Reading their things often makes you feel a sense of great withering; reading their things, in the midst of their mellowness, you always feel that there is something missing? Mr. Zhang Zhongxing’s books always give people a sense of warmth. feeling. The old stories and anecdotes are very much like the notes of the ancients. How to say it? It's not like the sharp-edged wisdom of the Wei and Jin Dynasties; it's like the late Ming Dynasty, with a sense of helplessness after vicissitudes of life and the peace that comes from the eloquent talk.
Only when talking about the "Cultural Revolution" did the old man get a little angry. It’s no wonder that over the course of thousands of years, China has only had three or so periods of contempt for literati. The First Emperor of Qin burned books and harassed Confucians. In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a saying of "Nine Confucians and Ten Beggars". The status of a scholar was still below the level of government, so it was higher than that of a beggar. The other one was that intellectuals were called intellectuals. It's the "Cultural Revolution" period of "Stinky Old Nine". The old gentleman is a man of letters, and when he talks about those days, he inevitably feels unhappy, but it doesn't matter.
At first, a friend recommended Mr. Zhang’s book to me, saying: He is a truly knowledgeable person, and every sentence in the article has its origin and source. ?Just like Huang Tingjian's tone of praising Du Fu. I bought and looked at them one after another, and thought my friend’s words were good.
In this world, there are not many great Confucians left. Taking a step back, Zhang Zhongxing, or perhaps Nan Huaijin and the others, are revealed. It can be described as "when the rocks fall, the rocks will be revealed". Reading their stuff often makes you feel like a tree is dying. It is true that they are not great scholars, but they still have the aftertaste of their academic days, just like the evening sunshine after the storm, they are also the most beautiful scenery in the world.
From a scholarly perspective, no one is qualified to make irresponsible remarks to such old scholars. But when I read their stuff, amidst the mellowness, I always feel that something is missing. Or maybe it’s what Zhu Xi, a scholar of the Song Dynasty, said: “living water” comes from a source. Such words are immobile scenery. According to Mr. Zhang Zhongxing, it should be called "Qing Gong".
Mr. Zhang once wrote an article "Desk Confession", talking about several furnishings on his desk. The so-called "Qinggong" refers to gadgets that you can get for free and that you like. There are three kinds of offerings made by Mr. Zhang: an ear of corn, a melon, and a gourd. Each has its own origin and story. It is a miscellany, but it is also a good article.
Talking about literati’s desks, the most famous one is probably Wen Yiduo’s. The poet's masterpiece is "Mr. Wen Yiduo's Desk", which is almost a must-have in every collection. There seemed to be no confession on Mr. Wen's desk, but only heavy anger and depression. This desk gives the impression that it is not a place to place the four treasures of the study, but like a prairie, with a storm rolling past, occasionally mixed with the shrill roars of wild beasts, making you feel that a scholar also has a soul that rises up from the desk. The desk of Mr. Zhang Zhongxing obviously has a more traditional literati mood, like a wheat field in late autumn, with birds flying around, pecking at the left wheat ears in the field, the sky full of sunset, and the fishing boats singing late.
These two realms are mainly due to the difference between troubled times and prosperous times. In troubled times, many works are inspired by crimes, but in prosperous times, there is no lack of leisure in clearing confessions, so there is no need to force a distinction. What has always been criticized is only the purification of confessions in troubled times, like Zhou Zuoren's essays about Zhitang. It seems that from unknown time
, literati have lost the freedom to escape from the world; only in a good world can people have the right to leisurely life. Mr. Zhang's desk confession is just the most elegant footnote to the good world.
But Mr. Zhang may not have realized that his confessions were not just three, but four, plus himself. This is by no means a criticism. In fact, according to Chinese tradition, when people are old, they should make sacrifices. If they can be clear and not confused and do not cause chaos, then it is very good. I just don’t know, does the old gentleman think so?
