Night reading · book is beneficial
"The Falling of the Stars" is a biography of Chinese literati, from the pre-Qin period to the Ming and Qing dynasties, a total of 25 important Chinese cultural sages are selected, their life stories are comprehensively introduced, their representative works are appreciated, and their poetic lives are interpreted.
The author of this book is the keynote speaker of "Hundred Lectures" and Dr. He Chuhan, a teacher at the School of Arts of Hebei University, and she is also a cultural blogger with tens of millions of fans on the whole network.
Many of the cultural sages and articles involved in the book are in textbooks, which are very intimate to read, which can allow us to easily understand the knowledge of literature and history, and immerse ourselves in the magnificent history and the spiritual world of cultural sages.
Ji Kang: Live life happily
one
In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a special group of intellectuals known as the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest". They are far away from the world, fairy-like, despise the powerful, arrogant and arrogant, and are a group of "alternative people" who live a particularly nourishing life. Ji Kang is a typical representative of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest.
In 224 AD, Ji Kang was born into a small bureaucratic family in Qiaoguo County (present-day Linli Town, Suixi County, Huaibei City, Anhui Province). Ji Kang's father worked under Cao Cao, but he died when Ji Kang was seven years old, and his mother and brother raised Ji Kang, because of the spoiling of his mother and brother, Ji Kang developed a free and loose personality from an early age, but this did not affect his talent and love of reading. At that time, Ji Kang would always find a way to borrow one or two books to read, and the books he read the most were related to Lao Zhuang's philosophy. Because of the poverty of his family, the family never invited Ji Kang to teach, and Ji Kang became self-taught by virtue of his superior talent.
Ji Kang is not only talented, but also very good-looking.
How does "Book of Jin· The Biography of Ji Kang" describe Ji Kang's appearance? Ji Kang "is seven feet eight inches long, has a beautiful word, has a demeanor, and the civil and wooden remains, not self-decorated, people think that the dragon and phoenix posture, natural nature." How tall is 7 feet 8 inches? It's almost 1.9 meters. Ji Kang never deliberately dresses himself, but he is naturally beautiful and has an extraordinary temperament. Someone once praised Ji Kang's son, who stood out in the crowd and was very dazzling, and someone next to him immediately retorted: "Make a big fuss, you haven't seen the peerless face of his father Ji Kang." ”
Ji Kang's word is Shu Ye, and Liu Xian's "Uncle Ye is handsome, so he is happy and elated" in "Wenxin Carving Dragon" means that Ji Kang is often very interested, his temperament is extraordinary, and his image and talent complement each other.
His image is very good, he often wears a plain robe and carries a guqin, and the whole person looks very fairy. It is said that once, Ji Kang went up the mountain to collect medicine, and met a woodcutter on the way, and the woodcutter was in the inaccessible mountain forest, and suddenly saw such an elegant and handsome beautiful man, and shouted in fright: "The gods have descended to earth!" "This story has a strong sense of imagery, and we can fully imagine Ji Kang's temperament of both internal and external cultivation.
Illustration / CCTV "National Treasure" Yuan Hong as Ji Kang
In terms of talent, Ji Kang's articles are particularly well written, and he has a deep study of health preservation, and his "Theory of Health Preservation" is the first systematic health care monograph in mainland China.
Moreover, he is also quite accomplished in music, he put forward the view of "sound without sorrow" in "The Theory of Music without Sorrow", which means that music and sound exist objectively, and the reason why we have feelings of sadness, joy, and excitement when listening to music is because we have emotions in our hearts, rather than what emotions the music itself has. This view was very subversive and cutting-edge at the time. Therefore, to this day, "The Theory of Music Without Sorrow" is still a masterpiece in the history of Chinese music.
In addition, Ji Kang is also good at handwriting, painting and playing the piano.
two
Such a talented and good-looking man, whether it is now or in the past, is quite sought-after, Ji Kang was soon favored by the Cao family and became the son-in-law of the Cao family.
History records that Ji Kang married Cao Cao's granddaughter Changle Pavilion Master, and some people say that she is Cao Cao's great-granddaughter. On the day of the wedding, Cao Lin excitedly shouted at home: "My ugly girl has finally found a talented and beautiful person!" There is also a saying that one spring, Ji Kang met the master of Changle Pavilion when he was stepping into spring, the owner of Changle Pavilion was riding on the back of a cow and wandering, the owner of the small pavilion was dressed in fluttering clothes, black hair fluttering, laughter all the way was crisp and pleasant, Ji Kang fell in love with her at first sight.
