Category" of the "Continuation of the Four Libraries Complete Book". In addition, there are versions such as the Nakashu Bunkshin Office Codex, the Japanese Shizukado Codex, and the Japanese Cabinet Ming Jiajing Fifteen-Year Continuation Edition.

The Collection of Ancient Songs consists of thirty volumes: 27 discussions from volume 1 to volume 2; 19 chapters in volume 3; 21 articles in volumes 4 to 5; 40 chapters in the preface to volume 6 to volume 8; 23 articles in the total of chapter 9 sayings and inscriptions; 21 articles in volume 10 to volume 13; 12 articles in total in volume 14 tombstones and tombs; 17 tomb tables in volumes 15 to 16, 17 epitaphs in volumes 17 to 18; 6 chapters in lines and biographies in volume 19; 32 articles in volumes 20 of sacrifices, inscriptions, proverbs, praises, gifts, and lamentations; and 21 to 27 are poems. Among them, there are 14 ancient poems of wuyan, 19 ancient poems of seven words, 25 poems of five words, 72 poems of seven words, 11 poems of absolute sentences, a total of 141 poems; 160 poems of Hetao in volumes 23 to 24, 67 of volumes 25 to 27 of Tianshun Rilu; 85 of volumes 28 to 30 of which are miscellaneous records, a total of 688 (pieces), 387 of which are Chinese, 301 poems, and 184,000 words when punctuated.

Li Xian's "On the Edict of the Imperial Decree", "The Original Ten Strategies", "The Affair of the Upper Imperial Side", "The Matter of the Preservation of the State on the Upper Imperial Border", "The Ancient Record of the Shangjian Dynasty", "On the State of Taixue", "On the Auxiliary Cultivation of Junde", etc., played the things that were suggestions and solutions for major state affairs from the orthodox to the Chenghua years, and most of them were adopted. The "On the Edict of the Edict" was composed in the first year of Li Xian's orthodoxy, when Li Xian had just entered the career path and returned to Beijing from Shanxi for three years, coinciding with the imperial court's desire to extend the time for officials to apply for edicts from three years to nine years. Li Xian believed that doing so was not conducive to "persuading the good to punish evil and encouraging honor", so he went to this situation to make a reasonable statement, and the imperial court obeyed his words and continued to practice. In the second year of Jingtai (1451), his "Original Ten Strategies" were Qinshengxue, Gu Zhen police, abstinence from lust, absolute play, prudent measures, reverence for frugality, fear of change, encouragement, rejuvenation, and the heart of the people, which were taken as the motto of The Emperor Daizong. After the Wara Incident, he went to the "Shangyubian Affair" and "Shangyubian Baoguo Affair", proposing to reform the army, widely adopt vehicle warfare, use firearms to improve the combat effectiveness of the army, and vigorously advocate reversing the military situation through a war, so as to deter the enemy army and improve the national prestige and the self-confidence of the people. In the first year of orthodoxy, he asked Emperor Yingzong to expand the Guozijian in order to strengthen the cultivation of talents. Adopted by Emperor Yingzong, the Guozijian was greatly expanded, and by March of the ninth year of orthodoxy, it was completed in size about the same size as the existing building, and played an important role in higher education in the ming and qing dynasties. This kind of music reflects Li Xian's governing strategy, military thinking, and educational philosophy, and also reflects the more serious problems faced by the Ming Dynasty at that time.

Li Xian's "Re-cultivation of Confucianism in Wucheng County" and "Records of xinyuan pavilion" reflect Li Xian's emphasis on local construction and his educational ideas. "Remembering Dreams" uses the words of Ouyang Xiu in his dreams that he will never flatter the world in order to seek wealth, indicating his attitude of not flattering the world. "The Record of Linshen Xuan", "The Record of Huan Zhai", and "The Record of Giving You Xiyuan" reflect Li Xian's strict self-discipline spirit and conscientious political attitude. Written in the summer of the fourth year of Tianshun, the Book of Gifts to the West Garden recounts the situation in which Emperor Yingzong of Tianshun gave Li Xian and several others to visit the royal gardens of Xiyuan in the early summer for three consecutive years from the second to the fourth year of Tianshun (1458-1460). The full text of 875 words very vividly depicts the ingenious gardening art of Xiyuan, and reading it will produce the same aesthetic feeling as when reading "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Daguanyuan Examination Questions". At the end of the text, it is said: "One piece and one relaxation, the way of literature and martial arts, give you the West Garden, there is the meaning of relaxation." However, Zhang can be relaxed for a long time, and in terms of age, relaxation is one day, and it is not without caution. It can be seen that Li Xian's busy government affairs and self-disciplined spirit at that time, only one day of relaxation a year, still self-vigilant "relaxed" is not much. ”

