Zhang Deming
[Editor's note] People are animals that love to travel and are also animals that tell stories. People who aspire to go further and farther also have a strong curiosity about the world, an interest in listening to stories, a desire to tell stories, and the potential to tell a story well. Travel literature is the result of people unleashing their talents and abilities.
Professor Zhang Deming of Zhejiang University, who has been engaged in comparative literature research for many years, delicately interprets the classic travel literature works in human history, and uses a "Ten Lectures on Travel Literature" to connect the history of human travel literature for thousands of years. With a relaxed tone and poetic language, he takes people through a long time tunnel and a vast geographical space to see how writers who can play and write can transform their footprints into words, elevate memories into reflections, and re-understand themselves and the world from writing.
Ten Lectures on Travel Literature, by Zhang Deming, Peking University Press, July 2021
Although the impact of the epidemic has temporarily stopped people's journeys, it is best to follow the outstanding travel literature in history and revisit the possible world that people in different time and space have pursued in real or fictional journeys!
With the authorization of the publishing house, the excerpt of the article "Drifting sea in the Chinese character cultural circle" followed the perspective of experts, walked into the Korean Confucian Choe Pu's travels to China, and read the "internal report" written to the King of Korea, what secrets were written.
The era of Zheng He's voyage to the West, parallel to the tributary system, was also the Chinese character cultural circle. (Original note: The term "cultural circle" comes from the German word "kulturkreis", which was coined in 1897 or 1898 by the German Leo Victor Ferrobénius and later translated as "culture circle" in English.) The "Chinese character cultural circle" is a new name formed on this basis. At that time, the countries (nationalities) that wrote history in Chinese characters and were influenced by Chinese characters mainly included Vietnam (Tang Dynasty canonized as Annam), Korea (Ming Dynasty canonized as Korea), Wu (Tang Dynasty canonized as Japan), Thailand, Mongolia and Ryukyu.
People living in this cultural circle, although they may not all speak fluent Chinese, are most likely able to read Chinese characters, while literati and officials are not only proficient in Han culture, but also can make "pen talks" with Chinese, that is, cross-cultural communication through writing. Thanks to the special way of communication, "pen talk", a Korean civilian official who drifted to the coast of China due to a shipwreck could prove his identity after being rescued and ashore, and was blessed by misfortune and was received by Emperor Daming.
Cui Pu and his party stayed in Hangzhou for 7 days and were investigated in detail. After that, he continued his journey north along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which lasted 44 days, and arrived in Beijing, becoming the first Korean to walk the entire Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. "Jinghang Daoli Tu" (partial) Zhejiang Provincial Museum collection, painted in the Qing Dynasty, up to 20 meters long, the painting method adopts a bird's-eye view painting method combined with a flat façade, with the winding canal as the axis, depicting the landscape and scenery, city wall arrangement, geographical style and so on both sides of the Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou.
In 1488, Choe Pu, a Korean civil official, boarded a ship from Jeju Island and returned to his hometown to mourn. On the day of the departure, the wind and waves were very strong, and some people advised him to give up this long trip and wait until the wind and waves subsided. However, Cui Pu, as an official of the imperial court and a staunch Confucian believer, knew the position of loyalty and filial piety in the ceremonial society, and still ordered the anchor. Naturally, he did not know what kind of tragic fate this decision would bring to himself and the 41 entourage. Soon after going to sea, I encountered a fierce storm. The cabin leaked, the sails broke and broken, coupled with the lack of water and food, hunger and cold, it was really better to live than to die. After drifting close to the eastern coast of China, they encountered a group of pirates, who snatched all the valuable things on board and flew away, allowing them to re-float into the sea. Finally, the heavens had eyes, and 12 days later they drifted to Niutouyang along the coast of Sanmen County, Zhejiang Province, and were rescued by the locals. After being suspected, humiliated, reprimanded, and questioned privately, questioned in court, inspected by the Seal Letter, and tried by the Three Divisions, the local government finally believed that they were not rogue Wokou, but guests from the vassal state of Korea. After that, Cui Pu's fate underwent a dramatic reversal. He was treated with courtesy and escorted to Beijing to be received by Emperor Daming. He then returned from Liaodong, received his king's reward, and wrote his "Drifting Sea Record" at the king's behest.
