Author: Insight ・ Heartland
Look down on the vicissitudes of the world, and be safe and sound inside.
In 1014 AD, a great joy occurred in the Northern Song Dynasty's Ying Tianfu.
Emperor Zhenzong of Song sent an edict to the people at the tianfu:
All subjects, young and old, poor or poor, could eat for three days free at the "Chongxi Celebration Building".
All the people were boiling, and the teachers and students of The Heavenly Academy met and traveled, but one student was not moved and still immersed himself in reading.
The classmate was surprised and asked: "Seeing the holy face and enjoying the food, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, why not go?" ”
The student shook his head and said, "If the book is not well read, it is useless to see the saint; if the book is read well, it is not too late for him to see him again." ”
A year later, the students entered the army and the first, not only saw all the Chang'an flowers in one day, but also became the humeral minister of the country in the future.
He was Fan Zhongyan, who was later known as "the first-class figure between heaven and earth".
01
Teenagers look far away
As soon as Fan Zhongyan appeared on the scene, he suffered a lot.
He lost his father at the age of 2, and his mother was forced to remarry the Zhu family for her livelihood, and he also changed his surname to Zhu.
At an early age, Fan Zhongyun followed his stepfather around, and his life was very difficult. Fortunately, his stepfather, who was born into a soldier, regarded him as if he had come out and carefully taught him to read and pray.
Under the earnest teachings of his stepfather, Fan Zhongyan made a grand wish from an early age that "if you are not a good doctor, you will be a good doctor".
The ideal is beautiful, the reality is very bone.
Although Fan Zhongyan participated in the imperial examination many times, he repeatedly failed the examination.
Fan Zhong sighed sadly: "The husband cannot benefit the people, not the ambition of the big husband." ”
Fan Zhongyan studied harder and harder, and he secretly resolved that he would never give up until he reached his ambition in this life.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, with the death of his stepfather, the brothers fought, and Fan Zhongyan, the child who was "hugged", was also swept out of the house.
Overnight, I was alone, the world was vast, and I didn't know where the road ahead was.
That year, Fan Zhongyan was 22 years old.
Reading became his only way out, he bid farewell to his mother, took a sword and a piano, and came to Yingtian Academy, which was free of tuition and accommodation fees, to study hard.
How bitter was Fan Zhongyan at that time?
According to the Northern Song Dynasty Wei Tai records:
"Cook corn in two pieces, make a porridge, condense it through sustenance, take the knife as four pieces, take two pieces in the morning and evening, break ten stems, half a cup of vinegar juice, add less salt, and warm it."
The pickle is the pickled pickle, the thin porridge is the pickle, and Fan Zhongyan has eaten it for 5 years.
In 1015 AD, Fan Zhongyan, who had been chewing pickles for 5 years and could not take off his clothes, finally entered the army and knocked on the door of "governing the country and the world".
Zeng Guofan said: "Talents are high and low, depending on their interests. ”
Whether a person can become a talent does not look at the family background, nor does it look at iq and emotional intelligence, but looks at his ambition.
People with lofty aspirations, even if there are thorns and bumps along the way, they can also fight for a splendid tomorrow.
02
Middle-aged look wide
Some people say that the highest state of a person's middle age is to know the world and not the world.
Especially in the ups and downs of the eunuch sea, those who can abide by the original intention and adhere to themselves are even more admirable.
Fan Zhongyan, 40 years old, was transferred to the Beijing Division with his hard work and became a secretary.
Although the official is not big, after all, he is a close subordinate of the emperor, as long as he manages it with care, the future must be expected.
However, Fan Zhongyan, who has been working at the grassroots level for 13 years and is well versed in the way of being an official, wants to speak bluntly, even in the face of the empress dowager, who is obedient to the government and has great power, he is not afraid, and he is still outspoken.
When he first entered the capital, Fan Zhongyan asked the empress dowager to withdraw the curtain and return to the government.
Enraged, the empress dowager exiled him to Hanoi Province, where he was not able to return to Beijing until the empress dowager's death.
Shortly after his return, knowing that Emperor Renzong of Song was bent on abolishing it, Fan Zhongyan repeatedly opposed the anger of Long Yan for violating the ancestral system, and was relegated to Muzhou.
As the saying goes, "nothing is too much", Fan Zhongyun has repeatedly degraded, and when he returned to the Beijing Division, he was not accustomed to the nepotism of the prime minister and controlled the government, and personally drew a "Hundred Officials Map" to impeach the prime minister, and finally was rebuffed by Zaifu.
Eight years and three depreciations, for Fan Zhong's dangerous official career, even his friends were anxious for him, advising him to talk less and not to be nosy.
