Yan Liping
Issue 668
The Guangxu edition of the "Xuancheng County Chronicle" records the historical facts of funeral welfare represented by the Leaky Ze Garden, although the record is not detailed, but the historical information contained is still worth excavating, which has important historical significance for the development of Xuancheng's philanthropy.
<h1>I. The social background of the establishment of philanthropy in the Northern Song Dynasty</h1>
The Song Dynasty focused on the creation of official philanthropy to stabilize society, resolve social contradictions, and comfort the exiled people. According to records, in 1104, when Emperor Huizong of Song ruled, the social class contradictions and ethnic contradictions of the Song Dynasty were acute, and there were constant wars with the regimes of the Western Xia, Tubo, and Jin ethnic minorities. After Emperor Huizong ascended the throne, Cai Jing and others who reused it bribed public officials, sold officials and knights, set up clever names, increased taxes and endowments, and plundered people's wealth.
The History of the Song Dynasty records that Cai Jing and others privately stipulated "three thousand suo ("suo" that is, guan), the direct secretary cabinet; five hundred guan, and the promotion of the judgment"; "to take the amount of wine money and increase the tax money, the head, the deed of sale and other money...". Cai Jing and others also believed that the country had been peaceful for a long time, and that it was financially rich and could be enjoyed well, and advocated to Emperor Huizong the theory of Feng and Jing, so as to whitewash Taiping to cover up social contradictions and political corruption. As a result, Emperor Huizong squandered and excessively pursued a luxurious life, building a large number of civil engineering projects in Beijing and purchasing the "Huashi Gang" in the south. Political corruption has led to the displacement of people, the destruction of families and the hardship of people.
The founding of the Song Dynasty unanimously adhered to the concept of "emphasizing literature over military force". Vigorously implementing the philanthropic undertakings represented by leaky Garden and so on embodies the ruler's "compassion" for the suffering of the people and the good governance of the people, so as to achieve the purpose of resolving increasingly acute social contradictions and stabilizing society.
Xuancheng County Chronicle records that in addition to the nursing home and the Leaky Zeyuan institutions, charities such as Futianyuan, Anjifang, and Salesian Fang were also established, and this article mainly summarizes the history of charity in Xuancheng Leaky Zeyuan.
<h1>Second, the basic situation of xuancheng leaky ze garden setting</h1>
Also known as Izuka (Leaky Ze Garden is a new name chosen by Cai Jing for Yoshitsuka), The Leaky Garden of Xuancheng was founded in the Northern Song Dynasty and continued until the late Qing dynasty. In the 1888 Guangxu edition of the Xuancheng County Chronicle: "According to the (Southern Song Dynasty) Jiading (1208-1224) Zhi (Xuancheng Fu Zhi), the Chongning Three Years (1104) edict said that the characters were complex, and the poor could not be buried or entrusted, and it was pitiful." The county of the prefecture is responsible, and the monks and cadres are selected, and the name is leaking Zeyuan..." The History of Ming, vol. 77: "At the beginning, (Ming) Taizu set up ... The leaky garden buried the poor, and the prefectural righteous tomb of The Prefecture of Tianxia Prefecture was established. ”
In 1709, Xuancheng suffered a spring plague, and in May and July, it suffered a major flood, and there was a tragic scene of corpse dumping wilderness.
Tong Fuwei, the prefect of Ningguo, recorded in the "Second Floor Chronicle": "Exile carries the road, the people sleep with each other, and the dead are on the outskirts, and they see the remains exposed, and they are sorry for it." It's a donation... Buy a mountain for righteousness...".
Baoqing's "Four Ming Zhi" (Chongning) Edict of May of the Fourth Year: ... Li Yangsheng has not been able to send him to death without regrets, and he is very compassionate. Widows and widows now have a method of nursing, and if they are sick and have no medical treatment, they will be placed in Anjifang. If you are poor and not buried, you will miss the garden. ”
It can be seen from this that the responsibility of the leaky garden is the institution of the state to carry out the unified burial of the deceased. Burial objects include: poor people who have no money, no burial place, and no relatives after death; dry bones exposed in the wild; coffins of those who have died in other places; those who have died for many years without relatives; unknown dead people; and dead beggars. The government arranged for personnel to collect corpses and remains free of charge for unified burial, with the purpose of avoiding disease and plague, throwing away corpses in the wilderness, and at the same time reflecting the "compassion" of the government and the emperor. Therefore, the Leaky Garden is the state's funeral welfare system, and it is also a kind of benevolent government of the state and local governments.
