In ancient China, if you didn't pay attention to it, you would be punished by demotion. In this group of toys that were randomly dismantled by the emperor's old son, there are often many people who have read many poems. In the ancient society of China with more than two thousand years of feudal thoughts, scholars are always inextricably linked with politics. Therefore, once politics and literature are linked, a series of cultural phenomena with China characteristics will be derived. Among them, the culture of demoting officials is the strangest and most interesting place!
First, what is the ridicule and derogatory to the official culture?
So what is the culture of ridiculing and demoting officials?
Yu Xiansheng first mentioned it in A Corner of Dongting, a Cultural Journey. He said: An extremely striking part of China culture can be called "the culture of demoting officials". Subsequently, many cultural relics were demoted to official posts. The relegated official fell out of favor, degenerated, and was lonely. The tragic consciousness climbed into his heart and was banished to the outside, so he had to make out with the landscape. And often not bad. After a period of time, or a dynasty, things changed, and even the court felt that this man was good and restored his reputation. Therefore, his character and style of writing are good, which will be passed down by history and passed down by people. The landscape pavilions they made with each other will become relics.
From this, it can be simply explained that the degeneration of officialdom culture lies in the fact that literati were exiled by officialdom, so they sent their feelings to the mountains and rivers and wrote famous works through the ages. The desolate mountains and rivers have become places of interest, and the poems that lead a drunken life have become masterpieces throughout the ages.
At that time, scholars studied hard at the cold window for decades and tried to break thousands of volumes. Why? In order to break through the cocoon in the imperial examination, win a part-time job, work for the imperial court, do something useful for the country and the people, leave a name after death, so that future generations don't have to dig graves and whip corpses with hatred. In fact, we can see the characteristics of China literati from this way of entering WTO. They believed in the hierarchical thought of teasing the monarch and his son, which was deeply rooted, not to mention the whole feudal society at that time! I always thought that there were no real hermits in ancient China, as long as they still cared about the imperial court, and wrote a poem like "Worry about the world first, enjoy the world later, make the fields dance together, and aspire to stay in the land". Then they are not real hermits. Maybe someone disagrees with me, saying that as long as he is a master of literature, cares about mountains and rivers, leads a poor life and lives in seclusion, he is still a hermit. Why am I so confident? Because I have strong evidence, that is, ridiculing and disparaging officials culturally, exploring the characteristics of China intellectuals from the perspective of a cultural phenomenon, or directly criticizing their shortcomings.
Second, for example, typical sentences
From the pre-Qin dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties, there are countless examples of literati rising first and then falling, but the celebrities who belong to the cultural category of teasing and demoting officials are quite typical.
Liu Zongyuan's typicality can highlight the cultural place where he ridiculed and demoted officials. In 805 AD, Liu Zongyuan was demoted from Yongzhou to Sima and was extremely depressed. When faced with the desolate and unappreciated scenery of Yongzhou, Liu put his pain into it and turned it into a wonderful article. For him, the natural landscape is not an indifferent existence, but a confidant full of aura: funny eyes, beautiful bamboo dew and strange stones. From which I hope. When birds and animals roam, they will perform wonderful programs to enjoy the beautiful scenery below the mountain ... Liu Zongyuan seems to forget being demoted, but looks at the agility of nature as a master. In fact, we can not only read his loneliness and desolation, but also feel the sadness that he can't pick flowers freely. Eight Records of Yongzhou is the soul of relegated officials. Trek hard. Maybe we can't see his masterpiece in adversity. Maybe he died in Temple College all his life. Obviously, this disaster calmed him down and gave him enough time to get in touch with nature and talk to himself. Originally, after he was demoted, he could be satisfied and no longer worry about his official career, but he was just a China native, a China scholar and a feudal China scholar. He has realized his value. However, he lost his value. Yongzhou gave him a relatively complete soul, but there were countless temptations lurking outside the thin shell of the soul ... Ten years later, a paper imperial edict ordered him to return to Chang 'an. Although