Yang Wanli: Ouyang Xiu's "Super Admirer"

　　Yang Wanli (1127-1206), courtesy name Tingxiu, was a native of Jishui Prefecture (present-day Jishui County, Jiangxi Province) in the Southern Song Dynasty, a famous writer and patriotic poet. The leader of the Northern Song Dynasty literary circle, Ouyang Xiu, was the person he most respected, and he was also his fellow countryman, so he often remembered and admired Ouyang Xiu, which was reflected in many of his poems.

First, appreciate Ouyang Xiu's literary contributions

　　Yang Wanli greatly respected Ouyang Xiu's status as Emperor Wenzong. In the "Articles on the Second Duke of Ousu of the Qing Dynasty", he believes that Ouyang Xiu and Su Shi's texts are "to convey the backbone of Siwen, to peep into the Tang of Kong Meng, and to stomp on the tracks of the dukes (referring to Jia Yi, Dong Zhongshu, Sima Qian, Yang Xiong, Han Yu, and Lu Zhen)." He once proudly said: "Who is not the Song Dynasty Ouyang Liuyi (i.e., Ouyang Xiu) and the eastern slope of Meishan, who is enough to be his renzai?" Mr. June 1's writings are read by everyone today, and every scholar is taught by everyone. He also believes that Ouyang Xiu is "advocating in front" and Su Shi is "heeling behind". In the "Chen Yanglian Epitaph", it is also said: "The June 1 Emperor, benevolent and righteous, golden jade and its chapter, and Han xiang. Directly regard Ouyang Xiu's literary status as Han Yu. In the "Preface to the Later Collection of The Sekiki Collection" written for his teacher Liu Caishao, it is also said: "In the time of Emperor Renzong, there was Mr. Ruo Liuyi's lord Swen's Xia Meng; in the time of Shenzong, there was Mr. Ruo Dongpo who passed on the Great Sect of June 1; in the time of Zhezong, there was Mr. Ruo Gu who continued the "National Wind", "Ya", and "Ode". It is believed that the three sages of Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi and Huang Tingjian successively allied with the Literary Circle of the Northern Song Dynasty, thus creating a brilliant situation in the literature of the Song Dynasty. In the "Records of the Ancestral Hall of Mr. Shaxi Liuyi", he also said: "Gai zi Han retreated, Sven never continued, until Mr. Liuyi revived and rejoiced." It is believed that after Han Yu, it was Ouyang Xiu who once again carried the banner of literary revival. So he said, "This dynasty has been in existence for two hundred years, and his master is the only one, Mr. Qi! ...... If you are a gentleman, the teacher of the world in the hereafter also. He believed that Ouyang Xiu was a well-deserved literary reviver of the Song Dynasty for two hundred years and a teacher of the world's future generations, and sighed: "Since the Su of Meishan and the Yellow of Yuzhang have been successively surrendered, the party of Mr. Disciples has no one." The meaning of this is that since su shi and Huang Tingjian died one after another, Mr. Ouyang Xiu's apprentices have no longer been taken over. It can be seen that Yang Wanli praised Ouyang Xiu's contribution to literature.