Fan Zhongyan said calmly:
"There is no one hundred years old in the world, less foolish, old and emaciated." Only in the middle, some teenagers, bear to tie the floating name? ”
Life is only a hundred years old, ignorant when young, old and haggard.
Only a few middle-aged years can move forward with dreams, and how can they bear to be burdened by merit?
It turned out that he did not understand the sleek world, but he had already seen the ups and downs of the wide.
Regardless of whether he was promoted or degraded, Fan Zhongyan treated him with a normal heart; he lived in the height of the temple and was far away from the rivers and lakes, he accepted it calmly, did his best, and worked hard.
It is also this open-mindedness to see the gains and losses, so that he is more and more frustrated and courageous, and he can always create miracles in adversity.
When people called him, every time he was degraded, he was glorious, and his fame and status were on the next level, especially in the battlefield, the defeat of Western Xia, and the achievement of his generation of Confucian generals.
Romain Rolland has a good saying: "There is only one true heroism in the world, and that is to recognize the truth of life and still love life." ”
When people reach middle age, they walk like a reverse brigade, the tide chases the tide, the adversity is stacked on the good times, life always gives us challenges and difficulties one after another, and every step is extremely difficult.
But the harder life is, the wider our hearts are.
Regardless of the good or the bad, we all have hope, live the adversity into a good situation, and make the ditch a smooth road.
Regardless of gains and losses, we must not forget our original intentions, we must have the courage to ascend to the heights, and we must have the courage to rebound from the bottom.
03
Old age looks down
The wind knows the grass, and the board is honest.
Fan Zhongyan's outstanding ability to govern the world amazed Song Renzong, who appointed Fan Zhongyan as the governor of the government, led the "New Deal for celebrating the calendar", and reformed the old and the new.
Unfortunately, due to Song Renzong's suspiciousness, the huge reform was like a lightning bolt across the night sky, and it was only one year before it was overshadowed.
In the spring of 1045 AD, 57-year-old Fan Zhongyun, with two white sideburns and a slight figure, sat alone in a carriage and slowly drove away from the capital, and has since withdrawn from the political stage.
However, Fan Zhongyan, who was far away from the court, did not completely retire, but continued to warm the people of the Great Song Dynasty in a different way.
He devoted all his energy to "rejuvenating the school and enlightening the people", often using his leisure time to teach the scriptures and take the lead in teaching and educating people.
Hearing that Suzhou's private residence is a treasure land of feng shui, and future generations can "heel the public secretary", Fan Zhongyan did not say anything to convert it into a school, he said: "A family is expensive, if Wu Shixian is expensive?" ”
The clouds and mountains are cang, the rivers are swelling, the wind of Mr. Mister, the mountains are high and the waters are long.
Fan Zhongyan, like a diligent wise man, constantly sowed cultural seeds and cultivated many outstanding figures such as Zhang Zai and Di Qing for the Northern Song Dynasty.
Even more admirable is that he pioneered philanthropy in China.
In the year of Hua Jia, he spent his life savings to build the Fan's Yizhuang to support the poor in the family and warn future generations to comply with it, which alone was passed on by the future generations for more than 800 years.
Since then, the People of the Fan Clan have had daily eclipses, clothes, and marriages and funerals.
However, Fan Zhongyan himself had no spare funds, and after his death, he was buried in old clothes, and even the funeral was organized by friends.
What he left to his family was not a million family wealth, not a prominent position, but a noble personality and spiritual wealth that benefited him endlessly.
Fan Zhongyan often said: "People have moral pleasures, and the shape of the skeleton can be outside, but the situation is in the room?"
If a person has moral happiness, his body can not be wanted, let alone a house property?
In life, you can't eat more than three meals; you only need three feet; even if you are vigorous for a hundred years, you will eventually turn into a dust.
Instead of being wasted time by the reins of fame and fortune, it is better to cultivate chrysanthemums in the heart and harvest the calm and calmness of the heart.
As Feng Zikai said: "Look down on the vicissitudes of the world, and be safe and sound in your heart." ”
Only by letting go of vanity and profit can we listen to the inner voice and have true happiness.
Only by looking down on the glitz of the world can we live casually and have true freedom.
▽
From the cold door orphans counterattacking thousands of ancient famous faces, to the first-class figures in heaven and earth, Fan Zhongyan's inspirational and legendary life has become a model for the world's readers.
Life is a practice, a true wise man, who chooses all the way, changes all the way, grows all the way.
Young people should aim high and should not be indulged in pleasure.
In middle age, we must not change our original intentions and must not go with the flow.
Old people should be indifferent to fame and fortune and not be bound by materialism.
Only in this way can we cultivate ourselves and discipline ourselves, walk on the right path, and live up to this life.