His wife died in Suzhou.
Years later, he returned to Suzhou, alone, like a Mandarin duck who had lost his companion. Lying alone listening to the sound of the rain in the middle of the night, there was no longer the familiar figure who picked up the lamp and sewed clothes.
His wife, Zhao Shi, was from the Imperial Family of the Great Song Dynasty, but she had no temper and had been industrious and virtuous all her life. After passing through the door, she followed her husband for half a life, and there was almost no good life, but she did not abandon it, and she had no complaints or regrets.
The most painful thing in the world is that two people who are in love with each other cannot grow old together.
Heavier than the gates. What comes from is not the same. After the sycamore is half dead and frosted, the head white mandarin duck loses its companion and flies.
Hara on the grass, dew chu xi. The old habitat and the new one are two clings. Empty bed to listen to the rain at the south window, who picked up the lights at night to mend clothes.
- He Zhu, "Partridge Heaven"
When the Northern Song Dynasty poet He Zhu (1052-1125) wrote the Partridge Heaven, his wife Zhao Shi had been dead for seven or eight years. But He Zhu's nostalgia for his deceased wife, as well as the huge loneliness in his heart, still can't be rejected.
The history books say that He Zhu looks strange and ugly. If he were born in the present, he would have sung: I am ugly, but I am gentle.
Today, He Zhu's very sad "Partridge Heaven", together with Su Shi's "Dream of the Twentieth Day and Night of the TwentyTh Day of the First Month of Jiang Chengzi And Yi Di", is recognized as the double bi of the two Song eulogies.
Portrait of He Zhu. Image source/documentary screenshot
1
In the fourth year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1052), He Zhu was born into a military family that had held military positions for generations. Six generations up from him, all were military attachés. There was no doubt that from the moment he fell to the ground, he was also destined to serve as a military attaché of the imperial court.
In the same year, the famous Song general Di Qing attacked Kunlun Pass at night during the rebellion against Nongzhigao in Guangxi, and won a battle, thus being promoted to Privy Counsellor and becoming the highest military attaché of the imperial court. However, the suspicion of the imperial court and civilian officials about him followed, and only 4 years later, Di Qing was deposed and died of depression at the age of 49.
Di Qing's ending is a microcosm of the fate of the military attaches of the Great Song Dynasty. After the founding of the Song Dynasty, it learned the lessons of the rebellion of the five generations of military generals at the end of the Tang Dynasty, established the basic national policy of ruling the world by civilians, and the status of military attaches became increasingly marginalized.
After becoming an adult, He Zhu embarked on the path of his father and grandfather. According to records, he served as a military officer in the imperial court from the age of 17 until the age of 40, and for a total of 23 years he worked in the military attaché system, and served as a low-level military officer such as right ban dian zhi, supervising the liquor tax in Lincheng, supervising the money official of Xuzhou Baofeng, patrolling the management of the state, and supervising the money of The Baoquan under the river. Most of my life is quite bitter. In his own words, it was called "three years of officialdom as cold as ice, hot power I failed", he did not like this officialdom, nor was he willing to climb the magnates as a backer, so he always sank into the subordinates, and saw no hope.
His wife Zhao was from the imperial family, and her father may have been the great-grandson of Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi's younger brother Zhao Tingmei. After Zhao Guangyi seized the throne through the "Axe Candle Shadow", Zhao Tingmei's life was not good, and he was later exiled to Fangzhou and died of palpitations. Because of this relationship, Zhao Tingmei's descendants mainly pursued literature and art, and had few opportunities and deeds in the official arena.
After Zhao Shi followed He Zhu, he had to do rough work himself, "strong wife and weaving", weaving cloth and scooping rice. According to He Zhu's self-account, because Feng Lu was too low, the family's life often reached the point where they needed to borrow money to survive: "The daily money is only a hundred dollars, and the salt is still not provided... Going out to beg for a loan, it is difficult to sweat. ”
Perhaps it was the embarrassment of reality, which smoothed out He Zhu's true disposition little by little.
He Zhu's friend Cheng Ju said that when He Zhu was young, he was "a chivalrous man, a loose horse and a running dog, and drank like a long whale", which was worthy of being from a martial family. He was "strange and ugly, blue and black and heroic", and was nicknamed "He Ghost Head". Chivalrous and unruly, even if he is a powerful and noble figure, as long as he looks unhappy, he will directly scold.
There was a nobleman's son who was once a colleague of He Zhu, and that person was arrogant and arrogant, and there was no one in sight. He Zhu silently recorded the time and number of times he stole public property, and then showed him with a stick: "If I punish you, I will not expose it." The nobleman stood up and took off his clothes. He Zhu hit him with a stick a few times, and the man began to beg for forgiveness, and He Zhu smiled and released him. After that, those arrogant noble disciples, when they saw He Zhu, had to walk around.