As the place where the deceased are buried, the leaky garden has the nature of a cemetery, and the location must be located outside the city. Corroborating evidence can also be found in other local chronicles, the Song and Yuan Fangzhi Series records that the leaky garden in Fenghua, Cixi, Dinghai, Yuhang and Yanguan counties in Zhejiang is located one mile to ten miles (about 0.5-5 kilometers) outside the city, and some "choose the barren land of the plateau" as the garden.
Combined with the historical records of Xuancheng, from the Northern Song Dynasty to the early qing dynasty, Xuancheng Leaky Ze Garden was located in the south of the city (present-day Echeng Garden), the city of Xi'an Leshan and Wangchenggang, the northwest of the city Gucun Mustard Gang (now Caizi Gangyalongwan Community, etc.) and the north of the city Qiyudun (now Jingtingyuan Community).
The county chronicle records that "in the first year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1662), Wu Gongyuan held the Jiangdong Cao Festival,...... Xuancheng was ordered to move Li Zhen to the side of the official road in the west of the city, and to buy land outside Xiguo. That is, he ordered the county to order Li Zhen to buy land next to the official road outside the west gate of Xuancheng to rebuild the Leaky Ze Garden. The location of the Leaky Garden in mustard hill in the northwest of the city is consistent with the restoration of the Leaky Garden by Tong Fuwei, the prefect of Ningguo, in 1709: "... The mountain is two miles west of the city, two miles away from mustard, the three surnames of Zhang, Shen and Zhan, who are surnamed Zhang, Shen and Zhan, receive a total of nineteen silver and two, and the official zheng is four to the jieshan tax to see the leakage of Zeyuan..." In 1738, Mei Zhencheng composed the "Xuancheng Yi Tsuka Monument", which was erected at the wasabi Gang Yi Tsuka and later lost. During the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods, Yizuka was located near the barren mountains near Mustard Gang, the west of the Xiaodongmen Zhengtong Bridge (also known as the Great Garden and the Purple Garden), and the Qiyudun in the north of the city.
In 1738, Mei Zhen became a stele rubbing of the Xuancheng Yi Tsuka
Xuancheng Leaky Zeyuan was chosen to be managed by monks and cadres: "... The county of the state is responsible for the selection of monks and cadres..."; Tong Fuwei in the "Second Floor Chronicle" "... Donate funds to Yoshikazuka, raise one person, two monks, and give food every month...". Monks have a Buddhist compassionate heart and the "ability" to transcend the souls of the dead, which is suitable for the nature of the profession of Leaky Zeyuan.
The daily expenses of Xuancheng Leaky Zeyuan mainly came from the government, for example, the "Second Floor Chronicle" records that in 1709, the monthly expenses of the staff of the Leaky Ze Garden were paid by the government and grain, "... Donate funds to Yoshikazuka, raise one person, two monks, and give food every month...". The sources of funds for its construction are three ways: government funding, joint funding by officials and the people, and private fund-raising, such as the county chronicle "Yi Tsuka Mountain" records that Huang Shuqi, the prefect of The Ningguo Prefecture in the yongzheng ugly year, Luo Maoding, the superintendent of Qianlong Ding, and Luo Maojie, the student of Jiaqing, the tenth year of jiansheng, Mei Tunding, and the twelfth year of Gongsheng Zhan Shijun, purchased land as Yi Tsuka.
<h1>3. The basic characteristics of Xuancheng's philanthropy</h1>
First of all, Xuancheng's superior geographical location and economic prosperity have provided a solid material foundation for the establishment and development of Leaky Ze Garden.
Xuancheng is a "famous city in Jiangnan", with a wealth of historical figures, and is the hometown of China's "Four Treasures of Literature". Originally, It was created by King Wu of Zhou as Wu Zi, the fifth grandson of King Wen of Zhou at the end of the Shang Dynasty. Qin set up Yan Commandery (鄣郡), which was established as Danyang Commandery in the second year of Emperor Yuanfeng of the Han Dynasty (109 BC), and its rule was Wanling (Xuancheng, equivalent to the provincial capital), which administered present-day Xuancheng, Chizhou, Tongling, Wuhu, Ma'anshan, and Huangshan in Anhui, Nanjing, Jurong, Andi in Changzhou, Yuqian Town, Lin'an District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and Anji County in Huzhou City, wuyuan County, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, which was changed to Xuancheng in 589.