The earliest surviving version of the Drifting Sea, the Library of Korea University, holds a wiki image
The Drifting Sea Record was greatly valued in ancient Korea, and from 1571 to 1896 AD, it was printed in five editions. As early as 1769 (that is, the thirty-fourth year of the Qianlong Dynasty), Japan translated this book into Japanese, that is, the "Itinerary of Tang Tu". In the mid-1960s, the United States published the English edition of the Translation of the Records of the Drifting Sea in Jinnan. China, a close neighbor of North Korea, has long ignored this local account of the book, and it was not until the 1990s that commentaries and research monographs came out one after another, which finally made up for this shortcoming.
"Tang Tu Itinerary" Chinese Literature Research Archive Picture
From the perspective of travel literature, we can completely call Cui Pu's "Drifting Sea Record" "the Robinson Crusoe of the East", but this move seems to be a compliment, but in fact, it reduces its value. Because, in fact, the former predates the latter by about 230 years, perhaps it is more appropriate to call Robinson Crusoe the Western "Drifting Sea". More importantly, Cui's entire book is a real record, not a fiction.
Cui Pu drifted more than 4,000 kilometers at sea, drowned in China for 135 days, soaked in seawater, blood and tears every day and every word, containing rich and complicated information, involving the national conditions of China in the early years of Ming Hongzhi, including the political system, coastal defense, justice, canals, transportation, cities, geography, folklore, and relations between the two countries, providing information that is not contained in or not known in historical records. Borrowing the inscription of Cui Pu's grandson Liu Xichun when he was published in the "Drifting Sea Record", this book can be called "a huge pen that imitates the Central Plains".
In November 2016, the exhibition "Smelling the Drifting Sea: Jiangnan in the Eyes of the 15th-Century Korean Confucian Choi Pu", jointly organized by the Zhejiang Provincial Museum and the National Jeju Museum of South Korea, used "Drifting Sea Record" as a clue, supplemented by more than 300 cultural relics from 26 museums in China and South Korea, to explore Cui Pu's travel footprints in Jiangnan, China. The picture shows cui pu's travels to China in the exhibition
The 50,000-word "Drifting Sea Record" is written in fluent Chinese diary style, which not only shows the author's solid foundation in sinology, but also explains a historical fact, that is, until the end of the 15th century, Chinese culture still had a strong radiation force in the Chinese character cultural circle. Cui Pu is proficient in Han culture, has a good understanding of the geographical location, institutional cultural relics, mountains and rivers of mainland China, and is familiar with many historical and literary allusions. It can be seen that he had already read ten thousand books before traveling thousands of miles, otherwise it would be impossible to judge the general position of his position in the vast sea and direct the crew to drift in the direction of China.
"Navigation chart to the sky", collection of the National Museum of Korea
Cui Pu is meticulous and has a strong sense of observation, whether it is an account of astronomy, sea areas, people encountered, and customs and folklore along the way, they are all meticulous and meticulous. For example, when describing seascapes, he can write about the rich variations of colors in different seas:
Although the subject has experienced the vicissitudes of this trip, although it is like a sea, the color of the water-based water varies everywhere. The sea of Jeju, dark blue in color, violent in nature, although there is little wind, the waves are driving on the waves, and the excitement is nothing more than this. To the west of Montenegro Island. After four days and nights, the sea is white; the more two days and nights, the whiter; another day and night, still green; two days and nights, still white; three more days and nights, red and turbid; another day and night, all turbid in red and black... After confessing and returning to youth, although the wind is strong, the waves are not very high. After returning to the white, there was an island. The island is all rock walls, 谺礧砢, loaded soil, there are mixed herbs, evergreen...
