Original title: The magnificent life of Prince Cheng Yongying on the stone carving
The square Chinese character is an important contribution of the Chinese nation to world culture, and the art of calligraphy based on Chinese characters has a long-term and extensive influence in the East Asian Confucian cultural circle. Calligraphy is also a basic skill of traditional Chinese scholars, there are many calligraphers in the Qing Dynasty, and Prince Cheng Aixin Jueluo Yongzheng as the emperor of the royal family, is undoubtedly one of the most noble calligraphers. Yong Ying was very accomplished in the art of calligraphy, and enjoyed a high reputation at that time and in later generations, leaving a large number of his calligraphy works and law inscriptions in China.
Portrait of Aisin Jueluo Yongying
Yongying is the eleventh son of Emperor Qianlong, the imperial brother of Emperor Jiaqing, the imperial uncle of Emperor Daoguang, and was named Prince Heshucheng at the age of thirty-seven. During the Qianjia Dynasty, he participated in some major historical events at that time, and was appointed to leave a lot of ink treasures at some important moments and major projects, and his works are not only witnesses of major historical events, but also precious artistic treasures left to future generations.
The calligrapher's son wrote the mausoleum inscription for the emperor's father
As one of the most important ceremonial buildings of the royal family, the tombs of ancient Chinese emperors represented the highest construction skills at that time, usually with huge scale and extremely high construction level. Yuling is the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty after entering the customs, that is, the mausoleum of the Qianlong Emperor, it is located in the northwest of Zunhua City, Hebei Province, 30 kilometers of Ma Lanyu, the building scale is large, the layout is complete, the materials are excellent, the craftsmanship is exquisite.
Yuling was built in the eighth year of Qianlong (1743), and it took nine years to build the main project.
During the reign of Qianlong, after the long-term accumulation of the Kang and Yong dynasties, the society was stable for a long time, the population grew rapidly, the treasury was full, and the empire had the financial resources, manpower and willingness to build mausoleums. Yuling is composed of the main buildings such as the Shengde Shengong Tablet Pavilion, the Five-Hole Bridge, the Stone Statue, the Archway Gate, the Shinto Tablet Pavilion, the Longen Gate, the Matching Palace, the Longen Palace, the Fangcheng, the Ming Building, the Baoding and the Underground Palace.
Yuling丨Image source network
In November of the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), Emperor Renzong, that is, Emperor Jiaqing, issued an edict to build the Yuling Great Monument Tower, and the construction started two years later. Yuling Shengde Shengong Monument imitates the style of Jingling Shengde Shengong Monument Building, the pavilion is 6.64 meters high two stone tablets, respectively with Manchu Han engraved inscription, the east tablet is engraved with Manchu text, the west tablet is engraved with Chinese characters.
The inscription was written by Emperor Renzong Jiaqing, who praised his father Emperor Qianlong, saying that he "has the virtues of Yao Shunyu Tang Wenwu Confucius, and there has been no one who has been prosperous since the emperor", and also called him "the four virtues are not violated, and there is a perfect award, and the Emperor Qianlong is said to be a perfect historical person". It is worth mentioning that the inscription Chinese characters are written by Prince Cheng Yongying, the book style is typical, the pen is fluent, and more than 4,300 words are sprinkled with Yangyang, which is well preserved so far, the handwriting is clear, and contains rich historical and cultural information.
In history, many emperors did not hesitate to build mausoleums with great construction, and they all hoped that the monuments containing their "heroic names" and deeds would be passed on to future generations and last forever. The stele of each mausoleum was built by his successors, and the inscription on the stele outlines the life and exploits of the previous emperor. In the feudal era of filial piety, the empire attached great importance to the inscription of the mausoleum, and must invite the world's recognized calligraphers to write it. Yong Ying, together with Weng Fanggang, Liu Yong, and Tie Bao, is known as the four great calligraphers of the mid-Qing Dynasty, and is the master of royal calligraphy in the mid-Qing Dynasty. Prince Li's "Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records" said: "Yongzhen's name is important for a while, and the scholar doctor has only one word on paper, which is as heavy as a treasure." The commentator said that the dynasty was only one person from Wang Ruolin (Shu). "Emperor Qianlong's Yuling Shengong Shengde Monument was written by his son Emperor Jiaqing, and Prince Cheng Yongzheng wrote Chinese characters, which was not only in line with filial piety, but also used to win people.
After the big case of Hong Liangji, he engraved the law in Jin Zhai
On the third day of the first month of the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), Emperor Qianlong died. In order to stabilize the throne, Emperor Jiaqing urgently made a series of major personnel appointments, "ordering Prince Yongying, the former scholar of the Criminal Department of the University Scholars Department Dong Huan, and the military department Shangshu Qinggui to walk in the military aircraft." Emperor Jiaqing used Dong Huan, Wang Jie, and the princes of the clan Chunying, Yongying and others to cut through the chaos quickly, and unexpectedly arrested and killed He Shen during the national funeral. When the property of the Heshen family was confiscated, Emperor Jiaqing also gave his garden to Yongying to show his favor.
