Presumably, everyone has read the small poem "Moss" in which "Moss flowers are as small as rice, and they also learn to bloom peonies." A small moss was so vivid and extraordinary in the eyes of the poet Yuan Ming. And Yuan Ming himself was also in the Qing Dynasty, where the feudal rituals were the most severely imprisoned, and he lived out the same happiness and self as this moss.
So today, let's talk about this old man who received female disciples, Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming came from a family of scholars who had fallen, and did not own 100 acres of land like a rich family, and his family was relatively poor. But he was gifted from an early age, studied very hard, and had a special love for writing poetry. Such a hard-working little prodigy was particularly loved by the teacher. In the sixth year of Yongzheng, Yuan Ming, who was only 12 years old, and his 42-year-old teacher took the township examination together, and also passed the Xiucai examination.
When he had just turned 20, he began the first walk-and-go trip of his life: from Hangzhou to Guangxi to find his uncle Yuan Hong, who was an aide. Although Yuan Ming was physically subjected to the hardships of the journey along the way, he took the opportunity to visit the scenic spots and monuments along the way, and the great rivers and mountains gave him a steady stream of creative inspiration. In the fourth year of Qianlong, Yuan Ming took the imperial examination, won the jinshi, and was awarded the title of gold list, which should be the most brilliant and glorious life moment of his youth.
In fact, Yuan Ming is still a cold disciple in essence, perhaps he has lived in poverty and fear since he was a child, and after becoming an official, he has worked very hard to get promoted and rich. Unfortunately, the heavens did not go according to people's wishes, and because he failed to pass the examination of the Hanlin Yuan Shujishi, he was transferred out of the capital to become Jiangning Zhi County. At this moment, he changed from a close minister around the emperor to the head of a small county, and this gap in height can be imagined, and the blow to Yuan Ming, who has always had a smooth career, is also very huge. Although he was relegated to the outside world, he still wanted to return to the capital through his good political achievements, and he continued to promote the legal system in Jiangning, Shangyuan and other counties, severely punishing the powerful and powerful who violated the law and discipline, and became famous. Spring to autumn, in the blink of an eye, seven years have passed, and Yuan Ming saw that he was still constantly going to various counties as zhi counties, and there was no sign of returning to Beijing. He was already very disgusted with the red tape and deceit in the official arena, and in discouragement, he took advantage of his father's death and his mother's old age and no one to take care of him, so he resigned from the government and adopted his mother.
Later, he purchased a long-abandoned garden in Jiangning, which was originally part of the Cao Yin family weaving in Jiangning during the Kangxi Dynasty, and was also the prototype of the Grand View Garden in "Dream of the Red Chamber". Later, it passed into the hands of the Duke of Sui, and was therefore known as the Sui Garden. However, after the acquisition, Yuan Mei simplified "Sui" to "Sui" for convenience, and called himself the old man of Suiyuan. He thought that since the garden had been bought, he would have to decorate my favorite style. So he began a drastic rectification, and made the following record in his own article: "Building a house is not too small, opening a pond is not too much, the house is small and does not cover the mountain, and the pool is more than a lotus." Strange rocks, purchased at heavy prices, green bamboo poles, planted by hand. The utensils are sandalwood pear Wenzi, carved lacquer and gold; the playthings are Jin Ti Tang stele, Shang Yi Xia Ding..."
Statue of Yuan Ming
As a result, in this way, all the officials he had been doing in the past few years had been squandered, and halfway through the implementation of the project, he could not continue because he was shy. However, he came up with a solution. He rented some of the fields and ponds in the garden to the farmers for cultivated land, and simply did not want the courtyard wall, which was directly the idyllic life of the Eight Classics. In this way, it also attracted many people to come here to play and watch, Yuan Ming has a poem to describe: "Let the crane go to find the mountain bird guests, let people come to see the four flowers." Gradually, his garden was sought after and loved by more and more people, and even the Qianlong Emperor heard about it. When Qianlong was in jiangnan, he also included a visit to the garden in his itinerary, but for various reasons he could not make the trip.
Yuan Ming, who is idle at home, is very fond of women. He did not deny that he was lustful, and often said: "Man is not a saint, but a person who sees color but is not moved?" "In this life, he actually took more than a dozen concubines." However, for the finger-pointing and slanderous words of others, he even began to recruit female disciples, and opened a private school in Suiyuan to teach them to read and write poetry, and repeatedly followed the plot of "Dream of the Red Chamber" to hold poetry meetings.
In addition, it has to be said that Yuan Ming himself is also a senior gourmet. Yuan Mei carefully studied 326 kinds of northern and southern dishes, whether it is mountain treasures and seafood or home-cooked side dishes, or small snacks or good tea and good wine, all of which are introduced in detail in his "Suiyuan Food List". As soon as this book came out, Jiang Ningding's famous name was the divine chef Wang Xiaoyu, who also came to exchange dishes with Yuan Ming. However, in order to make money, he opened a restaurant in Suiyuan, and Wang Xiaoyu also became his chef, and soon became famous. All localities, whether they are princes and nobles or commoners, are proud to have tasted dishes in suiyuan.
Yuan Ming, who loves to write poetry, naturally left his own strong mark in the poetry world. His "sexual spiritual theory" has a far-reaching impact, highlighting the expression of emotions through poetry. His "Poetry with the Garden" established his position in the poetry world at that time. Of course, Yuan Ming also loves horror novels, and he used his imagination to write a book "Zi Wu Shu". That's right, it's the "son who doesn't say anything strange and chaotic."
In this life, Yuan Ming followed his own wishes and relied on his own efforts to live the life he wanted. He had a true temperament and true courage in the feudal dynasty. His last words were: "In all the ages, there will be those who know me." I think that now we can gradually "know" him and "understand" him.
References:Draft History of the Qing Dynasty