There are very few historical materials about the life of Zhu Xi and his wife Liu Qingsi. In his numerous works, Zhu Xi rarely mentioned his love affair with Liu Qingsi and his married life. Zhu Xi and Liu Qingsi lived in poverty and lacked the romance of love and romance. This is normal. However, the relationship between the two is deep and they have been loving each other for a lifetime.
In the summer of the second year of Chunxi (1175), Zhu Xi’s wife Liu Qingsi fell ill. At that time, no one may have cared much about it, but Liu Qingsi's condition gradually worsened, and he finally became ill.
?Zhu Xi married Liu Qingsi when he was 19 years old. Presumably Liu Qingsi was a few years younger than Zhu Xi, and he was at the age when he "walked away in shame, leaning against the door and looking back, sniffing the green plums." Zhu Xi studied under Liu Mianzhi and often visited Liu's house. The two should have a natural and natural love.
In the Song Dynasty, men and women could date openly, and bold women dared to pursue love. "I searched for him thousands of times in the crowd. Suddenly I looked back, and there he was, in a dimly lit place." This is clearly a vivid portrayal of a date. "On the shore, there are two or three wandering girls on the sand. They avoid travelers and talk to each other with shy smiles." Isn't this pedestrian who deliberately avoids Huansha's favorite lover?
Liu Qingsi was educated by his father and had a gentle, courteous and frugal personality. After marriage, he lived in harmony with Zhu Xi and had a deep relationship. Women's education in ancient times was mainly moral education, which was carried out before marriage. The content was nothing more than "women's virtues, women's words, women's appearance, women's merits". To put it bluntly, they were good wives and mothers who served their parents-in-law, obeyed their husbands, managed the family and taught their children. educate.
Zhu Xi still held an open-minded attitude towards women's education. Someone asked: "Women should also be educated. Apart from the "Book of Filial Piety", for example, "The Analects" only teaches those who understand it in front of them. How? ?" Zhu Xi replied: "It can be like Cao Jia's "Female Commandment" or Wen Gong's "Family Model"." During the 29 years that Liu Qingsi and Zhu Xi lived together, they gave birth to three sons and five sons. Daughter, it is a pity that the second daughter and the youngest daughter died young. Zhu Xi was busy writing books and theories, while Liu Qingsi took on the task of caring for his husband and raising his children in obscurity. The eldest son Zhu Shu was "lazy and did not know how to learn", so he could only be sent to Wuzhou Jinhua to study with Lu Zuqian. This should be Liu Qingsi's opinion. The son was lazy, and the mother's supervision was ineffective, so she could only bear to let him leave her knees and go to study elsewhere.
In June of the third year of Chunxi (1176), the imperial court issued a document and appointed Zhu Xi as Secretary and Provincial Secretary Lang. This was the result of the recommendation by Prime Minister Gong Maoliang. He believed that Zhu Xi "had an honest conduct and could not be summoned repeatedly" and the court should reward him.
Gong Maoliang, a native of Xinghua Army (today's Putian City, Fujian Province), was a Jinshi in the eighth year of Shaoxing. In the first year of Chunxi, he was promoted to the Council of Political Affairs. Soon after, Ye Heng dismissed the Prime Minister and assumed the duties of the Prime Minister as the Chief Councilor. Together with Cai Xiang, Chen Junqing and Fang Xinyu, they are known as the "Four Sages of Putian".
Zhu Xi submitted a letter of resignation to the court and wrote a letter to Gong Maoliang, stating that the reason for his resignation was that he was worried that he would be regarded as a snob by the world if he repeatedly resigned but was promoted.
In August, the imperial court issued another decree not allowing Zhu Xi to resign and remove his new post. Zhu Xi was determined not to accept the new position, so he resigned and was dismissed. The petition for resignation should be the most official document Zhu Xi ever wrote. According to some statistics, he wrote petitions for resignation more than 120 times in his lifetime.
During his days of retreat in the countryside, Zhu Xi worked tirelessly to teach and educate people, which was certainly inseparable from Liu Qingsi's support.
