Century One Promise 6 generations of concentricity
——The story of the Wu Heping family guarding the tomb of the literary scholar Wu Minshu
The descendants of Wu Minshu worship at the Wu Minshu cemetery.
Group photo of Wu Minshu's descendants.
A fragment of a stele was found in the Wu Minshu cemetery, with the words "Wu Badger Shudan" and so on.
The tomb keeper in the Wu Clan Genealogy of Yueyang County.
The pictures in this edition are all taken by Peng Xinhua
Hunan Daily reporter Xu Yaping correspondent Peng Xinhua
A journey to the mountains, a ride to the water, the past is difficult to find; The song is there, the wine glass is pouring, and the credit cave court is a round of the moon.
Here, is the anti-Japanese battlefield on the north bank of the new wall of the river, the Qing Dynasty famous scholar Wu Minshu fell leaves back to the roots - Yueyang City Yueyang Lou District Guo Zhen Township Shuangtang Village. In the heart of Wu Heping, a villager who guarded the tomb for Wu Minshu, "This is a treasure land of feng shui. ”
On January 11, this reporter visited Wu Heping and listened to him tell a secret that had been buried in his heart for many years, about the secret of a well-known writer, historian and editor.
1 An undead bird
"The hoe went out, and the east wind blew my clothes." The elderly are familiar with the farm, and teach their children and grandchildren to know. On the Ancient Plains of Hidaka, I saw birds flying. Sighing about human affairs, there are many right and wrong. The sun shone on the ancient field, Wu Minshu put down his hoe, lay down on the grass, and looked up to see the birds in the sky. That bird flew in the wilderness, flew in Dongting Lake, and also flew in the history of Chinese literature.
Wu Minshu (1805-1873), a native of Baling County (present-day Yueyang County), called himself Nanping (南平) because of the fact that a study was built in his hometown of Nanping Mountain. He was brilliant since childhood, entered the school at the age of 8, and was familiar with the Four Books, the Five Classics, the Records of History, the Book of Han, etc., advocating "striving for differences in the world for the articles and scraping away the worldly views". In 1832, Wu Minshu Township tried to win the test; In 1844, the imperial court selected an elector to serve as an official, and Wu Minshu was ordered to teach in Liuyang County, because he hated the official struggle for power and profit, he fell ill and returned home a year later, and from then on he devoted himself to his studies and became the founder of the Chinese Zhaohu Wen School.
Wu Minshu has a special love for classical history and literature. In 1844, after reading his selected copy of the Guizhenchuan Bunbetsu and the preface he wrote, Tobe Lang Zhongmei personally received him and studied the ancient texts together. Wu Minshu's reputation for being good at ancient Chinese has spread throughout the capital.
Wu Minshu built a "Listening to the Rain Building" at home, where he studied articles with his brother Yunsong and wrote poems. Sometimes, Wu Minshu walked out of the listening rain building, strolled through the countryside, met his father and fellow villagers who knew each other, and drank on donkeys, and composed small words as gifts; Sometimes, he wanders between famous places such as Xinqianghe, Dayun Mountain, and Junshan Mountain in his hometown, so that the writing can get the help of the landscape.
Later, Wu Minshu and his cousin Wu Shi stepped into Jujun Mountain, built the "Crane Ming Hall" and "Beizhu Pavilion", recited endlessly, and wrote books without abandonment, leaving behind such historical literary wealth as "Records of The Literature of The Lake", "Zhou Yi Zhuyi Supplement", "Analects of the Examination of Yifa", and Tongzhi's "Chronicle of Baling County".
Wu Minshu is a filial and benevolent person. When his parents died, he was buried and fasted, and the tomb was finally buried; His brother Yun Song died of illness, and he took good care of his brother's orphans and widows; When relatives, friends, and neighbors were in difficulty, he tried his best to help and did not ask for repayment.
