Fan Zhongyan: Cut the porridge and break the sword, and read hard to become a talent

As a well-known politician and writer in ancient and modern times, Fan Zhongyan was a capable official who was safe and prosperous and courageous to innovate at that time, and he not only repaid the loyalty of the country with his fists and fists, which made people admired, but also admired people with the experience of reading hard, such as the story of "cutting porridge and breaking the sword", which is the appearance of his learning spirit, telling us the only way to become a talent: study hard.

Fan Zhongyan, Zi Xiwen, a native of Wu County, Suzhou. His father, Fan Yong, was erudite and good at writing, and served as the secretary of many places. In 989, Fan Zhongyan was born in the official residence of wuningjun (武宁軍, in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), where his father served. However, the weather was unpredictable, and when Fan Zhongyan was only two years old, his father died of illness, leaving them orphans and widows to live a difficult life.

Mother Xie Shi, originally Fan Yong's successor, now that her husband has died, it is like the fall of the building, and life has lost its source and destination. Xie was still young and poor at the time, and took her only son to remarry Zhu Wenhan, whose ancestral home was Changshan County in Zizhou (present-day Zouping County, Shandong), and Zhu Wenhan, who was then the county commander of Anxiang County (安乡县, in present-day Anxiang County, Hunan), and his stepfather Fan Zhongyan changed his name to Zhu Shuo.

Zhu Wenhan did not take Fan Zhongyan coldly, not only nurturing, returning to teaching, treating himself as his own, and placing high hopes on himself, expecting to become a great instrument. Anxiang is located on the shore of Dongting Lake, in the sound and light of Dongting Lake, Fan Zhongyan spent his childhood, received enlightenment education, and began his hard reading career.

Although the stepfather regards Fan Zhong as if he were his own, but after all, it is a recombined family, Zhu Wenhan had already had a group of children before the continuation of the string, there were too many entanglements, and although the stepson was emotionally good, it was difficult to be good enough to blend water and milk, especially in the contact between food, clothing, housing, chai rice, oil and salt, often producing an inexplicable estrangement and estrangement. Although Fan Zhongyan did not know the truth of his life for the time being, this sense of alienation that occasionally permeated made their mother and son have a sad situation under the fence, coupled with the fact that they were still poor and embarrassed in life, Fan Zhongyun in his youth was prepared to taste the hardships of attacking bitter food. However, it was this kind of hardship that tempered Fan Zhongyun's will and forged his tenacious character, especially in learning.

There are many inspiring stories in history, such as suqin "hanging beam thorn stock" in the Warring States period, Kuangheng in the Han Dynasty "chiseling the wall to steal light", And Sun Kang in the Jin Dynasty "Yingxue sac firefly", these familiar stories have touched and inspired generations of readers for thousands of years. Fan Zhong's degree of hard reading is no less than that of the above-mentioned characters, he has been a good book since he was a child, and he has never dropped out of reading, especially when he was a teenager who moved many times, and every time he moved to a place, he left a touching story of hard reading.

In Anxiang, Hunan, Fan Zhongyan was arranged by his parents and studied in the local Concept of Rejuvenating the Country, self-motivated and self-conscious, and persevered. Ren Youlong, a Song Dynasty man, said in the article "Records of the Reading Hall of Fan Wenzheng of Lizhou": "In the beginning, Wen Zhenggong (Fan Zhongyan) was orphaned and poor, and returned from his mother to the Zhu clan. Zhu Zailiang's peaceful hometown, the public servant and his mother came with him. Try to read in the room of the old family, known as the viewer of the country, cold and summer tireless. At that time, Fan Zhongyan was about seven years old, not only early and wise, but also patient, which laid the foundation for him to work harder later. Later, in order to commemorate him, the people of Anxiang built a reading desk in the place where he studied, and there is a poem that says: "Deserted platform night night banana rain, wild swamp year year Han Mo xiang", with the "book platform night rain" This quiet and beautiful poetry, so that the scene of the young Fan Zhong drowning in hard reading will always remain in the hearts of future generations.

