Almost a tragedy of nothing

Looking at the "Qing Dynasty Text Prison Files", some of the cases can be classified as "Laughing Forest Guangji" in nature. However, after reading it, I couldn't laugh. The results are often tragic. Man's value has become as low as mud and sand, and those who control man's destiny have fallen under the beasts. Before the tiger eats people, it does not issue a declaration of guilt, in comparison, is not it still more moral?

When Suncheon studied politics Ni Chengkuan when he was taking the exam to be a child, he found that the poem in the examination paper was "involved in ridicule", and immediately rebuked the student for asking questions, raiding his home, and investigating whether there was any other trouble. After interrogation, according to the confession, "The criminal did not pay attention to the poetry of the day, the poetry in the volume was extremely praised, and he suffered from the inability to reach the words, and because he could not learn poetry, he filled in at will, so that the words and sentences were not compromised, and there was no other intention." However, Ni Chengkuan still advocated that "it is necessary to impose heavy punishment." Looking at the original poem of the examination paper, it is really a work of oil, which is comparable to the emperor's poem of the Qianlong imperial system. This time Qianlong's Zhu Criticism is that "his poems are incomprehensible, there is no other reason, and there is no need to rebuke the revolution." Much more lenient than Ni Chengkuan.

However, it is no wonder that this Shuntian scholar of politics is really nervously weakened by the literal prison that has risen and fallen, and has to be strictly criticized, and the emperor's imperial approval is inaccurate, it is difficult to ensure that he does not make a conclusion that the world is far away, and if he wants to find a clear qualitative standard for Hengwen, then there is no. This is the reason why the situation of "dog is fiercer than master" often appears in the prison of words.

Somewhat similar to this case is the "Long Fengxiang "Musk Mountain Seal" case". Long Fengxiang was an official prisoner who was in the flow of questions, and was searched for two volumes of printed scores, and according to the Guizhou Inspector JueLuoTusde, "the seal sentences, there are many crazy things", and then locked and raided the house. After interrogation, the criminal confessed that because he was poor and bored, he carved two printed sheets and tried to give them to people for profit, but was unexpectedly seized. "The stamp is literal, it has idioms, it has its own fabrications, and there is no other opinion." Carving idle chapters is a popular trend since the late Ming Dynasty, the content has big words, there are complaints, but there is no praise for the saint's bold words, to find words of resentment and rebellion, there is no need to take the meaning out of context, everywhere is ready-made. However, after Qianlong", "carefully searched and read, there was no rebellious and illegal word, and there was no need to handle the reverse case." Finally escaped with a life, sent to Ili and other places to serve as a laborer.

When interrogating such cases, there is a set of "circular machine living methods" in which "although the verses are not defamatory, they lack the words of hope and affection, which is already obvious." (Liu Tongxun's copy of Echang's recital) is a universal set, which can be set at any time and anywhere to escape the opponent. Sometimes it is not necessary to do so, and approving the work of predecessors can also constitute a crime. Cheng Mingchen was caught by the interrogator because of his vain act of shouwen and circled the idiom, and asked:

"In the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty and the Biography of Zhao Yi", why do you take the two sentences of 'although the literature is full, it is better to have a bag of money', and you add a circle point, and approve the four words of 'ancient and modern indignation'?"

At a time when the wind of criticism was prevalent, it was a serious threat to those who worked hard in the study, and they would be caught and implicated in the reverse case at some point. Qianlong's handling of this case is also unique. He believes that the idiom of the ShouWen circle is nothing more than "a lack of reason, abuse of evil sets, and a relationship with those who openly create rebellious words." However, the disputes arising from this, "this kind of party and vice, the gradual enlightenment of teachers and students, is very much related to the hearts of the people in the world." Cheng Ming's sin is really here. Although ling was not spared from execution, it was still "decided". It's unpredictable, and it's hard to figure it out.

Although the Qianlong dynasty attracted people's attention because of the most popular text prison cases, most of them belonged to this category of "almost innocent tragedies." Forbidden books have mostly become secret books due to destruction, which is difficult to see, but when they are read by chance, they are still disappointed. Lu Xun said in a letter to Yang Jiyun:

"Qianyong banned books, now each one tens of yuan, but by chance, it seems that there is nothing, ridiculous." I am now reading "Idle Fishing and Idle Records", which was killed by the author for this reason, but the content is mostly obedient, and things at about that time, as now, are due to personal vendettas. (Letter of December 14, 1934)

