Han Yu's self-image construction in Yangshan period poetry
Wu Xiaopan
First, approach the root of Han Yu
The life of the Tang Dynasty writer Han Yu can be roughly divided into several aspects: the family of officials and eunuchs, the poverty of childhood, the pursuit of a career in middle age, the meritorious service in the prime of life, the two times degraded, and the poetry creation that runs through it. The first of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, "Hundred Dynasties Wenzong", this is the abstract Han Yu in the minds of many people, in fact, this is a simplified and simplified Han Yu.
The intentional or unintentional simplification or deification of the ancients is a common problem in historical research, especially in literary narratives. Perhaps due to its age, today's people often have only a vague impression of ancient personnel, which leads to a considerable degree of distortion when looking back. Some distortions are eternally lost truths, while some distortions can be restored, or can be partially restored, making the simplified and deified image more concrete, sensual, and even real.
Of course, for the restoration of ancient personnel must be based on documentary materials, the so-called literature refers to the relevant graphic records, and the second refers to the relevant cultural relics. In graphic data, proximity is the primary factor, for example, the study of a specific individual, then the person's diaries, letters, poems are undoubtedly the most cognitive value, first of all must be paid attention to, in the absence of other more credible circumstantial evidence, these are can be used as important evidence of the literature. Secondly, it is the relevant information of others with whom there is contact, and finally the "testimony" of the contemporaries with whom there is no interaction. The relevant materials of different eras can only provide references, provide inspiration or references in research methods and ideas.
In the study of Han Yue, the above principles should also be followed, and the most noteworthy information is Han Yu's poetry, which is fundamental and first-hand information; secondly, the poetry of people who have interacted with Han Yue and the annals of Han Yu written; and the third is the relevant poetry of people who are closer to Han Yu's time. As for the relevant poems of future generations, such as those of the Song and even The Ming and Qing dynasties, it should be said that they are not very important for understanding the role of the real Han Yue and the historical value, or can be used as a supplement, or as an extended research material for the evolution of the history of Han Yue's understanding of han yue in later generations.
At present, in the study of Han Yu, the most basic materials include: "Han Yu Annals" (Zhonghua Bookstore), "Notes on the Chronicles of Han Changli's Poetry Collection" (Zhonghua Bookstore), "Annotations on The Collected Works of Han Changli" (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House), "Hanyu Data Compilation" (Zhonghua Bookstore) and so on. However, some of these materials that have been published are still inevitably incomplete, varied in style, and unclear in chronology.
With basic historical materials, research should not only hold scientific research methods, but also have the heart of the ancients, and be close to the data to restore the environment and mood of the ancients at that time. Chen Yinke's "sympathy for understanding" may also be understood from this perspective. The fundamental goal of academic research was originally to seek truth, if you leave the consideration and understanding of the environment and state of mind at that time, people follow the clouds, arbitrary play, the so-called research will become a source of water and no wood, farther and farther away from the truth.
II. Canon history, "circumstantial evidence" and poetry
Han Yu (Chinese: Han Yu), a native of Heyang, Henan (present-day Mengzhou, Henan), who called himself "Junwang Changli", was born in Pengshen in the third year of the Gregorian calendar (768) and died on December 25, the fourth year of Changqing (824). Han Yu's father died when he was three years old, and he was raised by his eldest brother Han Hui, and in the twelfth year of the Great Calendar (777), Han Hui was implicated in the Yuan Zai case and was demoted to the History of Shaozhou Assassination, and the nine-year-old Han Yu followed his brother to Shaozhou (Qujiang), which was his first trip to Lingnan. Soon, Han Hui died of illness in office, and Han Yu returned to Heyang with his widowed sister-in-law to bury his brother, who was raised by his sister-in-law. In the nineteenth year of Tang Zhenyuan (803), Han Yu, who had already embarked on a career, was promoted to inspector of imperial history, and in December he was demoted to The Order of Yangshan County in Lianzhou. In the twentieth year of Zhenyuan (804), Han Yu arrived at Yangshan; in the spring of the following year, he was pardoned and left Yangshan between summer and autumn, where he stayed for about a year. But there are different theories about why Han Yu was degraded to Yangshan.
