Fan Zhongyan's "Yueyang Tower"
Fan Zhongyan
Original text
In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was relegated to Baling County. In the next year, the government will be harmonious and people will be harmonious, and everything will be prosperous. Then the Yueyang Tower was rebuilt, its old structure was added, and poems by Tang Xian and modern people were engraved on it. It belongs to me to write down to record it.
I watched my husband Baling's victory in a lake in Dongting. It holds the distant mountains and swallows the Yangtze River. It is a vast and boundless river. The sunrise and dusk are overcast, and the weather is endless. This is the grand view of Yueyang Tower. The descriptions of predecessors have been prepared. However, it is connected to Wu Gorge in the north and Xiaoxiang in the South Pole. Migrant poets and poets often meet here, and the feeling of looking at the things is the same?
If the rain is falling, the moon is not open, the wind is howling, and the turbid waves are emptying; the sun and stars are shining, the mountains are hidden; the business trip is not going, the rafts are falling; the dusk is dark, the tigers are roaring and the apes are crowing. . Climbing the tower, there are those who are nostalgic for their country, worried about slander and fear of ridicule, their eyes are full of desolation, and they feel extremely sad.
As if spring and the scenery are bright, the waves are calm, the sky above and below is a vast expanse of blue; sand gulls gather in the sky, and the golden scales swim; the shore is covered with orchids, lush and green. Or when the long smoke disappears, the bright moon shines thousands of miles away, the floating light leaps into the gold, the silent shadow sinks into the jade, and the fishermen answer each other's songs, how wonderful is this joy! When you climb the tower, you will feel relaxed and happy, forgetting your favors and disgrace together, drinking wine in the wind, and you will be overjoyed.
Sigh! Why should I try to seek the benevolent heart of the ancients or do something different from the two? Don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself; if you live high in a temple, you worry about its people; if you live far away in the rivers and lakes, you worry about your king. It means that you are worried when you advance, and you are also worried when you retreat. But when will you be happy? It must be said, "Be worried about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness." Alas! Weisi people, who can I return to?
It was September 15th, six years ago.
The Four Wonders of Yueyang Tower:
"The Story of Yueyang Tower" has become a classic of Chinese prose creation. Yueyang Tower is also known as Teng Zijing's building, Fan Zhongyan's note, Su Zimei's calligraphy, and Shao's seal script. "The Four Wonders of the World". And the "Four Wonders Stele" was erected, and the stone stele is still in good condition.
The background of the writing of "Yueyang Tower" in Fan Gongcheng's "Guo Ting Lu" of the Song Dynasty
"Teng Zijing was a great talent and was jealous of everyone. He was relegated to Baling from Qingyang Commandery. He was very angry and full of words. Wen Zheng was the same age as him. He was friendly and loved his talents, but he was afraid of causing trouble in the future. However, Teng was so bold and conceited that he was rarely criticized by others. When there was no time to deal with the problem, Zijing suddenly responded to Wenzheng with a book, asking for "The Story of Yueyang Tower". Therefore, it is said in the book: "Don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself", "Be worried about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness". The meaning is there.
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