The Life of the Characters in Ceng Gong's Works
1. Young and smart
Ceng Gong's ancestors were scholars, his grandfather was a doctor of Shangshu, and his father was a doctor of Taichang. Ceng Gong is very talented and has a good memory. When he was young, he read poetry books and could recite them. He and his brother Zeng Ye studied hard together and showed great talent from an early age. Shi said that Gong was able to write articles at the age of twelve, and his speech was extraordinary.
Make good friends.
/kloc-when he was 0/8 years old, he went to Beijing to take the exam, met Wang Anshi, who was in Beijing with his father, and became close friends. At the age of 20, he entered imperial academy and wrote Ouyang Xiu, presenting "Current Affairs Policy". Since then, it has become famous all over the world, but it has been tried and tested because it is good at strategizing rather than responding to articles in time. In the seventh year of Li Qing (1047), his father died, so he had to drop out of school and go back to his hometown to serve his stepmother. When Ceng Gong was a teenager, he and Wang Anshi were close friends. After boarding Ouyang Xiu's door, he recommended Wang Anshi to Ouyang Xiu. It was not until the second year of Jiayou (1058) that Ouyang Xiu presided over the examination, insisting on giving priority to ancient prose and strategy, supplemented by poetry and prose, that Ceng Gong and his brothers Zeng Mou, Ceng Bu and cousin Zeng Fu became the first scholar. [1] Before that, he not only knew Ouyang Xiu and made friends with Wang Anshi, but also wrote letters with Du Yan and Fan Zhongyan, contributing articles, discussing current politics and stating his attitude towards life.
3. Work experience
In the fourth year of Jiayou (1059), he joined the army in Taipingfu (now dangtu county, Anhui Province) and was famous for his understanding of laws and regulations and appropriate sentencing. In the past five years, Ouyang Xiu recommended him to the capital for collating, recruiting talents, sorting out and collating a large number of ancient books, such as Warring States Policy, Shuoyuan, New Preface, Liang Shu, Tang Ling, Li Taibai Ji, Inclusive Poems, Biography of Women, etc., and made many books of past dynasties.
In the second year of Xining (1069), he was a proofreader of A Story of Song Yingzong, and was soon released to Yuezhou (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang) to serve his sentence. He has worked in Xining for five years, and has successively served as well-known person, Xiangzhou, Hongzhou, Fuzhou, Mingzhou and Bozhou. Honest and honest, diligent in political affairs, concerned about people's livelihood. He implemented the new law according to Wang Anshi's purpose and actual situation. Committed to rehabilitating unjust imprisonment, maintaining social order, cracking down on strongmen, disaster relief and epidemic prevention, dredging river bridges, setting up post stations, restoring cities, setting up schools, cutting official documents, rectifying official management, and abolishing exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous fees, it was well received by the masses.
4. Old age
For three years (1080), Yuan Feng was appointed as the Zhizhou of Cangzhou (now Hebei). When passing through Kaifeng, Song Shenzong summoned him. Song Shenzong appreciated his suggestion that "saving is the key to financial management" and stayed in a tertiary hospital.
In the fourth year of Yuanfeng (108 1), the court thought that Ceng Gong's historiography was comparable to that of a scholar-bureaucrat and was suitable to be in charge of the history of the Five Dynasties. As a historian, he edited and renovated the courtyard and sentenced Taichang Temple as a ritual.
In the fifth year of Yuanfeng (1082), in April, he paid homage to Mr. Scheeren in Zhongshu. Ceng Gong declared that he was old and wanted to choose another talent. There is a book "A Letter to Mr. Scheeren, a self-generated table for Liu Ban", which shows his resignation. In September of the same year, Ceng Gong was killed by his mother, so he was dismissed.
In the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083), Ceng Gong died in jiangning house (now Nanjing, Jiangsu) at the age of 65. Buried in the right of Nanfengyuan Chongjue Temple.
Ceng Gong's main achievements
1. Prose
Ceng Gong was an active participant in the New Poetry Movement in the Northern Song Dynasty, and was also the backbone of the New Ancient Poetry Movement in the Song Dynasty. He accepted Ouyang Xiu's thought of ancient prose creation. On the theory of ancient prose, he advocated the combination of literature and Taoism, and advocated that "literature should take Ming Dow as the body". Most of his articles were written by Ming Dow, and his writing style is known as "quaint, upright and harmonious". His style of writing originated from the Six Classics and combined the strengths of Sima Qian and Han Yu. Elegant and tall, gentle and elegant, strict rules and regulations, good at reasoning, taught by contemporary and younger generations. Ceng Gong is a writer, natural and simple, but not very particular about literary talent.
