At present, when it comes to the Book of Poetry, the first thing we think of is one of the "Five Classics" juxtaposed with the Book of Shang, Zhou Yi, the Book of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Classics, and then it may be a more difficult word in the process of recitation, and the poetry that is not well understood. So, why can the Book of Poetry become an extremely important classic of Confucianism? Why was Confucius elevated to the height of "no poetry, no words"?
Today we will start with the matter of Wei Wuhou ascending to the throne. Speaking of Marquis Wu of Wei, everyone may be relatively unfamiliar, but if this is the second monarch of the State of Wei during the Warring States period, the father of King Hui of Liang in Mencius, everyone should be more familiar with it.
Speaking of Wei Wuhou, his journey to the throne was not so smooth, why? Because his father, Wei Wenhou, although he was appointed as the next successor, he sent Wei Wuhou to garrison Zhongshan after Leyang destroyed Zhongshan. If we look at the map at that time, we will find that there is exactly one Zhao state between the Zhongshan Kingdom and the Wei Kingdom. That is, the successor of the State of Wei was sent by his father to an enclave far away from the country.
Sending the successor to such a far place not only did it not happen in time for a major national event, but we also had to wonder whether Wei Wenhou was dissatisfied with the successor he had set. In addition, what made Wei Wuhou Wei Even more uneasy was that he had been stationed in Zhongshan for three years, and the imperial court had not sent an emissary.
It was also at this time that Zhao Cangtang, a courtier who followed Wei Wuhou Wei, said to him: "A father can forget his son, but a son cannot forget his father, although your father did not send someone, but you can send someone over." Therefore, Zhao Cangtang went to see Wei Wenhou on behalf of Wei Jing.
In the process of receiving the emissary, Wei Wenhou asked Wei Zhen what he had been studying recently, and Zhao Cangtang replied that he was studying poetry and liked "Morning Wind" and "Huang Li" the most. And Wei Wenhou, because he had many literary figures around him, was familiar with these two poems.
Morrowind
"Yù (yù) Peter Morning Wind, Yu Pi BeiLin." I have not seen a gentleman, and I am worried about Chin. How to, forget about yourself. ”
"The Departure"
"The seedlings of The Pi Are Separated, the Seedlings of the Pi Ji." The line is moving, the center is shaking. Those who know me say that I am worried, and those who do not know me say what I want. ”
From the general idea of these two poems, we can see that Wei Zhen's complaints and dissatisfaction with his father Wei Wenhou, and because he is his own father and is not easy to express directly, he can only express it euphemistically and implicitly with the help of poetry.
Of course, for Wei Wenhou, not only could he feel the feelings of poetry, but Wei Zhen's experience and state of mind at this time could also resonate with him, so he made a strange decision. He asked Zhao Cangtang to deliver the box containing the clothes he had given to Wei In the early morning when the chickens were crowing.
Why? Zhao Cangtang returned to Wei Zhen with a full stomach of doubts, and handed him the box when the chickens were crowing in the morning. When Wei Zhen opened the box and saw that all the clothes were in disarray, instead of blaming Zhao Cangtang, he ordered his men to hurry up and prepare the horses, and his father was summoning himself.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Cangtang was even more confused: "Your father didn't say to let you go back?" Wei Zhen said: "Father arranged that you must deliver your clothes in the morning when the chickens crowed, and the clothes were all messed up, which actually has a deep meaning." In the "East Unknown" there are these verses:
'The East is unknown, and the clothes are upside down. Upside down, self-proclaimed. ’
This is the signal to summon me. ”
These verses are about a state official who gets up before dawn to go to work, and even wears his clothes upside down. Why is it in such a hurry, because the leader summons himself.
Therefore, Wei Zhen accurately understood Wei Wenhou's deep meaning, and immediately set off to rush to the capital. Wei Wenhou was very happy to see Wei Zhen and sent Wei Zhen's younger brother Wei Zhi to Zhongshan Kingdom to replace Wei Zhen and restore his status as heir.
From here, we can see that in the era when the Book of Poetry prevailed, it was not only good to memorize it, but also to be able to use it flexibly and express its own opinions in a euphemistic and subtle way.