1. Conclusive "testimony"
Regarding the matter of being degraded to Yangshan, Han Yu himself wrote very clearly in the poem "Sending Wang Twenty Supplementary Que Li Eleven On the Way to Jiangling on the Way to Jiangling Province" written by Han Yu on the way to Jiangling Province.
"When I go out of the way, how thick the hungry are. When he dies on the side of the road, he stands for a long time. The house cannot be eaten, like a hook in a fish. It is appropriate to get rid of the imperial history, and it is honest to say autumn. Bai Shu moved the door and conspired for Zhongning. The Shangchen people are suffering, and there is no order to kill their throats. Under Chen Qidian, it is advisable to be excellent at all. The snow is ripe and ripe, but it is fortunate to be generous to the silkworms. Tianzi felt pity and sighed. Predicate is the implementation, which is the reverse migration of Yanzhou. The same officials are full of talents, partial to Liu and Liu. Or worry about the language leak, spread the wrongs. The second son is not suitable, and will not be suspicious. ”
- Because he saw that some people were starving to death on the side of chang'an City Road, he wrote to request a halt to taxation and money, etc., so he was "moved to Yanzhou", from a current dynasty inspector Yushi was demoted to Lianzhou Yangshan DangXian Order.
This can also be confirmed by Han Yu's "On the Hunger of the People in The Heavenly Drought on the Imperial History Platform", "Gyeonggi Counties have a drought in summer, early frost in autumn, and the harvest of the fields, and there is no one in ten", "There are abandoned sons and wives to seek food, the house is cut down to pay taxes, the road is cold, and the disadvantages are in the gullies", and these situations are "unspoken by the courtiers, and the unknown of His Majesty is also". "The Kyoshi, the heart of the four parties, the foundation of the country, and its people should be doubly generous", "Fu Qi te Jing ZhaoFu: This year's tax money and grass millet should be levied in the belly of the people and have not been collected, and the levy will be suspended; until the next year, there will be very little existence of silkworm wheat."
It should be said that Han Yu actually had some doubts about why he was degraded in this poem, because after the emperor read Han Yu's letter, he "felt pity", and Sikong also "sighed", and said that he would start to take some measures immediately to adopt the suggestions, but why did he suddenly belittle him?
But in any case, if what Han Yu said in his poems is true, the reason for his debasement of Yangshan is quite conclusive, that is, to see the people suffering, "returning to the house can not be eaten, like a hook in a fish", and then asking for the people's life, which is of course also the duty of supervising the imperial history itself. As for whether there was any frame-up by Jing Zhaoyin Li Shi or others, there is no conclusive evidence; even if someone framed him, it is not the most direct and main reason for Han Yue's belittling.
2. History and "Circumstantial Evidence"
The Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang, which are "correct histories", attribute Han Yu's depreciation of Yangshan to Han Yue's "On the City of Palaces" angered Tang Dezong in the entry about Han Yu.
According to the Old Book of Tang, Han Yu "spoke frankly, fearlessly avoided, behaved uprightly, and was clumsy in world affairs", "thought that he was highly talented, and was repeatedly deposed", because "the evils of the palace city, the advice of the officials did not listen", Han Yu "tasted thousands of words in the chapter, did not listen, and angrily degraded to the Order of Yangshan in Lianzhou". The New Book of Tang also describes the same: "Conduct is firm, and there is no taboo in words." "Shangshu Pole on Gongshi, Emperor Dezong is angry, and degrades Yang Shan Ling." It can be seen that the two records are rough and unverified.
The Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang were written in the second year of the Later Jin Dynasty (945) and the fifth year of The Song Renzong Jiayou (1060), 142 years and 257 years after Han Yu was degraded to Yangshan, and how reliable is the so-called "correct history" written by people one or two hundred years later? Doubt. Whether compared with the accounts of the parties themselves or the accounts of contemporaries, the authenticity and value of the so-called "canonical history" records are greatly reduced.