In 1873, Wu Minshu was plagued by illness, but he resolutely went to Changsha with an illness and went to the Hunan Provincial Tongzhi Bureau to preside over the compilation and revision of the "Hunan Tongzhi", which was undoubtedly a huge project. Tongzhi has not yet been compiled, wu Minshu died of illness in office, at the age of 69. It was not until the Guangxu period that Tongzhi was successfully published. There are more than 400 kinds of local chronicles published before the founding of New China in Hunan, more than 90% of which were revised in the Qing Dynasty, involving politics, economy, military, culture, characters, industry and commerce, farmland and water conservancy, etc., and are known as the "Hunan Encyclopedia". Huang Junjian, an expert and writer on history, said: "This treasure of Gongyueyang is worth a book. "Hunan Tongzhi" is a rare local history, which is extremely precious!"
2 A group of watchmen
The secret in Wu Heping's heart dates back to 145 years ago.
Wu Huibai, an 82-year-old village secretary of Gongcheng Village, Rongjiawan Town, Yueyang County, introduced that Wu Minshu's family is better off, and there is a piece of land on the north bank of the New Wall River, surrounded by mountains and babbling water, wu Minshu chose this place as his long resting place before he died. In the twelfth year of Qing Tongzhi (1873), after the death of Wu Minshu, the clan arranged for his nephew Wu Changmei to guard the tomb; The fields around the cemetery were handed over to Wu Changmei for farming as living expenses for the tombkeeper. Wu Changmei has many children and a difficult life. He promised that he would not only guard the tomb for Wu Minshu himself, but would also keep it for generations. Therefore, in that year, he took a boat with his family to cross the Xinqiang River north and opened a foundation in Shuangtang Village.
Wu Changmei was Wu Heping's great-grandfather.
Wu Heping has been a farmer for generations, and he does not know what the "Hunan Tongzhi" is, but for this family commitment, 6 generations have adhered to it for 145 years.
In Guozhen Township, Yueyang Lou District, a cement road connecting Zaoshu Village and Shuangtang Village winds through the mountains, with a nearly collapsed red brick factory on one side and a dry pond on one side. Wu Heping pointed to a corner of the pond and said, "This is Wu Minshu's cemetery." ”
Years, on Wu Heping's forehead carved With Dao wrinkles. When it comes to the history of tomb keeping, his thinking has become active: "This treasure land of feng shui is called 'carp making a golden tank'. Gaozu Wu Changmei took 5 sons to reclaim the land next to the cemetery, cultivating day and night, and 100 acres of land became the foundation of the family's tombkeeping. Wu Changmei was overworked and died the following year, at the age of 50. Before his death, he selected his youngest son Wu Qizhuang to guard the tomb full-time. Before Wu Qizhuang died, he handed over the baton to his eldest son Wu Huijiu. Wu Huijiu passed it on to his eldest son Wu Chenglai. Wu Chenglai is my father. ”
The shadow of the idle cloud pond is leisurely, and the things change stars to move several degrees in autumn. Although the dynasty changed and the war was chaotic, the Wu family has always been inseparable and carefully cared for the cemetery for generations.
"I don't look forward to the New Year, I don't look forward to the festival, I only hope that qingming will come to hang up white." Wu Heping recalled that when he was a child, every year during the Qingming And Spring Festival, his grandfather and father took him to the cemetery to worship. "The worship ceremony is very solemn, with three fully cooked animals, pork in the center, and left chicken and right fish on both sides. The cemetery is 3 acres, and the tomb is made of large green bricks, hemp stone, and three-eyed soil, which is tall and strong. Usually, my father and uncle planted crops next to the cemetery, and our brothers played hide-and-seek in the cemetery, not afraid at all, and inside were our relatives. ”
However, no one expected that one day in 1958, a group of people suddenly broke into Wu Minshu's cemetery, smashed open the grave, and burned with oil... Wu Heping, 8, was caught in the crowd watching the liveliness, watching in horror as the rosin, charcoal, and mercury in the coffin were left in a mess.
His father, Wu Chenglai, hid in the house, shedding tears of sadness. At night, Wu Chenglai and his two younger brothers touched the cemetery, pulled in the debris, found a fragment of the monument, and secretly moved back home.
Wu Heping moved out the 60-year-old stele, which once again confirmed this period of history. The stele is 60 cm long and 50 cm wide, and on it, "The tomb of Mrs. Wu Mu Mrs. Zhang... Linxiang Wu Badger Shudan" and other words are clear and legible, the font is vigorous, and there is a Wei stele wind bone. Wu Was a late Qing Dynasty scholar and famous talent, and he took Wu Minshu as his teacher all his life.
