In the Ming Dynasty, there was a person in Foshan who surpassed the famous Wang Yangming and Tang Bohu in later generations. This person is Lun Wenxu, who was born in the same era and almost the same year as Wang Yangming and Tang Bohu.
In the twelfth year of the reign of Ming Xiaozong, the ninth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, that is, in 1499, these three people set out from Foshan, Guangdong, Suzhou, Jiangsu, and Ningbo, Xijiang, respectively, to Beijing to participate in the imperial examination that was held every three years. , also commonly known as going to Beijing to take the exam. In this year, Lun Wenxu was 34 years old, Tang Bohu was 30 years old, and Wang Yangming was the youngest, 28 years old. This exam can be said to be a competition between these three people on the same stage. The final result is: Lun Wenxu High School from Foshan, Guangdong is the top scholar. Although Wang Yangming is also a Jinshi, he is only sixth in the second class. Tang Bohu is involved in this exam. A major case in which test questions were leaked in advance shocked both the government and the public. Emperor Hongzhi personally ordered a thorough investigation. Before the test results were announced, he was declared a failure and demoted to the county government as a minor official. Later, Tang Bohu was ashamed of this punishment and refused to take office. Poverty is completely different from the image in film and television works.
About this matter, according to Volume 1 of the official Ming Xiaozong Records of the Ming Dynasty, it is recorded as follows: Yin atones. After the completion of the gift-giving department, all officials were deposed and put into service. ?
In this year, Lun Wenxu, who was originally the number one scholar in high school, was very proud of his life and far surpassed Wang and Tang in terms of fame. Unfortunately, Lun Wenxu later served as editor of the Hanlin Academy, mainly Responsible for compiling the royal genealogy, Tang Bohu was not as talented as Wang Yangming in both civil and military affairs. He not only led troops to fight several great victories, but also wrote prolifically. He became one of the most important thinkers in Chinese history. Tang Bohu was proficient in music and rhythm, and his poems, articles, and The number of works such as books and paintings is considerable, and his popularity and influence in later generations in turn surpassed that of Lun Wenxu, who was not known from Guangdong after his death. Although Lun Wenxu's poems were also good, such as those compiled by Shunde scholar Wen Runeng during the Qianjia period of the Qing Dynasty. The poem "Kou Zhan Cambodian Friends" in his "Ocean of Poems from East Guangdong" is very similar to the poetry style of the Tang and Song Dynasties: Acacia is separated by the water, who shares the same jade cup at dusk. ?
Looking at Lun Wenxu’s life, it can be called a legendary life.
Lun Wenxu was born in Liyong, Nanhai County in the Ming Dynasty, which is now Liyong Village, Shiwan Street, Chancheng District, Foshan City. His story is still the material of novels, dramas and film and television works. The origin has always been regarded as the pride and cultural representative of Guangdong people. There are many folk legends about his resourcefulness and quick thinking.
From the inception to the end of the imperial examination system in Chinese history, from the Sui Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, 638 champions were produced in the country. Guangdong produced 9 champions, and 5 came from Foshan. This small village where Lun Wenxu was born There is an ancient well hidden inside, known as the "Zhuangyuan Well". The water from the well that Lun Wenxu drank from his childhood had nurtured the first number one scholar in Foshan history, Jian Wenhui, the number one scholar of the Southern Han Dynasty, more than 500 years before him. The two were born in the same village.
Lun Wenxu has been known as a "prodigy" or "genius" since he was a child. He is small in stature and has a big head, and is nicknamed "Big Tou Xu". However, he dropped out of school due to poverty and went home to help his parents grow and sell vegetables. When I was a child, I often picked vegetables to sell on the street. There was a shop owner who took pity on his talent and often bought his vegetables. He often made white porridge with leftover pork balls, pork rice noodles, and pork liver, and then added some ginger, green onions and other condiments. Treat him to food for free. After Lun Wenxu returned home in fine clothes, he was grateful for the kindness of the porridge shop owner, so he named the porridge "Zhuangyuan Jidi Porridge" and wrote a plaque for the porridge shop in his own handwriting. From then on, the porridge shop became famous; people also called him the number one scholar. After moving to Guangzhou, the place where he lived was renamed "Fudi Lane" and is now located at Haizhu Middle Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City.
What is truly admirable about Lun Wenxu is not that he was the first to win the first place in the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the first place in the exam, nor is it how he created a poor boy from a remote country who worked hard and studied hard. The legendary story of finally passing the exam and reaching the pinnacle of life is a legendary story of his father and son having three yuan and four Jinshi in the history of family education in China.
Lun Wenxu had five sons. Among them, the eldest son, Lun Yiliang, ranked first in the provincial examination (Jie Yuan) and later became a Jinshi; the second son, Lun Yixun, ranked first in the Hui examination (Hui Yuan) Yuan Dynasty), second place in the palace examination; Sanzi Lun Yishen, passed the imperial examination at the age of 17, and later became a Jinshi. So much so that people call it "Four Jinshi in one discipline, father and son in charge of three yuan". The couplet in Lun's ancestral hall proudly reads: "Four Jinshi in one discipline will go down in history, and many heroes will illuminate future generations through the ages." ?
When Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty issued an imperial edict to build an archway for him in his hometown, he wrote a letter? This is the first in the Central Plains. This is still a bit puzzling. It is obviously in Lingnan, why not mention it? It was the "first one in Lingnan". What did the emperor think about it? There is no relevant record. This archway was erected at the head of the village in his hometown and was later destroyed. ?The first one in the Central Plains? A stone plaque was hung on the archway. In the 1960s, the archway was torn down. The stone plaque was once used to build a pig house and serve as a stepping stone by the pond. In the 1980s, it was taken away to make a stone bench. Because The stone plaque was 3 meters long and weighed about 300 kilograms. It was difficult to carry and was knocked in half. In 1989, the 15th generation descendant of Lun Wenxu spent 30 yuan from Lanshi Jieyong to buy the stone plaque back to Sujiao Village, Nanzhuang, and donated it to the Foshan Planning and Construction Center in 2017.