Of course, only the parties concerned know which statement is true. But the only thing that is certain is that Ji Kang became Cao Wei's royal prince and nobleman through marriage, and also got an official position as a Zhongsan doctor.
What does this Dr. Zhongsan mainly do? To put it simply, it is to supervise everyone's remarks in case there are any excessive and sensitive words, the workload is not large, and the salary is still very generous. Therefore, Ji Kang, who loves freedom by nature, is very satisfied with this job.
It stands to reason that as the son-in-law of the Cao Wei family, the future road of life will not be too difficult. But life is impermanent, and the world is unpredictable. It didn't take long for Ji Kang to discover the problem.
At that time, Emperor Cao Rui of Wei Ming died of illness, and he entrusted the nine-year-old little emperor Cao Fang to Cao Shuang and Sima Yi to assist, originally thinking that these two important ministers would check and balance each other, but they did not expect that these two directly turned the court into a battlefield for the struggle for power between the Cao Wei family and the Sima family.
Ji Kang, who is the son-in-law of the Cao family, pondered this matter carefully, and felt that it was not right. Looking at the current wind direction, the Cao family is declining, the Sima family is becoming stronger and stronger, as the son-in-law of the Cao family, as long as he is in the court for one day, he will inevitably be involved in political struggles. And with his free and loose nature, he has no chance of winning in the struggle. So Ji Kang thought about it, decided to resign overnight, and took his wife and children to Shanyang (now Xiuwu County, Henan Province) to live in seclusion.
There is a bamboo forest near Shanyang, and Ji Kang built a yard in the bamboo forest, which he named "Ji Shan Villa". At that time, Ruan Ji, Shan Tao, Xiang Xiu, Liu Ling, Ruan Xian, Wang Rong and others all came here to interact with him, and a group of people chatted, drank, and played the piano in the bamboo forest all day long, so unhappy. At that time, they also had a big hobby, which was to howl loudly - louder than anyone else. Among them, the best shouting and the highest level is Ruan Ji, who can "lead the roar and shake the valley".
Although the outside world was turbulent at that time, it was like a paradise, and the seven of them were known as the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest" by the world.
This article is illustrated by Photo.com
three
Later, the outside world became more and more turbulent, and Sima Yi, who had always been sick, took advantage of Cao Shuang to accompany Emperor Cao Fang to leave Luoyang to pay homage to Emperor Cao Rui of Wei Ming, and launched the famous "Gaopingling Incident" with 3,000 dead soldiers. According to historical records, in this coup d'état, Sima Yi not only killed Cao Shuang, but also Cao family's protégés, cronies, men, women, and children were all spared, and nearly 7,000 people were killed. Therefore, after the "Gaopingling Change", the regime was completely controlled by the Sima family.
Although Ji Kang was reluctant to participate in the political struggle, as the son-in-law of the Cao family, he couldn't help but burst into a rage when he saw this situation, and at the age of thirty-two, he was also young and vigorous, and immediately called on hundreds of villagers, intending to let everyone bring their own hoes and rakes to support the general Biqiu Jian who was attacking the Sima clan on the front line.
But Ji Kang's indignant act was not carried out in the end, why? Ji Kang has a good buddy named Shantao. At that time, Shan Tao was working in Sima's camp, and Ji Kang told Shan Tao about his plans before he was ready to go to the front. Shantao is really a good brother, not only did he not reveal a little news to Sima, but also helped Ji Kang objectively analyze the situation, he thought that the Cao Wei regime could no longer fight Sima, so this kind of impulsive thing must not be done, Ji Kang is equivalent to giving away people's heads. Sure enough, within a few days, the news of the annihilation of Biqiujian's army came from the front line. It can be said that Shantao saved Ji Kang's life in disguise.
After the "Gao Pingling Incident", although Ji Kang was unscathed, he completely broke with the Sima regime from the heart. At this time, Sima Zhao paid attention to Ji Kang's talent, and specially sent someone to invite Ji Kang to Sima Kang's camp as a subordinate official of the shogunate.
