Cai Yong, a famous writer, musician and calligrapher of the Eastern Han Dynasty, is praised by the world as a generation of outstanding talents. But what's interesting is that he is not as famous as his daughter. His daughter is the talented Cai Wenji .
Cai Yong was proficient in melody and talented. In addition to being familiar with the classics and history, and good at poems and poems, he was also skilled in calligraphy, especially in official script. He collected more than 10,000 volumes of books during his lifetime, and another 4,000 volumes in his later years.
However, the fate of those with great talent seems to be bumpy. Cai Yong could not escape the oppression of the times and was forced into officialdom. Later, he was unjustly killed in prison because of an unintentional sigh. A generation of unrivaled geniuses just disappeared into thin air. What a pity!
Let’s take a look at the legendary and tragic life of the great talent Cai Yong.
1: A peerless genius with both loyalty, filial piety and virtue
In 133 AD, Cai Yong was born in Yuxian County, Chenliu County (now Weishi County, Henan Province). He was also called Cai Bojie. His sixth generation ancestor, Cai Xun, liked Huang-Lao's art. Huang-Lao's art is the collective name of Huangdi's learning and Laozi's learning. It is the source of Chinese Taoism.
During the reign of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, Cai Xun served as the county magistrate of Yi County. During the new dynasty of Wang Mang, Cai Xun did not want to serve in the second dynasty, so he took his family and fled into the mountains and old forests, unwilling to serve in the new dynasty of
. Cai Yong's father, Cai Leng, was also a man of very pure character.
As the saying goes, like father, like son. Cai Yong was not only good at learning, but also good at morality and extremely filial..
Cai Yong was very filial by nature, and his mother had been in bed with him for three years. In the past three years, except when the seasons changed, Cai Yong had never taken off his clothes. He had not had a peaceful night's sleep for more than 70 days in a row. , he was so unable to take care of his old mother.
But later, my mother died of illness.
After his mother died, Cai Yong built a small thatched hut next to his mother's tomb, and everything was done according to etiquette. At that time, there was a little rabbit lying docilely next to his house, and the trees grew side by side. Such a strange thing attracted people from far and near to come and watch.
Cai Yong has a very harmonious relationship with his family. He has always lived with his uncle and cousins. The three generations of his family have never been separated.
Cai Yong was very knowledgeable since he was a child. He once studied with the famous scholar Hu Guang. He was not only good at poetry, articles, mathematics, astronomy, etc., but he also played the piano well.
Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty heard that Cai Yong was good at playing the piano, so he ordered Chen Liu the prefect to send Cai Yong to the palace. Cai Yong had to set off, but on the way, he said he was ill and ran back home. After that, he stayed at home studying historical relics and stopped interacting with other people in the world.
However, no matter how much Cai Yong resisted entering the court and serving as an official, he could not escape in the end, and eventually lost his life because of it. It is really that the tree wants to be quiet but the wind is not stopping .
2: Cai Yong did not want to be an official in his life, but he could not escape his fate as an official.
In 170 AD, 37-year-old Cai Yong was conscripted into Situqiao Xuanfu, and the other party treated him very politely. After that, he was appointed as the county magistrate of Ping'a County, China. He was then called to the court to be a doctor and a bookkeeper, and later moved to Yilang and so on.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty admired Cai Yong's talent and learning and gave him generous treatment. During the amnesty in the second year, he was generously allowed to return to his home county and was allowed to live in exile for nine months.
However, just as he was about to leave for his hometown, an unexpected thing happened . It can be said that this incident had a profound impact on Cai Yong.
At that time, Wuyuan County prefect Wang Zhi gave him a farewell party. When the wine was in full swing, Wang Zhi invited him to sing and dance. Cai Yong was very disdainful of him and ignored him. Unexpectedly, he offended the other party. Wang Zhi was a villain, so he held a grudge and reported to the court that Cai Yong complained about his exile and slandered the court.
For this reason, the favored ministers in the court hated Cai Yong very much, making it difficult for Cai Yong to gain a foothold.
