Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

Chapter 371: Those who know the king will last for generations

There is also a record in the "Records of the Grand Historian": "Poetry expresses one's will, songs are long words, the sound follows the rhythm, and the rhythm harmonizes the sound. The eight tones are in harmony, without interrupting each other, and the gods and humans are in harmony."

According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Shun became famous for his filial piety when he was about 20 years old. He was appointed by Emperor Yao at the age of 30 and served as the emperor for more than 10 years. When he was 58 years old, Yao passed away and Shun succeeded him.

After 39 years on the throne, Shun died in the wilderness of Cangwu while on a tour in the south, and his body was buried in Jiuyi Mountain in the south of the Yangtze River. This place is rich in Xiangfei bamboo, and folk rumors say that after Emperor Shun passed away, his wives Ehuang and Nvying heard the news and rushed to Jiuyi Mountain to look for his soul.

Because they missed their husbands so much, their tears fell like rain on the green bamboo leaves on both sides of the Xiang River, turning into tear marks. Therefore, the poet respectfully called this bamboo "Fragrant Concubine Bamboo" or "Tear Bamboo".

Thus, the legendary story of the five great emperors from the birth of Huangdi to the death of Shundi came to a successful conclusion. The Records of the Grand Historian records: "From Huangdi to Shun and Yu, they all had the same surname but different names for their countries, in order to show their virtues."

According to Sima Qian's research, Emperor Wu and Emperor Shun were related by blood, which means that several early leaders in ancient China were from the same clan and lineage.

Although archaeological evidence has not yet confirmed this view, Sima Qian's research results reveal that Chinese civilization may have a common origin and ancestry. This assertion has shaped the unique identity of the Chinese nation and is also a cultural identity that Chinese people of all generations are proud of.

However, some people have suggested that Yandi and Huangdi do not refer to a specific ancient person, but more like the leader of a tribe. So here, we only discuss the relevant content in "Historical Records". It should be noted that historical records are not necessarily absolutely true, and everyone needs to distinguish them for themselves.

[Successful in youth, destitute in middle age, miserable in old age, famous throughout the world after death. Historical trivia and historical figures]

He was a shadow in our childhood. I was so scared that I couldn't sleep after reading this book. When I grew up, I realized that the so-called ghosts are not that scary. No wonder in this book, ghosts may be kinder than humans.

The name of this book is "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", and its author is Pu Songling, who is known as "his writing about ghosts and monsters is superior to others; his criticism of corruption and cruelty is penetrating". So in this video, let's talk about Pu Songling's story.

In the first month of the 49th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty, the wind in Zichuan, Shandong, was biting cold, and water turned into ice. Three old men stood on a high platform nine miles apart, looking at each other in silence. Time flies, and the young men are already gray-haired. They were young and frivolous, thinking that fame and wealth were within their reach, but now it has all become a mirage. No one has been able to stand out in the imperial examinations for half a lifetime.

Pu Songling lamented the impermanence of life. On his way home, he was inspired to write down a quatrain: "In the past, we sang wildly from morning to night, and agreed to go to Yunjin Gate together. Who would have thought that we would achieve nothing, and end up meeting each other in old age." Pu Songling, who had achieved nothing, did not leave the palace until he was 72 years old. He struggled in the imperial examinations for most of his life before he was awarded the title of Suigongsheng, which meant a recommended student of the Imperial College.

But who would have thought that Pu Songling was also the best in his youth, and he successively won the first place in the county, prefecture and province exams. As early as the 19th year of Shunzhi, when he was only years old, he passed the exam with excellent results. At that time, the Pu family was very excited. This was undoubtedly the highlight of his life. After that, he seemed to have exhausted all his good luck and failed in the exams again and again.

From the age of 19 to the age of 72, he took part in the provincial examinations almost every year, but failed repeatedly. In contrast, Fan Jin in The Scholars at least passed the examination, while Pu Songling's life was extremely rough and regrettable.

There is an article titled "Ye Sheng" in his novel "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio".

Pu Songling depicts a talented person who is frustrated by the imperial examination. The opening of this work is like a true portrayal of Pu Songling's own situation. Later, Ye Sheng died of depression because of repeated failures in the imperial examinations. After his death, he turned into a ghost and taught his friend's son to study. In the end, the friend's son passed the imperial examination. The friend felt very sorry that although he had helped his son become famous throughout his life, he himself failed the imperial examinations many times.

Throughout his life, Ye Sheng told his friends that "The times have determined our destiny, and my brother-in-law will vent his anger through writing. If he wants to let people in the world know that the reason for my half-life of downfall is not due to war, then that is enough."

