introduction:
Looking at the apricot blossoms, the cherry will temporarily return home after the meeting, and the smoke wave is a lonely sail shadow, which is the immortal through the moon. ——Ji Xiaolan, "The Arrogant Horse"
Due to the popularity of film and television dramas, many people think that Ji Xiaolan is just like in film and television dramas, a funny and humorous, intelligent and talented talent. In the 1970s, archaeologists found seven female skeletons inside Ji Xiaolan's tomb. This unveils the true side of this great writer of the Qing Dynasty.
First, Ji Xiaolan in the historical reality is far from the characters in film and television dramas
Ji Xiaolan's tomb is in Beicun, Cangxian County, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, and in addition to many funerary items, seven female corpses were also found in the funeral tomb. After archaeologists have verified that the owner of the tomb is Ji Xiaolan, they still want to know who these seven female corpses are.
Archaeologists then consulted various historical sources and found that Ji Xiaolan was very feminine, and he had a wife and six concubines in his life. The number of his wives and concubines was the same as the number of female corpses in the tomb, all of whom were seven. Therefore, it is easy to infer that after his death, all seven wives and concubines were buried with him.
People always like to describe Ji Xiaolan as a talented man, and in real life he is indeed very, because this habit was also recorded in books by the literati at that time.
For example, in the Qing Dynasty's "Records of Insect singing", it is recorded that Ji Xiaolan had to be happy with women at least five times a day, when he got up in the morning, when he returned to his room, at noon, in the evening, and before going to bed, he had to serve women, not once less.
In the "Qixia Pavilion Wild Ride" compiled by the Qing Dynasty literati, it is said that If Ji Xiaolan does not have a good day with the woman, he will be uncomfortable. There have always been many rumors about Ji Xiaolan's lustfulness.
In the wild history rumors, Ji Xiaolan was not afraid of lustful nature even when he came to the emperor. At that time, Ji Xiaolan was in charge of the compilation of the "Four Libraries of the Whole Book", and many important moments had to stay in the palace and could not go home, so he could not touch women.
Once, When Qianlong Qianlong inspected the work, when he entered the door, he saw Ji Xiaolan lying on the ground reading a book while moaning, and when he looked closer, he found that both of his eyes and face were red, as if he was sick.
Qianlong was worried that Ji Xiaolan was sick because of his heavy work, so he quickly cared about inquiring. Ji Xiaolan did not shy away from saying that it was because he had not been close to the woman for several days, and the fire in his body had run outside.
When Qianlong heard this, he immediately laughed and immediately asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send two palace ladies over. With a woman, Ji Xiaolan immediately returned to normal.
Second, Ji Xiaolan's wives and concubines were numerous
Ji Xiaolan is very enthusiastic about the good things between men and women, but he is also a principled person, and most of the good things with women are with his wives and concubines, and he does not act around.
Ji Xiaolan married his wife Ma Shi when he was seventeen years old. When Ma shi was young, she was very beautiful, knew some poetry books, and was very respected by her husband. Ma's concubines were also very tolerant of their husbands, so the couple could respect each other and spend nearly sixty years together.
In addition to his wife, there were two concubines who were deeply favored by Ji Xiaolan. One named Guo Caifu was accepted as a concubine at the age of 13. It is said that her posture is very outstanding, Ji Xiaolan wrote two poems for her, and also used more than three hundred words to describe her in the "Huaixi Magazine".
The other was named Shen Ming, a concubine of Na in his later years, and Xiao Ji Xiaolan was thirty-seven years old. Due to her young age, she was pampered as soon as she entered the door, and she was also loved by the main mother Ma. In the Magazine of Locust West, it is written that Ma Shi loved her as a daughter.
Shen Ming married as a concubine because her family was poor, so naturally she could not read. But she is a smart and studious girl, and during the time she works with Ji Xiaolan, she not only actively studies, but later she can export simple poetry to write gifts. Let everyone look at her with her. Later, Shen Ming died, and Ji Xiaolan sadly wrote a poem for her.
Although Ji Xiaolan will have a preference for his wives and concubines, he is very willing to treat all his wives and concubines and treat them fairly as much as possible. In life, if Ji Xiaolan knew that there were women who were strong or excellent, they would praise them a lot. This is very rare in the feudal society where men are inferior to women. Even so, he still wanted his wife and concubines to accompany him to the funeral, and in the end, he could not avoid the poison of feudal ideas.
Third, Ji Xiaolan's career was bumpy, and he had to be reused in his later years
According to historical records, in the second year of Jiaqing, Ji Xiaolan became the Rebbe Shangshu and ranked as a Yipin official. During the Qianlong Dynasty, he was not favored by the emperor, and there was a reason for this.
Because the real Ji Xiaolan looks ugly, as well as myopia and slight stuttering. The Qianlong Emperor attached great importance to the appearance of his subordinates, and his favorites were all beautiful men, such as He Yan, Liang Guozhi, and Fu Kang'an, who were all famous handsome men. Ji Xiaolan's appearance made him unable to get Qianlong's favor, so his career was not smooth.
In addition, Ji Xiaolan had sent a message to Lu Jian, the relative of the offender, so he sent it to distant Xinjiang. Later, the imperial court urgently needed talents like him in compiling the Siku Quanshu, and it was only three years later that Ji Xiaolan was recalled to the capital again.
Therefore, Ji Xiaolan's road to becoming an official will not be smooth, until Qianlong died and Jiaqing ascended the throne, he had a little real power. However, Ji Xiaolan was also more than seventeen years old, and he had power and no ambitions or ambitions.
Fourth, there are many quirks, and they still enjoy a high life
Ji Xiaolan is a good woman, likes to smoke and eat meat, and has many eccentricities. At that time, meat was a rarity, but Ji Xiaolan regarded meat as a staple food. There are historical records that he eats ten pounds of meat every day, and it can be seen from here that he is not as clean and simple as in the TV series.
Although Ji Xiaolan's many bad diseases hurt his body, he lived to be more than eighty years old, which is very rare. At that time, the average age of the Chinese people was only more than fifty years old, and he lived for more than thirty years, which was really rare.
The most worthy of people's exploration in Ji Xiaolan's life is of course his writings. The most accomplished of his works are two, the first of course is the "Four Libraries Complete Book" that he was responsible for compiling, and the other is the Zhiwei novel "Notes on Reading Wei Caotang".
Ji Xiaolan was only praised for his talent by the characters after his death, so he was often called "Wenda" or "Wenda Gong" by posterity. Such a title is the respect of posterity, an affirmation of his talent and literary contributions, but it does not mean that he is supportive of the bad habits in his life.
After Ji Xiaolan died, he was not buried in the grave of his family's ancestors. Because he finally lived in an official residence and was buried in the ancestral tomb, the funeral rites were more than the ancestors were not in line with the etiquette. So he found another place to bury him. In Ji Xiaolan's cemetery, in addition to the tombs of him and his wives and concubines, there are more than thirty graves of his descendants and grandchildren.
epilogue:
Everyone has an unknown side, and Ji Xiaolan is a strange person full of contradictions. When we evaluate historical figures, we must not be influenced by film and television dramas or literary works, but should look for the information we need in the main history. Only in this way can we restore the historical truth!
Resources:
"Insect Song Chronicles"
Acacia Magazine