Liu Zhi's four pieces of jade mocked Wuyi Lane
He had a fortune of ten thousand, a family of thousands, and his father and son were made marquises by his younger brother. Don't worry about the leakage of the copper kettle in the painting hall, don't worry about it, don't worry about it and break your head.
Liu Zhi, who died approximately between 1335 and 1338, was a Sanqu master in the Yuan Dynasty. The courtesy name is Shizhong and the name is Bu Zhai. A native of Ningxiang, Shizhou (now Zhongyang, Shanxi). He was appreciated by Yao Sui and was recommended as the history of the Xianfu of Hunan. He later served as magistrate of Yongxin Prefecture, provincial governor of Henan, Hanlin waiting system, and governor of Zhejiang province. In his later years, his family was poor and he had no money to pay for a funeral. Finally, Wang Meisou buried him in Deqing. His sanqu is clear, elegant and magnificent, advocating the idea of ??seclusion. It can be seen in "White Snow in Spring", "Taiping Yuefu" and "Yuefu Qunyu". There are currently 74 sanqu Xiaolings and four sets of suites. It is also said that there were two Liu Shizhongs in the Yuan Dynasty, one was Guhong Liu Shizhong and the other was Shizhou Liu Shizhong.
Appreciation: This is a work that borrows from the past to satirize the present. The "mockery" in the title already shows the author's attitude towards wealthy families. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, important ministers Wang Dao and Xie An once placed their residences in Wuyi Lane. They enjoy high-ranking officials and generous salaries, and their families are prosperous. The first three lines of the song are a portrayal of their glory and wealth. Among them, "the father and the son conferred the title of marquis for the official younger brother" implies that they have great power, and members of the family support each other to control the government. "The painting hall does not care about the leakage of the copper kettle" means that they stayed in the gorgeous house and indulged themselves in enjoyment and forgot the time. So far, the author has not made any comments on their lives, but it is not difficult for readers to find the author's aversion to extravagance and lust. The powerful are so immersed in pleasure that they don't even care about time, so how can they care about the lives of the people. Behind the endless pursuit of pleasure is an extreme indifference to the people. And how much of the money that the powerful use for their enjoyment is not plundered from the common people? This will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the people, and when this dissatisfaction accumulates to a certain extent. The day has come when the powerful will "break their heads".
No family can remain prominent forever. Things have changed, and Wuyi Lane was once desolate. "Don't worry, don't ask for too much, or you will lose your head" is the main theme of the whole song. It is not only a mockery of Wang and Xie for "bothering" and "asking for too much", but also a warning to future generations. Remind people not to put too much thought on fame, fortune and pleasure.
Even those wealthy families will decline due to indulgence in pleasure, not to mention the small families of ordinary people. There are many Sanqu written by people in the Yuan Dynasty that lament the darkness of the officialdom. Most of their language is straightforward, simple, pungent and incisive, either to express resentment or to alert others and themselves. The author Liu Zhi was an official in the court and was very dissatisfied with the extravagant customs in officialdom and wrote many works criticizing the ugly phenomena in officialdom.