Second, comment on the teachers and friends often think of Ouyang Xiu

　　When Yang Wanli commented on his teachers and friends in his hometown of Jizhou, he would always naturally think of his fellow villagers, Ouyang Xiu, and compare his teachers and friends with him. In the first year of Longxing (1163), Yang Wanli met with fellow villager Hu Quan in Hangzhou and gave him a poem of the Seven Laws, the first sentence of which was: "Hu Quan 's (Hu Quan) family is close to the drunken Weng (i.e., Ouyang Xiu)'s family. He compared Hu Quan to Ouyang Xiu, believing that the two were almost the same in terms of loyalty to the country and literary style. In the fifteenth year of Chunxi (1188), Yang Wanli wrote a preface to the collection of essays by his mentor Wang Tingjue, in which he said: "Luling (the ancient name of Jizhou) since June 1, only Mr. Liu can succeed him." It is believed that in his hometown of Jizhou, only Wang Tingjue could inherit Ouyang Xiu's literary tradition. As for Zhou Bizheng, the brother of the fellow literary scholar Zhou Bidang, he called him "the source of his learning and the unity of the six ones" in his letter, believing that he also had the literary tradition of Ouyang Xiu. To Xie Chen, who had joined the army for Jizhou, Yang Wanli said in a Shinto stele written for Xie Chen: "The text of the Gongzhi is similar to that of Zu Ouyang Gong and Zeng Nanfeng. The texts of Chang Guo (Xie Chen), such as "Sending Chen Duxiu Preface" are very similar to Ou, and "South China Tibetan Records" are very similar to Zeng, all of which are like me. He thought that Xie Chenwei was very similar to Ouyang Xiu and Zeng Gong, and lamented that he was inferior. When writing for his fellow friend Ouyang Shaozhi's "Drunken Music Hall", he remembered the source of the Ouyang clan and Ouyang Xiu's "Drunken Pavilion Record", he said: "The Ouyang clan of Jizhou is three branches: one is the Ou of Yongfeng, and Mr. Liuyi is also; one is the Ou of Luling, and the poet Bo Wei of the recent world is also; one is the Ou of Anfu, and now feng Yi Lang gives the silk fish bag Shaozhi is also. He also believes that Ouyang Shaozhi named the church "Drunken Music", that is, "Master I Drunk", that is, imitating Ouyang Xiu. It can be seen that Yang Wanli often hangs Ouyang Xiu in his heart as a pioneer of the townspeople, which is also a manifestation of his admiration for Ouyang Xiu.

Portrait of Ouyang Xiu

Third, many times to remember Ouyang Xiu's past

　　Yang Wanli also often talked about Ouyang Xiu's past in his life. For example, in his first letter to Emperor Guangzong, he lamented the harm of the "theory of the partisan party" and made an argument by citing the historical facts that happened to Ouyang Xiu. He said that during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the conflict between the chancellor Lü Yijian and the advisor Fan Zhongyan, Fan Zhongyan was eventually deposed. Because Ouyang Xiu and others supported Fan Zhongyan's reforms, the advisor Gao Ruoner falsely accused Ouyang Xiu and others of being Fan Zhongyan's party and expelled them all. Soon Emperor Renzong woke up, reused Fan Zhongyun and summoned Ouyang Xiu and others. For another example, Yang Wanli wrote a Shinto monument for Yu Yunwen, who was also a privy councillor of zuo cheng, and after it was completed, the second son of the Yu clan was not satisfied, and made some inexplicable demands. The incident that Yang Wanli encountered was very similar to what Ouyang Xiu had encountered. Therefore, in the Book of Answering the King, Yang Wanli recalled that Ouyang Xiu had written a Shinto stele for Fan Zhongyan, which said that the contradiction between Fan Zhongyan and Lü Yijian was later eliminated and he happily made peace. Fan Zhongyan's son, Fan Chunren, did not approve of this. So when I carved the stone, I actually deleted the content of that section. Therefore, Yang Wanli sighed: "Fan's disciples do not know the deep purpose of June 1st, and they are often unhappy. In addition, in the "Chengzhai Poetry", Yang Wanli also recorded that Su Shi was praised by Ouyang Xiu for the examination, that is, when Su Shi participated in the Rebbe Provincial Examination conducted by Ouyang Xiu, there was a sentence in the answer sheet: "Gao Tao is a soldier, will kill people, Gao Tao is killed three, Yao Yue is three". Ouyang Xiu did not know where this allusion came from, so he asked Su Shi. Su Shi told Ouyang Xiu that "the matter is in the Notes on the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and Kong Rong". But Ouyang Xiu still couldn't find it, and asked Su Shi again. Su Shi recounted in detail the dialogue between Cao Cao and Kong Rong in the Biography of Kong Rong, and said that he had speculated from this content. After hearing this, Ouyang Xiu was pleasantly surprised: "This person can be said to be good at reading and using books, and his daily articles will be unique in the world!" It can be seen that Yang Wanli is also extremely concerned and familiar with Ouyang Xiu's life deeds.