The characteristics of Ceng Gong's articles are embodied in several different aspects. First of all, the article on this matter is very detailed and euphemistic. Secondly, although Ceng Gong's articles are simple and few, they sometimes waver and open and close vertically and horizontally. The preface is particularly distinctive. Moreover, he is good at narration, which is characterized by coherence and expressiveness. There are also those who are good at narratives and don't write much about scenery, such as "Awakening the Heart Pavilion" and "You Shan". But there are also great works, such as Taoist Pavilion. The disaster relief in Ji and Yuezhou is profound, powerful and reasonable, which integrates notes, arguments and lyricism. His book, preface and inscription are also good articles. When Quincy's style prevailed, his prose and Ouyang Xiu's prose, a sculpted style, tended to be simple and natural.
2. Argumentative essay
The characteristics of his argumentative essay are: analyzing whispers, clarifying doubts, standing on one's own feet, analyzing and distinguishing difficulties, and not showing his edge. Tang Lun is one of the representative works. The Preface to the Catalogue of Warring States Policy is magnificent and highly respected by people.
3. Narrative prose
The characteristics of his narrative prose are: knowledge and emotion, relevance and vividness. "Letter to Mr. Ouyang Scheeren" and "Ruling Book of Upper Fuzhou" have always been regarded as model essays. The narrative is euphemistic and profound, the language is concise and concise, and the structure is very rigorous.
Step 4 be poetic
Ceng Gong's main achievement is writing, and he can also write poems. There are more than 400 poems, which are characterized by simplicity, boldness and detachment, profound meaning, slightly similar to their prose, detached style and fresh words. However, some of them also have the common problems of classical poetry in Song Dynasty, which are just covered up by prose and ignored. He is not only good at prose, but also good at poetry. His image is distinct and he has a lasting appeal in the Tang Dynasty. Among all his poems, seven poems are the highest achievement, profound, meticulous and full of charm. Such as west building, south of the city, singing willow. As far as the Eight Masters are concerned, his poems are not as good as those of Han, Liu, Ou, Wang and Su Shi, but better than those of Su Xun and Su Zhe. There is only one poem "Appreciating the Southern Branch". His poems have been translated into English and distributed abroad.
5. Practical writing
Ceng Gong, as one of the eight famous poets in Tang and Song Dynasties, has been handed down from generation to generation with Feng Leizi and Longping Collection in Yuan Dynasty. Judging from his collected works handed down from ancient times, his interests mainly lie in practical articles such as historical biography and strategic theory. In particular, he has been engaged in the compilation of historical books for many years, and he has studied the writing of historical inscriptions. Studying and summarizing his theory of practical writing is of guiding significance to the development of modern practical writing.
6. Educational contribution
Ceng Gong was one of the eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties. His position in the minds of contemporary and later China ancient writers is not low. Although his achievements are not as good as those of North Korea, Liu, Europe and the Soviet Union, he has considerable influence. Ceng Gong's thought belongs to the Confucian system. He agreed with Confucius and Mencius' philosophical views, emphasizing "benevolence" and "sincerity", and believed that as long as he was open-minded and introspected and cultivated himself sincerely according to the golden mean, he could understand and dominate the world. Politically, he opposed the merger policy and advocated developing agriculture and opening up roads. When he was a local official, he was pregnant with "benevolence"
Due to the limitations of his thoughts, he had different views on Wang Anshi's political reform. He believes that the denser the law, the more disadvantages it has, and does not advocate sticking to the law. He was dissatisfied with the insistence of the incumbent, and proposed that the laws changed according to the actual situation, not necessarily the same. Morality is the foundation of a person's foothold in society and cannot be changed. It advocates the necessary reform of the law without losing the will of the former king. In action, he was able to uphold the new law. When he was an official in qi zhou, he was able to practice the Garbo law and let the people of Jizhou live and work in peace and contentment. He learned from Sima Qian, Han Yu and Ouyang Xiu, and advocated "Ming Dow as the body of writing", which extended Ouyang Xiu's view of "keeping promises and having a proper way to speak" to historical biography literature and inscriptions. He stressed that only by strengthening moral cultivation can we express our feelings and write the article Ming Dow.