From heroic to "provocative", He Zhu's tragedy has typical significance.
But He Zhu is a very contradictory person.
He was a warrior, heroic, but also fond of reading, "a general view of ancient and modern, old in literature, words and chapters, out of the flow", "poetry is high, especially long and short sentences". In essence, he was an introverted man of letters, and at some social dinner, he was as restrained as a woman who had never seen the world. And this sensitivity and delicacy makes a deep impression in the words he creates.
Finally, in the seventh year of the Yuan Dynasty (1092), on the recommendation of Li Qingchen, Su Shi and others, the 41-year-old He Zhu was changed from a military post to a civilian official.
However, his path to civil service was not smooth either. After more than ten years of moving south to north, he was still very depressed, and at the age of 58, he chose to resign his official post and go into hiding.
At that time, the pen was rambling, saying that the sword qi was horizontal.
Conceited tiger head, who sealed the dragon front?
——He Zhu, "Presenting the Old After Changing Officials"
A young hero, after the double torture of officialdom and life, has finally "hung his head and plugged his ears, his breath was dying, and he was proud of himself, and his heart was slightly improved." The reality is so harsh.
He Zhu's sword qi and chivalry were eventually poured into the poems.
2
The Northern Song Dynasty scholar Had a common notion that among various genres, words were at the bottom of the chain of contempt. They only consider the creation of words when expressing entertainment, drinking, love and love; in formal writing, especially at the level of expression of home and country feelings, the first choice is still poetry. Since the "popular lyricist" Liu Yong developed a set of gentle and slow words to write, the literati doctor covered his face and scolded it as an "obscene word" while secretly learning it. Therefore, Liu Yong's influence on the entire era was quite large.
Su Shi, who was 15 years older than He Zhu, took a different path beyond Liu Yong's path and wrote experimental works that were called "bold words" by posterity. At that time, Su Shi's attempt was criticized, and many people ridiculed him. For example, Li Qingzhao directly said that the words written by Su Shi are "poems that cannot be read in all sentences" and are not words at all; Chen Shidao said euphemistically, saying that Su Shi's things are not the "true colors" of words.
At that time, the famous poets of the word world, including Yan Jidao, Qin Guan, and later Zhou Bangyan, were very firm in their euphemisms. It can be seen that Su Shi is very lonely in the creation of words.
He Zhu was the first person to accept Su Shihao's words, and the picture shows a portrait of Su Shi.
Only He Zhu was the first to accept and inherit Su Shi's bold style of words.
Scholars have researched that about one-tenth of He Zhu's more than 280 surviving poems belong to the bold words. This proportion is not low in the Northern Song Dynasty, which became a gentle trend, indicating that He Zhu consciously opened up a new realm of words.
Young chivalrous, befriending the five capitals. Liver and gallbladder holes, hairs shrugged. In the standing talk, death and life are the same. A promise weighs a thousand gold. Push the brave, dignified and indulgent. Light cover embrace, joint flying skeleton, Doucheng East. Boom drinking, spring color floating cold urn, sucking sea hanging rainbow. Idle eagle dog, white feather carving bow, cunning hole Russian air, happy hurry.
Like Huang Liang Dream, Ci Dan Feng. Bright moon, lonely canopy. Bureaucracy is obedient and condescending. Dust cages, book series. The birds are like clouds, for rough use, Ku Qi Gong. Agitation, Yuyang Lane, Si Sorrowful Weng. Do not invite the long wisp, tie the heavenly pride seed, the sword roared in the west wind. Hate the mountain climbing near the water, send the seven-stringed tong in hand, and see the return to Hong.
——He Zhu, "Six States Song Head"
This is He Zhu's masterpiece of bold words, the whole text is magnificent, in addition to the arrogance of Su Shizi, there is a unique wild temperament of chivalry, which makes people read it with great joy.
He Zhu's life as a young man is explained in detail in this statement - liver and gallbladder, light life and death, drinking, hunting, quite the style of a ranger in the early Qin and Han dynasties.
But He Zhu wrote so many exciting memories, and the purpose was to contrast his real life at the moment. "Happy hurry", those days of indulgence and wildness have passed, and now he is trapped in the officialdom, humble and light," and he is a little bit consumed in his prime: You see, the smoke on the frontier of the empire has risen again, but I can no longer ask Miao to go to war. The sword sounded in the box, people were not free people, there was a passion for serving the country, and they could only bury a grudge in the sound of the wordless piano.
He Zhu's lament is actually the lament of the entire era.