In addition to the personal vendetta, a clause should also be added, that is, the fabrication of the slaves to reward or preserve themselves in order to sacrifice their merits. Many unjust cases are created in this way. Deng Zhicheng's "Preliminary Compilation of Qing Poetry Chronicle" Wang Zhongru's "Xizhai Collection" article said:

"Zhongru suffered the worst misfortune after his death and was included in the banned book project." From this point of view, there is no contradiction. Only the thoughts of the homeland, occasionally revealed. Depending on the work of all the people at the same time, or still contained. There is prohibition and there is no inhibition, and it is also worth hearing. The forbidden books of the Qianlong Dynasty were almost done with all their might, and the books that are forbidden today are still circulating in the world, knowing that they are futile. ”

Since it is a tragedy of almost nothingness, chance is inevitable. It is good to say that banning books is futile, but it is also true that it has brought havoc to culture.

The "Ding Wenbin Counter-Speech Case" that occurred in the eighteenth year of Qianlong is perhaps the most typical case of this type of case.

Ding Wenbin, a Shangyu man in Zhejiang who claimed to be a relative of the Kong family, came to the door of the Confucius Mansion in Qufu to ask for a meeting. Yan Sheng gong read the book, found the "crazy virtual", could not help but tremble with fear, and immediately arrested Ding Wenbin and sent him to the county, at the same time, the Inspector of Shandong was inspected and handled, and then played to Qianlong, and later got the Zhu approval that "what he saw was very correct, what he did was very decisive, and Jia Yue looked at it". This Ding Wenbin carried his own "Hong Fan Chunqiu" by his side, and the words "Ding Zi Yue" in the book were dug up and changed to "Emperor Tianzi Wang Yue". This book was presented to Zhuang Yougong, who was then serving as a scholar in Zhejiang, but there was no reply. Ding Wenbin also claimed that "the late Duke Yan Sheng had allowed his two daughters to be matched, passed on the way of Yao Shun, and after the death of the former Yan Sheng Gong Kong Guangdi, he thought that he would inherit his unification, that is, he would be a king, the name of the country was Great Xia, and the era name was Wu yuan." Unauthorized gifts". At the same time, he forged the Shi Xian Book, listed the era number, and drew his own style of minting money. "He wrote the manuscript sent to Kong and called it his mother-in-law's wife's room", and when he asked him why he had come from, he pinched and said, "Because of the extreme hardship, he wanted to hand over the book to Yan Sheng Gong and pass on the throne to him." As Inspector Yang Yingju of Shandong said, there is no doubt that this case is a case of great rebellion. But at the same time, I can't help but feel a little strange. To solve the mystery of this "myth", we cannot but read Ding Wenbin's confession. According to self-reports:

"The boy once went to Qufu with his uncle Ding Zhitian, met Lao Yan Sheng Gong, preached the tao of Yao Shun, expelled the old cult of Buddhism, and once gave two daughters to the child."

"Ask, since you came from a small family, and now you look like a beggar, how could You have been willing to marry you back then?" In the case of marriage, there is no reason for two women to be the same person, and there is no matchmaker, which is obviously a delusion. ”

"Confession, the boy is married by God's command, so why should he be a matchmaker?" That one husband and two wives are the way of Yao Shun, and the second daughter of Shun's wife Yao is a speckle. At that time, the old Yan Sheng Gong kept the way of the first king, and should really be called the emperor, and watched the boy preach and talk about morality, which was no different from Shun, so he passed on the throne and the boy, and took the second daughter's wife. This is all inspired by God. The boy smelled that the Holy Father had died, so he took over the throne, and now it has been eight years. ”

Ask the history of the forgery of the reverse book, for:

"In the fifteenth year of Qianlong, God ordered me to change it to 'Hong Fan Chunqiu', added a number of additions to this book, and after the sixty chapters in the book, 'Ding Zi Yue' was changed to 'Tianzi Yue', 'Wang Di Yue', and 'Wang Ruo Yue'.

Asked if there is a mastermind, henchman, for:

"The boy didn't want to do this, but it was God's order, and he had no choice but to do so." As for God, "God is heaven, how can anyone be?" The boy was enlightened by God all the time, and he often spoke beside him, and no one could hear it. ”

After moving the stick, he still could not confess the mastermind, but he had already realized that "the torture now is also burdened by God." Later, when the interrogator asked the concubine Dong who had been sealed, the confession was particularly interesting:

"Seal the Dong clan as a concubine, and the Dong clan is a Songjiang person." Her father's name was Dong Hengshan, who opened a teahouse. The boy had no food to eat, helped him fan the bellows for half a year, and saw that his daughter was fifteen years old and had a good birth. The boy thought to himself, so he sealed her as a concubine and recorded her in the book. In the same way, Uncle Kong was given the title of General of Tsukasa Zai and Pingyu, his uncle was Emperor Dazong, and his uncle was The Great Situ, on the grounds that "the officials should have been done by the Kong family."

