Which dynasty was Wu Jingzi, the author of "The Scholars" and a famous novelist in history, from? Readers who are familiar with his life and deeds must have heard that Wu Jingzi was from the Qing Dynasty.
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To explain in detail which dynasty Wu Jingzi was from, we should start from the environment in which he grew up and the year when his works were created. He was born in 1701 AD and died of illness in 1754 AD. In his short fifty-four years of life, he successively experienced the reigns of three emperors including Qing Shengzu, Kangxi Emperor, and Qianlong Emperor, from the entry of the Qing Dynasty to the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns. In the prosperous age, Wu Jingzi's life was filled with ups and downs and a rough destiny.
In his early years, he was born into a prominent family with a prosperous family background. Therefore, he read poetry and books at an early age and was deeply influenced by Confucianism, which laid a solid cultural foundation. However, in his youth, the Wu family fell into decline, and the sons of the famous family suddenly became commoner scholars. Wu Jingzi's career and destiny also changed. Especially during the Qianlong period, official politics became corrupt, and the shortcomings of the imperial examination system became apparent. Many unappreciated students were excluded from the temple gates because they had no money to follow the "hidden rules", which caused great changes in the country's talent selection system. Loopholes, the officialdom system becomes more decadent.
After repeatedly failing, Wu Jingzi finally became disillusioned with his official career and devoted the rest of his life to literary creation.
During this period, his living conditions and ideology have undergone great changes. A large number of poems and novels he created contain realistic satirical techniques, among which , especially the novel "The Scholars" is best known to future generations. This novel consumed most of Wu Jingzi's second half of his life. Its publication also established Wu Jingzi's outstanding status in the history of Chinese literature.
Wu Jingzi’s attitude towards the imperial examination
Wu Jingzi was born in a family of officials in Quanjiao County, Anhui Province, and his family had many famous scholars in the Imperial Academy. Influenced by his family atmosphere, Wu Jingzi was quite diligent and studious when he was young. He was full of knowledge at a young age and often wrote poems and lyrics with amazing skills. Therefore, he was favored by many members of his clan from an early age. In the old days, most literati went to school to gain fame and advance in officialdom. Even Wu Jingzi, who was known as a young genius, was not exempt from this. Therefore, it can be believed that Wu Jingzi in the early days did not reject the imperial examination. At least he hoped to achieve brilliance through the imperial examination. ideal.
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However, after adulthood, the Wu family suddenly experienced great changes, the family fell into decline, and his father was convicted. The literati who used to surround the Wu family became less attentive. In addition, unwritten rules were rampant in the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, and it was not uncommon to sell officials and get titles, and to use the back door. Scholars in white who were not recognized for their talents were often rejected from the temple because they had no money to clear up connections. They never had the opportunity to show their ambition to help the world and the people.
After experiencing many setbacks, Wu Jingzi, who had seen through the harsh world, was already disillusioned with fame. At this time, Wu Jingzi's attitude towards the imperial examination obviously lost the enthusiasm of his youth. On the contrary, he began to hate officialdom. The corruption and the distortion of human nature caused by the pursuit of fame and fortune. This series of cynical sentiments are fully revealed in his long satirical novel "The Scholars".
When people read Wu Jingzi’s works today, what they see seems to be the author’s bitter satire on the Manchu officialdom. However, if you think about it carefully, Wu Jingzi’s attitude towards the imperial examination is obviously not as noble as the outside world rumored. He was once obsessed with it. Resenting one's desire for fame but not getting it, this seems to be a common mentality among all intellectuals who had no chance of officialdom in the old days.
Wu Jingzi’s style
Friends who have read "The Scholars" are more or less deeply impressed by the unique literary creation style of Wu Jingzi, a famous novelist in the Qing Dynasty and an Anhui talent. impression. In this novel, Wu Jingzi writes about the decadence and obscurity of the imperial examination system and the various aspects of life in the officialdom with sharp and satirical writing style. It can be called an immortal work in the history of Chinese literature.
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Speaking of Wu Jingzi’s style, people tend to think of another literary giant known as a “cultural assassin” in modern history. In fact, that great Literary giants also praised Wu Jingzi's works, saying that his creations "uphold the public spirit and point out the current ills". The most well-known modern literary giant is Mr. Lu Xun, who is known as the "soul of the country". Hundreds of years later, Lu Xun's novels were born. The spirit of realism and sharp criticism running through many of his works undoubtedly drew rich nutrition from the thoughts and artistic concepts of his ancestor Wu Jingzi.
It is said that during the creation of "The Scholars", Wu Jingzi was at a low point in his life. After his father passed away, his family became increasingly difficult. In many cases, he could not even make ends meet, so he had to sell documents, books, and pawn his belongings. born. It was under this circumstance that this talented man who became famous at a young age suddenly had a new understanding of life circumstances and official career. Therefore, later generations agreed that without the bumpy experience in adulthood and the depth of the Qing Dynasty's imperial examination system, Analysis shows that Wu Jingzi, who originally came from a family of eunuchs, would never have devoted his whole life to writing such a spicy and ironic novel "The Scholars". Wu Jingzi's unique style would not have left such a deep impression on future generations. and far-reaching impact.
Evaluation of Wu Jingzi
Wu Jingzi, a famous novelist in the Qing Dynasty, is known as the first literary giant in Anhui. He was born into an aristocratic family in Quanjiao County. He loved poetry and calligraphy since he was a child, and was known for his elegant style when he was a teenager. Unfortunately, when he became an adult, his family fell into decline and his fate was ill-fated. He had no chance to pursue an official career in his life. In his later years, Wu Jingzi was obsessed with calligraphy and novel creation. He wrote the long satirical novel "The Scholars", which profoundly exposed the darkness of the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty. It can be called a treasure in Chinese classical literature. Therefore, the world thinks highly of Wu Jingzi, calling him the 18th century poet. The greatest novelist.
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In fact, in addition to literary achievements, the descendants of the local Wu family in Quanjiao have a more comprehensive evaluation of Wu Jingzi. According to relatives of the Wu family, Wu Jingzi was open-minded by nature and had a wide circle of friends. He had contacts with many literati and scholars in the Qing Dynasty. Many literati in the Qing Dynasty were fond of drinking, composing poems, making wine orders and other elegant games. They drank and drank together. When the wine was half drunk, Wu Jingzi often wrote amazing things, and his outstanding literary talents were often fully revealed in his game works.
Unfortunately, when Wu Jingzi’s father passed away when he was 23 years old, the Wu family suddenly fell into decline. Faced with those close relatives who were like wolves and tigers encroaching on the ancestral property, Wu Jingzi felt the sadness of the desolate world and the decline of morals. In addition, the imperial examination system of the Qing Dynasty at that time had become corrupt, and Wu Jingzi, who had great talent and knowledge, had no hope of success, so he became cynical and indulged in disobeying etiquette. At the age of 33, he moved away from his hometown and moved to Nanjing.
During the years when he lived in Nanjing, although Wu Jingzi lived in poverty and often had to sell books and articles to survive, he still loved to gather friends and literati to gather together, and sometimes provided money to support similarly poor literati. Sometimes he and a group of friends would go around the city wall in winter to engage in "foot-warming" activities. In order to take the lead in building the ancestral temple, he even sold off his last ancestral property, the old house. Therefore, during this period, people evaluated Wu Jingzi as "a person who is willing to do good but good at giving." Bohemian”. It was during this period that he devoted his life's energy and talent to writing an immortal masterpiece, The Scholars.