he is usually very picky about being demoted, he can't help but come in a hurry when he hears the news. From Yongzhou to Chang 'an, after the Miluo River, Qu Yuan's soul seemed to be possessed. I should go back to Chang 'an. To repay the spring breeze, I don't want to waste the waves. Looking at this poem carefully, I don't know whether I admire Qu Yuan's tragic situation or doubt his return to Chang 'an. Liu Zongyuan still didn't expect that it was not the spring breeze but the cold wind that greeted him. After Liu Zongyuan returned to Chang 'an in high spirits, the emperor poured a pot of cold water and said to him, Come back and listen to my imperial edict. Liu Zongyuan was hit hard and returned to the south. At this time, Liu Yuxi was with him, and Liu was exiled to Lianzhou. The two great writers share the same fate and naturally feel the same way. Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi went to Hengyang together and went their separate ways. Liu wrote a tearful poem to Liu Yuxi: He cried thousands of lines to make people different from the river. This year, he has. I hope I can handle it when I come. So I used my passion and full pen and ink to do practical things for the people. Now, he is a good cadre who insists on Theory of Three Represents. Liu Zongyuan dug wells, studied, planted trees and built temples. Many maids were also released. Of course, the most important thing is that many excellent poems were created during this period. Really good literature comes from real life. Perhaps because of overwork, he died in Liuzhou at the age of 47. Because of the development of Liuzhou, all officials have been influenced by the masters, constantly striving for self-improvement and continuing to carry forward the glorious style of the old revolutionaries. And those exiled scholar-officials are on their way south. Every time I think of Liu Zongyuan, a great writer, I feel more comfortable. Because of his unique personality and cultural charm, he influenced later officials. Some people transformed the Luochi Temple he built into a temple dedicated to teasing Liu Hou for thousands of years. It is because of his demotion that someone will pay attention to Liuzhou and influence the people of Liuzhou! Yu interviewed the vice mayor of Liuzhou at that time in "Cultural Journey", saying that the opening and rise of Liuzhou in the past two years were all thanks to Liu Zongyuan and other officials demoted from the south. They opened Liuzhou from the root. From his words, we can know the great influence, wide range and deep thinking of teasing and demoting officials.
In addition to Liu Zongyuan, there is another successor who teased and belittled the official culture, that is Fan Zhongyan. 1046 Fan Zhongyan was demoted for advocating change, which coincides with another friend who was demoted in Yueyang. Teng rebuilt Yueyang Tower and asked Fan Zhongyan to write a story about Yueyang Tower. He borrowed this building to write a story about it and expressed his feelings by the lake. So, he wrote the famous "Yueyang Tower". There are many people from China. This is really a great contribution. The phrase "worry about the world first, and enjoy the world later" is well known to all women and children and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It has long been an idiom that ordinary people can spit casually, not to mention the unique charm of the article itself! I don't know which year and month, Yueyang Tower was rebuilt because of the article. At the beginning, the article praised the building for amusing the northern martial arts and the Antarctic Xiaoxiang, so people set up gates on the north and south sides of the building and engraved these two sentences. When they entered the building, a huge woodcut showed nave, and this article appeared immediately. Dongting Lake is famous for it, and Yueyang Tower is brilliant for it. All the famous literati are right about Yueyang Tower.
According to the above, we know the characteristics of banter and demotion culture. First, ridicule was written into the article, and now the article has become a landscape. In modern Chinese, it may be said that culture and nature are mutually generated.
After reading the cases of Liu Zongyuan and Fan Zhongyan, it is inevitable to find out whether the literati demoted their officials because of depression, made some complaining articles, kissed the mountains and rivers, grieved, resented the court and made achievements. But it can only be said that most of them, including some aliens. For example, Su Shi, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, said that Liu Zongyuan had a miserable experience of being demoted, so he was dwarfed by Su Shi. Liu was demoted twice, and both were demoted to Liuzhou as far as possible. Repeatedly, it can be described as a bumpy life. But he was not despaired and indignant, but indifferent when he was proud and indifferent when he was frustrated. It can really be described as a generation of literary giants, a master of teasing and demoting official culture.