However, what worried Zhu Xi still happened. Perhaps someone in the court could not accept Zhu Xi's repeated resignations and took the opportunity to slander Zhu Xi. Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty gave Gong Maoliang a note, saying that Zhu Xi was "a man with a false reputation and was afraid of damaging the imperial court." Gong Maoliang had no choice but to accept Zhu Xi's request to invite the temple, but still left Zhu Xi in charge of Chongyou Temple in Wuyi.
In the Song Dynasty, the emperor's orders had to be reviewed by the Zhongshu Province before being issued. Notes issued directly by the emperor were called "imperial letters" at that time. Song Xiaozong's style of censorship was later carried forward by his son Song Ningzong. He used censorship from time to time. Later generations called it "if things don't go out of the book, it is chaos in government." The country was not far from being destroyed. Without a good political system, it will be difficult to achieve good political results.
On November 13th in the third year of Chunxi (1176), Liu Qingsi, who had been ill, passed away. Poverty, illness and overwork were the main reasons for Liu Qingsi's premature death.
Facing Liu Qingsi’s departure, Zhu Xi was very sad. What husband doesn’t want to give his wife happiness! ? Zhu Xi advocated in "Zhu Xi's Family Instructions" that "the most valuable thing in a woman is gentleness." Liu Qingsi was gentle, courteous and thrifty, and fulfilled the valuable side of being a wife. But as a husband, Zhu Xi was unable to escape the fate of poverty, and his wife had to work hard all her life and died prematurely. How could we not be sad?
Zhu Xi still asked Cai Yuanding to choose a cemetery for Liu Qingsi and find a resting place for his wife underground. This was something Zhu Xi was very concerned about, not to mention that it was also a choice for his own son. Cai Yuanding chose the cemetery in Dalin Valley, Houtang, Tangshili, Jianyang County. This is a terrain called "Longgui Houtang, Fengpiaoluo belt" in Feng Shui. Zhu Xi's choice of cemetery also became evidence for later generations to criticize him for his superstitious Feng Shui.
In February of the fourth year of Chunxi (1177), Liu Qingsi was buried in Dalin Valley, Houtang. Liu Qingsi's tomb was opened with two caves. At that time, Zhu Xi also decided that he would be buried with his wife a hundred years later.
Zhu Xi, who lost his wife in middle age, began to struggle to run the house alone and raise his underage children.
Zhu Xi remained a widower and never remarried, which is also a manifestation of the steadfast love between Zhu Xi and Liu Qingsi. Who said that "starving to death is a small matter, but losing integrity is a big deal" is just a request for women. Zhu Xi "kept the integrity" for his wife for 23 years.
In the winter of the fifth year of Chunxi (1178), before leaving for the Nankang Army, Zhu Xi braved the snow to go to Dalin Valley in Jianyang. He took one more look at his wife and wrote a poem "Tang Stone in the Snow":
The spring breeze is about to move the guests away from home, and the road turns to credit.
Traveling to the melancholy places of mountains and rivers, thousands of forests turn into flowers overnight.
It is human nature to be sad about life and death. The "sad place" in the poem is exactly where Liu Qingsi is buried. The word "choujue" reflects Zhu Xi's deep affection for Liu Qingsi's past and longing for him after his death.
Su Dongpo's most affectionate poem "Jiangchengzi" is about missing his deceased wife. The famous line "Ten years of life and death are so vast. Without thinking about it, you will never forget it."
Zhu Xi’s longing for Liu Qingsi lasted for ten years and would last until his death. Not long before his death, Zhu Xi was seriously ill and missed his past life with Liu Qingsi, so he wrote the "Tomb Sacrifice": "The years are changing, the rain and dew are wet, and the memory of your voice and appearance will forever be separated by the spring soil. A cup of wine. "I am ill and cannot be kissed."
Liu Qingsi's voice still appeared in Zhu Xi's mind, and Zhu Xi deeply regretted that he was ill and could not go to pay homage to his wife. , I hope that my wife Izumi Izumi can feel his thoughts. Every word in the article reveals Zhu Xi's deep affection for his wife. Those who criticize Zhu Xi as a sanctimonious Taoist and hypocrite should be uneasy if they knew it!
After Zhu Xi passed away, he was buried together with his wife. He used the words "live in the same quilt and die in the same hole" to paint a perfect picture of his love with Liu Qingsi.
(To be continued)