Surprisingly, however, there are two typos in a couplet written by Ji Xiaolan, which has been hung on the door of Confucius House for 300 years and has not been replaced. What happened?
It is reported that when Ji Xiaolan offered sacrifices to sweep the tomb of Confucius, he wrote a couplet: "Rest with the country, be rich and respect politics;" The same day is old, and the article is moral. "
At first glance, there is nothing wrong with these 24-character couplets, which are flat and neat. The first couplet is to praise Confucius for his contributions to the country, the country and the people. The second part strongly praises the great influence of Confucius' articles, which can even be said to be old enough. It can be said that couplets are still very high and deep.
But careful people will find that there are two typos in this couplet above Confucius' house: one is the word "rich" on the couplet, and a dot is missing; The other is the word "Zhang" in the bottom line, and the "ten" below has pierced the middle "day" all the way.
These two words can be recognized by all children who have studied in private schools for three or five years. Why didn't anyone laugh at Ji Xiaolan, a great genius?
It turns out that ancient literati are very particular about writing, and the new changes in writing are often to express a new idea.
The lack of "wealth" is of course true. When Ji Xiaolan wrote this couplet, he thought that the descendants of Confucius had been passed down for two thousand years and had always been respected by people. Later, talented people came forth in large numbers and the family was very rich. He wanted to praise Confucius' wealth and highlight new ideas, so he cleverly removed the point on the word "rich", meaning that wealth is endless and never has an apex.
And "chapter breaks the sunrise" is also meaningful.
As we all know, Confucius was a saint in ancient China, and he was honored as "the most holy". The Confucian cultural system he advocated was established as official orthodoxy by later rulers. He wrote a book, taught people tirelessly, and his moral articles were good enough to live with heaven and earth and win glory with the sun and the moon.
In order to commemorate this saint, there are three "caves" in his hometown of Qufu, Shandong Province, namely, Konglin, Kongfu and Kongmiao. It has been highly respected by all dynasties, and the government has allocated funds to repair the Confucius Temple many times. The word "Zhang" hangs down to the top, which means that Kong's "articles reach the sky" is unparalleled and will always be the first in the world.
You know, Ji Xiaolan has always admired Confucius, so it is not surprising that he strongly advocated Confucius. He praised Confucius' merits and expressed his lofty aspirations with "headless wealth, soaring literature", which can be described as well-intentioned.
Ji Xiaolan's "admiration" for Confucius certainly won his followers. Therefore, the followers of Confucius happily put this couplet in front of Confucius' gate. Although there are two typos, it has been hung up for more than 300 years.
In a word, Ji Xiaolan's two intentional typos are far-reaching and pleasing to the eye, so even if future generations know the mistakes, no one points them out and corrects them. Moreover, there is no right or wrong in calligraphy, and it is common for some words to appear in calligraphy variants, but they are called beautiful talks, which is also a beautiful talk in the history of ancient literature.