Ceng Gong attaches importance to developing education, encouraging learning and cultivating talents. He trained a group of famous Confucianists, and Chen Shidao, Wujiu Wang, Zeng Zhao and Ceng Bu were all used by him. Ceng Gong's scholarship is rigorous. He uses every mechanics to strive for, think deeply and explore, so as to know its importance and subtlety. There is a "Xinglu Academy" next to Fuzhou's residence, which sets up study rules and teaching seats in person to promote Fuzhou's style of study. In Nanfeng "Zigu Park", there are places where Ceng Gong studied as a child-Reading Rock, Zengwending Temple, Yangfeng Pavilion and Sixian Hall, and the county museum is also built in it.
Step 7 organize books
Ceng Gong studied hard all his life and liked books very much, so he learned a lot from politics. There are more than 20,000 volumes of ancient books in the family, and 500 volumes of seal cutting are collected, which is called "Jinshi Lu". His works include Yuanfeng Draft, Continued Yuanfeng Draft, Longping Collection, Waiji and so on. He has been proofreading until he is old. He compiled Biographies of Lienv, Li Taibai's Collection and Chen Shu. When working in the history museum, he buried himself in sorting out two books, Warring States Policy and Shuoyuan, and went to visit and collect them himself to avoid losing them. Every time he writes a book at school, he writes a preface. And revised three histories of southern Shu Qi, Liang Shu and Chen Shu. The catalogue order formulated when editing and proofreading ancient books, such as Warring States Policy? The Heroine Biography and Catalogue Preface? Directory preface, new preface? Preface to the catalogue, etc.
Ceng Gong's performance in office.
1. Yuezhou: Order rich households to sell grain.
1069, Ceng Gong, who worked in Beijing for several years, offended both sides in the argument between Wang Anshi and Sima Guang about political reform, so he asked Song Shenzong for a transfer. Song Shenzong arranged for Ceng Gong to be the judge of Yuezhou (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang).
After Ceng Gong took office, he immediately observed people's feelings, visited the poor and asked questions, and conducted research. Yuezhou collects taxes from wineries for the use of yamen. The restaurant has limited money, which is not enough for financial expenditure, and the insufficient part is shared with the people, and a seven-year period is set. The time has come, and the yamen still levies heavy taxes and fails to stop collecting them as required. Ceng Gong immediately stopped the collection of this tax after knowing the situation.
Then there was a famine, and the disaster was serious and people's livelihood was depressed. Ceng Gong arranged for people to put up notices widely, requiring wealthy families in all counties to truthfully declare their grain reserves. As soon as the rich man declared that his reserve reached 6.5438+0.5 million stone, he immediately issued a decree, requiring the rich men from all over the country to sell food to the people at a price slightly higher than the grain price in the regular warehouse, so that the hungry people could buy it nearby, which was tantamount to giving timely help. It also raised a loan of 50,000 yuan for farmers to buy seeds. [3]
2. qi zhou: End the "overlord society" in one fell swoop.
107 1 year, Ceng Gong was transferred to Jizhou (now Jinan, Shandong Province).
There was a rich man named Zhou. His son was rich but heartless. People were very angry about it. However, the Zhou family "moved the powerful" and colluded with the local officials. Ceng Gong is new here, collecting evidence and bringing Zhou Gao to justice. In Zhangqiu area, there are a group of local tyrants known as the "overlord society", who kill people and steal goods and commit all kinds of evils. Ceng Gong sent troops to arrest them all, sentenced 3 1 criminals and sent them to the frontier. He also initiated the law of "protecting Wu", which guaranteed five households, supervised entry and exit, registered foreign population, beat gongs and drums to help thieves. Through the governance of Ceng Gong, the crime of theft and robbery in qi zhou has been significantly reduced, and the state with frequent public security cases has become a safe state, with a clear atmosphere.
Ceng Gong is diligent and pragmatic, and everything starts from reality. In order to harness the Yellow River, the imperial court mobilized migrant workers from all over the country and transferred 20,000 workers from qi zhou. As soon as Ceng Gong heard that some local hukou was missing or concealed, it immediately decided to conduct a general survey, report it step by step from the bottom up and verify it repeatedly. Finally, it is found that 1 9 ding can meet the demand of recruiting ding. His pragmatic style relieved many ordinary people from the suffering of corvee and lightened their burden.
