If you ask everyone: Which is the best novel in ancient China? There is no doubt that the vernacular novel "Dream of the Red Chamber"; if you ask again: which book is complementary in form and comparable in achievement to "Dream of the Red Chamber"? That, of course, is the collection of short stories "Liaozhai Zhiyi". Liaozhai Red Chamber, one article and one white, one short and one long, forming the twin peaks of ancient Chinese novels. Liaozhai Zhiyi is not only the pride of Chinese literature, but also an oriental treasure in the world library, which often amazes sinologists. In the 1980s, Jiudi Cai, a professor at the University of Chicago, once said to me: Now the overwhelming number of articles in American newspapers teach women how to maintain sexual attractiveness in front of men, and 300 years ago in feudal and closed China, Pu Songling had written novels like "Heng Niang"! Wives use sexual charisma to beat competitors and hold their husbands firmly in the palm of their hands. It was amazing that 17th-century Chinese writers wrote novels that could be used as a reference for the behavior of American women in the 20th century.
"Liaozhai Zhiyi" is a magical novel, in fact, its author Pu Songling was born with some magic.
On the night of April 16, the thirteenth year of Ming Chongzhen (1640), Pu Yu, a merchant from Pujiazhuang in Zichuan, Shandong, had a strange dream when he saw a monk dressed in robes, skinny and sick, entering his wife's inner chamber, and the monk's bare chest was plastered with a copper coin.
Pu Yu woke up from the dream and heard the baby's cry. It turned out that his third son was born. "On the bed, the moon slopes over the south box." Pu Songling's father, Pu Yu, was originally a scholar, but because he failed the exam repeatedly, he abandoned Confucianism to engage in business and became a well-off family. In his youth, Pu Songling studied with peace of mind under his father's wings, and formed the "Yingzhong Poetry Society" with his friends Zhang Duqing, Li Ximei and Wang Luzhan, boating on the Xiaonu River, touring Daming Lake, and reading at Qingyun Temple. But the good times didn't last long, and at the age of 25, he broke up. Pu Songling's two older brothers are Xiucai, and the two sisters-in-law are shrews, making trouble all day for the sake of trivial matters. Pu Songling was able to write so many wonderful images of the shrew later because he heard about his daily life. Pu Songling's father said, "This Ukjuye? "I had to divide the family with my four sons. The family is very unfairly divided, the good houses and good land are divided by the brother, Pu Songling divided the thin field 20 acres, the farm old house 3 rooms, broken even the door. Pu Songling borrowed a door panel from his cousin and moved in with his wife and son. He was given 240 catties of grain, which was only enough for a family of three to eat for three months.
In order to support his family, Pu Songling began a 45-year career as a private school teacher. Private school teachers are the way out for readers who do not get a good name to earn a living, but life under the fence is very bitter. The teachers and weigui in Pu Songling's "Haunted Pavilion" promised their employers: Although I came to teach, I carried my children in the wind and rain, and after school, I picked up soil to pad the pigsty, and when guests came, I wiped the table and served vegetables and burned the fire. It's an all-powerful servant. Of course, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but the life of a low-status rural private school teacher is really difficult, the treatment is not high, and it is not bad to get eight or two silver a year. And the minimum living for a family of farmers is 20 taels, which is calculated by Grandma Liu in "Dream of the Red Chamber".
