Liaocheng celebrities | Deng Zhongyue: With a good hand, you get the title of Champion

The article is mediocre, and the word is the world

The history of China's imperial examinations has lasted for more than a thousand years, and there are more than 700 Yuanlang in history, most of whom have come out on top with their literary and literary articles. However, some people in Liaocheng City have been promoted to the title of champion because of their good calligraphy.

Hand-picked by the Kangxi Emperor with a royal pen: "The article is flat, and the characters are in the world." "In fact, his article is indeed very general, if it were not for this specialty, let alone the title, I am afraid that even an ordinary jinshi would not be able to win." It is because the brush writing is good, and the Kangxi Emperor is also very accomplished in calligraphy, and when he sees this person's examination paper, he loves it and is amazed.

Who is this person? Deng Zhongyue (1674-1748) was a Qing Dynasty official. The word is long, and the number is repentant. Since childhood, he has read a lot of books and has in-depth research on "Yi" and "Li". In the sixty years of the Kangxi Dynasty (1721), he ascended to the first place in the first division of the Jinshi and entered Hanlin. In the first year of Yongzheng (1723), he was the deputy examiner of Jiangnan, returned with the death of his mother, and four years later became the xuezheng of Jiangsu, publishing books such as "Recent Thoughts" and "White Deer Cave Rules" to educate scholars. For seven years (1729), he served as a scholar in Guangdong province as a shaozhan bachelor, and soon after, he moved to the cabinet and served as a waiter in the ceremonial department.

Beautifully written in letters

Hand-picked Wen Zhuangyuan

As early as the time of the examination, Deng Zhongyue did not do well in the examination, and the examiner glanced at it twice and threw it aside, which means failing, and wait for three years to come again. It seems that the examiner only reads the content of the article and pays little attention to the handwriting.

It was gold that always shone, and there was an examiner named Xu Taozhang, who inadvertently glanced at it and was immediately attracted by Deng Zhongyue's examination paper. Xu Taozhang is also a calligrapher, he knows calligraphy, of course, he knows how high Deng Zhongyue's writing level is. Therefore, Xu Taozhang quickly took out this volume and said to other examiners: "The level of calligraphy in this volume is too high, can it be re-examined?" ”

The examiner who eliminated Deng Zhongyue said: "The writing is quite beautiful, but the level of the article is indeed too general, even if he is barely allowed to pass, when he reaches the palace examination, it is also the bottom." ”

Xu Taozhang was a person who cherished talent, so he said: "That is not necessarily true, I bet that as long as I enter the temple examination, this candidate will definitely not have a low rank, even if he takes a title." ”

"Champion? Don't dream, do you think the emperor will do this? ”

Xu Taozhang said, "Wait and see! This candidate will definitely have a miracle. ”

The examiner smiled and let Deng Zhongyue enter the palace examination and became a jinshi. As a result, Deng Zhongyue, who was originally eliminated, was so lucky to rise from the dead.

When I arrived at the temple test, perhaps because Deng Zhongyue's level was really not good, he ranked behind the top three. At this time, it was Xu Taozhang who tried to exclude the public opinion and mentioned the top ten, because the emperor only looked at the top ten volumes.

Readers will ask, why is Xu Taozhang so persistent in wanting to protect Deng Zhongyue? Xu Taozhang was the leader of the first two disciplines, and he was also a red man in front of the emperor, so he naturally knew what Kangxi liked. When other examiners disagreed, Xu Taozhang said: "Today Shengshang is 67 years old, this may also be his last examination, his old man has worked hard all his life, there is no other hobby, he likes to write and write, we can't meet his wish?" Xu Taozhang said while wiping away tears. When other examiners heard this, it was not easy to say anything.

Sure enough, Kangxi read the ten volumes presented by the examiners, and without hesitation, listed Deng Zhongyue's scrolls first, and specially wrote an eight-character comment - "The article is flat, the characters are in the world."

Yuanlang

Is a man of temperament

Although Deng Zhuangyuan's level is not very high, he is very commendable.