After being rescued and disembarked, although he was temporarily frightened by the locals and "frightened and distraught", in fact, his heart was calm, panicked and not chaotic, he has been carefully observing and listening to the surrounding movements, keeping in mind the equipment of the escorted officers and men, the names of the city and the city, the name of the guanfang, and the approximate mileage, so that he can truly restore the atmosphere of the scene and give the reader a strong sense of immediate vision.
Subjects obey their words, and lead their followers on the road, and the people in the middle either carry swords with staffs or beat drums. Those who have heard the sound of drums in the future gather like clouds, call the trumpets of the dragon, sandwich between the left and right, and drive back and forth, and deliver them again and again. It's like that in the front, and it's true in the back. After more than fifty miles of travel, the night has ended... After a long time, another official led the army to the torch. Armor, guns and swords, Pengpai Zhisheng, screaming, howling, trumpeting, drumming, and the sound of the sword, suddenly turning their hands, drawing their swords and making guns, in order to test the sting. The courtiers were horrified, lost their souls, and did not know what they were doing. Officials and Xu Qing reorganized the army to drive away the ministers and so on. But three or four miles, there are large houses, and the city is in the city, such as Guan Zhiran, and the question is to see the peach in the desecration field, or the cloud inspection office. There is also an Ansheng Temple in the city, and the Zhichen is equal to the temple, and Xu Stays in The House.
What is valuable is that he always adheres to the true character of Confucianism, and does not give up his dignity and cheat because of danger. After discovering the pirates on the drift, the entourage asked him to quickly change out of his mourning clothes and put on his official clothes to deter these lawbreakers, and he insisted on not changing them, on the grounds that: "To release the mourning is auspicious, not filial piety; to deceive people, not to believe." As for death, I will not bear to be in a place of filial piety and non-faith, and I should obey and accept righteousness. Before being rescued and disembarked, he first admonished the attendants and military officials of the same ship to observe the number of ceremonies and not to cross the ranks, saying: "The country of our country, which is full of etiquette and righteousness, should also show its majesty, so that the people of this place will know that our country's etiquette is like this." Everywhere I went, the attendants knelt before me, and the soldiers knelt before the attendants, and there was no mistake. And either in front of the city or in the city, there are crowds of people who come to see, and they will make a salute, and they will not dare to rush! "There is dignity in pedantic words, and people dare not insult them.
In response to inquiries from the local government, he replied fluently, showing his familiarity with his country's geographical location and relations with neighboring countries. He talked in detail about the inheritance of Chinese culture in North Korea, especially when it came to the fields of law, etiquette and righteousness education, which was almost a family treasure, and finally succeeded in dispelling the doubts of the other side.
He also asked, "What law does the Ru kingdom use?" Don't have a year number? The courtier said: "The year number, the law degree, a follow the Ming Dynasty." ”
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He also asked, "What is your honor?" The subject said: "Confucians rule the Four Books and Five Classics, and do not learn other techniques." He also said, "Do you have any schools in your country?" The subject said: "The capital of the country has Sungkyunkan, and there are zongxue, middle school, eastern learning, western learning, and southern learning, and there are township schools in the prefectures, counties, and counties, and there are township schools, and every family has a hall." Then he asked, "Honor the sages of the ancient past?" The courtier: "Revere Dacheng the Most Holy Wenxuan King." He also asked, "How many years have you been celebrating the funeral?" The subject said: "From Zhu Wengong's "Family Ceremony", all the declines and declines have been three years, and the great achievements have been made, and all have been killed. He also said, "How many state rituals do you have?" How many penalties are there? The courtiers said: "The rituals are auspicious, fierce, military, bin, and jia, and the punishment is beheading, hanging, streaming, discipleship, staff, and flogging, and one is from the "Great Ming Law" system." He also said, "What is your country using?" What year number is used? The subject said: "One follows the Great Ming Zheng Shuo and the year number." He also said, "What year is this year?" The courtier: "The first year of the reign of Hiroji." He also said, "The sun and the moon are not long, how do you know it?" The minister said: "When the Ming Dynasty first went to sea, all the nations took care of it, but since our country and the great powers are one and the same, our contributions are not outstanding, so why don't we know?" He also said: "Is your national crown uniform the same as China'?" The courtiers said: "Where there are court dresses, official clothes, deep clothes, round necks, and a Chinese dress, only the thesis is small." ”
On the way north to the capital to meet the Emperor Daming, he wrote down in detail the provinces, cities, towns, post stations, villages, rivers, bridges, streets, etc. he passed, and compared them with the Chinese historical and literary allusions he knew. In this way, the abstract place names he saw became vivid and vivid, and the historical figures, palms, and anecdotes of the past seemed to appear in front of his eyes. For example, when passing through Shaoxing and other places, he thought of the Shusheng Wang Xizhi and yue wang Gou Jian, and also thought of the five lakes where Xi Shi Meinu and Fan Ligong retired, and he even knew that the five lakes were another name for Taihu Lake.
