Qianjiang Evening News·Hourly News Reporter Jin Dandan/Wen Xia Shanrong/Illustration
"I have been addicted to learning since I was a child. My family was poor and I had no way to read books, so I borrowed them from the library home and wrote them down by hand, counting the days to return them. It was very cold. , The inkstone is ice-hard, the fingers cannot be bent or stretched, and cannot be slackened." This excerpt of " sent to Dongyang Ma Sheng " is moving every time I read it.
More than 700 years ago, this poor young man in Jinhua, Zhejiang, studied hard and inspired countless students of later generations. He was a famous politician, writer, and thinker in the Ming Dynasty. He was known as Song Lian, the "first civil servant in the founding of the country" in the Ming Dynasty.
From a poor scholar to a great scholar, Song Lian's life was full of ups and downs. He always upheld purity and integrity, leaving unforgettable memories in the land of Zhejiang.
"Other people's children"
Born in a poor family, borrowed books to study
When he wrote "Preface to Ma Sheng in Dongyang", Song Lian was already in his late seventies, and he still vividly recalls the scenes of studying hard when he was young.
1 In 1310, Song Lian was born into a poor family in Fucun Town, Jindong District, Jinhua. He was born prematurely and was frail and sickly. However, "The Biography of Taishi of the Song Dynasty" records that Song Lian could recite ancient books at the age of six, compose poems at the age of nine, and had a photographic memory. He was called a "child prodigy" and was definitely "other people's children."
Because his family was poor and could not afford books, Song Lian had to borrow them from someone who had a collection of books. In order to facilitate his careful consideration in the future, he copied them word for word.
The winter in Jiangnan was extremely cold, the inkstone was frozen, and his fingers were frozen, but he never slacked off. After copying the book, he immediately ran to return it without delaying the deadline. Because of Song Lian's studiousness and trustworthiness, people were willing to lend him books.
and so on were a little older. Song Lian carried his luggage and traveled hundreds of miles away to consult with respected university experts. The famous Confucianists Wu Lai and Liu Guan in the late Yuan Dynasty were all his teachers.
Especially in late winter, when the north wind was biting, Song Lian wore an old cotton-padded coat and old shoes and stepped on several feet of snow to go to school. The skin on his feet was cracked and he didn't even know it. By the time he arrived at the hotel, he was already freezing to the point of stiff limbs. The waiter brought him hot water and a thick quilt. After a long time, his frozen body slowly warmed up.
On the way to study, Song Lian tried his best. In "Preface to Ma Sheng in Dongyang", he used his own experience to encourage the younger generations, "From childhood to old age, I have never read a book in a day, and I know everything about learning."
Song Lian not only loved reading, but also loved collecting books. He was a famous bibliophile in the early Ming Dynasty. In his youth, he moved to Pujiang, Shanghai, built a house in Qingluo Mountain, and named it "Qingluo Mountain House". He collected more than 80,000 volumes of books, many of which are rare and unique.
has been teaching at Zhengyimen for more than 20 years.
and "the first family in Jiangnan" have achieved mutual success.
Zhengyimen, also known as "the first family in Jiangnan", is located in Zhengzhai Town, Pujiang County, Jinhua City. It is an important site of ancient Chinese family culture. The Zheng family has lived together here for more than 340 years and is world-famous for its filial piety and righteousness in running the family. The 168-item handed down family motto "Zheng's Standards" is hailed as an important milestone in traditional Chinese family mottos.
Nowadays, in the courtyard of Zhengyimen’s “first home in the south of the Yangtze River”, there are still lush ancient cypresses. These ancient cypresses were planted by Song Lian himself when he was teaching here. He hoped that the people of the Zheng clan would be like these cypress trees that would last forever, defend justice, and serve the country with loyalty.
Zheng Yimen is the place that Song Lian cares about the most. Being a teacher here was also the most open-minded and comfortable period in his life. He and Zheng Yimen achieved mutual success and complemented each other.
At that time, Song Lian, who was just in his early twenties, came to Pujiang and worshiped Wu Lai as his teacher. Later, he succeeded Wu Lai in coaching the Zhengyimen Dongming Jingshe in Pujiang.
Zheng Yimen has a collection of thousands of books, but Song Lian is addicted to books. During his more than 20 years of teaching at Dongming Jingshe, he studied hard day and night, read many books, and coupled with his photographic memory, in just a few years, he Grow into an encyclopedic scholar.
He taught while studying, and cultivated a large number of talented people. He sang poems and exchanged poems with the Zheng family members, leaving behind valuable information for the study of the Zheng family.At that time, Song Lian's circle of friends was also quite "luxurious", "there were scholars who chatted and laughed, and there were no white people who came and went". Using Zhengyimen as a base, he had frequent academic exchanges with cultural celebrities in eastern Zhejiang, which not only created his own Academic achievements have also expanded the academic horizons and communication scope of the Zheng clan members.
