Fan Zhongyan (989-1052)
A politician, military strategist and writer in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. The courtesy name is Xiwen, a native of Wuxian County (now Suzhou, Jiangsu Province). In the eighth year of Zhenzong's reign as Dazhong Xiangfu (1015), he became a Jinshi and became an official to participate in political affairs (deputy prime minister).
When Fan Zhongyan was a teenager, he persisted in studying hard despite having only two meals a day and two cold porridges. He even went to bed without taking off his clothes for five years. The tempering of this hard life enabled him to always be honest and self-disciplined. , care about the sufferings of the people, and never forget the original intention of "worrying about the world". After becoming an official in middle age, he wrote letters one after another to discuss state affairs and ridicule current ills. Later, he offended Prime Minister Lu Yijian and was demoted to Raozhou. In the first year of Kangding (1040), border affairs were urgent, so he was called to be the direct bachelor of Longtuge, and he was appointed as the deputy envoy of Shaanxi economic strategy and pacification. He also knew Yanzhou and defended Xixia. Because of his strict orders, good training, and ability to unite the local Qiang people, he guarded the border for several years and gained a great reputation. The Qiang people respected him as "Longtu Laozi" and the Xixia people called him "Xiaofan Laozi". They praised him for having tens of thousands of people in his belly. Armor soldiers. In the third year of Qingli (1043), Lu Yijian resigned as prime minister, and Fan Zhongyan took part in political affairs. He once put forward ten suggestions to reform the government, focusing on rectifying the administration of officials and restricting Yin Guan, the nephew of the minister. This aroused the dissatisfaction of the corrupt bureaucratic forces, attacked him for recruiting cronies, and forced him to leave the government. This was the end of the "Qingli New Deal". Later, he died of illness on the way to Yingzhou.
Fan Zhongyan was the pioneer of the poetry innovation movement in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was aware of the dangers of soft articles and cunning customs in the early Song Dynasty. He emphasized inheriting the progressive literary tradition in history and recommended good contemporary works that adhere to the tradition of elegance and elegance. His poems also represent the representative of literary creation. direction of progress. His essays aim to illustrate the importance of putting the people as the foundation of the country, and they are vigorous and impressive. "The Story of Yueyang Tower" is his masterpiece that has been passed down through the ages. The article puts forward the principles that upright scholar-bureaucrats should set their own conduct, and believes that personal honor, disgrace, and promotion should be ignored. "Don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself." You should "worry about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness." The whole text integrates narration, scene description, lyricism, and discussion, with movement and stillness, light and dark contrasting, simple words, harmonious syllables, and the use of parallelism to contrast the scenery, which has become a creative tone in the miscellaneous notes. In terms of poetry, he adheres to the elegant tradition, has a simple style, and has a tendency of prose and discussion, represented by "Four Folk Songs". There are five poems in existence, and "The Proud of the Fisherman" is his masterpiece. It describes his life on the border. It expresses the heroic spirit of committing one's life to the country and the sad feelings of worrying about the country and homesickness in a harmonious and unified way, which opens up the expression field of Song poetry. There is "Fan Wenzhenggong Collection".
The Yueyang Tower was first built in the Tang Dynasty. It was "rebuilt" by Teng Zijing and expanded several times during this period. It is grand in scale and magnificent in momentum. Moreover, it is located on the shore of Dongting Lake, which "connects with distant mountains and swallows the Yangtze River." Wang Xiangzhi's "Yu Di Ji Sheng Yuezhou" quoted "Yueyang Customs" and said: "Yueyang Tower is also the west gate tower of the city. Looking down at the Dongting, the scenery is broad." Since the Tang Dynasty, it has become a world-renowned scenic spot. Yueyang is also the necessary gateway to the southwest. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the imperial court demoted officials, most of whom were relegated to far-away places in the southwest. In this way, the long-famous Yueyang, with its towers and scenic views, became a gathering place for frustrated officials and poets from past dynasties. As the article says: "Most of the poets who moved here met here." When these talented scholars visited this place, they were struck by the scenery. How could they not use pens to express their words and write ink? Therefore, the excellent poems and essays with Yueyang Tower as the theme are of course dazzling and beautiful. In the Tang Dynasty alone, since Zhang Shuo was relegated to Yuezhou to build a building and entertain guests and friends, poets Li Bai, Du Fu, Meng Haoran, Han Yu, Liu Yuxi, Bai Juyi, Li Shangyin and other celebrities have visited here and left their inscriptions and chants. famous articles.
Nowadays, Fan Zhongyan is entrusted by his friends to write notes about Yueyang Tower. He has many excellent works before him. If he does not want to fail, Fan Zhongyan must have considerable courage! Li Bai encountered a similar situation. When he climbed to the Yellow Crane Tower, the beautiful scenery aroused his poetry and made him want to recite poetry again. However, he looked up at Cui Ying's "Climbing the Yellow Crane Tower" and sang with emotion: "There is a view in front of me, but Cui Hao wrote a poem above." He had to sigh and leave. Literary giants like Li Bai still shunned Cui Ying, but now that Fan Zhongyan has "prepared the descriptions of his predecessors", it is indeed not an easy task for him to write Yueyang Tower. However, he actually wrote it, and the article's ideological content and artistic attainments are second to none among the hundreds of poems and essays about Yueyang Tower. How could he have such a genius? It turned out that he did not follow the stereotypes of his predecessors and did not follow the wisdom of others. Instead, he opened up a new perspective and opened up a new realm.
We know that Fan Zhongyan had great ambitions when he was young. Although he lived on porridge, he still studied hard and "take the world as his own responsibility." After being promoted as a Jinshi, he once led troops to border fortresses and made great achievements many times. Xixia said that he "had tens of thousands of soldiers in his chest" and he was warned not to dare to invade the border. In the court, he actively advocated reforming the government and was a famous politician at that time. In the fifth year of Qingli reign (1045), Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty was demoted to Dengzhou for advocating reforms. His friend Teng Zijing was also a talented person who was determined to innovate. He was falsely accused of "squandering public money of 160,000 yuan in Wangzhou" ("Song History" Volume 333). In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli (1044) , demoted to know Yuezhou. As a feudal literati who was relegated, he could not but feel the resentment and decadence of "going to his country and missing his hometown, worrying about slander and fear of ridicule". Zhou Hui of the Song Dynasty once said in "Qingbo Magazine": "Once the ministers are abandoned and abandoned far away, their sadness is only a sigh of mourning, which is expressed in poems and remains sour.
Teng Zijing was guarding Baling and building the Yueyang Tower. He might praise its completion and reply that it was a complete success. He just waited for a few days of laziness while leaning on the railing! "After the building is repaired, he will cry a lot! Fan Zhongyan is well aware of the thoughts and character of this friend who is usually "spiritual, suave and self-reliant" ("History of the Song Dynasty" Vol. 333), so he is worried that something will happen to him. I often wanted to comfort him, but never had the chance. Now, Teng Zijing knew about Yuezhou and had made outstanding achievements in two years. He "rebuilt the Yueyang Tower", so he went to Dengzhou to ask Fan to write for him. Later, Fan Zhongyan was commissioned by a friend to write a note about Yueyang Tower, which became an excellent opportunity for Guizhen to be a confidant. At the same time, he was being demoted, and it was necessary to express his ideals, so Fan Zhongyan set the theme of this article. Express your feelings and thoughts to persuade your friends.