Four or three times for the Ouyang Xiu Ancestral Hall to write notes

　　Out of admiration for Ouyang Xiu, Yang Wanli wrote three times for the completion of the Ouyang Xiu Ancestral Hall. In Ouyang Xiu's hometown, Shaxi Town, Yongfeng County, Jiangxi Province, there used to be an ancestral hall commemorating Ouyang Xiu, but because Ouyang Xiu's relatives and descendants lived far away from home at that time, decades later, the wall house collapsed and remained untouched for a long time. Later, Chen Yanglian, a Shaxi scholar, rebuilt the Ouyang Wenzhong Ancestral Hall on the original site. In the thirteenth year of Chunxi (1186), Yang Wanli wrote "Records of the Ancestral Hall of Mr. Liuyi of Shaxi", expressing the necessity of building a shrine for Ouyang Xiu in his hometown and the importance of respecting the cultural spirit of Ouyang Xiu. Not only that, after the death of Chen Yanglian, the founder of the ancestral hall, Yang Wanli also specially wrote an epitaph for Chen Yanglian, calling him an "independent man" he had never seen before and distinguished himself, and appreciating his spirit of bowing to rebuilding the ancestral hall. In the first year of ShaoXi (1190), Fang Songqing went to Zhizhou in Jizhou. He found that there was no place to worship Ouyang Xiu in the Jizhou Administrative Office, so he built a new "Liu Yi Hall" next to the Administrative Office, and painted a portrait of Ouyang Xiu and engraved Ouyang Xiu's remains in it. Later, at the request of Fang Songqing, in May of the following year, Yang Wanli wrote "Jizhou New LiuyiTang Record" to congratulate him. He said that more than a hundred years after Ouyang Xiu's death, his "LiuYi Tang" in Yingzhou (present-day Fuyang, Anhui) has become a wild smoke and weed, and now the newly built "Liu Yi Tang" has finally returned to Jizhou, which is both providential and human will. For the new "June 1st Church" in his hometown, Yang Wanli showed a sense of pride. Finally, he highly appreciated Fang Songqing's deeds. In the third year of Jiatai (1203), Hu Yuanheng served in Jizhou, feeling that this place was Ouyang Xiu's hometown, so he proposed the construction of the Liuyi Temple. He removed an old pavilion opposite the original "Liu Yi Hall" and added a room to change it to "Mr. Liu Yi Ancestral Hall", and erected a statue of Ouyang Xiu in it as a sacrifice. After the ancestral hall was completed, Hu Yuanheng wrote a letter and asked Yang Wanli to make a note. The following year, Yang Wanli wrote "Monument to the Ancestral Hall of Mr. June 1", detailing the causes and processes of the construction of the ancestral hall. It can be seen that in just over ten years, Yang Wanli, who was rushing to the official field, gladly wrote three notes for Ouyang Xiu's ancestral hall, showing infinite feelings and reverence for Ouyang Xiu.

　　It was Yang Wanli who had a special feeling for Ouyang Xiu, so it also deeply affected his children. For example, Yang Wanli's son Yang Changru also had great admiration for Ouyang Xiu. He once praised Ouyang Xiu as "the crowner of a generation of articles" and bluntly said that the articles of the four ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty, including Wang Zao, Sun Qin, Hong Mai and Zhou Bida, were far inferior to Ouyang Xiu. It can be seen that his respect for Ouyang Xiu is no less than that of his father Yang Wanli. Therefore, when a friend asked about the specialties of Yang Changru's hometown, he always smiled proudly and said, "He has nothing to produce, but he produces a Ouyang zi ear." ”

Source: Wenshi Tiandi Author: Ouyang Huiling Chen Yuan