Han Yu's disciple Huang Fuxiang's account of the reason for Han Yu's depreciation of the official Yangshan is different from that of Zhengshi. He said in the "Hangul Gong Shinto Tablet", "Nineteen years, there was drought and famine in Guanzhong, and people died and slept with each other, and officials carved grievances. Sir listed the fundamentals of the world, the people are anxious, please forgive the people, and free of the disadvantages of land rent. The dictators were evil and issued as the Yangshan Order of Lianzhou. This is basically consistent with Han Yu's own statement, because asking for the people's lives has angered those in power.
The New Book of Tang records that "湜, the character is upright, and the People of Xin'an, Muzhou." Promoted to JinShidi, he was a lieutenant of Lu Hun and a lieutenant of the Ministry of Works. Han Yu once wrote a poem "Sending Emperor Fu Xiang": "Knock on the door and sleep in the daytime, ask the governor of the prefecture." A letter in hand has the word "Emperor Fu" on it. Open the book and put it on the bedside, and the tears and tears are hanging down. Faint on the pillow, confused dreams. Sadness no magic, Anderson has wings? There is also "Reading the Poems of huangfu Xiang's public security garden pond and its next one", which reads: "Xiang is also trapped in public security, not idle and poor years", "it is better to forget than two, but in one general quantity", even dreams of each other, reading the letter moved to tears and exchanges, it can be seen that Han Yu and Huang Fu Xiang have a very deep friendship, and they should know and trust each other, so Huang Fu Xiang's account of Han Yu is more credible.
As for the statements of the literati after the Tang Dynasty and even the Ming and Qing dynasties, it can be said that there is basically not much historical value for clarifying why Han Yu was degraded to Yangshan, most of which is hearsay and excerpts. For example, Song Lü Dafang's "Annals of the Han Officials' Wengong Collection" says, "In the nineteenth year of zhenyuan, it was a year to supervise the imperial history, sit on the matter, and demean the Yangshan Order of Lianzhou", which is only a general continuation of the old theory.
Third, before and after the demeaning of Yang Mountain
1. Physically and mentally exhausted
Han Yu was 35 years old when he was demoted to Yangshan, serving as the inspector of imperial history, but he had already experienced many births and deaths, according to the "Sacrifice of the Twelve Lang Texts" he wrote almost before and after this, "I was not forty years old, and I looked at the vast, and my hair was pale, and my teeth and teeth were shaken." Remembering the fathers and brothers, all of them are strong and strong and die early, like those who are in decline, they can survive for a long time"; "Since this year, the cangs have either turned into white, shaken or fallen off, and the hair and blood are getting weaker and weaker, and the morale is getting weaker and weaker", and the only son is only five years old and has not yet stood on his own, "Since now on, I have no intention of being in the world." When the field of the number of acres is above Yi Ying, to wait for more than a year, teach my son and Ruzi to be lucky to succeed, and the eldest daughter and Ru daughter to wait for him to marry, and so on. "Twelve Lang" is the son of Han Yu's older brother Han Jie. It can be seen from between the lines that although Han Yu has not yet reached the age of confusion, his body and mentality are already quite old and tired.
In the seventeenth year of Zhenyuan, Han Yu had just been transferred to the Beijing Division as an official, and he wrote a poem "Congshi": "There is not enough food to eat, and it is difficult to take charge of the shili." Both things are harmful, and I will work hard all my life. At dusk, I returned to my private room and sighed in sorrow. Abandoning the human world, the past is not unique. There is a saying in the poem "Gifting Hou Xi": "Is there no situation in the world on earth, and what is the end of self-work?" When Bento brought his wife and son, Nanjin Jiying did not return. "Legend has it that the sage Xu You lived in seclusion under the Ji Mountain, the sun of Yingshui, and later generations used Ji Ying as a hermitage. While traveling with Hou Xi and three other friends, Han Yu wrote the poem "Mountain Stone", which reads: "When the stream steps barefoot on the rock, the sound of the water stirs the wind to blow the clothes. Life is so self-reliant, how can it be bound to others? Oh my party's second and third sons, and I am old and do not return! "This is the idea of birth that came out of the ancient literati when it was difficult to enter the world.