When Pu Songling was in his 30s, four children were born one after another, his father died, the old mother was in the church, he reached the point of "the family disciples four walls of women are poor", sometimes had to sell literature for a living, write articles for others to earn a few money, such as writing a marriage book, writing an altar essay, the reward is only a bucket of rice, or a chicken, two bottles of low-grade wine. Pu Songling's biggest worry is how to pay taxes on time and not let tax collectors come to the door. At that time, in order to collect taxes, officials engaged in so-called "knocking comparisons," that is, dragging taxpayers to the public court to play boards, and sometimes beating them to death. In order to pay taxes, Pu Songling had to sell the grain stored at the bottom of the tank, sell the cloth woven by his wife, and even sell the cultivating cattle. He complained about the land: How come the ears of grain do not grow silver directly? Pu Songling has written about his poverty many times. There is a poem that says that he saw the blue fish sold in the market and wanted to eat it, but he had no money, so he had to "forget to chew it in peace". Bluefish are cheap and belong to civilians
Class consumption, but Pu Songling can not afford to eat. His "Rice in the Day" writes that the whole family had no dry food to eat, cooked a pot of porridge, several sons snatched up, the eldest son first grabbed the spoon in his hand, to the bottom of the pot to catch the thick; the second son took the bowl and shouted and screamed to grab it with his brother; the third son just walked, turning over the bowl like a hungry eagle; the younger daughter stood to the side and looked at her father pitifully. Pu Songling has a poem "Jiayin Ci Stove", writing that "when money is in hand, like fire and hair", once baked, Chinese New Year's Eve sacrificial stove, not even meat, he pleaded with the stove king not to say bad things in heaven because the sacrifice of the god was not rich, and said humorously: The stove king can't see past, so he asks God to give wan zhong millet and ten thousand gold, the family lives brightly, and the sacrifice god also has money, isn't it cheap? His "Text on the Sacrifice of the Poor God on the Elimination of the Sun" says: "Poor God, Poor God, what kind of relatives do I have with you, and you do not seek the door of the rising, but enter my door?" ...... I am your personal housekeeper, the general who escorts you, and I should also take a holiday to give grace. Why do you follow me step by step, always without leaving your body, the maw sticks and glues, but like a hot lover? ”
Among the great writers of ancient times, Pu Songling's characteristics of the common people were very prominent, and poverty made him and the lower-class people breathe together with fate, which made him have a profound understanding of the darkness of the officials.
"Literature is poor and then work", hardships and hardships, Yuru Yucheng. In the spring of the eighteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1679), when Pu Songling was 40 years old, "Liaozhai Zhiyi" was initially written, and Pu Songling wrote "Liaozhai Zizhi" to describe the creative process.
In the year that "Liaozhai Zhiyi" was first written, Pu Songling went to the West Shop of Wang Village to sit in the Bi family and set up an account in the Qiran Hall. The owner Bi Ji has Zhizhou, Pu Songling is honored as "Thorn History", Bi Ji's father Bi Ziyan is a Ming Dynasty Shangshu, also called "Baiyang Shangshu", and the Bi family is known as "Three Generations and One Product, Four Soldiers and The Same Dynasty". Bi Jiajia is like a cloud, and there is a "Zhenyi Pavilion" specially for Lord Shangshu to dry official clothes, a "Ten Thousand Scrolls Building" with a rich collection of books, and a stone hidden garden covering an area of three acres and flourishing flowers and trees. Bi Jiyou has contact with local officials and clans. In addition to Pu Songling's teaching, he also had to socialize on behalf of Bi Ji, receive guests, and write letters on behalf of Bi Ji, but the guests and hosts were harmonious and the treatment was better. As his sons grew up, Pu Songling's life was basically lifted out of poverty. Bi Jiyou's son Bi Weizhong and Pu Songling were brothers and sisters, and after Bi Jiyou's death, Bi Weizhong repeatedly retained Pu Songling, who stayed in the Bi family for 30 years, and only withdrew his account at the age of 70.
The pain of the defeat of the imperial examination
Pu Songling's life was not ambitious, and this ambition just happened to start from the beginning of his youth.