Because of guarding the tomb of the "landlord class", during the Cultural Revolution, Wu Chenglai and his two younger brothers were criticized. The two younger brothers were humiliated and committed suicide with hatred.
"We did not guard the graves of our ancestors, we did not see the people without face, and we basically did not go to our hometown for 60 years, not because we did not want to, but because we did not dare." I'm here with my son. Speaking of sad past, Wu Heping choked up several times.
On the slope of the red brick factory 100 meters away, there are several tombs. Wu Heping brushed aside the bushes and came to the grave, where his grandparents and fathers lay. "The duty of the tomb keeper is to be loyal, and he cannot leave Wu Minshu before and after death." Every year during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, Wu Heping led his son and inserted a "Qingming Hanging" on the side of the pond to worship Wu Minshu first, and then to his ancestors.
In the west wind, the reporter came to the old man's home of villager Yu Qinghang. Yu Qinghang, 74, said: "I know about this Wu tomb, 'Niu Gong Grassland Water Gong Zhen', at that time we often went there to herd cattle. His old partner, Fang Yunyi, now 70 years old and has read junior high school, she said quickly: "What a good tomb!" The owner of the tomb has a history. ”
3 A nostalgic love for the garden
December 28, 2017, was a happy day for Wu Daping, a resident of Wufu Yiwu, Gongcheng Village, Rongjiawan Town, Yueyang County. Because, on the same day, he found the grave of Wu Minshu, the ancestor of the Wu family, and fulfilled his wish for many years.
Wu Daping, 57, served as a soldier and later developed in Qingdao. Five years ago, after he returned to his hometown and settled down, he wanted to find the home of Wu Minshu, an outstanding literary figure of the Wu family.
"When I was a child, my father told me that Wu Fu had been in a house for 500 years, and there was a celebrity Wu Minshu." Over the years, Wu Daping paid attention to collecting information about Wu Minshu and understanding his deeds, "He is not only a writer, but also a great filial piety, his mother died, he kept filial piety for 3 years, and he was as thin as wood." ”
Home style is the best inheritance. Determined to promote the literary achievements of his sages and the style of filial piety, Wu Daping's top priority was to find Wu Minshu's grave.
"According to the genealogy, Wu Minshu was buried in Ma'anshan, Matang." Ma'anshan is among the mountains on the north bank of the New Wall River, while Wufu Yiwuchang is on the south bank of the New Wall River, with a straight-line distance of about 20 kilometers. A river that blocks several acacias.
As soon as he had time, he went to look for them in the mountains on the north shore, but things were not human.
One day in mid-December last year, things took a turn for the better. The old man Wu Huibai in the village told Wu Daping that 30 years ago, he had crossed the Xinqiang River to sell cattle, and when he stopped at a family, he heard that there was a local farmer Wu Heping, who, together with his father, guarded the tomb for Wu Minshu.
Wu Daping was overjoyed, and immediately went through the public security household registration inquiry, and then went to Matang and Guo Zhen to search, and finally found Wu Heping.
Wu Heping led Wu Daping to a pond in Shuangtang Village: "This is it." I come every year. Wu Daping squatted down, shaved out the yellow soil, put it into a blue and white porcelain vase, and muttered to himself: "Nanping Daddy, let's go home together." ”
Wu Daping and his people placed this loess on the hillside opposite Wu Fu's house, from which they could see the vast Dongting Lake. He said: "In a sense, Wu Minshu returned to the green mountains and rivers of his hometown. Naturally, this is also the spiritual belonging of the Wu clan people in the Wu Fu house who are running away, and it is their nostalgia that never ends.
Read books and see "Zeng Zuo Wu"
In the dim sky of the late qing, "Zeng Zuo Wu" is 3 shining stars.
Guo Songtao, China's first minister in Britain, a famous diplomat, and a Xiangyin man, commented on Wu Minshu, a writer and historian: "The grandeur of articles in Hunan in the past two hundred years has been the first to recommend Zeng Wu. ”
"Zeng" means Zeng Guofan, and "Wu" is Wu Minshu.
