The sound of the wind, the sound of rain, the sound of reading, the sound of the ear,
Family affairs, things, world affairs, everything is concerned.
Legend has it that the couplet, gu Xiancheng, the leader of the Late Donglin Party, hung in the Donglin Academy in Wuxi has been around southern Jiangsu for a long time. The hot ones are already hot. Twenty years ago, after Manan Estate's "Yanshan Night Talk. The quotation, interpretation and play of the "Everything Care" chapter gives it a deeper meaning; Since then, this pair has been well-known at home and abroad, and has a great influence.
However, in Gu Xiancheng's hometown of Jinggao, Wuxi County (present-day Zhangjing Town, Wuxi County), people said that the lower couplet of this couplet was not as good as the original. The original xialian was "family affairs, state affairs, world affairs, everything in mind", but only later when Gu Xiancheng lectured on Donglin, it was changed to "everything is concerned". The difference between the words "everything is concerned" and "everything is in mind" reflects the different identities, situations and feelings of Gu Xiancheng in his later years and youth. Speaking of Gu Xiancheng writing this couplet when he was a teenager, there is also an interesting story.
Gu Xiancheng was born into a poor peasant family in Shangshe, Wuxi County (near present-day Doushan, Bashi Commune, Wuxi County). When he first learned to walk, his younger brother Gu Yuncheng was added to the family. Because of the difficulties of life, his father carried two children in two baskets and took his wife out to earn a living. At noon, they walked to Jinggao West Street. The husband put the burden on the side of the road and went to Zhang Luo to eat, while the wife took care of the children.
At this time, an old man with white beard and white hair came from the street, he looked at the two smart and cute children in the pipe, and the toucher said harmoniously with his beard, "One load and two pees." ”
"Thank you husband!" The child's mother listened to the old man's words, was surprised, and immediately thanked him.
Originally, in the Wuxi dialect, "urine" and "book" are homophones. Gu Xiancheng's mother understood "one load and two pees" as "one burden and two Shangshu". Doesn't that mean that the two children will become high officials in the future? The old man's jokes turned out to be a good word of mouth. This incident made Gu Xiancheng's parents decide to settle down in Jinggao, and cut back on food and clothing, and do everything possible to provide children with reading.
In the blink of an eye, Gu Xiancheng had grown to fourteen or fifteen years old. One afternoon in the early summer of that year, the brothers went swimming together in the Jing River. When he came to the river, Gu Yuncheng took off his coat and put it on a pine tree and said, "A thousand-year-old wood is used as a hanger." Gu Xiancheng then said, "The long river is used as a bathtub." With that, the brothers both jumped into the river.
Just then, a large boat was sailing in the river, and a scholar stood at the bow of the boat and listened to the couple of the two little brothers. He then ordered the ship to stop and dock and prepare to spend the night here.
In the evening, the weather changed. The wind blew the sycamores, the rain hit the new basket, and the sound of Gu Xiancheng's brothers reading was heard in the huts on the shore. The students on the ship were overjoyed to hear this, and the servants came ashore to invite the two brothers to disembark for a reunion. After coming to the ship and meeting each other, the scholar said: "Today I got an upper link, there is no lower link, I don't know if the two of you can wish for a couple?"
"Please sir, please see the upper link."
Shusheng said, "The sound of the wind and the rain." The sound of reading, the sound of the sound into the ears. ”
The Gu brothers looked at each other and smiled, and immediately replied in unison: "Family affairs, state affairs, and world affairs are in mind."
Shusheng was devastated and decided to take them to Beijing to study. Later, I learned that this scholar was actually a superintendent of the micro-service visit.
Year after year, twenty years have passed, and during the Wanli years, Gu Xiancheng and Gu Yuncheng have become jinshi. Gu Xiancheng was the head of the transfer department, and Gu Yuncheng was the head of the ceremonial department, which can be regarded as a veritable "one burden and two shangshu".
(Jiangsu Liu Yan, Hua Dingmo collection and collation)