Last summer, the China Silk Museum's special exhibition "What Everyone Expects: The Past and Present Life of the Silk Road" exhibited two first-class cultural relics about Cai Wenji: one was a picture of Ming's "Eighteen Beats of Hu Di" borrowed from the Nanjing Museum, and the other was a treasure of the town hall borrowed from the Jilin Provincial Museum, Jin Dai Zhang Yu's "Wen Ji Gui Han Tu", which brushed the exhibition against this painting.
Wen Ji was Cai Yan, the daughter of Cai Yong during the Eastern Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty declined, and the Hu people took advantage of the rebellion to abduct Cai Wenji. According to legend, Wen Ji was forced to marry the Xiongnu Zuoxian King, and the "Eighteen Beats of Hu Di" is written about Wen Ji's tragic life from being abducted to Hu and Hudi homesickness to finally returning to Han Sizi.
Ming "Hu Di Eighteen Beats" picture
The total length of the volume is about thirteen meters, and it has not been fully unfolded due to the limitations of the display cabinet. Let's briefly talk about some of the parts photographed during the exhibition.
The beginning is the first beat, which begins with "I did not do anything at the beginning of my birth After I was born, Han Zuo declined, the sky was not benevolent, the chaos was chaotic, and the unkind made me at this time." The picture on the left side of the text shows Wen Ji being abducted and following the Hu people into the Hu land, and the hat in the middle must be Wen Ji herself, and the Hu people in front and on both sides look back at Wen Ji, this Han Chinese talented woman from the Eastern Han Dynasty.
'Rong Karma forced me to be a room family, and I walked to the end of the world'
The picture below is the scene after Wen Ji entered Hu, and sitting next to him should be his new husband Jun (the first husband Wei Zhongdao died of illness shortly after marrying Wen Ji).
Accompanied by her attendants, Wen Ji, dressed in purple, looked in the direction of her hometown. "Day and night, I don't think about my homeland, and I am the most bitter."
'Raise your head to look up at the clouds and smoke in the sky, nine beats of nostalgia for who and pass'
When she was in Hudi, Wen Ji gave birth to a second son for Hu, which also led to the pain of not being able to see each other after returning to Han, although she returned to Han. "The Sun dwells in the moon and the moon are in the Rong Fortress Hu people spoil me and have two sons Ju Zhi Yu Zhi Xi is not ashamed to hold back the thoughts of growing up and despised."
'Hu people spoil me and have two sons'
The original text of "Hu Di Eighteen Beats" reveals the author's grief, helplessness and pain between the lines, so that readers also feel deep sympathy for Wen Ji's suffering: "Two beats of Zhang Xiang Xi Xiang Xiang Zhi
The guqin song we can hear now is to use the tone of Hu Di to turn into the guqin, which shows that the last paragraph of the original text begins with "Hu Zi Ben from Hu Zhongyuan Qin to translate out of the same rhythm." The first half of the piano song is full of grief and desolation, and by about thirteen or fourteen minutes, it is slow into urgency, and the emotion is even worse, which corresponds exactly: "There are three beats of the strings of the three beats of the strings, the liver and intestines are stirring and the thorns are unknown to me."
The above is the part of the ming "Hu Di Eighteen Beats" taken during the exhibition, but due to the limitations of the display cabinet, I could not see the full picture. Opposite the exhibition cabinet of the "Eighteen Beats of Hu Di" is the treasure of the town hall of Bo in Jilin Province, Jin Dai Zhang Yu's "Wen Ji Gui Han Tu".
Jin Dynasty Zhang Yu Wen Ji returned to Han Tu
"Wen Ji Returns to Han" mainly depicts the scene when Cao Cao, because he missed his friendship with the deceased Cai Yong and "pained him without an heir", sent envoys to spend a lot of money to redeem Wen Ji from the Xiongnu and escort Wen Ji back to Han.
Part of "Wen Ji Gui Han Tu"
Looking at the whole picture, the painter's portrayal of the characters is very meticulous, the expressions and movements are rich, the lines are smooth and capable, the thickness changes evenly, and the colors are light and harmonious, just to meet the tones in the desert. The viewer can see it in amazement, and may also feel a gust of desolate demon wind rushing towards them.
The leader at the front of the Guihan line carried the flag on his right shoulder and covered his mouth with his left hand, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed in the wind and sand. The horse under the leader's seat bowed his head downwards and struggled to withstand the wind. The foals who followed closely behind also learned the posture of a big horse, and walked with their heads down to reduce the resistance when advancing against the wind, which shows the fierceness of the wind and sand that day.
Leader of the Guihan team
Behind the flag-carrying leader are the protagonist of the whole volume, Cai Wenji, and Wenji's two horse-leading people. Wen Ji wears a beard hat and wears a gorgeous beard, with a fluttering belt and is very dynamic. The expression looked calm, but it seemed to carry a little sadness that was difficult for others to detect. The two horse-leading men strode forward, covering their mouths with their sleeves, dodging the wind and sand that came over them.
Wen Ji's two horse leadrs
Behind Wen Ji were the Han envoys and other entourage. The middle-aged man with a long beard and a Han Chinese face was blocking the oncoming wind and sand with a lupine.
Han Chinese in the team
And the following figure slightly raised his head, the expression is calm and calm, the left leads the horse, the right Qingcang, quite a bit of "the old man chats about the juvenile madness" look, the horse he rides has a flowing mane, not afraid of the wind and sand, and moves forward with his head held high.
Lead the horse on the left, and lead the horse on the right
The other Hu people in the team had different expressions. Some covered their faces with sleeves, revealing a look of grievance; some carried large bags of luggage and looked ahead; others covered their mouths and noses and talked softly to each other, as if complaining about the harmful weather.
'Hey I said this wind and sand is so big'' 'yeah'
'Bad hairstyles are blown messy'
If you look closely, you will find that in front of the main character Wen Ji, there is also the appreciation of the Qianlong Emperor's imperial pen, sprinkled with about dozens of hundreds of words. To tell the truth, no matter where Qianlongye's words are written, on the famous paintings or scenic plaques, it feels so arbitrary, and it is no wonder that his own artistic accomplishment or aesthetic taste as an art fanatic is not recognized by future generations. Attached is a seal of the "Treasure of the Qianlong Imperial Palace" photographed in other paintings.
Qianlong Royal Pen
'Show'
According to legend, "Wen Ji Gui Han Tu" was taken out of the palace by the last emperor Puyi and circulated among the people, and was once placed by an old farmer on his stove as a cover cloth (perhaps this is also the reason why the surface of the current painting is dark and affects the perception), until later it was found by the local Ministry of Culture experts and finally entered the Jilin Provincial Museum in Tibet, inheriting the culture for future generations to watch. There are many similar stories, such as when the stone drum, which was known as "China's first antiquity", was scattered in the folk, one of which was used by old farmers to sharpen knives and scoop rice, and now it is quietly staying in the Stone Drum Hall of the Forbidden City, waiting for tourists to visit.
It was once used as a stone drum for sharpening knives and scooping rice
Because of the different backgrounds of the times, it is difficult for us to empathize with the life encounters that Cai Wenji felt at that time, and we can only glimpse her own inner world through the works of art that have been passed down to future generations, just like when Yan Lugong wrote the "Sacrifice Nephew Manuscript" and Su Dongpo wrote the "Huangzhou Cold Food Post", it is difficult for posterity to understand, but we should be glad that these works of art have been the unremitting efforts of generations, and even paid the price of life to be passed on to future generations, so that those of us who come later can have the opportunity to look at the spiritual height of our predecessors. Then continue the context and let the culture be passed on from generation to generation.
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