The statue of Xin Jiu on the bank of the Xinjiang River in Lead Mountain Photo by Ding Minghua
Most of the idle years of Xin's second half of his life were spent in Qiaoquan.
"Qiaoquan" is a place name in Shangrao's Yanshan County, Jiangxi, which belonged to Xinzhou in the east of Jiangnan 800 years ago during the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, in order to arrange his later life, Xin abandoned his illness and came to the surrounding Buju, and was attracted by a spring here, so he built fields and houses, and eventually grew up here.
The car is driving on the land of northeast Gan in early summer, the Xinjiang River outside the window is shimmering, the fields on both sides are green, the hills are verdant, the farmhouses are beautiful, and the scenery is pleasing to the eye. Someone recited Xin's words: "The thatch is low, and the stream is green and grassy." Drunken Wu Yin is flattering, white-haired who is a woman..." Immediately there were people, and it was two or three, and the small chorus followed up like a chorus: "Da Er hoe Bean Xidong, Zhong'er is weaving a chicken cage." The favorite child dies, and the stream head lies down and peels off the lotus canopy. ”
This song "Qingping Le Village House" is widely circulated and almost a household name. Through it and many well-known masterpieces, the name of an outstanding lyricist of the Southern Song Dynasty is firmly imprinted in people's memories.
For other writers, it should be a dream to have such an impact, but Xin may not care. What kind of person Xin Qiqian is, and gaining fame through literary cai has never been his pursuit. Although he opened up a generation of magnificent words, he was first and foremost a patriot who was rare in the world. He had great ambitions from a young age, eager to regain the lost territory in the north that had fallen to the Jin people, and in his early twenties, he gathered 2,000 people to fight against Jin and join the rebel army of the peasant leader Geng Jing. Geng Jing was killed by a traitor, so he personally led 50 horses, broke into the enemy camp of 50,000 people, captured the traitor, tied him to his horse, galloped across the Yangtze River, and handed it over to the Southern Song court for execution. What courage and boldness it takes to make such an amazing move! He became famous for this, and the contemporary writer Hong Mai recorded the great impact of this extraordinary feat at that time in his article "Jiaxuan": "The heroic is heroic, the coward rises for it, and the Holy Son of Heaven sighs at first sight." ”
Fleeing Qilu under foreign rule and going to the embrace of his homeland in Lin'an, Jiangnan, Xin abandoned his illness with enthusiasm for serving the country, and wrote "Ten Treatises on Meiqin" and "Nine Discussions" and other theories on the use of troops in the Northern Expedition. However, the court of the Southern Song Dynasty stole peace, satisfied with the remaining water of half of the remnants of the mountain, and reacted coldly. Although those in power knew of his outstanding administrative skills and used them, they successively appointed him as a transit envoy and pacification envoy in Lianghu and Jiangxi, and he also vigorously eliminated malpractices and made outstanding achievements in these high-ranking positions, but this was far from what he expected. Regaining the lost land and washing away the shame of the country is his original intention, but the highest level intends to let him not participate in the restoration plan. On the other hand, his upright conduct and resolute style do not tolerate vulgar and slippery officialdom, and all kinds of rumors and slander, like dark winds and arrows, attack him from time to time.
He planned ahead and prepared himself for retreat in advance.
He and his doormen came to the area of Lead Mountain and Goose Lake Mountain, looking for suitable accommodation, and found a spring water after Qishi Village, clear and clear. He fell in love with it at first sight, couldn't bear to leave, and it is said that he stayed in a nearby farmhouse that night. He wrote a poem "Cave Immortal Song Visit Spring in Qishi Village, Get Zhou's Spring, for Fu", which contains this sentence: "Here and here, Jiewu Lu, wait to learn Yuanming, and plant more hands, five willows in front of the door." He decided to build a residence here and spend the rest of his life.
As Xin expected, he was soon dismissed by the imperial court under suspicion. He spent most of the next two decades in idleness. During this period, most of the living and travel were in the residence of Qiaoquan.
Being born at an opportune time is the root cause of the tragedy of Xin's abandonment of illness. Huang Zongxi, a thinker during the Ming and Qing dynasties, commented: "Xin Jiaxuan is a weak late Song dynasty, and he is responsible for his talents and pleasures, and he cannot use it to the fullest, and he is loyal and angry, and has nowhere to vent... Therefore, his sad songs are generous, and his depression and boredom are pinned on his words. "A fiery enthusiasm for serving the country, a world-beating talent, like Guan Zhong and Le Yi in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, but there is nowhere to display martial arts.