Ye Sheng, a character in Pu Songling's works, proved to the world after his death that he was not a bad writer, but had a bad fate. Pu Songling used Ye Sheng to express his own ideas, but his good friend Zhang Liyou immediately jumped out to refute him. He said that Pu Songling was a "ruler", and that "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" was not necessarily due to the boss's blessing. He said that he was unable to get into university after translating it, and that it was simply because he was obsessed with novels.

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio is indeed very similar to modern online novels, and his friend's point of view is not without reason. Pu Songling really likes to listen to people talk about ghosts, loves to search for gods, and has liked The Legend of the Assassin since he was a child. He said: "When I was young, I loved The Legend of the Assassin the most. I would read it by lamplight at midnight and finish it all night."

Zou Tao, a Qing Dynasty scholar, said in "Sanjielu Bitan" that in order to collect strange stories, Pu Songling often set up a tea stall on the roadside, where passers-by drank tea for free and asked them to tell him stories, which accumulated rich materials for his literary creation. Some of the strange stories he heard later became the source of his creative inspiration.

In fact, in that era, writing novels was not recognized, and many people even thought it was not a proper job. Pu Songling first had to face the confusion and doubts from his friends.

When Pu Songling showed the manuscript of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio to Li Ximei, Li Ximei thought it was well-written, but he still advised Pu Songling to "experience citizenship firsthand", believing that only by being an official could one gain public attention.

As for novels, it would not be too late to write after retirement at the age of 60. However, Pu Songling was determined and did not accept his friend's advice in the end.

He spent half his life, from youth to old age, enjoying this, and even though he was not famous and encountered obstacles, he did not care, and even complained: "I hate that I have no close friends in this life."

In fact, he once had a half-confidant. Pu Songling taught at the Bi family in Zibo for 30 years. During this period, because the Bi family and the Wang family were close, he met the talented poet Wang Shizhen. Wang Shizhen admired Pu Songling very much and thought that his novels were great.

So Pu Songling unilaterally declared Wang Shizhen to be his confidant. He summoned up the courage to ask Wang Shizhen to write a preface for Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, hoping to use the name of the great poet to increase the popularity of his novel. If this works, it will be an immortal flourishing age.

However, although Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio seems to depict foxes, demons and ghosts, it actually contains many satires of reality and touches on current political taboos. Wang Shizhen naturally did not dare to praise it openly, let alone write a preface. But in the face of Pu Songling's sincere request, he was embarrassed to directly refuse. So he responded in a tactful way in his reply: "So the resentful woman is immortal, but I think the words are quite frivolous. I am willing to take the composition of the composition to write a lively and interesting style, but I don't know."

Pu Songling was looking forward to Wang Shizhen making an exception and writing a preface for him, but in the end, his joy was in vain. The great poet let him down.

Pu Songling was not a noble during his lifetime, and his works were not widely circulated. Although he was somewhat famous, it was only limited to his hometown. In his later years, he expressed the sad feeling of "who knew that I would achieve nothing".

But just as he did not foresee that he would waste half his life, he also could not have predicted that a hundred years later his work would become popular all over the world and become a classic. People sneered at the talk of ghosts and monsters on the surface, but they rushed to pass it around in private.

There are more than 10 well-known manuscripts and countless printed versions. It is praised as "Liu Bo's books are available in every household in the country" and even their popularity is known abroad.

Since the 19th century, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio has been translated into more than 60 languages, including English and German, and included in major encyclopedias around the world.

The only work that can rival it in the Qing Dynasty is probably Dream of the Red Chamber. Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio is not only a great success in literature, but also an evergreen in the film and television industry.

Over the past century, more than 70 films and TV series have been adapted from this work, and the number is still increasing. Among them, classic films such as "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "Painted Skin" are deeply rooted in people's hearts.

On that night in the eighteenth year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Pu Songling sat alone under the dim light, his heart filled with helplessness and confusion. He said to himself: "Is there anyone who understands me among the green forests and black frontiers?" Now, we have found the answer to that question: Those who understand the emperor are from generation to generation; those who understand the emperor are all over the world.

[He is 1.8 meters tall, with abdominal muscles praised by everyone, a cool and elegant scholar, historical trivia, historical figures]

He is 188cm tall, with abs that everyone praises. He is good at writing poetry, playing the piano, and lifting weights. He was a top internet celebrity at the time, known as the "sexiest blacksmith", but he retired early and lived the secluded life that we all long for.

He was a man of pride, and before his death he sang "Guangling San", which fully demonstrated the character of a scholar. He was the leader of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove - Ji Kang.

There are two things in life that cannot be chosen: one is family background, and the other is the era in which one lives. Ji Kang lived during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, a period of the most frequent regime changes in Chinese history, with wars, plagues and disasters coming one after another. In this era, people's lives were extremely difficult.