In fact, as early as 12 years before Deng Zhongyue Zhongzhuangyuan, Deng Zhongyue had the opportunity to enter the Beijing examination, but because the old father died early, a large number of children in the family were taken care of by the old mother alone, as the eldest brother, Deng Zhongyue had the unshirkable responsibility to help the old mother to manage the housework, there was really no time and energy, and there was no financial resources to go to Beijing to catch the examination. The younger siblings had grown up, and Brother Deng packed up his bags and came to the capital.

In his lifetime, Deng Zhongyue "emphasized fame and etiquette, lightly favored selfish interests, treated things with a good view, and treated people optimistically", got along well with his colleagues, and in his nearly 30-year official career, there was basically no criticism, and finally he became an official waiter.

When Deng Zhongyue presided over the Nanjing Xiucai examination, he also did a commendable thing. At that time, Deng Zhuangyuan was looking up the registration form and suddenly found that there was a candidate who was in his 40s and had not yet been admitted to Xiucai, and his grandfather column actually had the name of "Shi Kefa" written on it. Shi Kefa, that is a well-known national hero, and it is said that his family was all martyred, how could a grandson emerge?

Deng Zhongyue sent someone to find the candidate, and only then did he know that Shi Kefa still had a concubine in the field, who was pregnant at the time, leaving such a descendant for The Shi family. Deng Zhongyue investigated from many sources and confirmed this statement.

After the exam, Deng Zhuangyuan looked at the candidate's paper, and even sighed, no wonder he was in his 40s and had not yet been admitted to the show, the level was indeed not good, the article was really very general. However, Deng Zhongyue was an examiner with a sense of family and country in his heart, and he thought that after all, this was a descendant of Shi Kefa, and he could not let the descendants of the national hero be poor and destitute, so he gave him the identity of a showman. Deng Zhongyue also specially recorded this matter on the wall of the examination room, calling on everyone to deal with this kind of thing in the future to be lenient and not to chill people's hearts.

Calligraphy is invincible

The "Qing Sijia" class exported its doors

We all know that the Qing Dynasty was the world of the Manchus, and it was not so easy for them to rule the Great Central Plains, especially those literati, who often used articles to satirize the imperial court. Later, in order to control these literati, the "literal prison" was implemented.

The "prison of words" has maimed many literati. Jun did not hear that some literati were executed because they wrote a poem that read, "Qingfeng can't read, why turn the book around?" Therefore, in order to escape the persecution of the "literal prison", many literati began to devote themselves to the study of sinology and calligraphy, and the Qing Dynasty also had a peak in calligraphy art that was highly evaluated in history.

The calligraphers of the Qing Dynasty had the "Four Houses of the Qing Dynasty": Weng Fanggang, Liu Yong, Liang Tongshu, and Wang Wenzhi. Among these four people, Liu Yong and Liang Tongshu were both students of Deng Zhongyue. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the calligraphy of these four people was famous in the north and south of the river. Among them, Deng Zhongyue and Liu Yong's father were officials in the same dynasty, and Liang Tongshu was a student that Deng Zhongyue brought up from an early age when he was a scholar in Zhejiang. It can be seen that Deng Zhongyue played an important role in the art of calligraphy in the Qing Dynasty.

Some readers will say that since Deng Zhongyue's calligraphy is so good, where can Liaocheng see his calligraphy works? Deng Zhongyue's calligraphy and inkblots are all over the sea. The words "dragon" and "tiger" on the two walls of the Pavilion of the Wanshouguan Pavilion in the ancient city of Liaocheng city are breathtaking, which is the ink treasure of Deng Zhongyue.

In addition, in the seventh year of the Qing Dynasty (1729) and the eighth year (1730), Liaocheng flooded for two consecutive years, and the moat was washed away by the water, and the ancient city wall of Liaocheng was seriously threatened. Jiang Shangsi, who was then the governor of Liaocheng County, after obtaining the approval of the central government of the Qing Dynasty, led the people of Liaocheng to fight for 40 days in May and June of the ninth year of Yongzheng (1731) to rebuild the moat of Liaocheng. In order to commemorate this feat, Jiang Shangsi personally wrote an article, asking Deng Zhongyue, who was then a waiter in the ceremonial department, to write and engrave the "Monument to Rebuilding the Moat" and stand on the embankment. Fortunately, this stele is now stored in the Shanshan Guild Hall, and if readers want to see the style of Deng Zhongyue's calligraphy, they can go to the Shanshan Guild Hall to see it.