Mr. Lao's best-selling book, "The Negative Xuan's Trivial Words" and "Continuation" and "Three Chapters" are the most righteous and peaceful texts. ?negative xuan? means basking in the sun. According to the definition of "Qinggong" by the old man: you can get it without spending money and you like it. Sunbathing is free of charge. Except for ladies who love beauty, probably everyone likes it. This method undoubtedly has sufficient conditions for Qinggong. Besides, the necessary condition is to have a leisurely mood. The busier people today are, the more they pay attention to leisure. Although there are many books printed, there are not many books that can be read while sitting down. Reading is no longer for the purpose of seeking the truth, but to pass the time and embellish the mood. The old gentleman's "trivial talk", to put it bluntly, is trivial and commonplace talk. Since it is said in the sun, it naturally does not require the audience to sit upright. This meets the necessary conditions for clearing the supply.
The old gentleman who is full of knowledge talks about "trivial words" instead of teaching people with a straight face and making people feel like they are sitting in the spring breeze. This is a very good state. But since it is a clearing ceremony, I always feel that it lacks a bit of liveliness, which is probably inevitable for the elderly.
Yuan Zhen’s poem said: “The white-headed palace maid is here, sitting around and talking about Xuanzong?”, which can be said to express the mentality of old age. The maid served Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty when she was young. Now she is old. Although the emperors have changed several times, she still talks about the old things of Xuanzong, which makes her feel a little bit old-fashioned. Mr. Zhang is a master at talking about ancient times, especially the "May Fourth" figures he talked about. He has the charm of unofficial history, which has nothing to do with the old-fashioned style. But the problem lies in the general tendency of literati, who always seem to have a tendency to favor the past over the present. They believe that today's world has lost all civilization, and that only when you are young is a good time to be "depressed and literary".
However, looking at it today, it seems that this is also the case? How come it was more than half a century ago that great Confucians came into being. Although Mr. Zhang is not disdainful of the present, he can confidently "thick the past". He is full of affection for old people and old things, but he inevitably lacks some calm analysis. Probably this is also a common problem in ancient people's notes. Mr. Zhang's writing style is close to the notes of ancients, and it also has a touch of old-fashioned style. It's like this. The white-headed palace lady has said Xuanzong ten thousand times, but it's still a common saying. She doesn't get rid of the way of "spring cold bathing in Huaqing Pool", and can't tell the cause and effect of "Yu Yangji stirred up the earth". After all, it won't quench her thirst.
However, the so-called "statement without doing" may not mean that the old gentleman cannot speak, but he just doesn't want to speak. The academic style of the older generation often has the shadow of the simple learning of the Qing Dynasty, which has been developed to the extreme. Some old scholars will publish one pamphlet in their lifetime, which is so rigorous that it is impossible to pour water into it. Mr. Zhang Zhongxing is a man of great knowledge, but he does not seem to have any grand works. He is only known for his leisurely writing, which has the feeling of taking things lightly. But knowledge cannot be hidden. It will always be exposed. Quoting a passage or burying an allusion will inevitably lead to being too high-minded for most readers. Injecting knowledge into articles, what Mr. Zhang did is probably not as intensive as Mr. Qian Zhongshu, and not as artificial as Nan Huaijin. It is very middle-class. However, due to the influence of a lifetime of teaching, there is inevitably a bit of fanciness in the knowledge, and it is not very well-informed, which damages the word "Qing" in the Qing Dynasty.
Furthermore, if a person sits in a study for a long time, even though he may be able to trace his thoughts through the ages, what he sees when he raises his eyes is nothing more than calligraphy and writing, and what he writes is nothing more than corn and melons and gourds. The genus of Qinggong really corresponds to the word "suo" in "suohua". If you insist on uniting the Qi, it can be called cloth-headed Qi. Nowadays, many writers, in order to cope with frequent manuscript requests from various parties, are forced to write articles even if they brush their teeth and wash their faces. To say that they are cloth-headed is probably putting it mildly. Mr. Zhang Zhongxing is incomparable to this generation, and his trivial matters are extremely elegant. But what does the old man have to do with the readers? I think it’s because I write too much.
. After all, it wouldn’t be so good if everything was agreed upon.
"Desktop Confession" can be found in "Selected Works of Zhang Zhongxing", Inner Mongolia Education Press, May 1995.
Editor in charge: Qiu Siwei