Literature and History | Liu Yuxi: Liu Lang is here again

During his tenure as inspector of imperial history, the Tang Dynasty literary scholar Liu Yuxi participated in Wang Shuwen's "Yongzhen Reform" against eunuchs and feudal forces. After the failure of the reform, Liu Yuxi was repeatedly demoted, during which time he was demoted to Anhui and Zhou as a general judge. The general judge is both a deputy of the state and county official, and also has the responsibility of supervision.

According to the regulations, the general judgment should live in a three-compartment house. However, when he saw that Liu Yuxi was a degraded official, he deliberately made things difficult. First arranged for him to live in the south of the city facing the river, Liu Yuxi not only did not complain, but was very happy, and also wrote two sentences: "Facing the white sail of the great river, I am arguing with Zhou Si." ”

Hezhou Zhixian was very angry when he found out, and ordered the Yamen messenger to move Liu Yuxi's residence from the south gate of the county town to the north gate of the county town, reducing the area from the original three to one and a half rooms. The new residence is located on the desheng River, near the weeping willow Yiyi, the environment can also be hearted, Liu Yuxi still does not care, and see the scenery, and wrote two sentences on the door: "Weeping willow Qingqing River waterside, people in the heart of Liyang in Beijing." ”

Seeing that he was still leisurely and self-happy, and still had the heart to read and write, he once again sent someone to transfer him to the middle of the county town, and only gave him a hut that could only accommodate a bed, a table, and a chair. In half a year, Zhixian forced Liu Yuxi to move his home three times, the area was smaller than once, and finally it was only a dou room. Thinking about this snobbish county official, it was really deceitful too much, so Liu Yuxi angrily raised his pen and wrote down the "Buried Room Ming" that was passed down to posterity.

10 years after Yongzhen reformed and degraded the official, Liu Yuxi was 44 years old at the time, and he and Liu Zongyuan met in Chang'an and found that Liu was already emaciated. Due to the obstruction of Wu Yuanheng and others, Liu Zongyuan was not re-activated and demoted to Liuzhou Assassin History. From Yongzhou to Liuzhou, the farther away from Chang'an, the worse the natural environment. While Liu Yuxi was waiting for the call, You Xuandu admired the peach blossoms and wrote down with a pen: "Purple and red dust blows on the face, and no one looks at the flowers back." The peach trees in the Xuandu Temple were all planted after Liu Lang went there. Who knew that this poem passed to Tang Xianzong, and after reading it, he thought that Liu Yuxi was very frivolous and "involved in sarcasm", so he demoted it to Lianzhou, Guangdong. Lianzhou was remote, and under the administration of Liu Yuxi, he did not expect that the government would communicate with people and produce the first jinshi Liu Jing. This groundbreaking educational achievement fully confirms Liu Yuxi's talent.

Later, due to the strong recommendation of the chancellor Pei Du, Liu Yuxi was able to return to Chang'an again after 14 years and revisit Xuandu Temple. In the past, the peach blossoms died, but today they are full of decaying grass. Things are not human, in addition to sighing, Liu Yuxi's poetry was great, and he wrote a poem "Revisiting Xuandu Guan Absolute Sentence", "Half of the hundred acres of court are moss, and the peach blossoms are pure and the cauliflower blossoms." Where does the Peach Cultivator belong? Former Liu Lang is here again. ”

Comments: Liu Yuxi is scrappy, strong and optimistic, and almost walks the wild land all over. He walked and chanted, leaving behind a large number of popular poems. During the Middle and Tang Dynasties, when politics was dark and officials were often blamed, Liu Yuxi was able to live to the age of 70, which was not unrelated to his contempt for honor and disgrace.

Source: Magazine of All Walks of Life, Issue 10, 2021

Author: Peng Zhongfu