"The Saying of Compassion for Farmers" shows Li Xian's compassion for farmers and concern for agricultural affairs. His "Reading the Book of the Living People" advocated that officials should read books such as the "Book of Saving the Living People from The Wasteland" that are beneficial to the people and do things that are beneficial to the people. In "The Fisherman Says", Li Xian uses the story of the greedy fisherman to warn people not to follow the trend and to adhere to morality. The Tanuki Nu Theory expounds the idea that officials should be as dutiful as tanuki cats. "Sending Yang Gongyi to Know Dengzhou's Order" and "Sending Nanyang Yang Tui Official Order" further reflect his people-oriented ruling philosophy.

In his "Preface to Sending Yang Gongyi to Dengzhou", Li Xian said that the duty of local officials lies in enriching the people and teaching the people, and informed them of the specific methods: "At the beginning of the government, we must carefully observe it, and something also harms our people, and the poverty of the people is also caused by this, and I will get rid of it." Something also benefits our people, and the wealth of the people is also gained from it, and I am prosperous. And I also observe that something has a thin folk custom, and I forbid it not to repeat it; something can be generous to the people, and I advise it not to make it or fall into it. Harm the benefits, the people's livelihood is complete, and Fus is prosperous; thin is thick, the people's hearts are good, and the teachings are good. This way of teaching richness". In this way, yang Gongyi was encouraged to make a difference in Dengzhou. In the "Preface to Sending Nanyang Yang Tui Officials", Li Xian believes that local officials should pay attention to promoting a relaxed moral administration when governing, and at the same time prepare for criminal treatment, and must not abandon the end of the sentence: "Sincerely, the size of a county, there is a government, there is a punishment." Politics is governed, punishment is supplemented by governance, and if the rule is not exclusive, the punishment is reckless and the government is relaxed, so it is ruled by keeping out, and it is the same as supporting it, and it is praised by the general, and the punishment is put to blame. However, the government is not prepared, and the punishment is what it is, and the rule of the world is only virtuous, and the people are not one and then punished. Therefore, the instrument of the prisoner's auxiliary treatment is also known. It is said that the soldiers should be punished in order to teach virtue. If the husband specializes in punishment, is it not ignorant of the meaning of the end? Yang Yuhua, the governor of Nanyang, governed Nanyang in this way, so that "in the past three years, he was afraid of the people's aspirations, and those who were idle in the court thought that the performance appraisal book was the most." Li Xian praised him greatly, believing that his deeds could still be written in a big book in the future.

The "Collection of Ancient Songs" collects some of the political events written by Li Xian from the perspective of an official from the perspective of an official, and even records of some details of the events, preserving relatively precious political historical materials. The "Gu Rang Collection" contains relevant information from Li Xian's family and friends, providing important historical materials for the study of Li Xian's family lineage, and the "Gu Rang Collection" also includes articles written by Li Xian about Ming Yingzong and Emperor Jingtai, which provides important historical materials for discussing the changes in Li Xian's feelings and attitudes toward the two.

The "Collection of Ancient Songs" contains 301 poems, which can be divided into two categories: ordinary poems and "Hetao poems" with special themes. There are 141 ordinary poems, including farewell poems, lyrical poems, scenery poems and nostalgic poems, some of which encourage others to be loyal to the country, some express their ambitions, some evaluate a certain period of history and officials, and sigh about the passage of time, yesterday is not the present. "Hetao Poems" 160 poems, the theme is special, although there are mountains and forests thinking, but also show his loyalty to his duties, serve the country and the people's determination.

In addition to the above poems included in the "Ancient Collection", there are also many poems scattered in historical materials and inscriptions, such as "The Change of Wang Zhen", "The Change of Shi Heng", "The Change of Cao Jixiang", "The Envoy of Yang Shanbei", "The Gift of Jingxuan (Xue Xuan) Mr. Zhishi", "Zhuge Wuhou Ancestral Hall Poems", "Ouyang Xiuji Ancient Record", "Border Defense Matters", "Reconstruction of fusheng Temple Stele", "Reconstruction of Yin Taishi Bigan Temple" and more than 20 others. Among them, the "Record of Rebuilding the Yin Taishi Bigan Temple", which is set up in Xinxiang Bigan Temple, was composed shortly before Li Xian's death, and it is also a true portrayal of his "one inch of Dan heart only serving the country, and his life energy is waving".

Evaluation of the past

The poems included in the "Collection of Ancient Songs" are diverse in style, extensive in content, simple and elegant, broad and gentle, very similar to his personality, and have been valued and highly praised by experts and scholars of all generations.