Ceng Gong's achievements in qi zhou and his implementation of Wang Anshi's new law stimulated agricultural production; The construction of Zhouqi North Watergate has solved the flood problem that has plagued qi zhou for many years. Dredge Daming Lake. Later generations built Zenggong Temple in Qianfo Mountain and Nanfeng Temple (also called Mr. Nanfeng in Ceng Gong) beside Daming Lake to commemorate Ceng Gong's great contribution to qi zhou.
3. Hongzhou: Turn the official residence into a temporary shelter.
1076, Ceng Gong was transferred to Hongzhou (now Nanchang, Jiangxi), and was also in charge of the military forces on Jiangnan West Road (Wu Zhi, mainly responsible for defense).
At the beginning of taking office, it coincided with the plague epidemic in Jiangxi. Ceng Gong quickly deployed relief materials and quickly ordered all counties and cities to reserve epidemic prevention drugs in case of emergency. He arranged for people to vacate the official residence of the state government office as a temporary shelter for those sick soldiers and those who could not support themselves. He not only sent doctors to treat them, but also provided them with food and clothes for free. He sent people to record the epidemic situation at any time, register the infected and uninfected people, summarize them in time, and then allocate funds from the state treasury to distribute disaster relief funds according to their priorities.
4. Fuzhou: Officials do not compete with the people for profits.
From 65438 to 0077, Ceng Gong was transferred from Hongzhou to Fuzhou (now Fuzhou, Fujian).
When Fuzhou took office, Ceng Gong put forward a view that officials should not compete with the people for profits. A large number of government vegetables went on the market, which disrupted the market and led to lower and lower vegetable prices. Vegetable farmers who grow vegetables can't sell their vegetables, and their income is greatly reduced. Ceng Gong immediately cancelled the "professional fields" (state-owned fixed fields) allocated to a certain area by the imperial court, thus safeguarding the interests of vegetable farmers.
After the age of 60, he was also assigned by the court to Mingzhou, Bozhou, Cangzhou and other places as magistrates, and he also made achievements wherever he went. In practical work, Ceng Gong said less and did more. He went to seven or eight states in his life, worked at the grass-roots level, dealt with issues concerning the vital interests of the people in a timely manner, and did practical things and good deeds for the people.
Ceng Gong's Personality Evaluation
Throughout his life, Ceng Gong was a local official and devoted himself to it. All his letters were based on serving relatives. Generally speaking, political performance is not outstanding. The History of Song Dynasty is a legend that Lv Gongzhu tried to tell Gong that it is not as good as politics and politics is not as good as articles.
Song Shi? Biography of Ceng Gong commented that his article was "difficult to stand between Ouyang Xiu and Wang Anshi, sincere but not annoying, simple but not unlucky, and outstanding".
Wang Anshi said: "There are many articles in Ceng Zi, and there is a dispute among the stars in Jianghan." .
Su Shi thinks: "Ceng Zi is quaint and elegant." .
Su Zhe summed up Ceng Gong's academic achievements with "Confucianism is far behind Miracle, and literature is close to Han Jing Xi".
Zhu in the Southern Song Dynasty praised him for "reading Zeng Shu, sighing and not covering the waste book, why not know the public"; "Love your words with strictness and righteousness, and learn from them." .
In Yuan Dynasty, Liu Biao thought that Ceng Gong was "more interested in Confucian classics all his life; Wandering around saying that the moon is not good. Often, the poetic style of Song people is more fu, more bi xing, and so is Mr. Wang's poetry.
At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, the Collected Works of Mr. Ba was compiled, and it began to be juxtaposed with North Korea, Liu, Europe, Wang and Wang.
"Ming history? "Wang Chuan Shen Zhong" contains: "Caution is literature, which is the beginning of Qin and Han Dynasties. It is said that there is no merit under Tokyo. Ou Zeng's writing method is to burn old works and imitate them wholeheartedly, especially; If you don't accept it at first, it will change over time. "
Wang, Mao Kun and Gui Youguang in the Tang and Song Dynasties in the Ming Dynasty were full of praise. Ceng Gong was officially listed as one of the eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties by Mao Kun, which further established his important position in the history of prose.
Fang Bao, Liu Dakui and Yao Nai, the ancestors of Tongcheng School in Qing Dynasty, took Ouyang Xiu and Ceng Gong's articles as models and began to learn from Owen.
People who have seen the Life of Ceng Gong have also seen it:
1. On the Years of Li Zunian
2. Ancient Poetry Spring Festival Evening-Wang Ling
3. A famous prime minister in history
4. The profound friendship between Ceng Gong and Wang Anshi.