Bronze movable type print of "Drifting Sea Record" Collection of Goryeo University
Perhaps because of his first visit to China, Cui Pu's observation of customs and customs was particularly meticulous, and he was good at using the comparative method, making a detailed account of the differences between the customs of the north and the south from the aspects of municipal property, houses, crowns and clothing, cultural level, and funeral customs. For example, when talking about the difference in temperament between the north and the south, he commented:
Gangnam and Shun, or brothers, or cousins, and then from brothers, have the same house. From the north of Wujiang County, there are fathers and sons living in different places, and no one is there. There were no men, women, or children, all of them standing on the rope bed and chairing each other to do anything. Jiangbei people have a strong heart. To the north of Shandong, the family is not protected, and the sound of fighting is endless. Or there are many robbers and murderers. East of Shanhaiguan, its human nature is particularly violent, and it has a Hudi style.
He even carefully observed and recorded the jewelry worn by women in different places.
Jewelry, then south of Ningbo Province, round and long and large, its end is about Chinese ornamentation, to the north, round and sharp, like a bull horn. Or wear a crown of Guanyin, decorated with gold and jade, shining in people's eyes, although white-haired old women, all earrings.
Jiaxing Wangdian Li Jia Tomb Ming Tomb unearthed gilt gold and silver hair cover Jiaxing Museum collection
Jiaxing Wangdian Li Jia Tomb Ming tomb excavated gold inlaid crystal earrings
Not only that, but he is also humble and studious. On the way through Shaoxing and other places, I saw that there were people on the shore of the lake who used water wheels to irrigate the fields, and I wanted to introduce this technology to my country. So they asked the Accompanying Chinese officials one by one about the shape of the water wheel, the production method, and the wood used. After returning home, it will be promoted and applied for the benefit of the people in their own country.
Choe Pu's "Drifting Sea" was originally an "internal report" written at the behest of the King of Korea, and its purpose was to provide information for the upper echelons of Korea to understand the Ming Dynasty and better handle the relations between the two countries, but inadvertently left a mirror for later Generations of China to re-examine itself with the help of others' eyes. In addition, with the help of "Drifting Sea Record", Cui Pu also inadvertently created a drifter image for himself that "Taishan collapsed in front of him and the color remained unchanged".
The "Bongje Joseon Chorus and Poetry Scroll" vividly records the diplomatic relations between Korea and the Ming Dynasty at that time, in the collection of the National Museum of Korea
The vicissitudes of sangtian, the change of dynasties, the Ming Dynasty and The Lee Dynasty have become obsolete and have become the object of historical research, but the scenes, events, people depicted, and the author's voice and smile in Cui Pu's "Drifting Sea Record" are still vivid and vivid to read today, with unique charm.
(The article has been deleted, and the title is added by the editor)
Editor-in-charge: Zhu Zhe
Proofreader: Yan Zhang