According to the "Sending Wang Twenty Supplementary Que Li Eleven on the Way to Jiangling", he was ordered by Qiyang Shan to "send the envoy to the door and not stay for a moment." The sick sister is bedridden, and she knows that the distance is clear. Cry out and beg to say goodbye, please don't chin up. The weak wife hugs the child, and goes out to worship and be ashamed. Once degraded, he had no mercy to say, and demanded that Han Yu leave immediately, not allowing him to stay, and not even giving him time to say goodbye. In the end, Han Yu couldn't help but sigh, "Deeply think about dismissing the official, and live up to the pine tree." Pine and catalpa trees are commonly planted trees in the cemetery, which means that he even moved the idea of resigning officials and returning home, and the desire to return was very strong.
2. What you see and feel
On the way to Yangshan, Han Yu used poetry to record in detail what he saw and felt along the way, leaving many imaginative spaces for future generations to feel and see:
"On the way to Jiangling, he sent Wang Twenty Supplementary Que Li Eleven to Pick Up Li Twenty-six Members of the Outer Hanlin Three Scholars": "Chao is a Qingyun soldier, and Twilight is a prisoner of the White Head." In the winter month of shangshan season, the ice is frozen. Spring wind cave waves, haunting the lonely boat. "Xiangzhong": "The ape fish is turning over the waves, and since ancient times, it has been said that it is Miluo." The algae was full of plates and there was nowhere to be found, and the fisherman's song was heard emptyly. "This is what I saw when I came north through Dongting and MiluoJiang in Hunan, and I could glimpse one of Han Yu's state of mind in a lonely boat, haunting the storms and waves.
When he arrived at tongguan gorge, seventy miles northwest of Yangshan County, Guangzhou, he wrote "Sub-Tongguan Gorge", which has a saying: "Without thinking about the north of the ridge, the apes and birds are not in harmony." "A foreign land is in front, looking forward to the future, please cry ape songbirds do not stir up homesickness; in fact, pretending to be heartless, it is inevitable to think homesick." The poem "Tongguan Gorge" is written in a more scene-blending: "In the southern February and a half, spring objects have been reduced. Between the mountains and rivers, sit and listen to the birds in the morning. Su Yun is still in a posture, and the sun is suddenly rising. The sense of travel and the sound of detention, the prisoner's thoughts are lightly corrected. Tears burst out for a long time, and the thoughts of the song increased. If you do nothing, the coffin will be covered. "Tears burst for a long time", "The coffin is covered", the world is difficult and tangled, people are on the journey, sad and tearful, only when the "coffin is covered", the world can be settled. It can be seen that at this time, Han Yu's heart is fragile and sensitive.
Arriving at the Longgong Beach fifteen miles west of Yangshan County, and finally arriving at the Renshou, Han Yu wrote a poem "Sulonggong Beach": "Haohao fu soup, the sound of the beach is more prominent." Rushing suspicious electric shock, frightening waves like floating frost. The dream lights are dizzy, and the rain is cold at night. How to connect with Xiao language, half is homesick. The night rain was continuous, the water was huge, and the coolness was sudden, at this time he was no longer hidden, and began to say "homesickness" bluntly.
3. Let anyone worry and rejoice
The boat and car were tired, over the mountains and mountains, and finally reached the border of Yangshan County: "The mountains and rivers are empty and the water is sandy, and there are two or three places where the mourning apes cry." Long and slender shoots, hesitating and blooming flowers. ("Reply to Zhang Eleven Gong Cao") "Over the mountains to the appointment, low face to serve the prince." Sour and cold, sores and warts. Distant lands are different, and the people are like apes. He was fierce and fierce, and his tongue was full of ridicule. Under the eaves of the daytime roof, double-chirping buckets. There are two snakes, and there are swarms of snakes flying around. Poor winter or shaking fan, mid-summer or heavy fur. Hurricane up the most fearsome, bow to the tomb hill. Thunder helps the light monster, and the weather is difficult to compare. The plague suddenly lurked, and none of the ten families had a problem. Guess the suspicion of poison, and worry about the case. ("On the way to Jiangling, I sent Wang Twenty Supplementary Que Li Eleven To Pick Up Li Twenty-six Members of the Outer Hanlin Three Scholars") This has both real writing and scene blending, and the poverty of Yangshan and the sorrow of Han Yu are clear at a glance.