In the fifteenth year of Qing Shunzhi (1658), the 19-year-old Pu Songling took the imperial examination and ranked first in the three examinations of the county, the government, and the province, and became a xiucai. Pu Songling was accepted by Shi Yanzhang, a great poet of Shandong Xuedao. In the early Qing Dynasty, the poetry circle was called "Southern Shi Northern Song", referring to Shi Yanzhang in Anhui and Song Huan in Shandong. The first art problem that Shi Yanzhang tried out for Tong ShengDao was "Flea Rise". The words "fleas" come from Mencius, "The Qi people have a wife and a concubine." There are strict requirements in the form of the eight strands of the imperial examination, how many words to write, which paragraphs to write, there are specific requirements, and more importantly, the content should be speculated about the tone of the sages, and the words of the sages should be made on behalf of the sages. Since the title is "Fleas Rise", as the name suggests, it is necessary to imitate mencius's tone, expound the original meaning of Mencius's article "Qi people have a wife and a concubine", and expound the great principle of self-cultivation and qi family governance and world peace. Pu Songling wrote an article that resembled both a sketch and a novel. At the beginning of the article, a paragraph was written, which was written in chinese, and in the vernacular, it was: "I once observed those who pursued wealth and nobility, gentlemen who pursued the merits of the title of the gold list, villains who pursued to get rich and rich, and some people who were not rich themselves but could not wait to wait in front of the door of the rich and noble, lest it be too late." As for those who sleep leisurely and have nothing to do, they are either high-minded people or deep boudoir women. This passage is not like the Eight Strands of Literature, but a skit text describing the state of human feelings. Next, Pu Songling went further and dried
Crisp fiction, he writes about how the women of qi people toss and turn at night, thinking about tracking down their husbands, and thinking", "I have to get up". Writing about the wife's decision to follow her husband, she said to the concubine, "Close the door, I'm leaving." "There is a character psychology, there are character monologues and dialogues, very similar to the novel, how can it meet the requirements of the eight strands of text?" However, Pu Songling encountered the great writer Shi Yanzhang, who loved shi yanzhang as much as his destiny. Shi Yanzhang admired Pu Songling's vivid description of the human condition, adding a comment that Pu Songling "exposed the ugliness of a moment of wealth and ugliness on the word (flea up)", and also wrote a comment: "Reading books is like the moon, and moving pens is like the wind." "With a big stroke of the pen, Pu Songling, Shandong Xiucai first place."
Pu Songling tried first three times, became very famous, and embarked on the road of seeking fame with great ambition. However, he took four consecutive township examinations (lifting examinations), all of which were named Luosun Mountain. In the final analysis, Shi Yanzhang's appreciation of Pu Songling is actually misleading, Pu Songling uses sketches and novels to write eight strands, although he is appreciated by Shi Yanzhang, other examiners will not approve. They all use the stereotypical eight-strand text as a stepping stone to achieve fame, and they will only write such articles, and they only appreciate such articles. It can be said that Pu Songling initially deviated from the track when he first took the imperial examination.
At the age of 31, Pu Songling went to Baoying County, Jiangsu Province, to make a curtain guest for Sun Hui in ZhiXian County, and the curtain guest was the secretary who wrote the official letter on his behalf. Sun Hui's home is very close to Pujiazhuang, and Pu Songling is quite famous after the first attempt, and Sun Hui invited him. The southern tour was the only time in Pu Songling's life that he was in the official field, and he observed all aspects of the official field and strengthened his determination to enter the official field. Once Sun Hui asked him, who do you want to emulate in ancient times? He replied, "He is famous in the Lin Pavilion, and his style is as elegant as Guo Fenyang." "One day my name can be on the Ling Yan Pavilion, and the style is like Guo Ziyi, the king of Fenyang." This seems very funny, obviously the county official invited to handle the manuscript of the text secretary, but said that in the future to be Guo Ziyi like Guo Ziyi is much bigger than the county official! In fact, it is not difficult to understand, if Pu Songling does not want to go straight to the clouds, why did he take the imperial examination for decades?