He also asked, what kind of person is Zhang Qi' in your book? Why bother him so much, confession, Zhang Qiqi is Zhang Bugeng, he is the son of Zhang Siguan of Songjiang. The boy inherited the saint's message, and the daughter of the holy father should be worthy of the child, but he was taken away and married. That year, Zhang Qiqi married a relative, and the luxury was extreme. Not a special boy can not be a wife, and the teacher and sister can not be, so it is annoying, remember this sentence. ”

The officials who originally wanted to track down the main envoy and his accomplices behind the great rebellion case unexpectedly asked such a series of absurd confessions, and the disappointment was undoubted, although the methods of "careful study, strict torture, enlightenment with words, and dispatch of people to lure" were still ineffective. Inspector Yang Yingju finally could not help but admit, "Ding Wenbin is a person who is extremely poor and extremely lowly, and once he learns less chen yan, he prides himself on his genius and extraordinary ability, which is unparalleled." Therefore, delusions of wealth and beauty, delusional hearts, and illusions, unbreakable. "It's not like a verdict, it's like a medical record issued by a doctor, but it's actually clear." However, even if he is a mentally ill person, he still cannot let go, not to mention that "the prisoner is short of breath in language, has a dead face, and is inconvenient to wait for a long time." Immediately, he received the order, "Ding Wenbin was executed immediately." Ding Wenyao, a relative of the prisoner, and three others were also sentenced to "beheading and waiting for prison." In terms of implicated scale, it is not yet a major case.

The party to Ding Wenbin's letter was Kong Zhaohuan, the Duke of Yansheng, and although he received praise from the emperor for his timely reporting, he still could not get rid of it, and could not fail to hand over a "personal confession" declaring that "my family has been favored by the state, and I dare to call myself the title of king." At the same time, he also reported the marriage situation of a sister and a sister, and identified that he had nothing to do with Ding Wenbin. It can be seen that even if you are a Holy Father, you cannot accept the examination with insincerity and fear. As for Zhuang Yougong, the inspector of Jiangsu who had accepted Ding Wenbin's dedication during his tenure at the academy, he was not so relaxed, and he could not but play the scene of Chen's day, and declared: "At that time, the minister did not pay attention to the inspection, and he did not return to the fables, and now after five years, I really do not know whether this book is preserved in the broken basket?" This statement cannot deceive the emperor, Zhu Pi, "This song is also a trick. A careful examination of the book will not be for naught. In the end, Zhuang Yougong did not find the reverse letter and handed it over, and asked the ministry to strictly punish him. Qianlong issued a lengthy edict on this, explaining that he had long ago "known that he had deliberately taken advantage of it, and would not check and present the original book" and that "the results of this day are echoed in empty words, and it is not unexpected." ...... Zhuang has the intention of gong, Gai is afraid to enter this book, then the sin is obvious, so he can not find it by word, so as to avoid the heavy and light. ...... It must be heard that the letter is found to be private for the destruction of the ear. This shrewd and reasonable judgment shows that the emperor also understands the weight of the literal prison in the minds of the slaves. However, in the end, it is only "according to zhuang yougong and gongxue political office to increase the number of fines and ten people" and "those who think that they have forgotten the righteousness of fame and fortune" cannot be said to be extra-legal benevolence.

From the process of dealing with such an epileptic patient, we can see the intentions of the Qing rulers. When it is popularized, it can also be seen as the principle of handling similar cases, that is, it is better to be unjustly wronged than to let any suspicious opposition slip through the net. Of course, sometimes the slaves were too obedient, and they had to stand up and say two "fair words", as if the emperor himself was lenient. But the slave is clever, and never becomes realistic, because it is too dangerous. Why there will be a large number of "almost innocent tragedies" in the Qing Dynasty literary prison seems to be really inevitable. Above was the emperor, followed by a group of slaves, and the common people were all insects and ants, caught and played with at will, like a cat catching a mouse, not immediately killed, just fiddling, until the end of the fun did not bite to death, and had to catch up before he had a breath left. It is really cruel to think about it, but although it has reached the peak and not achieved the ultimate, the performance of the rising stars is often blue out of blue. However, the push to trace the source follows the old spectrum of the past, but it is just a renovation of the pattern.

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