"Grass and Muzi": An exclusive story of the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty

Ye Ziqi, a beginner in the late Yuan and Ming dynasties, is known for his profound knowledge, he has attainments in literature, history, philosophy, naturalism, medicine and other fields, but there are not many works that have been handed down to later generations, and the most well-known one is "Cao Muzi". If it weren't for the chance, this book would probably not have been published.

In the eleventh year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1378 AD), Ye Ziqi was unlucky, and once when passing by the City God Temple, a group of officials were secretly drinking pig brain wine. This matter originally had nothing to do with Ye Ziqi, he was just a bystander, but the government sent him to prison in the name of this. In prison, Ye Ziqi remembered Zuo Qiu Ming, Sima Qian and other figures in history who endured humiliation, so he also wrote a book with anger to clarify his ambition. This is the origin of "Grass and Wood". As Ye Ziqi said in the book, "Sitting alone in the circle, idle and having nothing to do, seeing that there are old signature books in pieces, he uses tiles to study ink, and when he encounters something, that is, the book", even if he is in prison, he has not given up the belief in writing books and sayings, and has organized a lot of fragmented knowledge into notes with what he has learned and thought in his life.

It can be said that "Cao Muzi" is a book of social vientiane in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty. "Cao Muzi" covers a lot of content, both astronomical and historical materials, among which many records about the history and scenery of the Yuan Dynasty are almost exclusive and of high value.

Let's start with the astronomical aspect. Ye Ziqi read a lot of books, formed a little materialist thinking that the ancient literati had, he believed that the operation of all things in the world has natural laws, "there are spring, summer, autumn and winter, the wind has east and west, north and south, and it is also a week old for a week." However, the constant wind should not have the air of rest, and it is the failure of the current government to waste the sky." As for those natural phenomena that cannot be explained for the time being, they have also appeared many times in history, and it is not so surprising. Wind, rain, thunder and lightning, flowers and trees are all constituent elements of nature, whether it is the flow of the four seasons or the vision of the sky, it is itself a natural law. It is very rare to be able to form such a simple understanding, and to have the basic literacy of modern science.

Ye Ziqi's ability to summarize is very strong, the language is very concise, and the golden sentences in "Cao Muzi" appear frequently. "The middle is impartial, there is no fault, and the natural body is also; the mediocre is eternal and unchanging, and the way is always the same" - this is Ye Ziqi's simple summary of the idea of the mean, and in today's view, it is also very exquisite. There are many ancient and modern interpreters of Confucian classics, but very few are concise, not because the words of the sages are obscure, but because many subtle words have become more complex and boring in the continuous elaboration of later generations. But Ye Ziqi's thoughts are not obscure at all, he can always say the most profound meaning in the simplest language, which also makes his literary and historical notes "dry" a lot. For example, Liu Bingzhong helped Kublai Khan plan the history of the Yuan capital, which is also recorded in "Cao Muzi":

Yuan Shizu asked Liu Taibao after a day: "Today's fixed capital, only the capital, the capital, the ear." What is the best of the two places?" Liu said: "The capital is short and the people are pure; "So the plan of the capital swallow was decided.

At his suggestion, Kublai Khan finally decided to set the capital in Beijing, which was the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and let Liu Bingzhong participate in the planning and construction of the capital. This historical material about Kublai Khan's question about Liu Bingzhong whether he should choose the capital of the Yuan Dynasty or the capital of the Yuan Dynasty is not found in other documents of the same period, and those who use this historical material in later generations should be selected from the original record of "Cao Muzi".

When Ye Ziqi wrote "Cao Muzi", although it was already the Ming Dynasty, he did not completely deny the previous Yuan Dynasty, and he still recognized Kublai Khan. He also wrote a number of short stories about Kublai Khan in the book, such as:

Emperor Yuan Shizu Si Taizu had a difficult business, so he took a green grass from the place where he lived, and placed it in front of the Great Inner Danqi, which was called the oath of thrifty grass, and he wanted to make future generations know the festival of diligence and thrift. In the middle of the day, Dasi Nongda did not spend more than a dozen palace words, one of which was a cloud: "Mohe Wanlijin Desert, the ancestor thinks deeply about the difficulty of starting a business." But he looked at the dry grass and protected it, and Danqi stayed with his children and grandchildren to see. ”

It is said that once, Kublai Khan remembered that it was really difficult for Genghis Khan to establish the Mongol Empire, and future generations should learn from his spirit of hard work, diligence and frugality, and not indulgence. In the reign of Emperor Yuan Shun, a big Sinong named Da Buhua also wrote a poem to comment on this matter. This is almost Ye Ziqi's exclusive record. Judging from the name, Dabuhua should be a Mongol, although his official position was not low at that time, but he was also an unknown person who disappeared in the long river of time, and there is no other record. Later, the late Qing scholar Chen Yan included this poem in the "Chronicle of Yuan Poems", which allowed Da Buhua and his poems to add a little bit of "exposure".

In history, I don't know how many similar literati and officials have not been given the opportunity to "show their faces" in the history books. The historical figures who can be "exposed" in Ye Ziqi's book must be more or less legendary or entertaining, otherwise they would not be included in "Cao Muzi".

The most rare thing is that Ye Ziqi also recorded some stories of little folk people in "Cao Muzi". In ancient times, ordinary people needed to have unusual stories, even if they were only recorded by "wild" scholars. Those who are mediocre may not be noticed. Here's what it looks like:

There is a woman on Shaoxing Road, who has lost her surname, is old and young, and wants to keep her will and not marry. Because King Qin Boyan messed with the law, he wanted to brush the children of the world...... And on the eve of love, a poem is inscribed on the wall: "I am nine out of ten, my face is like a flower like a willow, my parents forced me to get married, I have to endure it happily, since I was a child, six roots are pure, how to make an ugly night? "After writing, the pen is gone, and the township is called different.

In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, the powerful ministers and ministers of Boyan were in chaos, not only causing chaos in the dynasty, but also harming the people, forcing many young girls to marry. The slightest evil thought of a big man will create great suffering for the people. At that time, there was a girl in Jiangnan who, according to Boyan's order, had to get married, and her parents also arranged a marriage for her. But this girl is very independent, vows not to marry, and on the wedding night, she even wrote a poem on the wall, declaring her determination to never marry. After writing this poem, she threw down the pen, and she died.

This matter is only seen in "Cao Muzi", and it is Ye Ziqi's exclusive story. It may have had a great influence among the people, so much so that decades later, when Ye Ziqi wrote "Cao Muzi", he still remembered this matter. This girl did not leave a name at all in history, but she stayed in "Cao Muzi" with a decisive attitude, perhaps in Ye Ziqi's heart, such a strong woman is also admirable like those literati in history who are determined to die.

Source: Beijing Evening News, Reading Times, Issue 04, 2024

Author: Simon Huang

Editor: Wu Xicheng

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