Original text:
Tafu Xi was in Jingkou and sent his disciples to write to Prime Minister Wang to ask for his son-in-law. The Prime Minister said to Xi Xin: "You go to the east chamber and choose whomever you want." When his disciples returned to Bai, Xi said: "All the princes of the Wang family are also worthy of praise. When I heard that I came to look for my son-in-law, I was very reserved. Only Yilang was lying on the east bed with his belly open, like this. I don't hear it." Xi Gong said: "That's good!" When I visited him, it was Shao Yi who married his daughter.
Translation:
Tafu Xi was in Jingkou and sent a retainer to the palace to choose a son-in-law with his own handwritten letter to Prime Minister Wang. After seeing the letter, Prime Minister Wang said to the retainer: "Go to the east wing and choose as you like!" After the retainer went to the east wing to see it, he rushed back to Qie Mansion and said to the Taifu: "Each of Prime Minister Wang's sons are worthy of praise. When they heard that I was choosing a son-in-law for you, they all pretended to be extraordinary. There was only one young man lying on the east bed with his belly exposed, as if he had never heard of it. "Taifu Qi said, "This young man is the best. ." Later, after questioning and investigating him, it turned out to be Wang Xizhi, so he married his daughter to him.
Keyword notes:
1. Chi (chī) Taifu: Xi Jian, Taiwei is the official name in charge of military and political power. Taifu: official name. "Taifu" is mistaken for "Taiwei"
2. Jingkou: a place name, near present-day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu
3. Prime Minister Wang: Director Wang of the Jin Dynasty, who served as prime minister< /p>
4. Go to the east chamber: Go, go to the east chamber, the east chamber: the east chamber
5. Yi Shao: Wang Xizhi, a famous calligrapher in the Jin Dynasty, whose courtesy name is Yi Shao, is the descendant of Wang Dao Son
Appreciation:
A Western philosopher said: "I like people who are free in both spirit and heart." If people do not have a free mind, how can they appreciate the beauty and harmony of the world? The joy of life? How can we engage in the most imaginative and pioneering life creation? Unfortunately, the secular world and the environment often force people to change this free and beautiful mind and put all kinds of spiritual shackles on themselves. As a result, people gradually lost their innocence and "self". Vanity and pretense are one of the worldly things that erode people's free soul.
Wang Xizhi, who was praised as the "Sage of Calligraphy" by later generations, still maintained a straightforward and refined soul despite being surrounded by worldly vanity. There are many records about him in "Shishuoxinyu", but the one that best expresses his proud and unique innocence is the article "The Eastern Bed Confessing the Belly".
What happened seemed a bit sudden - Taifu Xi Jian, who lived in Jingkou, finally became concerned about his daughter's lifelong events and wanted to choose a good son-in-law among the nephews of Prime Minister Wang Dao. It just so happened that Prime Minister Wang was also a man of great temperament. After reading the letter, he sent the Taifu disciples to the "East Chamber" to choose him without any introduction. This eliminated the red tape of summoning all the disciples to come to the hall to meet the guests, and it was really unconventional. Yes! It's just that it's a pain for those "East Chamber" men: they just heard the news that the Taifu is "looking for a son-in-law". Who doesn't hope that this luck will fall on him? But he doesn't have time to change his clothes, so he has to change his appearance. There is a bit of "competition" in the demeanor. This plot is only described in the text as "I heard that I came to find a son-in-law, or I may be reserved". Although the writing is rather simple, the "Zhu Lang" is serious and reserved, lest he accidentally reveal his true nature of speaking and laughing, which can be seen between the lines.
However, this is still a contrast. The real protagonist of this article is Wang Yishao (Xizhi) who later shocked the world with his exquisite calligraphy art. What was he doing at this moment when other scholars were competing to be reserved and pretentious? It is unbelievable to say that he was actually enjoying himself. Lying happily on the "east bed", he even exposed his rather unsightly belly! Such an unruly and informal attitude would probably put him down on Xi Jian's list of "selecting a son-in-law". However, the development of things is also strange: After hearing his disciple's "return to Bai", Taifu Xi did not hesitate and said: "That's it!"