Pu Songling has been a showman for more than half a century. Show is the lowest merit, but the hardest, always have to take the exam. The term of office of the provincial school is three years, and the first time the school is in office, the xiucai examination is held, which is called the "year examination". The annual examination determines the level of Xiucai, and if the examination is not good, it will be relegated, and only when it is first-class can it have the qualification to be a twin. The so-called "twins" are xiucai who enjoy the allowances of the imperial court. There is a quota limit for students, even if the year examination is first class, there must be an empty quota to "make up for it". In the second year of the examination, the "scientific examination" is held, and the results are divided into six grades, and the first few grades of the examination can participate in the township examination, and the fifth and sixth grades of the examination are demoted. The township examination is held once every three years, and the province with more taxes can admit about 100 people. How many times did Pu Songling participate in the township examination? Judging from the relevant information, it is about ten times. That is to say, in order to seek the merit of "lifting people" in the district, Pu Songling spent no less than 30 years to repeatedly participate in the annual examination, scientific examination, and township examination. It's terrible and a shame. We are now bystanders, but Pu Songling was a fan of the authorities. Because, as the dynasty is Tian Shelang, the Twilight Heavenly Son Hall, the imperial examination system is the only way out for lower-level intellectuals to change their lives. Pu Songling has always hoped that one day the Golden Temple will take countermeasures, and the Guangzong Willyo will be honored. He practiced repeatedly, hollowing out his mind and thinking about writing eight strands of text. There are a large number of such articles in the Pu Songling Collection that has been handed down. When he was in his 40s, the eight strands of text written by Pu Songling were very different from the articles that Shi Yanzhang admired in that year. However, he still couldn't pass the exam! On the one hand, the imperial examination is corrupt, and money and power are increasingly functioning; on the other hand, Pu Songling is very unlucky. We can see from the words he wrote that he failed in the other country's test.
Township examination papers
Kangxi twenty-six years, Pu Songling 48 years old when he took the exam, got the exam questions, felt very sure, wrote quickly, looked back, the sky collapsed! It turned out that he had "crossed the line" and violated the rules of writing. The imperial examination has strict writing standards, 12 lines per page, 25 words per line, and must be written consecutively according to page numbers 1, 2, and 3. Pu Songling wrote like a god, after writing the first page, quickly turned over, even the second page together, directly to the third page, separated by one, this is called "cross-width", and the cross-width not only to cancel the qualifications, but also to publish the list, it is a very frustrating and very planted thing. Pu Songling wrote a poem "The Great Sacred Music" to describe the feelings of Yue Zhong: "Proud of the book, turning back is a big mistake, what is the situation?" Feeling a thousand cold sweat stained clothes, a wisp of soul flew out of the house, and the pain and itch were all gone. He was heartbroken and had no face to see Jiangdong's father and elder.
Although Pu Songling was tormented by the township test like crazy, he still refused to give up, and prepared for the next township test, writing these mock tables:
"Proposed to add to the intention of the elderly, the edict of the world's seventy, eighty years or more, each gift of millet and other items are different, the group of ministers thank the table";
"Proposed to promulgate the heavenly palace with the four characters of "Table of Ten Thousand Masters", still making the inscription on the temple, the imperial book Leshi, the order of the minister to establish in Qufu, and the group of ministers to thank the table";
……
In the twenty-ninth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Pu Songling took the township examination at the age of 51, and after the first examination, he was appointed as the first place, but he failed to complete the second examination due to illness. It's another famous Mountain! His "Drunken Taiping" lyrics write "stubborn veteran, depressed, stay up for half a lifetime", "stretch the child upside down", like a woman with parenting experience who has brought the baby swaddling down. Pu Songling, who was more than half a hundred years old, still refused to give up, and his wife Liu Shi was more open to him than he was, and advised him: Don't take the exam again, if you have official luck in your life, you will already be out of the picture. The mountains and forests have their own happy land, so why do you have to listen to the sound of collecting taxes from the people on a board? Although Pu Songling felt that his wife said it well, he was still unwilling, and when he was 63 years old, he wrote in "Sending Purple Garden" that "three years after three years, all hopes are empty", indicating that he failed again in the local test. After his career hopes were dashed, he placed his hopes on his children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, his descendants can not soar. What's even more incredible is that the students he teaches also have no official luck.