In the first year of Qianlong, Zheng Banqiao went to Beijing to take the exam and was admitted to Jinshi. After five years of Qianlong, he took a boat from Xinghua to the north along the canal and became an official in Beijing. During his trip to Beijing, he wrote this letter to his cousin, mainly to reflect on his arrogant behavior when he was young.
Send my brother Mo aboard in Huaian.
People are cute, I can stand it; It is hateful to treat people as others, and so am I. Dongpo felt that there were no bad people in the world all his life, which was his greatest advantage. Brother Yu has been cursing all his life, but people have a talent, a skill, and the beauty of words and deeds is not without praise. Thousands of dollars are in a jar, which is easily dispersed, and so is love. As for shortage and danger, people often have to do it. Good at swearing, especially to a scholar. Think carefully, the scholar is ill, but he can't push the profile. If he pushes the profile, he is not a scholar. It is also a grievance to scold a scholar. Which one is open in the world now? When you are old and lonely, you should be careful. Love is good, but swearing is bad. Dongpo suffers from this disease, and the condition is Banqiao! My brother also advised me at that time.
Huai 'an: Huai 'an, Jiangsu today. Mo: Word Bridge Five, cousin of Zheng Banqiao.
Gee (zé): Awesome.
Tuó: pocket.
Lack of praseodymium: difficulty. Danger: danger.
Introduction to Push: Remove. This refers to the old-fashioned thinking.
Old and lonely: at this time, the author was 49 years old. Ten years ago (the ninth year of Yongzheng), his wife Xu died of illness, so he was said to be "lonely and old".
Mouth: I have a bad mouth and like to hurt others.
Reading letters from home
This letter was written by Zheng Banqiao when he was an official in Beijing. At that time, he was 48 years old and 25 years older than his cousin. But he still frankly reflected on his shortcomings to his cousin, reviewed his words and deeds, and pointed out his shortcomings without hesitation, instead of just saying his own advantages. There is such a sentence in the letter: "It is good to call names, especially scholars." This is not because he is jealous of their talents and belittles the literati, but because as a literati, Zheng Banqiao has seen the ugliness of this literati a lot and thoroughly, so he said this sentence, expressing his resentment against those narrow-minded and short-sighted literati. For this "independent" self-awareness, he also has a famous couplet: "It's easy to praise the boots and itch, and it's ok to curse the wood!"
Zheng Banqiao compared Su Dongpo's life experience with his own personal experience, and realized that "it is good to love others, but it is not good to curse others". Swearing is a very bad emotional catharsis and a natural expression of feelings when the status quo cannot be changed. He warned his younger brother to always urge himself to avoid mistakes in words.
In the Introduction, Zheng Banqiao criticized himself for "boasting, being conceited and abusing his power". All the ancestors looked at each other and avoided communicating with each other. "This letter is also a reflection on being too conceited and like to call names. Of course, the focus of this book is to be kind to others and treat others with virtue. When people get along with each other, don't be sharp-edged and full of thorns. See more advantages in people, see more weaknesses in yourself, be strict with yourself and be lenient with others. Only in this way can we handle interpersonal relationships well. The author's original intention is to warn himself and take it as a lesson for his younger brother. In this letter, we can see the other side of Zheng Banqiao's thought and behavior, that is, he is famous for his arrogance and ridicule. Of course, the truth in the family book still has great reference value for us to treat people, treat people and do things.
In a letter to my cousin, Jiao Shan Shuangfeng Pavilion, Zheng Banqiao talked about being kind to others by buying a cemetery.
"Jiao Shan Shuangfeng Pavilion sends little brother ink"
There is a graveyard in Haojiazhuang, and the price is twelve Liang. My late master wanted to buy it, but he had to plan it, because there was an orphan grave without owner. The first gentleman said, "Wow! Have you dug a grave to stand on your own feet? " Then go. But if my family doesn't buy it, others will buy it, and this tomb is still in jeopardy. I want to write a letter to cousin Shuhao and ask about the whereabouts of this place. If I can't sell it, I will seal 12 gold and buy it to bury my husband and wife. That is, leave this lonely grave, thinking that cows sleep together, carve stones to show their children and grandchildren, and never give up. Isn't the former monarch loyal and deep? What my husband said is true, I can't believe it. This is our intention, and we should carve it to keep its thickness. Although there is bad feng shui, it will become a good place. Absolutely credible. Later generations, when Tomb-Sweeping Day visited the grave, he also offered sacrifices to this tomb, offering wine, a chicken, a bowl of rice and paper money, taking this as an example. On June 10th, 13th year of Yongzheng, my brother sent it to me.
Niumian: Also known as "Niumian Blessed Land", people are buried well after death, which means the land of Feng Shui.
Carmen: It refers to Mr. Feng Shui.
Pour thick: pour thin. Thick: kind. Pour thick means to get rid of the floating thin and kind.
Reading letters from home
In his letter, Zheng Banqiao talked about buying a cemetery, and talked about the truth that people should "accumulate a lot of money". People hope to have a good feng shui when building houses and choosing cemeteries. On the other hand, Zheng Banqiao believes that even if there is bad feng shui, it will become good feng shui as long as we serve the people kindly, honestly and honestly. His words are very insightful. Let's imagine that the tombs of ancient emperors and generals were all selected with great efforts. We can't say that Feng Shui is not good, but we still can't escape the frequent patronage of grave robbers. On the contrary, those ordinary people can rest in peace. Therefore, the so-called good and bad places have nothing to do with Feng Shui. As long as people are honest and kind before they die, they can feel at ease after they die.
Zheng Banqiao's poems, books and paintings are "three musts", among which there are "three truthfulness": true spirit, true style and true interest. His "truth" has also been well reflected in this family letter, just as he himself said: "It is our mind, which should be unforgettable and accumulated", warning our descendants to put offerings on the solitary graves next to their ancestors' graves, just like his poems and paintings, just asking for the word "truth"! The content of this letter from home is very targeted, which not only talks about family matters, but also makes sense. Moreover, the words are clean and fresh, and there is no artificial feeling, which makes people feel the unique personality charm of this "freak" from ordinary trivial matters.