In the middle and late Period of the Northern Song Dynasty, in addition to Wang Anshi's active posture on the issue of Liao and Xia during the period of Wang Anshi's change of law, after the death of Emperor Shenzong of Song, the imperial court resumed the policy of compromise and even land cession. This was obviously something that He Zhu, who was born in a warrior, did not want to see.
Party strife was a "feature" of Northern Song politics, and almost all well-known literati and doctors were involved in it. And He Zhu, who is humble and light-hearted, is a rare one who can stay away from party strife. But even outside of the party struggle, he maintained his own upright personality. During Wang Anshi's lifetime, he did not participate in any activities to change the law; after Wang Anshi's death, he wrote poems and lyrics in memory of this great law changer. Political trends and pros and cons are never measured in his calculations. We say that a person is really not living a real life, which can be seen from these details.
Although he still had pride in writing the words, the heat in He Zhu's heart had gradually cooled, and only sadness remained.
Tie the tiger's hand, hang the river mouth, and the car is like a chicken perching horse like a dog. White scarf, yellow dust, I don't know if my generation is a basil person? Wanlan sent a guest to Xianyang Dao, if the sky is affectionate, it is also old. No matter the money, who asked the flag pavilion fine wine bucket ten thousand?
Drink the big bucket, more longevity, green sideburns evergreen ancient. Smiling and dancing, when the Qin girl fifteen words like a string. The remains of the voice can remember the autumn wind song, and the matter is still hated for a thousand years. Collect streams of light, tie Fusang, and fight for a day but long.
——He Zhu, "Difficult to Walk, Little Plum Blossom"
When he was dissatisfied with reality and unable to change reality, he decided to go into hiding, "retreating to Wuxia, floating and sinking, and leading to the distant world", calling himself "Qinghu Left Behind", "Dumen will be old". This year, around 1110 AD, Emperor Huizong of Song ascended the throne. More than 10 years later, this literary and artistic emperor suffered the jing kang revolution, and the Northern Song Dynasty fell. He Zhu died two years before the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, and was "lucky" to be spared the inner pain of the fall of his homeland.
After all, in the days of his retreat, he still had the loyalty of "Chang'an (referring to the imperial capital) does not see and makes people old", watching the rise and fall of the national fortune, but few people know.
Arrange a lantern spring event early, twelve capital doors, looking for a new dawn. The golden calf car is light and small, and the whiskers of the willows run through the road.
Lettuce soup perch is not good for me, go to the country to chant, half fall to the south of the river. Full of green mountains and hating the western photos, Chang'an does not see people getting old.
——He Zhu, "Looking forward to Chang'an"
If we travel back to the Northern Song Dynasty a thousand years ago, we will see a marginal person in the imperial officialdom, holding a pen like a sword, and wielding Xiao Xiao Frost on the paper. He may not realize what kind of place his depressed words and phrases will have in history, but history will eventually admit that he is a bold word master who has received Su Shi from the top and the next Qi Xin to abandon the disease.
Unfortunately, now the world knows "Su Xin", but they do not know that there is an important He Zhu in the middle of "Su Xin" - it is he who carries the banner of Su Shi's loneliness and profoundly affects the subsequent Xin abandonment disease. Without He Zhu, the Great Song Hao's words would lose a little luster.
Xin Abandoned Disease Word is greatly influenced by He Zhu, and the picture shows a portrait of Xin Abandoned Disease. Image source/figureworm creative
3
He Zhu returned to Suzhou, where his wife Zhao had died.
Ten years ago, in 1098, he became an official and took his wife to Suzhou, and when he left three years later, his wife had died of illness. It was a very heavy blow to him.
He was down for the rest of his life. Zhao's understanding and support is his rare spiritual comfort.
In addition to the Partridge Heaven quoted at the beginning of this article, He Zhu also wrote other words to commemorate Zhao. Each one strikes the softest part of the human heart. It is also in these sincere lyrics that we see a once chivalrous lyricist with a tender watery side.
The autumn wind on Songmen Stone Road swept away, and it seemed that it was not allowed and the dust flew in. Double carry the fiber hand do not smoke lotus, red pink clear spring photo. A few song pipes, written by Zhengsu Tao, translated into a sad tone.
The rock yin twilight returned to the clouds quietly, hating the easy to lose, and laughing. What can be forgotten, for Xie Jiangnan Fangcao. The lonely bridge, cold clouds and yellow leaves, meet Chang'an Road.
——He Zhu, "Royal Street Line, Be dongshan"
This was done after He Zhu went to his wife's grave to offer sacrifices. According to records, the Zhao clan was buried in a place called Dongxiangling in Yixing after his death. After many years of remembrance and lamentation, after He Zhu's death, he was finally buried with Zhao Shi and never separated again.