Ji Kang was shocked when he heard the news, he had already hated Sima Zhao to the core, and the other party actually wanted to recruit him. Therefore, Ji Kang, who received the edict, didn't say a word, packed his luggage and ran to Hedong County overnight to hide, and this hiding was three years.
A lot has happened in the past three years, and Ji Kang's former good friends Ruan Ji, Shan Tao, and Xiang Xiu have all joined Sima's camp one after another. Although it is said that they were somewhat forced to become officials by the Sima clan, in Ji Kang's opinion, the former friend was subdued, which made Ji Kang's heart full of grief and indignation.
However, Ji Kang knows that he cannot influence other people's decisions, but he is uncompromising, and still lives a small life of seclusion.
shop
Ji Kang has a strange hobby, which is to strike iron. During his seclusion, Ji Kang would pick up his sledgehammer almost every day, and strike iron under the trees as if no one was around. Little did he know that his peaceful days would soon be shattered.
One day, Ji Kang's house came to the door of a guest, this person was his "die-hard fan", named Zhong Hui, the son of the great calligrapher Zhong Xuan, Zhong Hui, father and son, both members of the Sima regime. Zhong Hui himself is very powerful, he is ambitious as a young man, well-read, and when he grows up, he is proficient in metaphysics and famous. However, Zhong Hui admired Ji Kang very much, and asked to visit Ji Kang more than once, but Ji Kang always disdained him.
An interesting story is recorded in "Shishuo Xinyu · Literature": "Zhong Hui wrote the "Four Treatises" at the beginning, and he wanted to make Ji Gong see it, put it in his arms, and was afraid of its difficulties, so he didn't dare to come out, so he threw it outdoors and hurried back. ”
What does that mean? It means that once Zhong Hui took the "Four Treatises" written by himself, and wanted to find the idol Ji Kang to help guide and comment on it, he just walked to the door of Ji Kang's house, and saw Ji Kang shirtless in the yard striking iron, and Zhong Hui, who saw the idol, was so nervous that he wandered outside the door for a long time, and finally he threw his book directly into Ji Kang's yard and ran away.
Let's imagine the picture at that time, Zhong Hui has very high expectations for Ji Kang, he himself is a very smart and powerful person, and it is still very cute and funny to be so nervous and humble in the face of his idol.
Later, Zhong Hui became an official step by step and became Sima Zhao's confidant, he was much more confident in his heart, and he was always thinking about visiting his idol Ji Kang. Once, Zhong Hui finally made up his mind to see Ji Kang, so he found a group of princes and nobles to help him support the scene, and everyone brought precious gifts to make friends with Ji Kang. When they walked to the door of Ji Kang's house, Ji Kang was still shirtless in the yard striking iron, and Xiang Xiu was pulling bellows beside him. Ji Kang and Xiang Xiu looked up at the people in the courtyard, and then at Zhong Hui, they didn't say anything, and continued to "immerse themselves in iron", as if these people were air.
At first, Zhong Hui was still patient, feeling that he was a little presumptuous, and rushed over directly with someone without saying hello, thinking that he would talk slowly after they were busy. As a result, he waited for two hours, Ji Kang didn't pay attention to his meaning at all, Zhong Hui was very embarrassed, so he had to leave stupidly, but he didn't expect that as soon as he turned around, Ji Kang asked, "What did you hear?" What do you see and go? It means, "What did you hear when you came?" What did you see when you left? Ji Kang's implication is: Are you just here to see me striking iron? That's good, going to go?
In front of so many celebrities, Zhong was humiliated by Ji Kang, and replied angrily: "Come by what you hear, and go by what you see." It means: come only when you hear what you hear, and leave when you see what you see. That is to say: yes, I just came to see you striking iron, and the iron is playing well! And then walked away.
In Ji Kang's opinion, there is nothing wrong with this matter, it is nothing more than driving away a villain that he is not used to. But Zhong Hui fell into a knot, and all the previous worship and love turned into resentment. And Ji Kang didn't think about how terrible people who turn from love to hate are.
five
If you read the history books, you will know that Ji Kang was only forty years old when he died, and he died unjustly.