Upon seeing this, Cai Yong was worried that he would be killed, so he fled to Wu County Kuaiji and other places. From then on, he lived in Wudi for 12 years.. During this period, he was like a frightened bird.
did not expect that here, he received a surprise.
Once, Cai Yong discovered that when people in Wudi used Paulownia wood to cook, the sound of Paulownia wood burning and exploding was particularly pleasant, so he made a piano with Paulownia wood. It was indeed pleasant to the ears. Because there were traces of burnt residue on the tail of the piano, it was called the "burnt tail piano".
Cai Yong's "Jiaowei Qin" has an extraordinary origin and is famous. It is known as " the four famous harps in ancient China" together with the qins of Duke Huan of Qi, King Zhuang of Chu, and Sima Xiangru.
When his daughter Cai Wenji became a master of the piano, Cai Yong gave her the most precious "Jiaowei Qin". Cai Wenji has gradually grown into a great person like her father, and has made great achievements in literature, music, calligraphy, etc. As the saying goes, "Like father, like daughter."
How amazing is Cai Yong in music? It is said that he can discern the mood of the other person by the sound of his playing.
Once, a neighbor's guest was playing the piano in the house. Cai Yong came to the door and immediately heard the wrong sound of the piano. He secretly wondered: " He invited me with music, but he also killed me. Why is this?"
Therefore, Cai Yong, who was very vigilant, did not enter the house but turned around and went back. Later, the messenger who sent the message told the owner: "Cai Jun just came, but for some reason he went back at the door."
Since Cai Yong's virtues were loved by the people in the surrounding areas, the owner went back to ask Cai Yong himself. I crawled towards a cicada, but I kept jumping at it several times. I was very worried, because I was afraid that the mantis could not catch the cicada. Is this the murderous intention reflected in the sound of the piano?"
Cai Yong smiled after hearing this: "This is enough to explain.
It can be seen that people who understand music understand people's emotions and understand human nature better. The music is really magical, indescribable .
Three: Unable to control his fate, he was killed innocently, and lost his life because of a sigh
In 189 AD, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty passed away, Dong Zhuo served as Sikong , and controlled the government.
Dong Zhuo heard about Cai Yong's fame and recruited him to the court, but Cai Yong refused due to illness. Dong Zhuo was furious: " I have enough power to kill his entire family. If he is still arrogant, he is not far from death."
So Dong Zhuo forced prefectures and counties to send Cai Yong to his house. Cai Yong had no choice but to come to the capital to serve as a wine sacrifice. For this reason, he won the respect of Dong Zhuo and served as the censor, and was later promoted to minister.
In 190 AD, 57-year-old Cai Yong was appointed Zhonglang General. Although Dong Zhuo was criticized by the world, he also cherished talents and sometimes adopted Cai Yong's good advice, so Cai Yong was highly regarded .
Dong Zhuo also respected Cai Yong's talent and learning and gave him generous treatment. At every banquet, he would ask Cai Yong to play the piano and praise the world at that time. At this time, Cai Yong would also advise Dong Zhuo to pursue good deeds.
(Dong Zhuo)
However, often walks by the river, and it is inevitable that his shoes will not get wet.
Dong Zhuo was self-willed in order to cover up his shortcomings. Cai Yong knew that staying by Dong Zhuo's side would always be a disaster, so he wanted to escape to Yanzhou . However, because it was too difficult to hide his natural differences, did not escape in the end, which unexpectedly paved the way for his tragic ending .
In 192 AD, Dong Zhuo was executed. It was Situ Wang Yun who used Diao Chan to drive a wedge between Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo, and successfully got rid of Dong Zhuo with the help of Lu Bu.
With the fall of Dong Zhuo, Cai Yong was also innocently implicated.
Once, Cai Yong was a guest at Situ Wang Yun's house. When everyone talked about Dong Zhuo, Cai Yong all sighed with emotion and showed regret on his face. In fact, he was highly regarded by Dong Zhuo, and Dong Zhuo also treated him with courtesy, and the two had a certain friendship.