The years are merciless, the time is not with me, the mountains and rivers are broken, and the sword is idle. It is difficult to reward, only to look up to the sky and sigh. Words are the voice of the heart, and the depression in the chest, the grievances and grievances, all appeal to his handy words. As a result, in many of his works, you can read the indignation and sadness of the hero's loss -
This is the loud exclamation in "Water Dragon Yin Dengjiankang Appreciation Pavilion": "It's a pity that the years are passing, and the wind and rain are worried, and the trees are still like this." Qian who, summon the red scarf green sleeve, tears of heroes! This is the melancholy low reply in "Touching the Fish, More Winds and Rains": "Leisure is the most bitter." Hugh went to lean on the danger fence, the slanting sun was on, and the smoke willow was broken. "A Kuangfu Sheji's ambition, but everywhere hit a wall, but ended up "but will exchange the 10,000 words for the owner's tree planting book" ("Partridge Days, Some Guests, Talking about Fame in Memory of Youth Current Affairs Plays"). But as long as there is still a breath, he still has the world's strong heart: "In my life, I will return to China and be pale." Bu was dreamed of autumn night, and there were thousands of miles of rivers and mountains in front of him" ("Qingping Le Duju Boshan Wang Clan An")... Through the literary genius of the world, they are expressed so movingly that they will be read thousands of years later.
If at the beginning of his return to Tiantian, Xin was still waiting for the edict of the imperial court to be revived, but as time passed, he was completely dead. As his years passed and his recovery was hopeless, his eyes began to look to the idyllic scenery and farm life.
Xin abandoned his illness and wrote lyrics all his life, and the years of Qiaoquan were a fruitful period. He has always loved the idyllic Tao Yuanming, whose name and poems frequently appear in his works during this period. He built the "Song Ju Hall" in the pine forest, which is to take the poetic meaning of Tao Yuanming, "Yuanming loves chrysanthemums the most, and the three paths also plant pines." Whoever cleans up, a thousand years of flavor in this mountain" ("Water Tune Song Head Fusong Jutang").
The joy of agricultural life is transformed into a line of fresh and lively words in his writing: "The night rain is drunk, and the spring water is the horse." Spot check the happy people in the fields, not like those who are like weaving"; "Brassica grass to Chen roots, bamboo to add new tiles. In case the Chao family lifts the power field, I will leave no one else. ("Bu Shuzi Manxing") "Bailu garden vegetables, blue water stream fish, Mr. Xiao net fishing and hoeing." ("Yukikako Yamaju Kezhi")... Planting seedlings and vegetables, fishing and hoeing, he became a farmer. The long-cherished wish of returning gray hair to farming has truly come true. His concern for the livelihood of the people, and his bitter feelings of common happiness were also written into the words: "Father and old man argue that the rain is even, and his brows are not as good as last year. Thank you sincerely, but you will not be in the dust. ("Huan Xi Sha Father and Elder Argue That the Rain is Even")
In addition to various specific operations, this song "Manjiang Hong, Mountain Residence is the Matter" can best portray Xin's state of mind during this period: "Spring rain is full, Qin Xin Valley." Idle days and eternal sleep. Look at the clouds and wheat ridges, snowdrifts and silkworm clusters, if you want to be enough now, think that it is not enough for time. He was helped into the East Garden by Ye Lao and Xiang, and the loquats were ripe. ”
Flowing between these words is the calm and leisurely flow of idle clouds and wild cranes. But did he really forget all the humiliation, and never forget everything, as he said, every day is just "drunk, wandering and sleeping"?
Pleasure is undoubtedly comfortable, people have many emotional needs, and the landscape and countryside can entertain people. When there is no way to serve the country and ambitions are difficult to reward, Xiaoao Mountain and Forest send love to the clouds, which is a way to soothe the soul that feels lost. This is also the choice of a heroic figure in a mediocre society.
But inner wounds are difficult to heal. A hot-blooded boy was forced to leave the political stage in the prime of his career, and his life was gradually lost by time, which was really unbearable, "how to worry about words"! Therefore, even in the most pleasant moments, this melancholy, anxiety, and anger often suddenly rises to the heart because of some kind of touch, tearing the liver and gallbladder to the point of stinging. This scene, which is not glimpsed by outsiders, has been repeated in Xin's soul for nearly twenty years. Therefore, his thoughts, thoughts out of the dust, are sometimes just a kind of self-relief, a helpless relief.
Therefore, at the age of sixty-four, when Han Kanxuan, the prime minister who strongly advocated the Northern Expedition, was in charge and used the main war faction, he did not hesitate to leave the landscape and idyllic garden that had been operated for many years and went to Zhenjiang, the forefront of the anti-gold resistance at that time.
