Chinese culture is broad and profound, and Chinese characters have influenced the development of the entire human civilization. Chinese characters, from a word, a word, an idiom, to a proverb, a fable story, all contain the splendid Chinese culture of 5,000 years, and have become the most profound language and writing in the world. Today I want to talk about "sitting on the cold bench", I think everyone has heard it, but in fact, it is an idiom, which means to take on a vacant position without being valued, or to waiting for a long time to be received. During this trip to Qufu, Jining, Shandong Province, I had the privilege of coming to the "three holes" of the World Heritage List, namely the Confucius Temple, the Confucius Palace, and the Confucius Forest, which also made me understand the origin and story of the idiom of "sitting on the cold bench".
Photographed in Qufu, Jining, Shandong.
Confucius House, also known as "Yan Sheng GongFu". "Yan Sheng Gong" is the hereditary title of Confucius's eldest son, which began in the second year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1055 AD) and ended in the 24th year of the Republic of China (1935 AD), inheriting 32 generations and nearly 900 years. Confucius House is located in the city of Qufu in present-day Jining, Shandong, across a wall from the Confucius Temple. Confucius House was built in the 10th year of Ming Hongwu (1377 AD) by the edict of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.
The layout of the whole Confucius House is rigorous and magnificent, and the existing buildings are basically from the Ming and Qing dynasties, divided into east, middle and west three-way layout, a total of nine courtyards, with a total of 480 halls, halls, buildings, xuan, rooms and other buildings, covering a total area of 7.4 hectares, which is really worthy of being "the first person in the world".
Kongfu was originally the place where the Emperor Yansheng worked and lived in the past, and the architectural functions were clearly distinguished and arranged in an orderly manner. The front hall is used for handling official business, meeting guests, etc., and is a place for external activities, commonly known as "official court". The back bedroom is the place where the Kong family lives, commonly known as the "inner house".
The room, tile, monument and tree in the Confucius Mansion all reflect the long history of the "first family in the world" and the profundity of Confucianism, as well as the influence of the Kong family style of taking virtue as the government. Today, when we walk into the Confucius Mansion and listen to the stories that once happened here, we can still feel the profound meaning of this.
The front hall of the Confucius Palace is divided into a large hall, a second hall and a third hall, and is a place where the holy father has been entrusted with official affairs for generations. There is a hall between the lobby and the second hall, there is no extra furniture and decoration in the long hall corridor, but there is a red bench on the left and right sides, don't look at these two stools ordinary, it is a big deal Oh, known as "cold bench". If you have a guide, she will definitely remind you not to sit on the "cold bench".
How did the "cold bench" come about? This is the story that took place in the Ming Dynasty, when the granddaughter of Yan Song, a generation of powerful ministers, married Confucius's 64th grandson, Kong Shangxian, the Duke of Yansheng, and married Kong Fu. However, Yan Song, who was in power over the world, was corrupt and perverted the law, framed Zhongliang, and acted perversely, becoming a criminal courtier of the government and the opposition. At this time, he wanted to intercede for himself through the special status of the Saint After the Saint and the Holy Father, to the Jiajing Emperor.
After Yan Song arrived at the Confucius Mansion, after the servants had not heard back for a long time, he sat on the red bench in the hall of the hall, impatient. Yan Song sat here and waited for a day, but Yan Sheng Gong never received him, and he was determined not to favor his personal feelings, and Yan Song had to return fruitlessly. It wasn't long before Yan Song was raided by the imperial court and left homeless. On April 21, the forty-fifth year of Jiajing (1566 AD), Yan Song died of poverty and illness, and when he died, he was buried in the tomb, and no coffin was buried, nor was he mourned.
Later generations also wrote poems for this purpose: the old stool of the solid red lacquer pavilion, and the viewer laughed and ridiculed Yan Song. There are many nobles in the power and adultery, and it is difficult to seek a holy father in defeat. It vividly describes the style of kong's descendants who are passed down from generation to generation and deeply influenced by the diligent and honest family style. The red bench we see today is the one that Yan Song sat on at that time, which has a history of hundreds of years. It is also used to warn future generations: We must take morality as the foundation and maintain a clean and honest good work style.