He Zhu basically lived in Suzhou and Changzhou after retiring. Image Source/Photo Network
After retiring, He Zhubu lived in Suzhou and Changzhou, bought a field house, built a room and a pond, and lived a life of book proofreading. His most famous phrase (textbooks, memorized by many) was written during this period:
Ling Bo is not on Hengtang Road, but he sees and fang dusts away. Who is the degree of Kinsehua Nian? Moon Bridge Flower Courtyard, Trivial Window Zhuhu, only Spring Knowledge.
FeiYun Ran Ran Gao Twilight, color pen new title broken intestine sentence. How much idleness do you have? A river of tobacco, full of wind in the city, plums yellow when the rain.
——He Zhu,"Qingyu Case"
After this word was written, it was very highly respected, and He Zhu was therefore called "He Sanmei" and "He Meizi" by people. After Huang Tingjian read it, he wrote a poem to express his high appreciation: "Who sings a cup with sad eyebrows when you are drunk and lying under the ancient vines?" Interpreted as Jiangnan broken intestine sentence, only now only He Fanghui. This means that after Qin Guan's death, he could write euphemisms so delicately and movingly, and there was only He Zhu in the world.
It can be seen that He Zhu's words, like his people, have two sides - chivalrous bones and tenderness coexist. He wrote the lyrics, and he went straight after Su Shi, and did not lose Qin Guan. Zhang Qian, who is one of the "Four Scholars of Sumen" along with Huang Tingjian and Qin Guan, said that He Zhu's style of words has the characteristics of grandeur, demon, yousuo, and tragic, and is worthy of being an eclectic person.
Regarding this "Qingyu Case", He Zhu is superficially writing about the process of a beautiful person leaving the lyricist and gradually disappearing or even completely disappearing, and the deep level is to express the pain of disillusionment of the lyricist's pursuit of ideals and unobtainable. From He Zhu's past experience, we can also read the loss and unwillingness he expressed in this poem.
However, when some scholars interpret this word, they emphasize that the "Lingbo Beauty" in the word is real, a "Wu girl", and He Zhu fell in love with it at first sight and did not dare to express it, and eventually fell into unrequited love.
But this interpretation may be confused by the superficial meaning of the word. In fact, since Qu Yuan's "Departure from the Troubles", the literati doctor mentioned that "vanilla beauty" basically has a special meaning, rather than just a literal meaning. The late Qing Dynasty poet Chen Tingzhuo clearly pointed out that He Zhu's words were influenced by the "Departure from Sorrow": "Fang Hui (He Zhu, the word Fang Hui) words, there is a kind of sadness in the chest and eyes that cannot be said, all thanks to chu "Sao", and allow for change, allowing to push the divine product." ”
After Qu Yuan broke his head in reality, he used "vanilla beauty" to convey his political ideals. More than a thousand years later, He Zhu was equally depressed and found resonance in Qu Yuan's works.
In the seventh year of Xuanhe (1125), the 74-year-old He Zhu died of illness in a temple in Changzhou. Before dying, he told his friend Cheng Ju: "The fruits of life are retreating, and I am afraid of danger and humiliation. ”
It turned out that the more he lived all his life, the more "instigated" and trembling, and now he was finally liberated.
Who loves Songling water like heaven. Draw the boat to listen to Rain Nai sleepless. Qingfeng Mingyue rested on the price, selling with sad people straight a few dollars.
Swing a drunken pen and sweep a note. For a while the peers drank the immortals. The white-headed □□ the rivers and lakes, and the teenager avoided the teenager with his hands low.
——He Zhu,"Avoiding Youth"
When He Zhu was old, he did not dare to face his young self. The young man who was "young and chivalrous and befriended the five capitals" was long dead, perhaps killed by the elderly He Zhu himself, or perhaps killed by the sinking era...
May we always remember his name, his struggles, his affection.
Each of us was once that teenager.
bibliography:
[Song] He Zhu: A Collection of He Zhu Words, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2013
[Yuan] Detachment: History of the Song Dynasty, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1985
Miao Yu and Ye Jiaying: "The Saying of Lingxiao Words", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1987
Wang Mengyin: "He Zhu Chronology", Henan Normal University Daily (Social Science Edition), No. 5, 1982
Li Weixin, "Buwu Dongpo, Inheriting the Past and Opening Up the Future: On the Historical Status of He Zhuzi", Journal of Henan University (Social Science Edition), No. 1, 1996
Xu Chengwei, "On the Historical Status of He Zhu's Words", Dongyue On Cong, No. 9, 2012