In the fourth episode of the documentary "A Brief Reading of China", "Lonely Road Brave Heart", the protagonists of the five letters in this collection were all mavericks in their time, people who were not afraid of vulgarity, and at the same time they were figures who made outstanding contributions, and their ideas still have a guiding role in today's society.
The protagonist of the first letter is the Ming Dynasty thinker Li Yan.
In his letter to his friend, he unequivocally advocated equality between men and women, advocating that the insights of women and men are the same, and that there is only the length of their insights, and that there is no distinction between men and women: "Therefore, it is possible to say that people have men and women, and it is said that there are men and women. It is possible to see that there is a length and a shortness, and it is said that the view of men is as long as possible, and the view of a woman is short. ”
Li Yan opposed discrimination against women, and women also had the right to education. Li Yan said this and did the same. He lectured at the Macheng Buddhist Temple in Hubei Province, where students were of all sexes, and the most famous female student was a widow named Mei Yuanran.
In that era when women were discriminated against and feudal etiquette frantically oppressed women, Li Zhen, as a pioneer of feminism, was shocking in both advocacy and action!
What is lamentable is that Li Zhen's theories and actions were too advanced and too shocking, and they struck at the feudal defenders, and he was unjustly imprisoned. Because he could not bear the humiliation, Li Yan committed suicide with a knife. The pioneer of the times sacrificed his theory with his life.
The protagonist of the second letter is Gu Ruopu, a brave and knowledgeable single mother in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
After her husband's death, she did not, like the women of her contemporaries, or martyred to fight for the family's chastity arch, or remarry and attach herself to the next husband to support herself and her children, but went out of the third way: economic self-reliance, she weaved and sold cloth to support the family, and in life she worked hard to study to improve her self-cultivation and tried her best to educate her children to grow.
Gu Ruopu is not only a great mother, but also an enlightening teacher for women in the entire family. "She encouraged the girls to read and learn, to care about current affairs, and to express their spiritual world in poetry." It also established the first women's literary group in Chinese history: the Banana Garden Poetry Society.
Gu Ruopu single-handedly changed the fate of the family women, and at the same time she also influenced the women of Hangzhou at that time. Some women are beginning to wake up and choose the life they like men.
Maybe it's because Gu Ruopu grew up in Jiangnan, and the background picture of this content is so beautiful!
The third letter is a letter from Yuan Ming, a famous Qing Dynasty literary scholar who accompanied the garden master, to his brother Yuan Shu (Yuan Tong's father) about his stepson Yuan Tong.
Yuan Tong's studies were acceptable, but since ancient Jiangsu and Zhejiang, he has attached great importance to reading, and the examination for teaching is even more fiercely competitive. Therefore, Yuan Shu remembered to take a shortcut: he moved Yuan Tong's household registration to his hometown of Jiangning, because the competition for the imperial examination there was not fierce, and the rate of middle school examinations would be greatly improved - it seems that the college entrance examination immigrants were handed down from the old ancestors.
Yuan Shu's move was reported, and Yuan Tong was disqualified from the examination. Yuan Shu was not satisfied and planned to appeal against ming.
The main purpose of Yuan Ming's writing this letter was to persuade Yuan Shu not to attach too much importance to the imperial examination.
Yuan Mei believes that the purpose of reading is to become a talent, and now the only purpose of reading through the imperial examination is obviously to give up the book and go to the end. He believes that if Yuan Tong is a talent, he will be the same everywhere he takes the exam. If he is not a talent, he can live a safe life without examination.
Yuan Ming's theory is summed up from his own painful life experience: he has been excellent in his studies since childhood, and he has always been proud of his science field, but his career has been bumpy. Yuan Ming, who had gone through hardships, finally saw through everything and began to become detached. Ultimately, it was his literary prowess and gastronomic recipes that left the owner's name on history.
Three hundred and sixty lines, and the deeds are not words to comfort the loser, but the true knowledge obtained from practice.
Yuan Tong, who gave up the imperial examination, did not become an official, but became a pivotal figure in the word world at that time, and his life was as peaceful and joyful as his father hoped.
Yuan's insights are still insightful to today's society.
The fourth letter was written by Zheng Banqiao to his brother Zheng Mo, who worked as a farmer at home.
Zheng Banqiao, a famous calligrapher and painter, was born in a peasant family, and he was raised by his nursing mother, who was a simple and kind peasant woman who had a profound influence on Zheng Banqiao's life. Ah, suddenly thought of the poet Ai Qing's nursing mother Dayan River.
Born into a farming family and under the influence of a nursing mother, Zheng Banqiao is naturally close to farmers. He recognized the importance of the peasants, hated the officials who came from peasant families but forgot their roots, and wrote articles satirizing them.
"Let there be no farmers in the world, and the whole world will starve to death"! It is precisely because of the importance of the peasants that when Zheng Banqiao served as the county for two terms, he attached importance to nongsang, observed the people's feelings, and made the people the masters, so that the local people could live and work in peace and contentment.
Zheng Banqiao, who is good at painting bamboo, has loved bamboo painting all his life, and his personality is also like bamboo: "Firmly believe that the green mountains do not relax, and the roots are in the broken rock." Thousands of grinding blows are still strong, and Ren'er's east, west, south and north winds are strong. ”
The last letter was Fan Li's letter to Wen Zi.
Fan Li's life is really wonderful! When he was young, he assisted in destroying the Wu kingdom and rejuvenating the state of Yue; in middle age, he judged the hour and sized up the situation, saw through that the monarch could only share the hardships and could not share the riches, and would surely "hide the good bow and hide the cunning rabbit", so he retreated bravely; after that, he assumed the pseudonym Of the Iris Yizipi, dashed the rivers and lakes, and later became a generation of "shang saints". Fan Li has become rich in business three times and scattered his wealth three times, and is the earliest recorded philanthropist in history.
Tao Zhugong "loyal to the country, wisdom to protect the body, business to get rich, fame in the world", is indeed a thousand ancient strange people!
Unfortunately, the language could not see through and did not listen to persuasion, and he gave his life in vain.
The protagonists of the five letters are all people who are at the forefront of their time, and they are "not vulgar, maverick, and ignite the light of the times."
(Text/Qin Shi Xiaoge finished at 20:51 on April 11, 2021)
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