At the same time, Song Lian also organized the 168 Zheng family rules into the "Zheng Family Rules", which was also the blueprint for the later Ming Dynasty's governing code. What is even more admirable is that the Zheng family has 173 officials in hundreds of years, none of whom were corrupt, and their clean and honest family tradition is well-known throughout the world.
Most of Zhu Yuanzhang's important proclamations, the first civil servant of the founding of the People's Republic of China, were written by him. Taizu of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang called him "the first civil servant of the founding of the country", and Liu Ji even praised Song Lian as "the best in today's articles" and resigned himself to being inferior.
Song Lian's writing emphasized the practical application of knowledge and advocated "writing based on feelings". The writing should be rich in content, profound in thought, and good in literary style, either simple and concise, or graceful and elegant. In his works, ordinary things and ordinary people always come alive. His "Biography of Wang Mian" and "Preface to Ma Sheng in Dongyang" are still praised by people today.
The late Ming Dynasty scholar Huang Zongxi once compiled " Ming Wen Hai ", which included more than 4,000 articles by nearly 800 authors. Generally, only one or two articles by literati were selected, but Song Lian actually had 50 articles. His disciple There are 20 articles in Fang Xiaoru . It can be seen that Song Lian's writing style has great influence and high status.
At the age of 50, Song Lian became an official and became Zhu Yuanzhang's right-hand man together with Liu Ji, a fellow Zhejiang man. He was diligent in learning, good in thinking, and outstanding in literary talent. He was Zhu Yuanzhang's "literary courage". Most of the important documents were written by him. He majored in "History of the Yuan Dynasty" and taught Prince Zhu Biao for more than ten years. When he became a scholar in the Hanlin Academy, he accepted imperial edicts and knew how to make imperial edicts. Most of the court etiquette at that time was formulated for him.
Whether as a writer or as a person, Song Lian has always been upright and pure.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked him privately who was a good official and who was a bad one. Song Lian only listed the "good ones": "I make friends with good ministers, so I know them. Those who are bad, I don't know them well and can't evaluate them." He knew many of the court officials. Confidential, but always keeping it secret.
Zhu Yuanzhang admired his conduct very much: "In ancient times, the Supreme Being was a saint, followed by a virtuous person, and then a gentleman. If Song Jinglian served me for nineteen years, he never said a word of falsehood, criticized others for their shortcomings, and was not surprised by favors or humiliations. It was always the same. Is he a sincere gentleman? A gentleman can only be called a sage."
In his later years, Song Lian's situation was deplorable.
Because his grandson Song Shen was involved in the case, Song Lian, who had retired and returned to his hometown, was almost sentenced to death. Later, because of the intercession between Queen Ma and Prince Zhu Biao, he was exempted from the death penalty, but was exiled to Maozhou, Sichuan. That year, he was 71 years old. He had a bumpy journey and became ill from overwork. He died of illness in Kuizhou (today's Fengjie, Chongqing) before he reached his destination.
Before being exiled, he wrote the poem "Bie Yimen" with tears in his eyes. The lines are full of his deep love for his hometown Jinhua and Zheng Yimen: "I have no other thoughts in my life, but I miss Linxi. I was born in Linxi. Then I will miss you forever, and I will come back after death." How much he wanted to teach and teach among the green mountains and green waters of his hometown for the rest of his life. However, Lin Xi, who he never forgot, could only meet in his dreams.
Xu Yongming, a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Humanities, Zhejiang University, who participated in the Zhejiang Cultural Research Project, is an expert in the study of ancient Chinese literature. He has written "The First of Civilians - Biography of Song Lian" and "Chronology of Song Lian". In his opinion, Song Lian There are two points worthy of learning by future generations. One is his experience of studying hard when he was young in "Preface to Ma Sheng in Dongyang", which is of great educational significance to today's young generation who live a privileged life; second, Song Lian's Above the temple, he still cared about the fate of the little people at the bottom of society, and wrote biographies of small people such as "Du Huan's Biography", "Li Yi's Biography" and "Record of Li Ge", praising their shining virtues. A feudal scholar-official can do this. ,It's not easy.
Song Lian knowledge map
Song Lian (1310~1381), whose name is Jing Lian , and whose name is Qianxi . His ancestral home is Qianxi, Jinhua, and later moved to Zhengzhai, Pujiang. "Three Masters of Poetry and Prose in the Early Ming Dynasty" and "Four Masters of Eastern Zhejiang".
He is in Zhejiang: He has been engaged in writing and education in Jinhua for most of his life, and his articles are world-famous. His "Zhuzibian", "Qianxi Collection", "Longmen Zi Ning Dao Ji", "Puyang Characters", "Luoshan Collection", etc. were all completed in Zhejiang. He trained a large number of students and left a rich legacy in Zhejiang. Even though he lived in Nanjing for 18 years, he was always haunted by the landscape and culture of his hometown. Qianxi and Linxi became symbols of homesickness in his works.
He is in the textbook: "Preface to Ma Sheng in Dongyang" is included in the classical Chinese unit of the second volume of the ninth grade Chinese of People's Education Press.
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