In that January of that year, a glass of water and wine was a touch of nostalgia, which made people linger. In 1832, the 27-year-old Baling man Wu Minshu Zhongju, and the 20-year-old Xiangyin man Zuo Zongtang were the same list of people; And the 21-year-old Xiangxiang man Zeng Guofan just happened to be admitted to Xiucai. Although Zeng Guofan started late, Wu Minshu and Zeng Guofan sang very well.
In The wufu house in Rongjiawan Town, Yueyang County, the old people all told the story of Wu Minshu's interaction with Zeng Guofan.
At that time, Wu Minshu was listening to the rain building to read hard, and he wrote a lot of works with lofty intentions, which were widely circulated in the area of Dongting Lake. Zeng Guofan admired Wu Minshu's literary talent, and specially came from Xiangxiang to visit, and the two young people gathered to listen to the rain building and study together.
Twilight is hurried, spring rain is xiaoxiao, listening to the rain upstairs, the sound of groaning is endless, through the clouds and fog, tapping the sky.
During the years of Qing Xianfeng and Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang held military power and became famous. But Wu Minshu never asked them for anything. Zeng Guofan ran the Xiang Army in the name of a waiter, and specially invited Wu Minshu to serve as a staff member, and Wu Wanxie. Later, Zeng Guofan recommended Wu Minshu as the envoy of the two Guangdong salt transports, which was the "fat difference" coveted by many bureaucrats and politicians at that time, but Wu Minshu laughed: "We Wu family, not salt dealers." ”
Wu Minshu did not seek advancement, immersed himself in the study of poetry and ancient literature, and eventually became a great instrument and became the founder of the Chinese Zhaohu Literary School. Zeng Guofan always paid attention to Wu's scholarly articles, praising: "Words are like walking on dangerous stones, and falling paper is late and extraordinary." "When Zeng Guofan discussed the Tongcheng School, he also classified Wu Minshu into the Tongcheng School; However, Wu disagreed, and wrote "With Xiao Cen Thesis School", affirming that his articles have their own style and characteristics.
Similarly, as a friend, Wu Minshu has more warmth and understanding for Zeng Guofan, which makes Zeng Guofan feel warm. In the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857), Zeng Guofan struggled to hold on to the situation in Jiangxi, and in February, his father died. Wu Minshu wrote many times to comfort him, saying: "The things that have been done are violent to the world, and everyone knows that they have done something, not from their own interests." ”
In the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), Wu Minshu took a boat down the river and arrived in Nanjing. Zeng Guofan personally welcomed him to the Governor's Palace and honored him as a guest. Zeng Guofan lamented in a poem entitled "Gift to Wu Nanping": "Gold can become a river, but it is not easy to open it." There are more than 300 famous poets and poets in the north and south of the great river, and the hai nei is said to be "Tai Singing and Poetry".
Wu Minshu had a good relationship with Zuo Zongtang. Wu Minshu's son Wu Nianmou was selected in the township test, and Zuo Zongtang personally encouraged him. Wu Minshu said in the letter: The child is thinking of the plot, luckily in the township test, ashamed and ashamed, the elder brother is fortunate to have to teach it. Zuo Zongtang had promised to write an inscription for Wu Minshu's parents, and Wu Minshu wrote: "The tombstone of the ancestors has been asked for a promise before, and begged for it." ”
In the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872), Zuo Zongtang led the Xiang disciples of Hu to the west, determined to recover Xinjiang, ordered people to carry coffins to accompany him, and said generously: "Strong men and long songs, no longer take the plug as a bitterness, the old should be stronger." Wu Minshu was lying frozen in an isolated village, smelling the excitement, and sending a poem from afar, encouraging Hu Xiang's disciples to kill the enemy bravely: "... The boy is not thirty, and he is very proud. Take the messenger car, ride in front of you. ”
When Zeng and Zuo Jungong played high, Wu Shumin only knew how to concentrate on learning. When his companions returned from hundreds of battles, they all thought of reading with Wu, which is the charm of Wu. Who says a bookworm is useless? Read books and look at "Zeng Zuo Wu".