Su Shi was demoted for the first time because his honest character offended the powerful minister and wrote some poems related to the new law. Who impeached him to protect his family for fun? He was suddenly caught in Huzhou and sent to the podium for condemnation. He was humiliated and killed several times in prison. He was demoted to Huangzhou for five years, and while trying to find a way behind closed doors, he continued to care about state affairs. But these years are the harvest period of Su Shi's creation, which is magnificent. Unable to forget the reality, he wrote many famous poems. When he was demoted to Huangzhou, he wrote a poem, in which he might as well entertain his guests outside the government, and the poet took water as an example ("first arrival in Huangzhou") to solve the situation of self-isolation. In Huangzhou, Su Shi wrote a poem praising the culture and history of China, which made the relegated officials shine. Su Shi, who moves around the world in Qian Chibi Fu, is a drop in the ocean. He is Su Shi, the flying fairy flies by, and the moon is long. When he was demoted to Huizhou, if ordinary people had been heartbroken, he would have been depressed all day. Master Su, on the other hand, was not, and he was still very proud. He wrote poems to tease Luofushan that it was the fourth spring and Liu Juyangmei was the second new one. What is even more surprising is that Su Shi was banished to Hainan Island, the southernmost island in China at that time, and he was still so heroic and open-minded after he was over 60 years old. Imagine what an enlightened person Su Shi is. At that time, Hainan Island was located at the ends of the earth, the situation was extremely desolate and life was hard, as evidenced by poems: teasing food without meat, illness without medicine, living without room, and leaving without room. There is no cold spring in summer (with Narita). However, Su Shi did not care about his personal worries, and actively did good deeds for the local Tu people, rewarded agricultural production, spread cultural knowledge, broke bad habits, trained talents, and worked until he was forgiven. At this time, he was not overwhelmed by difficulties, but also showed the demeanor of a big family, broad-minded and happy-go-lucky. The more dangerous it is, the more you can see his charm and make him happy.
Su Shi has been actively joining the WTO all his life, but the darkness of the feudal court has always kept him out of politics, which is regrettable. However, behind his relegation all the way, we saw his literary creation peaks one after another. He left behind not only his heroic thoughts, rich literary achievements, but also local resources that benefited the people. In other words, literature has become a landscape. For example, the West Lake has the famous Su Causeway, and Hainan is no longer wild with his efforts. No matter where he is demoted, future generations will be inspired by his story and his spirit. Here, teasing and demoting officials represent a kind of openness and tolerance in culture and extend its connotation.
Third, deep excavation, analysis
The reason why the culture of teasing and demoting officials is called a kind of culture must have certain connotation, and deep excavation must have its own treasure. Seeing the essence through phenomena is the main idea of my thesis. I will analyze the above examples from all aspects.
(A) the reasons for teasing the culture of demoting officials
First, external factors, that is, the whole society at that time. Without the long-term dark rule of feudal society, how could a weak scholar be so embarrassed? The function of centralization is to suppress the people, prevent them from rebelling and make them content with the status quo, whether by force or ideological means. In order to maintain his rule, the emperor will not let anyone have reactionary ideas, so he will do whatever it takes. What people may see is an illusion, and a peaceful event can really make people worry about food and clothing. As Zhang's "Tongguan Nostalgia" said, the peaks and mountains are angry, the waves gather, and the mountains and rivers pass through. Looking at the west, it is sad to see Qin and Han dynasties, the courts are prosperous everywhere, and the people are miserable; People suffer when they die. In all these means, it is necessary to use certain intelligent attack strategies against intellectuals. After entering the officialdom, literati are often victims of political, military and Machiavellian struggles. In the bitter and inhuman struggle of officialdom in feudal society, they were full of deception, cruelty, jealousy, hatred and ignorance. Courageous scholars are often crushed into powder in this demonic machine. No swords, no bloodshed. From Qin Shihuang's instigation of burning books to burying Confucianism, to the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 in Qing Dynasty, the feudal rulers in China never stopped persecuting bureaucrats and scholars. No matter the eunuch consorts or the orthodox imperial power, most of them have a bad impression on the literati, so they are not only ideologically contradictory, but also persecuted. Sometimes the technique is explicit and cruel, but sometimes it is cleverly designed, such as the literary inquisition, which has been popular for more than two thousand years. They saved their lives. Therefore, if China literati's personality is incompatible with the society at that time, they will only be frustrated in their official career and be relegated all the way. So they got close to the mountains and rivers, danced with nature, splashed ink on them and passed them down from generation to generation. It was the external reasons for the formation of the social environment at that time that prompted the production of banter and demotion culture.
