Couplets in ancient Chinese academies
Academies are the gathering place for the essence of ancient Chinese culture, where scholars and scholars study classics, explore ways to cultivate oneself and govern the country, and prepare for the exams; Masters often gave lectures and expounded their academic opinions here, and local academies also generally played a role in educating a party's etiquette and morals. Couplets are an important part of the tangible culture of an academy. A couplet with meaningful meaning and exquisite writing is often the finishing touch of an academy. Wandering around ancient academies, one can see a dazzling array of such couplets.
Many of the couplets in the academy are integrated with the local cultural environment.
For example, there is a couplet from Liyang Academy in Li County, Hunan:
"Therefore, the old people said that Song Yu and Qu Yuan. Since the Six Classics, the influence of Taoism; Dajiang, Minshan and Tuoshui , Take Jiuli with you to learn from Hai Chaozong."
This couplet is based on the famous poets Qu Yuan and Song Yu of Chu. The famous "Longgang Academy" in Guizhou during the Ming Dynasty was later renamed Yangming Temple, still known as the academy. In the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Wang Wenchenggong Temple. Among them are two couplets inscribed by Luo Raodian, the chief minister of Guizhou during the Daoguang period:
"Three years of living late, Donggu Mountain is deeply filled with happiness. A night of awakening, literary classics and military guards are all-rounders." (1)
"This is the foundation of the humanities of the Thirteen Counties . Five hundred years of Taoism, inherited from teachers." (2)
Another example is Guishan Academy in the Qing Dynasty, which was renamed from Yangming Academy during the Yongzheng period. During the reconstruction in Guangxu Sixth Year (1880), the governor of Guizhou Cen Yuying wrote a couplet saying:
"Great responsibilities come from hard work, and I hope that all the kings will take the world as their own responsibility. Reward the knowledge in the constant cultivation, and follow the example of the great philosophers and never forget the conscience within their nature."
These couplets are all based on the theme of Wang Yangming, a great philosopher who was relegated to Longchangyi in Guizhou during the Ming Dynasty and realized the way of conscience. There is a couplet from Shouyang Academy in Yangshuo, Guangxi:
"The name of the department was established in Dazhong, and there were people who succeeded it. It is said that the posthumous title should be as straight as the ancestral temple. The landscape is the best in the world. How lucky is it that an official has traveled here." The first couplet talks about the deeds of Cao Ye, the first Jinshi in the history of Guilin. "Chronicles of Tang Poetry" records that Cao Ye, a native of Guilin in the Tang Dynasty, was awarded Jinshi in the fourth year of Dazhong and wrote the "Collection of Poems of the Temple Department". In the early years of Xiantong, he was appointed Dr. Taichang, an official position in charge of national sacrificial rituals. Cao Ye was famous for being "straight" at that time. When academies use local celebrities as allusions and couplets, they often have the meaning of encouraging students to inherit the excellent moral character and knowledge of their ancestors. Another theme of the college couplets is to promote the origins of the school and its school running ideas, and to teach learning methods. For example, on the day of the famous Guangya Academy in Guangdong, Zhang Zhidong personally wrote a couplet for the Academy's "Wuxie Hall":
"Respect what he has heard, practice what he knows, and follow Lingnan East Road and Lingnan West Road" Talented people serve as mentors and friends to each other; they teach me through literature and invite me through etiquette. They understand the purpose of Confucianism in the Han Dynasty and Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, and create sages together.”
"No matter how rich you are, your heart will not change; no matter how poor or lowly you are, you will not change your behavior; it is high to know the classics and learn the ancients, and it is wise to practice the Tao to save the times."
The two couplets can be used as the "Guangya Academy" syllabus". Kuang Min of the Qing Dynasty wrote this title in the Lecture Hall of Yuelu Academy:
"It is up to oneself to judge what is right and wrong, to judge what is bad and to be judged by others, to count the gains and losses. At the top of Yuelu Peak, with the bright moon and clear breeze, Tai Chi can be practiced leisurely; How to repay the kindness of the king, how to establish the destiny of the people, how to spread the teachings of the sages, how to climb up to the sun platform, balance the clouds and the Xiangshui, and be gentle and graceful." This is an excellent motto about personal cultivation in ancient times.
There is a couplet from Guilin Academy in Guangxi during the Qing Dynasty: "A scholar should take the world and the country as his own responsibility; I can pull out and suppress upright geniuses. The broad context should be able to inspire the morale of students."
p>There is a couplet from Aofeng Academy in Fujian Province in the Qing Dynasty that says: "If you want to rebel against yourself, you must pay attention to the spiritual world; there is no other way to process it, and you must strive to open the juncture of righteousness and benefit."
Telling the truth from the ear and following the instructions is the tone of people who have experienced it and tell them how to learn.
There is a couplet from Changsha Academy in Hunan Province in the Qing Dynasty: "Archaeology proves the present, and its application is related to world affairs; worry first and then rejoice, and the intention must be in the time of scholar."
This is a pair Excellent couplet about attitude and purpose of learning.
There is a couplet in Lianghu Academy in Hubei that says: "Jing Heng is delicate; Zou Lu's legacy."
Yuelu Academy in Hunan has a couplet stone inscribed by Luo Dian of the Qing Dynasty in the second hall: "The ground connects to the balance." Hunan, Daze and deep mountains have the spirit of dragons and tigers; Zou Lu, the scholar, has the heart of a sage on the Limen Road. "A couplet from Yueping Academy in Hengyang, Hunan says: "The area is connected to Hengyue and Xiaoxiang, and the heroes have distinguished themselves since the past. Transforming the past and present."
The three couplets have similar intentions, and they all aim to carry forward the outstanding local people and the tradition of Confucianism.
In addition, there are also many college couplets that flaunt the inheritance of the legacy of the previous colleges. For example, there is a couplet written by Huang Tifang in Nanjing Academy in Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province:
"Since Donglin gave lectures, he must have become famous in the world; the heroes of the south are here to be a group."
Also There is a couplet written by Huang Yizhou that says: "Seventy-year-olds are proficient in six arts, and literature can be traced back to the past. The north may not precede Wuhui; the nine hundred miles are full of heroes, and the etiquette is Mao Wei. After Donglin, there is Junshan." With the theme of inheriting the legacy of the nearby Donglin Academy (located in Wuxi during the Ming Dynasty), it has great confidence in the local cultural traditions.
Another example is the couplet written by Wang Minyun for Chuanshan Academy in Hengyang, Hunan:
"Haijiang returned to the sun to start the literary field. It should be noted that Huiyan passed on the scriptures, and Nanyue supported orthodoxy for thousands of years; the Shigu sect inherited the tradition. The Song School also collaborated with Chonghua Fuzi and Chengjun Jiuzou Xiaoshao." Among them, "Shigu Zongfeng" certainly refers to the famous Shigu Academy.
Zhang Zhidong wrote a couplet for the "Qingjia Hall" of Guangya Academy:
"Pretend to make a pavilion window with greenery; I want to recite the strings in reply to the gurgling music."
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This couplet is collected from Zhu Xi’s poems and contains his admiration for Zhu Xi’s restoration and development of Bailudong Academy. The couplets in the academy are more like colorful but mottled pictures, which contain the changes of hundreds of years of historical images and the accumulation of thousands of years of Chinese humanistic thought. After reading them, you will have endless aftertaste.