How did he go from a recluse who had no quarrel with the world, step by step, to a prisoner, and finally sent himself to the guillotine? In a nutshell, Ji Kang's three articles sent him to Huangquan.
The first article is called "Guan Cai's Treatise". At that time, although Sima Zhao had not blatantly usurped the throne, he had basically taken control of the power, and he often openly humiliated the little emperor Cao Chao in the court.
Once, Ji Kang took advantage of Cao Chao's discussion of the rights and wrongs of Zhou Gong and Guan Cai, and wrote an article called "Guan Cai's Theory". In this article, Ji Kang borrowed the historical allusion of "Zhou Pingping Guan Cai", ostensibly to whitewash Guan Cai, who is recognized as a traitor, but in fact, it is a satire on the ill-intentioned Sima family like Zhou Gong, anyway, anyone with a discerning eye can see it, and most people understand what Ji Kang means by referring to Sang and scolding Huai.
Coincidentally, this article was seen by Sima Zhao, and Sima Zhao was instantly furious, but Ji Kang's article was written vaguely, and Sima Zhao couldn't directly convict him, but this incident buried a nail in Sima Zhao's heart.
The second article is the earth-shattering letter in history, "The Book of Breaking Friendship with Mountain Juyuan".
In 261 AD, Ji Kang's good friend Shan Tao had been an official in the court for several years, becoming the right-hand man of the Sima political group. So, Shantao wanted to recommend Ji Kang to take over his original official position. Unexpectedly, as soon as Ji Kang heard the news, he not only did not appreciate it, but also became angry, and wrote a letter of more than 1,400 words and threw it to Shantao.
Why did Ji Kang write such a letter of renunciation? What's the secret behind this letter? And what is written on this letter?
In the letter, Ji Kang first explicitly rejected Shantao's invitation, and then he listed "the seven who must be unbearable" and "the second who must not be" to state the reasons why he could not obey his fate. "The Seven Who Must Be Unbearable" means that he has seven things that he must not bear, and here, Ji Kang said that he was very unbearable, saying that he loved to sleep lazy, was not good at words, did not wash his face, did not take a bath, and his body was covered with lice, itching, etc., and he was very cruel and personally smashed the image of his beautiful man. And "even the second one" is two reasons that are even more impossible to tolerate, one of which is "not Tang Wu but Bo Zhou Kong", which means that he can't be this official, and the most important reason is that the Sima family has always coveted Cao Wei's world, and wants Cao Wei's son of heaven to learn Yao Shunchan and give the throne to himself, which is a rebellion.
So this letter made Shantao break out in a cold sweat when he read it. And it was the sentence "not Tang Wu but thin Zhou Kong" that hit Sima Zhao's pain point fiercely, which was tantamount to pulling his fig leaf. The nail buried in Sima Zhao's heart in the previous article "Guan Cai's Treatise" has not been pulled out, and this time a time bomb has been planted. Sima Zhao couldn't wait to find an excuse to kill Ji Kang immediately.
And this opportunity soon came.
Ji Kang also has two friends, the two are brothers, the elder brother is called Lu Xun, and the younger brother is called Lu An. The two brothers had a big fight one day because the elder brother Lu Xun had bullied the wife of the younger brother Lu An. The younger brother Lu An was angry and planned to sue his brother to the court, but Ji Kang ran over to persuade him, saying that the ugliness of the family should not be publicized, so it is better to endure it first. Who knows, in order to cover up his crimes, his brother Lu Xun actually sued the wicked first, appealed to the court and said that his younger brother was "unfilial", and then Lu An was imprisoned for "unfilial piety". Ji Kang saw that he and Lu An were obviously the ones who suffered losses, but now they were framed by Lu Xun, so he was so angry that he wrote a letter to Lu Xun, but this time the letter was written very perfunctory, with a total of more than 200 words, to the effect: I really didn't expect that you would do such a great job in this matter, I have nothing to say, I don't have the heart to associate with you again in the future, bye.
The convicted brother Lu An was also angry, and he also wrote a letter to Ji Kang in prison, but the letter was intercepted halfway, and it was a coincidence that it was an old man who intercepted the letter, an old man with old grudges - Zhong Hui! Zhong Hui saw that there were many emotionally intense words in the letter, such as "Gu Ying Zhongyuan, angry...... Pingdi Nine District" and so on, he went to Sima Zhao to add oil and vinegar, distorted the meaning, and directly interpreted this letter as a "rebellion" letter, and this also happened to fall into Sima Zhao's hands, and after enduring Ji Kang for so long, now he can finally settle the old accounts together. As a result, Ji Kang was put on death row by Sima Zhao.