There is also Deng Zhongyue's ink treasure on the upper floor of our Guangyue: "Just look at the clouds." It is said that there is another story here. One year, Deng Zhongyue returned to Liaocheng to visit relatives and repair the Guangyue Building. The prefectural and county officials asked him to engrave a plaque, and Deng Zhongyue gladly accepted.

Deng Zhuangyuan raised his pen with a wave of his hand, and the four big characters of "On the Sun And The Clouds" came into view. The crowd gleefully hung the plaque on the west side of the Guangyue Tower.

It is difficult for a clean official to break the household chores

He dissolved it in one letter

During the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, two brothers who were officials of the same dynasty were produced in Mengnan, Jiangxi. The elder brother Shen Zhongren, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, and the younger brother Shen Zhongyi, who served as a Hubu Langzhong, was very prominent in the Shen family's court for a while. The brothers were originally from a rich family, and they had been officials for many years, and they had a lot of savings, so they should have no dispute over wealth and profit, and spent their rich and noble old years together. Unexpectedly, soon after returning to Li, he became suspicious due to the entanglement of family property, and quarreled, and became an enemy of the common heavens, and then started a family affairs lawsuit.

"It is difficult for a clean official to break the housework." This housework case can make the county official difficult. He knew very well the city government of the Shen family brothers, and he did not dare to offend Shen Zhongren, nor did he dare to offend Shen Zhongyi. Just when the county officials were in trouble, on this day, they suddenly heard that Deng Zhongyue had ordered an inspection to come to Mengnan. The county official welcomed Chincha to the county court, and the ceremony was completed, and during the conversation, Deng Zhongyue saw the county official with a sad face, as if he had a heart. Just as I was about to ask, I overheard the sound of drums and mountains outside, the noise, and a commotion. When the county official heard this, he knew that it was the Shen brothers who had come to make a noise in the courtroom. Deng Qin saw that Zhixian was so sincere and frightened, so he asked what was going on outside? The county official had no choice but to report the Shen family brothers' household chores according to the facts. No, Deng Zhongyue not only did not blame Zhixian, but said: "In the small family affairs dispute, why worry, wait for me to break with you." When ZhiXian heard this, it was as if it were a great difficult rescue, and while kneeling down to thank him, he was busy instructing the official, and the Shen family brothers went to the court to hear the trial. Deng Zhongyue waved his hand to stop: "This case does not need to be cut off in court, let the Shen family brothers wait outside, I can approve the book for a few words." ”

The county magistrate ordered the Shen brothers to wait outside and wait for Lord Chincha to judge the case. Deng Zhongyue wrote the approval with a stroke of his pen and let the tolerance be pasted outside the door.

"The dove calls out to the chicks, the crow feeds back, Renye; the deer get the grass and sing their flocks, the bees see the flowers and gather their multitudes, righteousness; the lamb kneels, the horse does not deceive the mother, the ceremony also; the spider web feeds, the ants stuff the nest and avoids the water, Zhiye; the chicken does not know and does not sing, the swallow does not come, and the faith is also." Beasts still have five constants, and man is the spirit of all things, don't you care? With the small dispute of the ancestral inheritance, the great affection of the brothers is hurt. Brother Tong Ten Thousand Scrolls should have the talent of a godbrother; does the brother's six branches hurt the brother's reason? Shen Zhongren, benevolent but not benevolent! Shen Zhongyi, righteousness and injustice! If you have changed it, you can think about it again! Brothers and compatriots are born to a mother, so why should the ancestral inheritance be disputed? When can you get a good brother when you see each other and be old? ”

The two brothers read the approval documents, one by one, they were moved, full of tears, remorseful, crying on the spot, accumulating hatred and suddenly solving, brotherly love is as good as ever. The case was thus closed.

In the summer of 1748, Deng Zhongyue completed his 74-year-old life. Before his death, he wrote 4 volumes of Zhifeilu, Hanxiangge Poetry Collection, and 4 volumes of Anthology. (Reporter Yu Xingui)