Yuan Mei (1716-1798), a talented poet and literary critic, was also a county magistrate with a good reputation. A native of Qiantang, Zhejiang (now Hangzhou), he was a scholar during the Qianlong period. He used to be Jishi Shu of imperial academy. From eight to ten years (1743- 1745), Gan Long was appointed as the magistrate of Shuyang County. At this time, it is the so-called "prosperous time", but among the people in Shuyang, it is the reality that thousands of families are sloppy and arrogant. Shuyang County has "300,000 hungry people and countless hungry people". Faced with this tragic situation of "hunger and cold on the road", Yuan Mei picked up a pen dipped in blood and tears to express his feelings: "It is difficult to die a fair death and starve to death. Wild dogs are nothing but skin and bones. They hate being parents and don't want to have eyes and ears. " With sharp brushstrokes, he mercilessly lashed those corrupt officials who abused tigers and locusts regardless of people's lives. He wants to "save the country and the people, and ultimately benefit the people." So soon after he took office, he opened a warehouse for disaster relief, reduced taxes, led the people to control water, and built the famous Liutangzi weir. Take various disaster-resistant measures to restore and develop agricultural production and achieve rapid results. He also strictly controls his family, subordinates and officials, and is not allowed to disturb and harm the people. According to historical records, he "sits in court all day", and whenever "the government and the people do something, the small lawsuit is ignored", the big case is closed as soon as possible, and the social order is more stable than before. He has contacts with farmers, silkworm girls, craftsmen, vendors and scholars. He not only cares about all kinds of farming, but also enters the market. "He cares about the price of rice and asks Jiangdong" and cares about people's livelihood. In the feudal era, due to the limitation of class, it was commendable that Yuan Mei could do this, and the people all called him a "big official". Because of his integrity, Yuan Mei doesn't like fighting in officialdom. At the age of 40, he resigned and settled in Jiangning (now Nanjing). He lived at the foot of Xiaocang Mountain, built a garden, called himself a lay man in Cangshan Mountain, an old man in the garden, and lived a leisurely life. ?
After ten years of Qianlong, he left Shuyang, and the people saw him off, climbed into the car and drank, and sent him away with tears. In the fifty-third year of Qianlong (1788), 73-year-old Yuan Mei visited Shuyang again at the invitation of Lu Yi Ting, a famous figure in Shuyang, and people from all walks of life in Shuyang met him 30 miles ahead. Facing so many people who supported him, Yuan Mei wrote a sincere picture of his return to Shuyang. In this essay, he said with deep feelings: "Those who take the people as their home and live in government but cannot forget their land cannot forget their land." Officials love people and people love officials, which is really an example of the head of the family. ?
Yuan Mei has ruled Shu for more than 200 years. At that time, he planted a wisteria in Shuyang County (now a county government), which is still full of vitality. Its Ye Zhenzhen is listed as one of the key protected cultural relics in Shuyang County. ?
Yuan Mei served as the magistrate of Lishui, Shuyang, Jiangpu and Jiangning all his life. In addition to winning the political discourse right of the wise men, he also left many literary works, such as Xiao Cang Fang Shi Hua, Sui Yuan Shi Hua, Sui Yuan Essay and Zi Wu Yu, a note novel. Poetry with the Garden is his masterpiece, with unique literary views. He put forward the theory of "spirit of nature" and raised objections to Confucian poetry teaching. Some poems attack Confucianism in Han Dynasty and Neo-Confucianism in Zhu Cheng, claiming that "the Six Classics are all dross". He advocated expressing one's mind directly, attaching importance to the naturalness of words, opposing obsolescence and emphasizing the spirit of self-creation, which is of progressive significance in the history of China literature.