After Anxiang, Fan Zhongyan followed the change of his stepfather's position and successively moved to Chizhou (present-day Guichi District, Chizhou, Anhui) and Zizhou (present-day Zibo, Shandong). In Chizhou, Fan Zhongyan studied at Changshan in Qingyang County, the east of the prefecture, and because Fan Zhongyan studied here, his descendants renamed Changshan "Reading Mountain". Although his stepfather was an official eunuch, he was not prominent, his income was meager, and there were many people in the family, and the burden was heavy, and the care for Fan Zhongyan's life was inevitably stretched, but Fan Zhongyan focused on learning and did not care.

With the growth of knowledge and the broadening of his vision, Fan Zhongyan began to consciously hone his will, from wanting me to read to reading to reading, and gradually established an outstanding personality, although the roof of the stove rope bed, bad clothes and vegetables did not change his will. After Zhu Wenhan was transferred to the governor of Zizhou, Fan Zhongyun, who was weak in his youth, returned to his stepfather's hometown of Changshan County, Zizhou, and immersed himself in studying at the Liquan Temple in changbai mountain in the south of the county, and his life was extremely difficult. According to the Song Dynasty scholar Peng Cheng's book "Mo Ke Swinging the Rhinoceros", more than forty years later, Fan Zhongyan once said in a conversation with Peng Cheng and Li Ding, two later generations: "... In the old days, when A certain person was studying, he was the poorest, and Liu Mou was in the Changbai Mountain monk's house, boiling two liters of corn on the day, making a porridge, condensing through Su Sui, taking the knife as four pieces, taking two pieces in the morning and evening, breaking ten stems, half a cup of vinegar juice, into less salt, warm and warm. And so on for three years. Fan Zhong drowned in the liquan temple monk's house to study, cooked two liters of corn porridge every day, cooled it and divided it into four pieces with a knife, took two pieces for food in the morning and evening, and then cut pickles, pickles and the like into minced pieces, added half a cup of vinegar, a little salt, cooked porridge, and so on for three years. This is the origin of Fan Zhongyan's allusion to "cutting porridge and breaking the crack".

Many people know that reading books to a certain extent depends on physical strength, and a very important aspect of physical strength comes from nutrition. At that time, Fan Zhongyan had just turned twenty, and he was just at the age of long body, and his long body and hard study were in urgent need of nutritional supplies, but he only had to break the thin porridge in the twilight, and his extreme bitterness was evident. However, Fan Zhongyan, with a strong will, could endure hunger and bitterness, and at that time also wrote "Gong Fu" to laugh at himself: "Inside the Tao family urn, drowned (pickled) into turquoise and yellow; "This means that the pickled yellow in the clay urn has the beauty of turquoise, green and yellow, and in my poor reading population, it chews out a melodious and beautiful music. In "The Gift", the pain of life is diluted by this interesting metaphor, full of openness and optimism. This is what makes Fan Zhongyan different - the more determined he is in adversity, and the more self-motivated he is in hardship.

If it is said that reading at Liquan Temple in Changbai Mountain is a manifestation of his conscious reading, so many years later he went to Nanjing (that is, Ying Tianfu, also known as Nandu, now Suiyang District, Shangqiu City, Henan) to study at Yingtian Academy, which is to study for self-reliance. Losing his father at an early age is a great pain in life, and when Fan Zhongyun finally learned that he was the son of Fan Zhongyan later, it was not tantamount to being a head-to-head drink. The thing is this: Fan Zhongyun usually cuts down on food and clothing, but his brothers wear good clothes and eat good things, and waste does not know how to be frugal. Fan Zhongyan was kind enough to persuade him, but the answer he got was: I use the Zhu family's money, what is the matter with you? Fan Zhong was horrified after hearing this, and when he finally found out his true origin under suspicion, the pain and anger in his heart accumulated, and he resolutely left the Zhu family, took the sword with the negative qin, and studied in Nanjing, the only purpose was to study hard and learn to meet his mother. This year, he had just turned twenty-three.

Studying at Yingtian Academy, due to leaving the Zhu family, life was once without a place to stay, and there was no meal, which was extremely difficult. Lou Key, a Song Dynasty man, said in the Fan Wenzheng Gong Annals: "Inquire about the family lineage, weep and go, the southern capital, the entrance hall, sweep a room, and preach day and night." His living and eating are unbearable for people, and the public is self-conscious. He also said: "The public Office Nandu Schoolhouse, studying hard day and night, has not tried to undress for five years." Night or sluggish, with water fertile noodles. Often the porridge is not full, and the eclipse begins. "In Yingtian Academy, Fan Zhong studied diligently, extremely hard, as if reading with a mission, doing everything he could for, sleeping very short, eating very little, pouring cold water on his face when he was tired, feeding on thin porridge when he was hungry, pillowing for five years without undressing, and the pain of reading and studying reached a level that ordinary people could not bear.

