Liu E, who is proficient in music, is a descendant of Guangling Qin School. He once published the Piano Score of the Eleven-string Hall for his pianist, Mr. Zhang Ruishan, and also engraved the Piano Score by Handwriting (the existing draft), and likes to collect guqin. His collection of Qin Tang's "Nine Flutes and Pei Huan" was inscribed by Huang Tingjian, and was later included in the four famous modern pianos collected by the Palace Museum. In addition to his busy industry, Liu E is also keen on collecting ancient Chinese characters and studying three generations of Chinese characters. Although not all of his books, his collection of books is extensive and profound.
In his early years, he met Luo Zhenyu in Huai 'an, became a teacher of Arrow, and later married his children's in-laws. Luo Zhenyu and Naito Hunan, the Japanese scholar who first contacted Oracle Bone Inscriptions, came into contact with the Oracle bones in Yin Ruins, just to see Liu E's books. Influenced by Luo Zhenyu, Wang Guowei married Luo, had a deep friendship with Liu, the fourth son of Liu E, and traveled to Japan with Luo Zhenyu. Therefore, it can be said that two of the "four halls of Oracle bones" were directly or indirectly influenced by Liu E. Liu E's three generations of Chinese character works, such as Tieyun Tibetan Turtle, Tieyun Tibetan Goods, Tieyun Tibetan Seal and Tieyun Tibetan Pottery, are representative works of his rubbings and systematic study of ancient Chinese characters and their evolution. Shandong governor Zhang "loves talents" and accepts talents. On the surface, he is a big shot in Corporal Li Xian, but in fact he is very fatuous. He does not distinguish between good and evil, virtuous and foolish, nor can he judge the right or wrong of deliberation. His love for talents and talents has brought a series of disasters to Shandong people. Yu Xian, the "energy thief", is appreciated by him, and Gang Bi is also relied on by him. What's more, he mistakenly adopted the suggestion of harnessing the river with stones, abandoned the people below Jiyang and retreated to the levee, causing hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides of the strait to suffer.
The outstanding feature of the novel is to expose the tyranny of "honest officials" which is rarely exposed in previous literary works. The author said that "corrupt officials hate it, and everyone knows it. Honest officials are particularly hateful, and many people don't know it. Corrupt officials know that they are ill and dare not commit crimes openly. Honest officials think they don't want money. Why not? If you are willful, you will kill people when you are young, and you will be mistaken for your country when you are old. What we saw with our own eyes, I don't know how many. " "Novels have always exposed the evils of corrupt officials and honest officials, starting with Lao Can's travels" (comment back to the original 16). Liu E's "honest official" is actually an executioner who "aspires to be a big official" and takes credit for killing people and dyes the ceiling with people's blood.
In the novel Wedge into Peach Blossom Mountain, two strange people who live in seclusion in the barren hills are mainly written: Gu Gu and Huang. Through their own words and deeds, they publicized the Taigu theory that the author believed in, and at the same time vilified and cursed the revolutionary movement at that time, that is, the so-called "Northern Boxing South Revolution", that is, the Boxer Rebels in the north and the bourgeois revolutionaries in the south, and attacked them as "disorderly parties". When the Boxer came to power, he said that "it almost killed the country"; The revolutionary party rose slowly. He believes that "it is not a skin disease, and it will be fatal if you know it." Warning people not to "get involved in his party" shows the author's backward and reactionary side. Travels of Lao Can has been published in serial newspapers since 1903. It immediately stood out in the tide of novels after abandoning the eight-part writer system in the late Qing Dynasty, and gained great attention and praise from the folk and first-class literati. In addition to the prefaces written by the famous Hu Shi and Lin Yutang in 1925 and 1933 respectively for the new edition of Travel Notes of Lao Can, according to a poster published in Tianjin Daily on September 22nd, 905, which was discovered in recent years, there were three "the best literary gentlemen in China" at that time. Liang Rengong (Qi Chao) paid a heavy price for all his manuscripts, which will be compiled into new novels for publication. Wang Junjin 'an (Guowei) has a deep knowledge of English, has translated textbooks on psychology, ethics and physics, and can read the deepest books on arts and sciences in Britain. Reading Lao Can's travel notes, I sighed:' Unexpectedly, there are such people in China! Can be compared with the highest English novel. These three gentlemen are outstanding literary figures in China. This book is so highly regarded that its value can be imagined. "(quoted from Novels of the Late Qing Dynasty, 20 10, No.33, page 136, Guo Changhai)
The artistic achievements of Lao Can's travel notes are outstanding in the novels of the late Qing Dynasty. Especially in the use of language, it has its unique achievements. For example, the scenery can be natural, vivid and colorful. The scenery of Qianfo Mountain and the moonlit night on Taohua Mountain in the book are all so clear and fresh. When describing Wang Xiaoyu's singing drums, the author used contrast techniques and a series of vivid metaphors, which gave a vivid description and gave people an immersive feeling. So Lu Xun praised it as "a narrative scene, sometimes impressive" (A Brief History of Chinese Novels).
Zhou Zeng, an authoritative scholar in redology and a master of Chinese studies, wrote an article to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the publication of Travel Notes of Lao Can (The Footprints and Hearts of a Traveler and Doctor, published in a periodical of Literary and Art Newspaper 1993), and analyzed and compared various literary achievements of Travel Notes of Lao Can with convincing examples, placing it in the biography of a hero and the ironic marriage in the same period. It is clearly pointed out: "Since the late Qing Dynasty, countless novels have been published, except for a few that are still known to read, and all of them have been annihilated. Only" Laocan "has a lasting charm. Travels of Lao Can is absolutely different from the novels of "condemnation" and "exposure" that appeared in the late Qing Dynasty. This is a comprehensive work with rich connotations ... What he learned from it is one of the important factors that make Old Travels a masterpiece. At some point, Liu Can developed again ... "
June 65438+1October 65438+1October 0, 2009 Talking with Mr. Zhou Lao and Mr. (Editor-in-Chief of Liu E's Collected Works, Liu E and Lao Can's Travel Experts) (This recording was recorded in Huai 'an in June 65438+February 2009 to commemorate the death of Liu E/the 0/00th anniversary of KLOC). Zhou further clarified his admiration for Liu E and Lao Can's Travels: "It seems that Mr. Tie Yun and I had cultural karma in previous lives. Without such an explanation, I won't say what the reason is, so I like Lao Can's travel notes, all the cultural achievements of Mr. Tie Yun and his life story ... I think this is not only a genius of the Qing Dynasty ... but a strange person! This man is his talent, knowledge, knowledge, spirit, talent and wisdom. I can't tell you the height of his spiritual realm, the breadth and depth of his knowledge. I don't have and can't find the right ready-made words to describe him ... as for generalists, thinkers and literature and art, it is far beyond the character and taste of ordinary people.