In the fourth year of Huangchu (223 AD) during the reign of Emperor Wen of Wei, Ji Kang was born in Zhi County, Qiao County, Wei State. His ancestors were originally surnamed Ji, but later changed their surname to Ji. His father Ji Zhao was once the Imperial Censor, and his elder brother Ji Xi was once the governor of Jiangxia.

Therefore, Ji Kang's family background was quite good. But when Ji Kang was 7 years old, his father unfortunately passed away, and he was raised by his mother and brother.

Ji Kang showed extraordinary talent since childhood. When other children were still worried about learning a few words, he had already learned everything by himself. He also had a special liking for the Taoist classic Zhuangzi and was fascinated by it. At a young age, he began to think about the great principles of life.

As he grew older, Ji Kang became more handsome. With his upright figure and chic temperament, he would definitely attract a lot of attention when he walked on the street. But he had a unique fashion taste.

While others are keen on dressing themselves up, he does the opposite, wearing ragged clothes all day long, with his hair loose, looking like a fashion pioneer. But even so, his charm is still unstoppable, after all, temperament is something that cannot be concealed by appearance.

When he was about 25 years old, Ji Kang welcomed a major event in his life - he married a woman from the Cao Wei clan. This instantly transformed him from an ordinary young man into a royal relative, and his status and position rose sharply. The court also quickly conferred him the title of Zhongsan Dafu.

It was thought that he would enter the official career and rise to prominence, but who would have thought that Ji Kang was not a person who could be bound by worldly rules.

He really couldn't stand the hypocrisy in the officialdom. At that time, the Sima family gradually took control of the government. In order to consolidate their rule, they vigorously promoted the so-called orthodox teachings and used various hypocritical moral norms to restrain people's behavior.

Ji Kang scoffed at this. He thought that people should live freely. Why should they be restricted by these rules and regulations? So he resolutely chose to stay away from officialdom and lived in seclusion in Shanyang County (now Jiaozuo and Yuntaishan in Henan) with his family.

There, he met a group of like-minded friends, such as Ruan Ji, Shan Tao, Xiang Xiu, Liu Ling, Wang Rong and Ruan Xian, who often gathered together to drink, sing and talk about life.

However, Ji Kang did not want to cause trouble, but trouble always found him. As an all-round figure of that era, he was the person with the highest achievement in four-character poetry after Cao Cao, and he also had multiple identities such as painter, calligrapher, and metaphysician. He was the spiritual leader of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.

Ji Kang's fame reached Sima Zhao, who wanted to use a famous scholar like Ji Kang for his own use, so he sent his confidant Zhong Hui to invite him.

Zhong Hui was also a fan of Ji Kang. Once, Zhong Hui wrote an article and wanted Ji Kang to comment on it, and added his idol on WeChat.

He ran to the door of Ji Kang's house, but he hesitated for a long time out of fear and anxiety. In the end, he did not dare to knock on the door, so he threw the article into the yard and ran away. Later, Zhong Hui became an important counselor to Sima. This time, he could finally meet his idol openly.

So Zhong Hui brought a group of scholars and nobles to visit Ji Kang. At that time, Ji Kang was forging iron under a big tree, and Xiang Xiu was helping him pull the bellows. Ji Kang was concentrating on forging iron, ignoring the arrival of Zhong Hui and others.

Zhong Hui was expectant and respectful at first, but after a while he felt very embarrassed. He felt that Ji Kang was simply slapping him in the face. Finally, when Zhong Hui was about to leave, Ji Kang suddenly asked him: "What did you hear that brought you here? What did you see that brought you here?"

Zhong Hui said angrily: "I came here because of what I heard, and I leave because of what I saw." After this meeting, Zhong Hui turned from a fan to a hater of Ji Kang, and wanted to take the opportunity to take revenge on him.

Soon, the opportunity came. In the third year of Jingyuan (262), Lü An had a dispute with his half-brother Lü Xun. Lü Xun coveted the beauty of his brother's wife and defiled her.

Lü Xun was worried that he would be involved in a lawsuit, so he filed a lawsuit first, falsely accusing Lü An of being unfilial. Lü An was framed, and Ji Kang could not stand it, so he went to Luoyang to appeal for his good brother, but he was also thrown into prison.

Zhong Hui got what he wanted. He said to Sima Zhao: "Since Ji Kang is unwilling to serve me, he will be used by others in the future. It is better to get rid of him as soon as possible." Sima Zhao thought it made sense. Since he couldn't get him, he would destroy him. So Ji Kang was sentenced to death.