At that time, the son who stayed behind in Nanjing was in the same window as Fan Zhongyan, admired and sympathized, and relayed his situation to his father. The left-behind guard was very touched and sent some nutritious and delicious meals to Fan Zhongyun, which was an affirmation and praise for him. However, Fan Zhongyan politely declined, and said with gratitude: I am not not unsympathetic to your deep friendship, but I am used to drinking porridge and do not feel bitter. Once you have enjoyed the sumptuous diet you have rewarded, it will be tasteless to drink porridge later.

Another time, when emperor Song Zhenzong was fortunate to come to Nanjing, Nanjing was empty of people, and the teachers and students of Yingtian Academy also poured out of the nest and competed for the holy face, only Fan Zhong drowned and did not move, buried in the sea of books. When the classmates returned, they asked him why he did not go to see the emperor, and Fan Zhongyan replied without concern: It is not too late to see him in the future.

Fan Zhongyun was like this for a while, and he did not care about the hardships of life, he was poor and self-willing, and he was happy and bitter; he did not pay attention to the gains and losses in front of him, and his heart stopped like water, and he worked for a long time. It is precisely because of this that he has lofty ideals and ambitions, as well as the tenacity and persistence to pursue such ideals and ambitions. Fan Zhongyan was extremely intelligent from a young age, and only then did he tune out, sleep in the book mountain, and read hard. Innate endowments coupled with acquired efforts made Fan Zhongyan's academic progress. In 1015, he finally won the title of Jinbang, and when he entered the high school, the imperial court gave him the secretary of the Guangde Army (present-day Guangde County, Anhui) to join the army, and from then on he entered the career of a eunuch who loyally served the country and served the people with absolute sincerity.

Fan Zhongyan successively served in prefectures and counties, and once presided over Suzhou, Kaifeng and other places, and had considerable political achievements. Later, he was appointed by Emperor Renzong of Song as the deputy envoy of Zhiyan Prefecture to guard the northwest, and was appointed by Song Renzong as a counselor (deputy prime minister) and presided over the reform of the "New Deal for the Celebration of the Calendar", with outstanding achievements. For the sake of the government, for the text is not bad, poetry, words, literature are excellent, a "Yueyang Lou Record" swings back to the intestines, shocking people's hearts, patriotic feelings like waves rushing, so that thousands of ancient famous articles, still touching the heart.

Fan Zhongyan is still a person who does not follow the customs, does not compromise, and does not hesitate, establishing a dynasty, undertaking things, and making suggestions, always moving forward, preferring to bend. Moreover, no matter where such a person is placed, whether he is in a prominent position or whether he is idle and scattered, he will cling to one place and do his best to be loyal to the king and seek the country, and benefit the people. As the Jin Dynasty scholar Yuan Haoqing commented on him: "Wenzheng Fangong, in the cloth as a famous soldier, in the prefecture and county as a capable official, in the border as a famous general, in the imperial court confucius so-called ministers, for thousands of years, gai can not see one or two." "Therefore, Fan Zhongyun can finally come and go and become a generation of famous courtiers."

If there is no pain implanted in the body by sand and stone, how can the river mussel give birth to a brilliant pearl? It is not difficult for any person to find the source of the spirit from the initial performance. Fan Zhongyan's value orientation of "worrying first and then enjoying", the responsibility of "living in the high temple is worrying about the people, and being far away from the rivers and lakes is worrying about the king", and the great contributions made to the country and the people all originated from his self-improvement of "cutting porridge and breaking the porridge" in his adolescence, just like the refinement that broke the cocoon into a butterfly and the phoenix nirvana had to go through the pain to the point of death. Perhaps it can be said that Fan Zhongyun is a teacher of literature, taking the ancient as a teacher, taking the heart as a teacher, and learning, he is solid and honest with diligence as a teacher and suffering as a teacher, and hard reading is the mystery of his talent.