As we all know, China has a history of 5,000 years of civilization, however, it is not like everyone imagines that "ancient China was a closed country", in fact, at different stages in the history of ancient China, many foreigners came to China to study. From the beginning of the Qin and Han Dynasties, as the national strength of ancient China became stronger and stronger, it attracted a large number of foreigners to study in China.
After entering the Tang Dynasty, merchants, envoys and international students from abroad were in an endless stream. Due to the traffic problems in ancient China, most of the major international students came from neighboring countries, such as: Japan, Goryeo, Silla and so on. They spread China's advanced science and technology to all parts of the world. However, you know that in the Tang Dynasty of China more than 1400 years ago, there was a foreign student who not only got a "diploma" in China, but also became an official in China, which is the ancient Silla, and now the Korean Choi Ji-won. Today I will use the lens to lead you close to this magical "international student" and approach the Cui Zhiyuan Memorial Hall in Yangzhou.
Do you remember that on February 7, 2020, the new crown pneumonia outbreak broke out in Daegu City, South Korea, but Daegu City was not equipped with sufficient protective facilities, and on February 27, the Chinese Embassy in South Korea urgently allocated 25,000 medical masks to Daegu City, and wrote the words "Not far from the road, no one is foreign" in Chinese and Korean on chi aid materials, and this sentence is from the first sentence of the opening chapter of Cui Zhiyuan's "Inscription of the True Zen Master of Shuangbei Temple". It means "morally the same, people have no borders, and they are not isolated from different countries."
Choi Ji-won, also spelled Gu Yun, is a native of Silla, The Korean Peninsula. He is revered by North and South Korea as the originator of Chinese literature, and has the reputation of "Confucianism in dongguo" and "ancestor of dongguo literature". Speaking of Cui's life experience, it can be described as magical. In 868, at the age of 12, Cui Zhiyuan bid farewell to his family and went to Datang with a merchant ship. Cui Zhiyuan's father was full of high hopes for his son, and warned Cui Zhiyuan, "If you are not the first soldier in ten years, you should not be called my son, I am not called a child, I am diligent and diligent, and there is no inertia." "Why did Cui Zhiyuan's father send his children across the ocean to study abroad?"
Cui Zhiyuan was born into a family that was not noble, just an ordinary aristocracy, and at that time, Datang was the most powerful country in the world, not only with a vast territory, rich resources and considerable culture, but also very open and inclusive to foreigners. Most importantly, the Tang Dynasty opened the imperial examination for foreign students, named "Bingongsheng", and after taking the meritorious name, it was called "Bingong Jinshi", but this kind of examination was extremely difficult, because people from neighboring countries wanted to come to Datang to study, and there were many students but very few places.
So Cui Zhiyuan took the important mission of restoring the family and with the heavy trust of his father, this young Silla teenager came to Datang. During the Tang Dynasty in China, all international students studied and lived in the Guozi Prison, and all the expenses of food, clothing, housing and transportation were all borne by the Tang government, and students had no worries and could concentrate on studying.
After studying at Guozi Prison for six years, cui finally passed the "Bingong Jinshi" with excellent results at the age of eighteen. But Cui Zhiyuan, who entered the first place, did not return to his hometown and return to his country like other international students. In Cui's heart, he has a greater ideal and a more ambitious vision for life, so he chose to stay in Datang for development. However, according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty at that time, two years after obtaining the meritorious title, they could qualify for the examination of the official department and obtain the qualification of the jinshi, thus becoming a candidate for the selection of officials. After Cui Zhiyuan lost his status as an international student, he naturally did not have government funding. During the two years of waiting, Cui Zhiyuan traveled around the Tang Dynasty and embarked on the road of literary creation.
In 876, the 20-year-old Cui Zhiyuan finally got his wish and became a lieutenant of Lishui County, serving as an official for three years. Subsequently, due to Cui Zhiyuan's outstanding talent, he was deeply appreciated by the famous Tang Dynasty general and poet Gao Biao, and under his recommendation, Cui Zhiyuan successively held important positions such as the Inner Feng of the Imperial Palace, the Inspector of the Metropolitan Government, the Undertaker Lang, and the Inspector of Guanyi.
In 884, cui Zhiyuan, who was young and far away from home, had been away from his homeland for sixteen years, and at the age of 28, he received a letter from his father, hoping to return to China. At this time, Cui Zhiyuan was extremely conflicted in his heart, not only was it difficult to leave the Tang Dynasty, but also thought about his homeland and family day and night, so in the end he chose the latter and returned to his hometown to reunite with his family and serve his motherland. Choi returned home with the honor of Sampoon, the most accomplished international student in North Korean history.
Choi Ge-won, who returned to Silla, was reused by King KenKang and was later appointed as a supervisor of the Attendant and Attendant of the Guards department of Hanlin. A few years later, due to the change of the Silla throne and the change of political situation, Choi Chi-won resigned his official post and returned home to continue writing articles. In his more than ten years of life in China, Choi Ji-won created a large number of poems, of which 20 volumes were included in the "Four Libraries of the Whole Book", and Choi Ji-won, who returned to Silla, also wrote continuously, writing five-word poems "Ancient Meaning", "Five Songs of Folk Music", "Guiyuan Pen Cultivation", etc., of which "Guiyuan Pen Cultivation" is the only personal work left during the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
Perhaps the officials will have time to go to Yangzhou to see the Cui Zhiyuan Memorial Hall. Although the memorial hall is not large, the introduction of Cui Zhiyuan is quite detailed. Just like China's epidemic prevention materials to Daegu in South Korea, the famous sentence of Cui Jiyuan is "not far from people, people are not foreign", people have no borders, people in any corner of the earth have difficulties, we should all help, such a world is truly harmonious.