Second, the internal factors, that is, the unique mentality of China literati for thousands of years. China's culture is regarded as ethical culture, which corresponds to the western culture that pokes fun at scientific places. We have been living a life of teasing the dawn, picking chrysanthemums under the hedge every day, and leisurely seeing the pastoral life of Nanshan. We are willing to tease small countries and people, and our chickens and dogs are familiar. There are always some negative thoughts in old age and death. So after a long time, they will naturally be content with the status quo, and the idea of loyalty to the country will be firmly rooted in the consciousness of China literati. Real scholars will never become home-based strategists, because there is always a trace of justice and kindness in their hearts, which is enough to make them retreat from feudal officialdom. A scholar is a moral image. Traditional social psychology has given too many hopes and demands to this kind of morality, as if everything in society should be taken care of by them. Once there is something that cannot be done, the society will be dissatisfied and the literati themselves will have a strong sense of loss. People regard literati as knights who fight against injustice for the whole society. The mission of literati is so great that they have been overwhelmed for thousands of years, sighing, retiring, or changing careers. The so-called literati who really joke about literary places are rare in the history of China. In fact, the role of teasing literati is limited to' the teacher of officials', or' the teacher of the emperor' to put it mildly. As for what teachers say, teachers who have no power and no money are really powerless. This is really much worse than the chivalrous man. In a rage, a chivalrous man can take his head. If the teacher irritates him, I'm afraid my life will be in danger. Therefore, literati are often full of ideals for American politics, but they are always powerless ... (Reading history into gold) Even if they are officials, they are often frustrated, let alone realizing their ideals. That's why they put these ideals and ambitions between the lines. Because of this, China literati, as a place to tease emperors, have been subject to feudalism for thousands of years.
The combination of internal and external factors leads to the emergence and existence of banter and demotion culture, both of which are inseparable from each other, interacting, colliding and sparking.
Problems reflected in the culture of teasing and belittling officials
1. The shortcomings of China literati were exposed in teasing and demoting officials.
(1) The intelligence of intellectuals. When I wrote about the West Lake in Cultural Journey, I seemed to see the mentality of relegating officials. He teased ... that this kind of self-defense and masturbation is the wit of China intellectuals and the cunning of China intellectuals. If they can't realize their ambitions in society, they will hide in a small natural world and entertain themselves. They have eliminated their ambition and gradually regarded this elimination as it. Become a spacious cellar in the cultural personality structure of China. Although it has a strong musty smell, it is safe and quiet. So I studied literature and history for ten years, and before I reached the peak of national culture, I couldn't fight with the society for a few rounds, so I buried everything in the lonely mountain. This is actually talking about the intelligence of China literati. Why do they always beat politicians? That's the reason. Several poems and plays of the reactionary government were left behind, which influenced several generations. Finally, he was demoted because he was not favored, complaining about the vanity on his face. Tao Yuanming didn't bend down for five buckets of rice, but he was strong and embraced nature like a wild horse, claiming to tease the harmony between man and nature. He no longer yearns for any bullshit career in seclusion and takes back two places. Self-produced and sold. But how do you write that I want Xingtian to dance and be loyal to the court? (Reading The Classic of Mountains and Seas) Many scholars open their eyes and say that they want to draw a clear line with politics, but they want to make people feel attached to the land and fight hard with the court with their unique pen, ink and tongue. Confucian philosophy tells them not to pick up a pen and oppose the government easily. We are all subjects of the emperor, and we are all well-educated and well-educated subjects, so we should be loyal to the monarch and patriotic.
(2) The lack of independent personality of China literati. A scholar talked about his feelings about this ... and the self-sufficiency of individual personality advocated by Confucian philosophy of harmony between man and nature-the perfection of personality is self-sufficiency without external needs, and the so-called' reflexivity and sincerity' is also the ultimate basis of this mentality. No matter what external conditions, it will not affect the self-improvement of personality, so once frustrated in the field of social history, it will slide down to the natural landscape-that is, individual personality can not be unified with social history, so it is the same as non-social and non-historical nature, because it is an easy-to-achieve self; What's more, mountains and rivers have long been personified by sages' morality:' The benevolent enjoys Leshan, and the wise enjoys water.' Isn't this scenery a retreat for self-cultivation that has been paved? Here we talk about the personality of literati. I believe 100 people have different answers. After being stimulated by the outside world, the vanity of literati gradually surfaced. They think they are great. However, it was thrown to the ground by the emperor. The emperor said he would give you a chance to go into politics, so the imperial examination system was made public. It makes China intellectuals become a fence-sitter between politics and culture. There are connections and expectations at both ends, but both ends are not solid and it is difficult to land at both ends. It is difficult to locate whether this is a scholar or an official, and it doesn't matter whether it is a political character or a cultural conscience. So the tactics of the emperor's old son worked, and the personality of the literati was created at once. There is no pure independent personality. Yu Zeng said: It should be a sound and loud cultural personality, which is often infiltrated and dissolved in groups. Infiltration in space becomes a kind of social identity, and infiltration in time becomes a stereotype of inheritance. Individual personality is struggling under the pull of these two forces, and the development of life is more or less affected by group inertia. The upright soul is gradually bent by the gorgeous burden ... from which we can see that traditional literati lack independent personality. Without independent personality, no matter officials or literati, they just tease the hair attached to the social and political skin. The relationship between hair and skin determines that hair must meet the needs of skin. In the final analysis, literati also want to live and are human beings. If they are alive, they will lose their individuality. Therefore, they are associated with the culture of relegated officials. Think of those relegated bureaucrats, most of whom were tortured by the court and lost their independent personality. The history of great people sometimes can't escape this fate. These shortcomings were entirely caused by the society at that time.
