What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
At the time of the Two Song Dynasties, Shilin flourished, and one of the figures was recognized by everyone as "the teacher of a generation, from the beginning to the end, the name is not flawless", this great sage is Fan Zhongyun, who is famous for "first worry and then happiness".
Hard work, frugality and simplicity
Speaking of Fan Zhongyun, we will think of the famous sentence in the "Record of Yueyang Lou", "Do not be happy with things, do not be sad with yourself" and "worry about the worries of the world before the world, and enjoy the happiness of the world after the world". Fan Zhongyan was a famous politician, thinker and writer of the Song Dynasty, and a model and model for traditional scholars. Wang Anshi, who was known as one of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties", called Fan Zhongyan "the teacher of the first life, from the beginning to the end, and the name is flawless". Ji Yun, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty University, commented on him: "Seeking to be worthy of the sages, learning to seek benefits to the world, the so-called great Confucians of ancient times, have a physical usefulness, but so." ”
Fan Zhongyan lost his father at the age of two, his mother remarried to Zhu, and Zhongyan once changed his surname to Zhu. Due to his family's poverty at a young age, Fan Zhongyan studied at a Buddhist temple in Changbai Mountain (present-day Huixian Mountain, southwest of Zouping County, Shandong, named after the cloud qi Changbai in the mountains). Every night to cook a pot of millet porridge, after a night of condensation into a gelatinous, get up in the morning with a knife to cut into four pieces, take two pieces in the morning and evening, add some vinegar, sprinkle some salt, heat up and eat with small roots of garlic, this is all his food for the day. He lived this life for three full years.
Although he later became an official and participated in the government affairs, Fan Zhongyan still maintained a frugal and simple style of life. He once admonished his sons, saying, "When I was poor, I raised my relatives with my mother, and my mother held on to me( sound: cuàn, meaning: burning fire to cook), and my relatives did not taste the full will." Now that I have houlu, I want to raise my relatives, and my relatives are gone, and my mother has died early, and those I hate, endure ruo cao to enjoy the pleasures of wealth! Fan Zhongyan's admonition to his children does not stop at language. He led by example and set an example. Every day before going to bed, he had to calculate the expenses of the day's diet and the things he did that day. If the expenses are commensurate with what is done, they are at ease and snore. If they are not proportionate, they will toss and turn all day long, unable to sleep peacefully, and must make up for it the next day.
Fan Zhongyan not only has such strict requirements for himself, but also for his children. The second son, Fan Chunren, married the daughter of the official eunuch Wang Qian, whose uncle was Wang Dan, who had long served as prime minister during the Zhenzong period of the Northern Song Dynasty. The marriage between the two families of King Fan is not Fan Zhongyan's covetousness for wealth and attachment to the high gate. Wang Zhongyan's friendship with Fan Zhongyan originated from the third year of Jing You, Fan Zhongyan was demoted for accusing the chancellor Lü Yijian of unfair employment, and most of the scholars and doctors in the dynasty at that time were afraid of offending Lü Yijian, and were accused of being friends, and did not dare to send Fan Zhongyan off, only Geng Zhi's Wang Qian resolutely "carried wine to the feast". Suffering saw the truth, and since then the two have formed a deep friendship and become the sons and daughters of the family. Chunren's wife, because she came from a famous family, grew up in a splendid pile, and it is said that in her mother's family, she used Luo Qi as a drapery, which is a kind of high-grade silk fabric with a soft texture and pattern, and the price is very expensive, and it is impossible for ordinary people to see it. Before his daughter-in-law passed, Fan Zhongyan heard about this, and although he was friends with the king, he still said mercilessly in public: "Luo Qi is not a veil? My family is pure and thrifty, and I have to mess with my family law? Dare to hold on to my house, when the fire is in court! Fan Zhongyan gave a "frugal lesson" to his relatives and daughter-in-law who had not yet passed through the door, and maintained the Fan family's family law of always being clean and frugal.
But Fan Zhongyan's frugality is not stingy. According to the "Shinto Tablets" written by Ouyang Xiu after Fan Zhong's drowning, Fan Shi "did not eat heavy meat for non-guests for life, and was good at giving money. and to his own selfishness, the wife gave only food and clothing." When he said that he had no guests, there was only one plate of meat dishes in the dish at most, and his wife and children only met the most basic food and clothing needs on weekdays. But in front of those in need of help, Fan Zhongyan was very generous and generous.
Study diligently, not for personal gain
In addition to frugality, Fan Zhongyan also required his family to study diligently, be honest and honest, and not engage in private interests. In the family letter he left behind, there was a letter to his brother Fan Zhongwen, which was about the education of his nephew: "Erlang and Sanlang are diligent in studying, Richi homework, and the boy in the middle of the school must be made to study hard, not to follow the rules." Must have a career adult, fang and grace words. "Middle and senior officials in the Song Dynasty could apply for certain official positions for relatives such as sons and nephews according to their rank, which was called yin supplement in the system. Among the sons of the bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty, quite a few did not seek progress as a result, but only relied on yin to supplement the army. Fan Zhongyan's letter was a warning to his brother that although he was eligible to apply to the imperial court for the official position of two nephews, the premise must be that the two nephews were successful in their studies, otherwise he would not play the role of asking for compensation. At the same time, he also personally wrote to his two nephews, saying: "Ru waits but be careful, has the reputation of a folk song, can manage the people, can keep the honest, and dare to play the recommendation." "This means that you must study hard and behave well, and only when you have achieved academic ethics, your reputation is recited by the townships, you have the ability to govern the people, and you have the integrity of honesty and honesty, will I apply to the imperial court to grant you official positions."