In prison, the angry Ji Kang wrote a poem "Angry Poem", saying that he was "ashamed of Liu Hui in the past, but now ashamed of Sun Deng." Guilty of self-interest inside, good friends outside. admires Yan Zheng and lives in idleness. There is no camp in the world, and the spirit is as good as that". This poem, which angrily denounced the black and white of the world, spread all over the capital at once.
In 263 AD, on the day of Ji Kang's execution, the scene was very spectacular, and more than 3,000 students spontaneously gathered at the scene, and they all ran to save Ji Kang, and made a collective wish for Ji Kang, but this had the opposite effect, Sima Zhao saw that Ji Kang was so influential, and he openly opposed himself, so Ji Kang had to die.
Before the execution, Ji Kang was very calm, not noisy, not shouting grievances, just asked his brother Ji Xi to help him bring his own guqin, and then played a song "Guangling San" as if no one was around, and he sighed at the end of the song: "Yuan Xiaoni once wanted to learn this song, but I was reluctant to teach him." "Guangling San" is now extinct! Then he threw up his head and died generously.
The "Guangling San" we hear today has been recompiled and sorted out by later generations, and the real original "Guangling San" went with Ji Kang as early as in his long sigh.
"Guangling San" tells the story of the warrior Nie Zheng's assassination of the King of Han, the tune is full of murderous atmosphere, in fact, we can imagine how shocking and tragic the scene of Ji Kang playing this piece in the face of Sima and the three thousand students when he was dying.
In fact, before Ji Kang died, he also said something to his son Ji Shao that surprised everyone, he said: "Juyuan is here, you are not alone!" That is to say: Child, with your Uncle Shantao, you will not become an orphan.
When we hear this at first glance, we will find it strange, how could Ji Kang entrust his son to a person who publicly broke off his friendship before he died?
In fact, there is a speculation in history that although Ji Kang is idle and unwilling to join the dispute, he is not confused, he knew that he had been targeted by the Sima clan and would die sooner or later, and a public letter of renunciation was equivalent to pushing his good friend Shantao to his opposite, from another point of view, this is a kind of protection for Shantao. And his deathbed entrustment is his trust in Shantao. After Ji Kang's death, Shantao kept his promise to raise Ji Kang's son to adulthood, retaining his bloodline, and twenty years later, Shantao personally recommended Ji Shao and brought Ji Shao into the office, and the official was in the service.
We can see that Ji Kang also has a soft side in his heart, no matter how powerful and ruthless a person is, when he faces his children as a parent, he will also become an ordinary person and show his true feelings. Ji Kang himself can rather die than give in, but he must protect his son, and we have every reason to believe that at the moment when he handed over the letter of renunciation, he was actually planning a big game of chess. If this speculation is true, then Ji Kang is really moving.
Throughout Ji Kang's life, he is a willful son who is dissolute and loves freedom, but he is not afraid of power, does not flatter the world, and would rather be a broken jade than a complete man through the ages. Ji Kang used his purity and fortitude to fight against the dark world, and we may think that he was too naïve and a little self-conscious, but it is his purity and uprightness that make us still full of respect for him and still moved by his story after 2,000 years, which is also an important reason why Ji Kang can become the spiritual leader of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest. His freedom, uprightness and purity make him a famous man through the ages.
"The Galaxy Falls into the World" is the new work of "the most storytelling female doctor" teacher He Chuhan, which is a biography of Chinese literati, from the pre-Qin to the Ming and Qing dynasties, a total of 25 important Chinese cultural sages were selected, and their life stories were introduced in an all-round way, and the names that have disappeared in the long river of history have become vivid. Through reading, immerse yourself in the dialogue with historical sages and feel their free and poetic wonderful lives.
Click the link to buy the book: "The Falling of the Stars" (The Poetic Life and Spiritual Beauty of 25 Chinese Sages!) (Guomai Culture, Production, He Chuhan) [Abstract Book Review Sample] - Jingdong Books