2. The relationship between literati and politics.
Why are there so many wonderful articles in Demoted Officials? One thing is certain, that is, everything has something to do with politics. Once the requirements in the field of social history are met, the relationship between literati and politics has undergone dramatic changes. On the one hand, politics has always influenced their creation, life and future. Even life and death. Some scholars say that China's literate people can be roughly divided into the following five categories: those who make money by entering the official career (such as the top scholars of various generations), those who are confused by entering the official career (so-called hermits), those who are relegated by entering the official career (such as Liu Zongyuan and others), those who enter the official career but escape into an empty net (such as Luo) and those who do not. As can be seen from the above classification, combing official career is a main line. Without it, it is difficult for China literati to distinguish. Scholars also influence politics to some extent. Although scholars often ridicule politics, they never say that ridiculing Ning as a centurion is better than being a scholar's place, ridiculing everything that is not worth a glass of water, and ridiculing everything that is not a scholar's place. Looks like they still want to join the army. Those in power saw this and used their wisdom to maintain their rule. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Sima Qian to repair history books, and Kangxi ordered the repair of Ming history. Almost every dynasty has its own historical records, such as the Yongle Grand Ceremony, which was revised during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, and these have to be completed by literati who are well versed in history. Those in power want to make their rule invincible by learning from books, and future generations should also thank them for leaving so many great works to the world, but forget those writers who have devoted so much effort and effort. Poor literati always have a tragic ending. In other words, literati and politics are inseparable.
Fourth, induction and summary.
Tease the rich to help the world, and the poor to help the whole country. This is the overall explanation of the ridicule and derogatory of official culture. Facing the honor and disgrace of the past, he lamented in the degraded Qingyuan landscape: teasing and a moment that should last forever, unconsciously came and went, and the land.
To sum up, it is summarized as follows:
(1) Understand what is a cultural place to tease and demote officials. Through Mr. Yu's explanation and summary of several key points, we know what is a cultural place to banter and demote officials. It is suggested that we should study the deep connotation from this cultural phenomenon, tap the characteristics of China intellectuals, or directly criticize their shortcomings.
(2) The characteristics of the cultural places where officials are ridiculed. Through the typical cases of Liu Zongyuan, Fan Zhongyan and Su Shi, the characteristics of cultural places where officials are bantered and demoted are obtained. The characteristic is to write the scenery in the article first, and now turn the article into scenery. With the help of modern Chinese, it can be said that culture and nature are mutually generated.
(3) The deep meaning of teasing the culture of demoting officials. First of all, the causes of banter and demotion culture are analyzed and explained, which are composed of internal and external factors. In the process of excavating internal factors, two problems are found, one is the defects of China literati, and the other is the relationship between literati and politics.
The above is my humble opinion on teasing the culture of demoting officials. When the discussion becomes clear step by step, it may not be difficult for us to find that the banter and demotion culture is not an interesting cultural phenomenon, but a deep and heavy culture. It's easy to say on the surface, but you can't know this is a deep old well until you lift the lid and look inside.
Finally, I end this article with a sentence, hoping that my humble opinion can play a warning role.
Beautiful women were teased and committed suicide on the banks of Wujiang River. The bonfire once burned Chibi Mountain, and the general was empty. On the occasion of the Qin and Han Dynasties, sorrow was everywhere, and life was ruined. The scholar sighed (Zhang Kejiu, Flower Selling).