After witnessing the high-pressure rule of the powerful ministers in the last years of Qianlong and the blockage of the road of speech, Emperor Jiaqing was heartbroken by the disadvantages of the times in the last years of Qianlong, and at the beginning of his reign, he decided to "ask for straightforward words and open up the way of speech". Encouraged by the new emperor's humble admonition and hard work, Hong Liangji, who was walking in the study at that time and editing the "Records of Gaozong" with Zhu Gui, a scholar, was full of enthusiasm.
Hong Liangji
Hong Liangji calligraphy
Hong Liangji pointed out that in Qianlong's later years, "although he imitated the diligence of his ancestors, he did not fulfill the law", "the administration of employment should be changed", and "rewards and punishments were still not strict", and other corrupt officialdom habits, the spearhead was directly aimed at the emperor himself. Emperor Jiaqing, who had been touched by the scales, changed color violently, and in a fit of rage, he demoted Hong Liangji and sent him to Yili, and the following year sent a message to General Ili to return him to his hometown. In this incident of Hong Liangji's letter, not only was Hong Liangji himself punished and belittled, but Prince Yongzhen, who was the Minister of Military Aircraft at the time, was also implicated and punished. In October of the fourth year of Jiaqing, he issued an edict: "There is no king to walk in the military aircraft department, because the military affairs are more complicated, and the military aircraft are not in line with the national custom, and the military aircraft is walked." According to the "Qing Historical Manuscript", it is recorded: "In August (the fourth year of Jiaqing), Hong Liangji edited and revised the book of Yongying to ridicule the government, Yongzheng Shangwen, and to treat the crime of Liangji. This is the famous "Hong Liangji case".
Hong Liangji had two copies of the manuscript at that time, one was written to Prince Cheng himself, the then Minister of Military Aircraft, and the other was to ask him to submit it to Emperor Jiaqing on his behalf. We speculate that the fundamental reason for Emperor Jiaqing's punishment of Hong Liangji may not be inappropriate words, but that he committed the crime of trespassing by not distinguishing between priorities and subordinates by privately presenting a letter to the emperor and presenting a letter to Prince Cheng at the same time. Before the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Eight Banners Baylor was mostly used to govern together, and although Huang Taiji strengthened the imperial power to a certain extent, there was a situation of Dolgon's dictatorship. Shunzhi and Kangxi made a series of efforts, and by the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, the situation of the dominance of the imperial power had been very stable. In order to meet the needs of the northwest army, Emperor Yongzheng set up a military aircraft department, and later replaced the cabinet and the six ministries to become the real center of power.
It was an unwritten rule that the Qing Dynasty clan did not enter the military aircraft department, and Yongzheng was given real power and served as the minister of military aircraft during the special period of the Qianjia iteration, which was not a political treatment among the princes after Yongzheng. When the political situation gradually stabilized, Emperor Jiaqing had the historical lesson of punishing the power of the vassal kings of the previous dynasty, and began to look for excuses to reduce the power of the prince. Since ancient times, ruthlessness is the most emperor's family, and the noble status of Yongying's brother and minister of military aircraft, in order to prevent trouble, even the temple name Renzong, the kind-hearted Emperor Jiaqing, is quite afraid of this. At this time, it happened that Hong Liangji wrote on the book, and Emperor Jiaqing took advantage of the topic to play and took advantage of the situation to seize the power of the ruling minister of Yongying. At this point, Yongying's short political career came to an end, and he basically stopped participating in court politics in the future, and only engaged in matters such as invigilation of imperial examinations according to the holy will.
Yongying, who was at home, devoted the main time to his hobbies, and since then he has been obsessed with study, and his calligraphy skills have become more and more sophisticated. In the ninth year of Jiaqing (1804), he was ordered to copy the five volumes of the Book of Yi Jin Zhai on the stone. "Jiaqing Nine Years of the Edict" recorded: "My brother became a prince, since childhood specialized in calligraphy, won the meaning of the ancients with a pen, involved in all families, part-time work, decades of indiscriminate pond, recent courtiers literature of the work of the book, rare right. "Yi Jin Zhai Book" has a total of five volumes, the first volume is four kinds of imperial texts, and the last four volumes are mainly in ancient times, a total of 19 kinds. At this moment, Changsha Chen Boyu, Yuan and Yuan Zhi carving, because of the imitation of the famous hand, Yongli heavy also copy the ancient merits of the deep, quite considerable, Jiaqing Emperor gave the name of "Yi Zhai Jin Post", awarded to the ministers.
After that, Yongying successively engraved many volumes of the law: four volumes of "Shoushi Zhai Tibetan Post", "Yi Jin Zhai Towel Box Post" 16 volumes, "Yi Jin Zhai Towel Box Continuation" four volumes, "Huayulou Law Post" eight volumes, "Kuaijilou Law Post" four volumes, "Yi Jin Zhai Law Post" four volumes, of which the last two volumes of "Rushing Chong Zhai Stone Carving" are written by Yong Ying. At present, the Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum collects 140 square meters of "Yi Jin Zhai Post" carved stone, and Prince Cheng Yongying is an important treasure of the museum.
Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum Collection
Ruan Yuan was a famous minister in the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods, and had a prominent position in the Qing Dynasty book circle, and was respected as a generation of Wenzong. He and Yong Ying sympathized with each other, and the two calligraphers not only participated in the compilation of the "Siku Quanshu", but also compiled and revised the "Shiqu Baoji Continuation" together, which became a good story and beautiful talk at that time. In March of the third year of Daoguang (1823), Yong Ying died, and the bad news came, and Ruan Yuan, who was in office in Guangzhou at the time, was very sad when he heard the news. In order to commemorate his friends, he bought Duanzhou giant inkstone in Guangzhou and engraved "Yi Jin Zhai Huashan North".
Spanning the millennium of the Eastern Jin Dynasty land machine "Pingfu Post"
"Pingfu Post" was made in July of the second year of Emperor Tai'an of Jin Hui (303), it is a reply letter written by Lu Ji, a famous writer and calligrapher of the Western Jin Dynasty, to Yu Pre, it is the earliest famous law post in the world, and it is also the first piece of law post ink in history that circulates in an orderly manner, the post has the reputation of "the ancestor of the law and the country", and is known as one of the nine "treasures of the town" in China. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Tibetan collection has been orderly, and the Northern Song Dynasty has entered the Huizong Xuanhe Inner Palace.
In the forty-second year of Qianlong (1777), Empress Xiao Shengxian passed away, and when she was dying, she gave the "Pingfu Post" originally displayed in Shoukang Palace as a "bequest" to Emperor Sun Yongzhen. This year, Yongying was only twenty-five years old. Yongying also wrote in the twenty-fifth poem of the "Book of Records": "The true book of "Pingfu" is the biography of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Yuan Chang was before the right army. Cining Palace Spring and Autumn Period, worship hands to return to Ding Younian. Ding Youxia, issued, Empress Xiao Shengxian bequeathed the minister Yongzhen to get the ink of Jin's "Pingfu Post". Yinghe recorded: "Prince Chengzhe was loved by Empress Xiao Shengxian, and on the occasion of his ascension, he issued a testament to Lu Ji's "Pingfu Post", Wang Baozhi. The name of this is also the name of Jin Zhai. After "Pingfu Post" arrived at Prince Cheng's mansion, Yongying named his study "Yi Jin Zhai". He gave himself a room name - "Yi Jin Zhai", and once composed a poem of seven laws and seven uniques, all of which are contained in "Yi Jin Zhai". Yongzhen is inscribed on another paper with "Jin Lu Ji Ping Fu Post", and two white text seals of "Yong Zhen's Seal" and "Yi Jin Zhai". Since then, Yongzhen's calligraphy and poetry creation throughout his life have been associated with "Pingfu Post" and Yi Jinzhai.
Yongying passed the "Pingfu Post" to his great-grandson Zaizhi, and later returned to Prince Gong Yi. The Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty, Pu Wei fled to Qingdao, and the "Pingfu Post" was left to his two younger brothers in Beijing. In 1934, Pu Ru and others were in urgent need of money because of their mother's funeral, and through the mediation of Fu Zengxiang, they sold the "Pingfu Post" to Mr. Zhang Boju at a price of 40,000 yuan. In January 1956, Zhang Boju and Pan Su donated the rare treasure of "Pingfu Post" to the state together with other cultural relics, and this post is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. This event is a legend and a beautiful story in the history of ancient and modern collecting.
The ancients often said that "words are like people", but there are exceptions to everything. Perhaps the suave Prince Cheng Yongying in everyone's minds must also be rich in clothes and food and extremely luxurious in life. However, what is unthinkable is that although Yongying is noble, his life is quite frugal, and it can even be said that he is very "stingy". In the thirty-first year of Qianlong (1766), Yongzheng and Fu Cha, the daughter of Fu Heng, a university scholar, were married in Chonghua Palace. Fucha is the niece of Empress Xiaoxian, the first queen of Qianlong, born in a famous family, his father Fu Heng and his brothers Fukangan and Fu Chang'an are all important ministers of the Qianlong Dynasty, and they are naturally rich in wealth, and Yong Ying collected his wife's dowry on the day of the wedding and sealed the treasury.
About the Author
Yan Xia is an associate research librarian of the Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum, a member of the Chinese Museums Association, and the most beautiful volunteer in the capital. He likes to walk around the Sijiu City of Beijing with his camera, discover and show the beauty of the ancient capital with his lens, and tell the stories behind the cultural relics with lively and vivid language. He is the author of "Five Uniques of the King Kong Throne Tower of Zhenjue Temple" and "Beautiful Stone Carving", and shares Beijing's "carving time" in newspapers and magazines such as "Beijing Daily", "Beijing Evening News", "Beijing Youth Daily" and "Chinese Volunteers".
[Source: Beijing Chronicle, March issue]