Unexpectedly, because of Cai Yong's sigh, Wang Yun became furious:
"Dong Zhuo is a great thief of the country, and almost destroyed the Han Dynasty. As a minister, you should have fought with We are all angry, how can we forget the important thing because of personal favor! Now that God is punishing this criminal, you feel sad for him. Are you not a traitor?"
So Wang Yun ordered Cai Yong to be imprisoned.
(Wang Yun)
In other words, Wang Yun is really too hypocritical and hypocritical. Isn't this overkill? Is Cai Yong just a writer and musician worthy of being so angry?
Only then did Cai Yong realize that he had sighed and suffered a disaster from heaven, so he had to admit his mistake. prayed that he could have his face tattooed or his legs chopped off as punishment, as long as he could save his life to continue completing the history of Han .
Other scholar-bureaucrats also tried their best to plead for Cai Yong. Taiwei Ma Ripin persuaded Wang Yun:
"Cai Bozhe is a unique talent and is familiar with Han affairs. He should be allowed to continue completing the history of Han and compose it." An important classic of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Besides, he also had a reputation of loyalty and filial piety. Wouldn't it disappoint the world if he was punished without being named? "
Wang Yun said: "In the past, Emperor Wu did not kill h. tml1 Sima Qian had people write a book of slander and spread it to future generations. Now that the country's fortunes are declining and the emperor's throne is not strong enough, we can no longer allow treacherous ministers to write around the young master. Otherwise, not only will it not be beneficial to the emperor's might, but it will also cause us to be slandered. "
Ma Riqian had no choice but to come out and say to others: "Can the prince continue like this? A kind person is the country's discipline, and historical works are the country's canon. If the law is destroyed and the canon is abolished, can he last long? "This sentence can be regarded as a prophecy!
Cai Yong eventually died in prison.
After Cai Yong died, Wang Yuncai regretted it a little, but it was too late !
Cai Yong was already 60 years old when he died. When the Confucian scholars in the world heard the news of his death, they all cried with sympathy. Zheng Xuan, a native of Beihai, sighed: "The history of the Han Dynasty, who else can write down the history of the Han Dynasty and preserve it for future generations!"
In Yanzhou, Chenliu and other places, people painted portraits of Cai Yong to commemorate him.
In the end, the historical events of the Han Dynasty compiled by Cai Yong were not recorded in the subsequent histories. His previous "Ling Ji", "Han Ji Ten Yi" and the 42 supplementary biographies he wrote were also submerged in the long river of history due to the chaos of the Han Dynasty.
Cai Yong's 104 poems, poems, steles, and inscriptions such as "Doctrine", "Encouragement to Learning", "Explanation of Teachings", "Women's Training", and Chapter Lists have been left to future generations.
Fortunately, Cao Cao later rescued Cai Yong's daughter Cai Wenji from the Xiongnu and ordered her to organize her father's books. Later, Cai Wenji relied on her super memory to sort out more than 4,000 volumes of her father's books for Cao Cao, including calligraphy, piano art and other exquisite arts. This way, these Chinese treasures would not be lost in the dust of history.
written at the end
The life of the peerless genius Cai Yong is indeed tragic. He was loved by the world because of his talent, but he also lost his life because of his talent. This is the greatest sorrow of a great talent under the influence of the times.!
After getting rid of Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun became increasingly proud and complacent, and even raised the butcher's knife against literati. This was the beginning of his downfall. In the same year that Cai Yong died unjustly in prison, Wang Yun was defeated and executed. He died at the age of 56 , even younger than Cai Yong.
can only say that if you do too much injustice, you will be punished!
For Cai Yong, a generation of outstanding talents, was born in troubled times, burdened by his fame, and was trapped by the times. It seems that it is not easy to live a stable life and die in peace.
However, it is really sad, lamentable, and pitiful that a generation of geniuses died so tragically and unjustly because of a sigh!
(The pictures in the text are from the Internet, if they are infringing, they will be deleted)