In the "Preface to the District Book", he described it this way: "Yang Mountain, the poor place under the world." The land has the danger of hills, the danger of tigers and leopards; the rivers are fierce, the stones of the horizontal waves are inexpensive and sharp, the boats are out of power, and there are often those who are broken and drowned. There are no residents in the county, no officials and no lieutenants, between the barren grass and bamboo in the Jiajiang River, and more than ten small officials, all of whom are birds and birds. From the beginning to the speech is incomprehensible, the painting is a character..." "Yangshan Poor Yi only ape" ("Liu Sheng"). It can be seen that although the Yangshan Mountains at that time were beautiful, they were indeed a scene of few and desolate, poor and remote areas, rare people, tigers roaring apes, insects and snakes flying, and climate change was impermanent; the locals "birds talked about their faces", looked strange, it was difficult to communicate, and Han Yu could only "worry about the case".
But being in it also slowly experiences the other side of Yangshan, that is, its originality, simplicity and nature. In the environment where no one disturbed, Han Yu buried his head in reading, but he was quiet and "original": out of Shanshui County, reading Song Guilin. Depression donates the last thing, meets the original heart. Mourning awakens the common ear, and the clear spring is clean and dusty. ...... Silent fishing when green bamboo, searching for white clouds. ...... ("County Reading")
Moreover, occasionally, there are literati scholars who come to visit, "poetry has a common endowment, and wine is cooked without loneliness." ("County Zhai Reading"), one of the most memorable is from the South China Sea boat visit to the district book, the two said goodbye to drink wine to the bottom of the wine pot to the sky. Although Han Yu resented the trend of worshiping Buddha, he did not reject those who believed in Buddhism, and he once traveled with Jing Chang and Yuan Hui, who studied Buddhism: "... Floating swimming is fixed, and occasionally it is tongjin. My word should go, but the son's way is not my obedience. River fish do not live in the pond, and wild birds are difficult to tame. I am not Western, pitiful and mellow. I am jealous of the lazy wanderer, and the pitiful and foolish. To go to different interesting, what is a wave towel? "("Sending The Teacher") Playing together does not insist on having the same faith, but after playing, they are still different and different, which is the norm of life.
In the twenty-first year of Zhenyuan (805), Tang Shunzong succeeded to the throne, and the new dynasty seemed to give Han Yu hope: "Emperor Xinjiming, leading the land to flow day by day" ("County Zai Youhuai"), at the same time, a year's time still did not make him have a fundamental change in Yangshan: "The weather is unpredictable, and the sound is terrible." Yi Yan is not accustomed to listening, and the more vulgar it is, the more conventional it is. ("County Jai Youkai")
Finally ushered in a general amnesty, "the day before yesterday, there was a pardon, and the selfish heart was happy and worried", but "sure enough, it was bound again, and it was not allowed to return to the hoe." ("On the way to Jiangling, he sent Wang Twenty To Supplement the Gap Li Eleven Picked Up Li Twenty-six Members of the Outer Hanlin Three Scholars") - It is time to leave Yangshan, but Han Yu is not allowed to return to the capital Chang'an like other degraded people, let alone from then on, but "also bound" and changed to Jiangling to take up a post.
In fact, Han Yu had always been aggrieved by his being degraded to Yangshan, and many years later he also said: "I fell on Yangshan mountain, with Yin Feiyi" ("Sacrifice to Henan Zhang Yuanwai"), but he could only study and feast in frustration, and there are actually very few written records about his "political achievements" in Yangshan, although it is said that he did a lot of good things for the people.
Han Yu himself would not have imagined that fourteen years after leaving Yangshan, that is, in the fourteenth year of Yuan He (819), he once again encountered the fate of being degraded--being relegated to chaozhou farther away, when he was already the year of knowing the destiny of heaven, but he had to suffer more embarrassing suffering than the trip to Yangshan, but he rose to the challenge, drove away the crocodiles, cured the flood, promoted education, and did many good things for the local people, so he was remembered by the people of Chaozhou for generations, "Not vainly southern who eight thousand miles, winning the surname of Jiangshan and Shan." (Revised Edition)
Source: Feixia Magazine
About the Author:
Wu Xiaopan is the deputy director of the Cultural Supplement Department of Yangcheng Evening News. Senior Editor, Doctor of Arts.
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