The territory of Xuancheng has developed transportation and economic prosperity. The Shuiyang River can reach Nanjing and other places, Beshi Bridge was once the famous port of Xuancheng, and the road from Jiankang to Lin'an by land passes through Guangde. The area around the north gate of Xuancheng is a commercial downtown area, with merchants gathering and lining up one after another. Xuancheng is rich in products: "According to the direction of Xuancheng's property, pen, lacquer, chestnut, honey, and tax silk, sydney pear, papaya, satin, bud tea and other products..." Handicraft industry developed, mining, smelting, ceramics, papermaking, pen making, ink making and lacquerware, etc., have significant development, Xuancheng history of Nanling, once was Xuancheng copper mining center, and later found a large number of mining copper ore and smelting sites; Jing County is the birthplace of Chinese rice paper, is china's papermaking center; Jixi is an important source of Chinese emblem ink. According to the prefectural chronicle, Jinbaowei, built during the Three Kingdoms period, was an important granary and the home of fish and rice.
Secondly, Xuancheng Leaky Ze Garden was established early and on a large scale.
Xuancheng Leaky Ze Garden was established in 1104 during the chongning period of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, after which the Northern Song Dynasty set off a wind of construction throughout the country. Xuancheng Leaky Ze Garden is huge in scale, and the county chronicle "Yizuka Mountain" "West Road Anle Mountain two acres, Wangcheng Gang one acre; South Road South Side three acres; North Road Mustard Gang one acre and five points." ...... Jiaqing ten years of supervision mei adjusted the price to buy... Twenty-two acres of land... The county is Yoshitsuka-san. ”
Third, the long duration has objectively improved environmental health and has positive significance in preventing epidemics.
According to the existing historical records, Xuancheng Leaky Ze Garden began in 1104, and the Ming and Qing dynasties also set up Yi Tsuka. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the people were ordered to establish a righteous tomb. In the fourth year of Tianshun, all the counties and counties were placed in the Leaky Garden. From the Three Dynasties of Qing Kang to the Twelfth Year of Jiaqing, Yi Tsuka existed in Xuancheng. In 1709, Xuancheng suffered a great plague in the spring, and in May and July, respectively, it suffered a major flood, and there was a tragic scene of the wilderness of throwing corpses, and Tong Fuwei, the prefect of Ningguo, recorded in the "Second Floor Chronicle": "Exile carries the road, the people sleep with each other, the dead suburbs are left behind, and the remains are exposed..." The wilderness caused by the disaster was not buried, and it was very susceptible to disease and plague epidemics, and the burial of corpses was buried as soon as possible, which objectively improved environmental health and effectively eliminated the source of disease infection.
Finally, there was extensive support from all walks of life in Xuancheng and jointly promoted the development of Xuancheng Leaky Ze Garden. The county chronicle "Mount Yoshitsuka" reads: "... Qianlong Ding Wei Luo Mao Ding, student Luo Mao Jie, etc... May I buy myself (Wasabi Gang Gongkong Mountain) No. 1 counting four acres, six cents, two millimeters and five silks, and petitioning for Yoshitsuka ...". The "Second Floor Chronicle" records that Ning Guofu and Tong Fuwei himself jointly donated funds to purchase the land of Zhang Shenzhan's three surnames in Gucun Mustard Gang (Caizigang) as Yi Tsuka. In the twelfth year of Jiaqing, Xuancheng established the Tongren Association to purchase the land near the Qiyudun in the north of the city as a righteous tsuk: "Jiaqing is twelve years old, Gongsheng Zhan Shijun, Wang Gengguang, Liusheng Ruan Tingkui, officials Tong Min, Sun Dong and Pan Qiyu, donated to the Tongren Association. Price to buy the north of the city praying for rain piers under... Mountain, special burial temple Guan Ji Lu Zi ...".
To a certain extent, good undertakings such as funeral welfare and kindness in Xuancheng can reconcile social contradictions, and the society presents a stable and harmonious state, providing experience for the development of contemporary Xuancheng charity. With the development of social and economic development, Xuancheng's charity and welfare undertakings will develop faster, more perfect and more standardized, so as to meet the aspirations of the vast number of Xuancheng people for a better life and a harmonious society.
(The author is a teacher at Shuidong Middle School in Xuanzhou District and a member of Xuancheng History and Culture Research Association)
Production: Tong Daqing