The popular song "Yongyule Jingkou Beiguting Huaigu" was written at this time. "Through the ages, heroes are not found, Sun Zhongmou is in office" "Who asks: Lian Po is old, can still eat" ... Lao Ji's ambition jumped out between the words, and it did not diminish the year when he was a leaping horse. But the development of the situation once again hit him hard. After more than a year in office, he was impeached and removed from office and returned to Lead Mountain to retire. Only a few months later, the rulers did not heed his repeated admonitions - fully prepared and carefully deployed, launched a hasty Northern Expedition, which ended in the defeat of the Song army, and the Southern Song Dynasty once again paid a heavy and humiliating price in exchange for another Gou'an. Xin, who was physically and mentally exhausted, also died two years later, holding hatred for life.
His life is a tragic unfolding process, which makes people see the abandonment of loyalty and the disillusionment of ideals. But the sublime is hard to destroy, because there are words. When normal time wears and abnormalities become abnormal, all material existence disappears without a trace, and only the spirit can be preserved through words.
Xin's life is immortalized by his many outstanding works.
On the way to Qiaoquan, I visited the Xin Jiu Disease Cemetery. The car stopped next to a narrow country road, and we walked along a concrete road through the field towards the foot of the mountain, and several times we climbed the stairs until we came to the round bulge behind a white stone tombstone, where Xin's bones were buried. At the top of the four-story tomb made of hemp stone, the loess is piled up and the grass is thick and luxuriant. On the stone pillars on the left and right sides in front of the tombstone, a couplet is engraved: "The iron plate copper lute follows the eastern slope to sing the great river to the east, and the beautiful celery is sad and the Southern Song Mo flies south with the Hong Yan." "On the steps below, there are offerings such as fruit pastries, and three incense sticks wafting white smoke in the incense burner, and the worshippers have obviously left not long ago. I remembered that halfway through, a few middle-aged men with loyal faces and plain clothes walked by. They may be the descendants of Xin, where the Xin ethnic group has multiplied for many generations, branching out and becoming numerous. But maybe it's just his admirers, like our group of visitors from afar.
We poured a bottle of liquor into the glass, and a few people raised their hands and splashed it in front of the tombstone to pay homage to the hero. The green mountains are evergreen, and the harvest is not old.
Why is this place called "Scoop Spring"?
It wasn't that name in the first place. Xin changed the village name "Qishi" to the homophonic "expectation", expressing the hope of ending the division between the north and the south and serving the imperial court. So, what was his intention in changing the original name of the spring "Zhou's Spring" to "Scoop Spring"?
The answer quickly came in. The destination Xin abandoned the disease, it is located on the side of the Shangfen road leading from Shangrao to the watershed, which is now called "Jiaxuan Township", and the place name places people's nostalgia. A few hundred meters down a cobblestone slope, under a wooded cliff face, in the low recess of a flat and wide piece of stone, there is a scoop-shaped pool with crystal clear water with a few leaves and tiny petioles floating on the surface.
This is the Scoop Spring. The vivid and intuitive image makes its naming seem natural. But beyond the likeness, there is actually another deep meaning. From the complete collection of Xin Jiu's lyrics, I found a "Water Dragon Yin Title Scoop Spring". There are so many masterpieces that this one is not included in the various anthologies I purchased. There is a sentence like this: "Lotte knows its destiny, who will come in ancient times, walk and hide." People are overwhelmed, a scoop of self-pleasure, virtuous return. He promised himself with Yan Hui, a wise disciple of Confucius, expressing his desire to live in peace and happiness and live with the spring. The meaning of the spring water name change is clear.
Looking up, there is a pavilion on the top of Gua Mountain, which is about 100 meters high. This is the site of the Stop Cloud Pavilion built by Xin Jiu Ji that year, and the name is taken from Tao Yuanming's poem "Stop the Cloud". Its "Forever Yule Tou Lao Kong Mountain" cloud: "Stop the clouds high, who knows Lao Tzu, everything does not care about the eyes." "There is a path from the spring to the pavilion, which is not steep, but because I accidentally sprained my ankle the day before, I hesitated, but I still did not dare to climb it, so I could not overlook the surrounding mountains and countryside from a high place, including the ruins of Xin's former residence scattered among them.
After being degraded, Xin abandoned his illness between his villa in Shangrao Lake and the Lead Mountain Scoop Spring, and soon after the Lake was destroyed by fire, he lived in the Scoop Spring until his death. After several expansions over the years, Xin's houses, gardens and cultivated land were spread within a radius of several kilometers, some of which still have traces of this. Due to the rush of time, it was not possible to arrange a visit, but this clear spring is enough. It is lively and flowing, and has the function of generating and stirring emotions.
I crouched down, gently removed the fine floating debris on the surface of the water, picked up a handful of water, buried my head, and drank it all. The spring water is cool and sweet, the taste is pure and pure, and it breathes out the breath of the depths of the earth.
This is the source of water that Xin once drank.
(Author: Peng Cheng)
Source: Guangming Daily