Later, the two nephews lived up to their expectations, and Fan Zhongyan also recommended the two to go out. After Sanlang became an official, he wrote a letter of caution: "Be careful in your office and not cheat." Be harmonious with the same officials, and only discuss things with the same officials, and do not discuss with the public. Mo Zhong's villagers came to his subordinates to sell, and he had always been an official with a pure heart, and he did not make private profits. Ru looked at how the old uncle had come from, and had he ever been private? Good homes, each good thing, to honor the ancestors. In this letter, Fan Zhongyan also specifically stressed that it is not allowed to allow villagers to do business in the areas under your jurisdiction. Fan Zhongyan did not own family property before his death, and after his death as a local official in Xuzhou, his family could only temporarily borrow the official residence, and without any displeasure, he realized his nephew's claim of not engaging in selfishness.
The letter was so influential that its original survived at least as far as the Southern Song Dynasty and circulated among scholars. In the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty, Chen Mingzhong, a good friend of Zhu Xi and then the Commander of Houguan County in Fujian Province, obtained the authentic manuscript, hired a worker to imitate it, placed it on the desk, examined himself every day, and sent the original to Zhu Xi. Zhu Xi recited it repeatedly, greatly moved, and wrote the following passage in the blank space on the left side of this book: "The book of the Right Fan Wen Zhenggong (Fan Zhongyan's nickname) and his brother's son is also close and easy to know. Whoever is now wise enough to be satisfied with what he says and keeps, and it is enough to examine himself and his things. However, the so-called self-serving will be as if the public 'worries and worries of the world before the world, and the happiness of the world after the world', and when he meets people in things, he will be confident and will not choose the interests and harms as a tendency, and then it will be enough to make a name for himself. In Zhu Xi's view, people should bear in mind Fan Zhongyan's teachings. Only effectively imitate the spirit of Fan Gong's 'worry and worry before the world, and enjoy the world after the world', do not take one's own selfish interests as a trade-off, prevent micro-gradualism, start from oneself, start from the people around oneself, in order to do things in a down-to-earth manner and be innocent.
Fan Zhongyan's words and deeds had a great impact on his sons and nephews. The eldest son, Fan Chunyou, was "still in festivals" when he was young. When Fan Zhongyan was working as a magistrate in Suzhou, he founded the County School and hired the famous Ru Hu Yan as a teacher. Hu Yan was very strict with his students, and it was difficult for the scholars in Suzhou to adapt, which made Fan Zhongyan very headache. So Chunyou invited himself to enroll, he was the youngest of the students, but everything could meet the requirements of the teacher Hu Yan, so he touched the older classmates, and the learning style of Suzhou County School became a model for local schools. During the Western Xia rebellion, Fan Zhongyan was ordered to guard the border and also brought Chunyou with him. Although he was the son of a commander-in-chief, Fan Chunyou often took the lead in the battle, personally risking Yashi and making many military achievements. Unfortunately, when Fan Zhongyan was demoted to Dengzhou, Chunyou became violently ill and became demented.
Fan Zhongyan's second son, Fan Chunren, was a well-known figure in the history of the Song Dynasty. After Fan Zhong drowned, Chun Ren took on the responsibility of caring for his sick brother. Chunyou died after nineteen years of illness and was buried in Luoyang. Considering that the Fan family had always been frugal, Fan Zhongyan's friends Han Qi and Fu Bi wrote a letter to the magistrate of Luoyang to help Chun Ren properly bury Chun You. However, Chun Ren obeyed his father's discipline and was reluctant to accept funding. Fan Chunren later became prime minister and was also known for his honesty and thriftiness.
A lifetime of worry and then happiness, a thousand years of honest and frugal family style
In the famous family training in ancient times, most of them were indispensable to the word "thrift". According to the Yi zhou Shu Wen Chuan, King Wen of Zhou once admonished his descendants: "Do not be arrogant, not for the sake of elegance, and not for the beauty." The emphasis on frugality in the family training has nothing to do with the gap between the rich and the poor in the family and the size of the official position of the author of the family training, but is a summary of historical experience and the embodiment of China's excellent traditional culture in family education.
In the eyes of the ancients, the cultivation of frugal character is inseparable from morality, honesty, and a person's livelihood. For example, the "Zuo Chuan" said that "frugality, virtue is also common", and Zhuge Liang, the Shu Han chancellor of the Three Kingdoms period, said that "frugality is to cultivate virtue", all of which mean that only with thrift can there be virtue. Only by having virtue and thriftiness can we be honest and incorruptible, and only then can we shape the spirit of "making great profits and not being easy to be righteous." Liu Xiang, a western Han dynasty classicist and literary scholar, said, "Honest people do not take it in vain, but take wealth as grass and take their body as treasure." Fan Chunren, the son of Fan Zhongyan, said that "for frugality can help honesty", and zeng Guofan, a heavy minister in the late Qing Dynasty, said that "if you want to be honest, you must first worship frugality and simplicity", which are all meanings of frugality. Frugality also has a lot to do with a person's livelihood. Sima Guang said in the "Training and Thrifty Demonstration" that "from frugality to luxury, from luxury to frugality", which means that the extravagant life is endless, and it is inevitable that the playthings will be lost.
Since ancient times, there have been many people who have established a name for frugality and have lost themselves in luxury. Fan Zhongyan was a famous courtier of the Northern Song Dynasty, who not only strictly disciplined himself and was loyal to the country, but also educated his children with a frugal family style, leaving behind a good name for thousands of years.