With the help of concise and swaying words, The meaningful description of Taifu's disciples thus paints a wonderful portrait of Wang Xizhi's "confidence in the east bed" - this is such an innocent young man who has never been eroded by worldly etiquette and vanity, a man who is unwilling to fight for something. What a cool and unrestrained son who gave up his free personality for utilitarianism (acting as the son-in-law of the Taifu)! At first glance, his behavior seems shocking, but this is the most touching proof that he has not lost his straightforward nature.
At a time when many people are fettered by secular views, their spiritual freedom is restricted. Only those who can maintain this kind of straightforward and refined heart are the real people with ambitious ambitions, and only then can they have a free and stretched life and magnificent creations! In this way! Life is beautiful, and it is also what outstanding figures in the Wei and Jin Dynasties pursued. The strongest response from people's hearts is the three words that Taifu Xi blurted out - "It's so good"!
About the author:
Liu Yiqing (403 AD) - AD 444), courtesy name Ji Bo, originally from Pengcheng (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province) in the Southern Song Dynasty, and lived in Jingkou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province) for a long time. He was a writer in the Southern Song Dynasty. Liu Daolian, the nephew of Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty and the second son of King Jing of Changsha, Liu Daolian, and his uncle, King Liu Daogui of Linchuan, had no children, so he adopted Liu Yiqing as his heir and was granted the title of Governor of Jingzhou by the King of Linchuan. Liu Yiqing is Liu Yu's nephew and is quite outstanding among the kings. He has been known to Liu Yu since he was a child and praised him as "this is the Fengcheng of my family".
He is "simple in nature and has few desires." He loves literature and recruits literary people from all over the world to gather under his disciples. Liu Yiqing, a member of the Liu Song clan, had outstanding talents since childhood. He is the author of "Shishuoxinyu" and the novel "You Ming Lu".
Liu Yiqing rose to prominence at the age of 15. He served as secretary-supervisor and was in charge of the country's books and works. He had the opportunity to get in touch with and read the royal classics, which laid a good foundation for the compilation of "Shishuoxinyu".
At the age of 17, he was promoted to Shangshu Zuopushe (equivalent to the former deputy prime minister), and he was a very popular minister. However, his uncle Liu Yu started the trend of usurpation, which caused the clans to kill each other. Therefore, Liu Yiqing was also afraid of unexpected disasters, so at the age of 29, he begged for external transfer and was relieved of his post as Zuopushe. He once served as governor of Jingzhou and other official positions. He served in politics for 8 years and achieved good results. Later he served as the governor of Jiangzhou.
"Shishuoxinyu" is also called "Shiyu" and "Shishuoxinshu", and the volumes are also in different categories. Because Liu Xiang once wrote "Shishuo" in the Han Dynasty (the original book is lost), later generations distinguished this book from Liu Xiang's and named it "Shishuo New Book". The name was changed after about the Song Dynasty. "Shishuo Xinyu" can be divided into thirty-six categories according to its content: "Virtue", "Speech", "Political Affairs", "Literature" and "Foundation" (first divided into three volumes: upper, middle and lower volumes). Each category has There are several stories, there are more than 1,200 in the whole book. Each text is of different lengths, some are several lines, some are just a few words. This shows the appeal and characteristics of "note-taking" novels.
"Shishuoxinyu" is an excellent historical material for studying the affairs of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. There are vivid descriptions of the various activities of celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, such as chatting and writing, various character traits such as Qiyi, Rendan, simplicity and pride, various life pursuits, and various hobbies. Looking at the whole book, we can get group portraits of several generations of scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Through these characters, we can further understand the fashion of the upper class society of that era.
The books contained in this book are all historical figures, but some of their remarks or stories are based on rumors and are not entirely consistent with historical facts. A considerable part of this book is collected from various books. For example, the stories of individual characters of the Western Han Dynasty contained in "Gui Zhen" and "Xian Yuan" are collected from "Historical Records" and "Han Shu". Other parts are mostly taken from previous records.