In May of the third year of Chenghua (1467), Liu Dingzhi, a shaoqing of Taichang Temple and a hanlin attendant, and a lecturer in the Feast of the History of the State, commented on Li Xian in the Preface to the Ancient Rang Collection: "The Gongshi was promoted to the rank of Gaodi by Xieyuan of Henan, and The Emperor was in the bureaucracy. Gong Hui's hand did not quit, and he was known as Shang Shutai and Wang Wenduan Duke (王直), and he entered the waiter's room from LangZhong, and had a literary name. Immersed in Science, he was a scholar of Hedong Xue Wenqing (薛瑄), who asked for benefits, and did not get it, and his diligence was Ruozi. Having entered the cabinet to serve as a machine, there is no time to give every day, but the history of the sub-bureau and the lecture notes of the round day will be personally added to the channeling, and the Zhu Mo will be dripping, and the day will be taken for granted. Reading the trial of the court and the scrolls of the schoolmasters, although the princes are listed, they will be handled one by one, and they will be determined by their A and B, and their min ruozi. When he is a high-ranking person, he is happy and tired when he encounters lectures and discussions. Taste its "He Tao", "He Du" and "Yong Shi" and "Yong Yi" manuscripts showed to him, to those who know the public, and their winnings are Ruozi. The husband is diligent and sensitive, and wins over all people, and this public school has achieved success and gathered the so-called heirlooms and! Oh, the natural ju people will make it useful in the world, will be endowed with the virtue of the elderly, with the Chinese kingdom of literature to be greatly developed, with the merits of Gejun Honghua to be specially favored and enjoy the great name, if Li Gong is also, not human beings can do it. "The official poems are all broad and gentle, similar to those of people."

In July of the forty-third year of Qianlong (1782), after Ji Xiaolan, Lu Xixiong, and Sun Shiyi, the chief editors of the "Four Libraries quanshu", compiled the "Collection of Ancient Treasures" into the "Four Libraries Quanshu", they wrote to the emperor and commented on Li Xian: "If you want him to revitalize the Gangji and reward talents, when he belongs to the government and the opposition, he can carry out his work with one body, and his career is really commendable." As for the article, this is not what I noticed, but at that time, it was not far from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and the afterglow of the flowing wind was still typical, so the poems were also of real and elegant quality, and there was no habit of pretentiousness. ”

There are many experts and scholars who have studied Li Xian and his works today, and Tyrannosa Hongchang, Pang Naiming, Gao Huixia, Ma Zhichao, Ma Jiaze, Chen Linghua, and Li Qing have all achieved fruitful results. Chen Linghua said in "Li Xian's Study of the Ancient Collection": "Li Xian showed his ideological propositions in the "Ancient Collection", including his political advocacy, education and governance ideas, and moral and ethical views. Li Xian's political ideas were mainly manifested in persuading the monarch, examining and selecting officials, caring for the disaster-stricken people, attaching importance to the production and life of the people, and guarding against the enemy at the border. Li Xian's ideas on education and governance are manifested in his attention to school education, the importance of good teachers' teaching, and the promotion of orderly intentions in reading and governing learning. Li Xian's moral and ethical concept is mainly concentrated in three aspects: the choice of loyalty and filial piety, the evaluation of righteousness and righteousness, and the tendency to make friends, the first two of which reflect his pragmatic style of not sticking to small sections. Li Qing said in the "Study of Li Xian's "Ancient Miscellaneous Records": "The "Ancient Miscellaneous Records" is included in the sub-section of the "Ming History and Yiwenzhi" novelist category, which is an important text for the study of Ming Dynasty novels. "It mainly records Li Xian's personal experiences, hearings, and other things, mostly the deeds of court officials at the same time." There are also miscellaneous theories, focusing on Li Xian's views on the people and things described. The people and things mentioned can often find materials in the main history and its historical materials to prove and complement each other, so there is no doubt about their documentary value. In terms of writing, "Miscellaneous Records of Ancient Songs" uses a variety of narrative perspectives, mixing narrative and discussion, and has both historian penmanship and novelist brushwork, which is quite distinctive in Ming Dynasty notebook novels. ”

Li Xian is a politician, thinker, and writer from the ancient Dengzhou history who went out of Dengzhou, and as a Dengzhou native who also grew up on the land of Guyong, I am proud to have such a township sage.

【About the author】Chang Zhenhui: Deputy Secretary-General of Fan Zhongyan Cultural Research Association of Henan Province, Editor of "Worrying about the World", Vice Chairman of Dengzhou Calligraphers Association.