"Late Steps on Zhongshan Mountain"
The light rain and gentle breeze have fallen on the neem flowers, which are as fine red as snow specks on the flat sand. On Jinli Zhuwujiangcun Road, I often see Yicheng restaurants.
Wang Anshi (1021-1086), whose courtesy name was Jiefu, whose late name was Banshan, and whose nickname was Badgerlang, was granted the title of Duke of Jing. He was also known as Wang Jinggong. A native of Linchuan, Fuzhou (now Shangchiliyang Village, Dongxiang County, Fuzhou), he was an outstanding politician, thinker and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was born in a family of small officials. Father Yi, also known as Shuizhi, was a military judge in Linjiang and served several prefecture and county magistrates in the north and south throughout his life. Anshi was good at reading, had a strong memory, and received a good education. In the second year of Qingli (1042), he ranked fourth in the Jinshi list of Yangzhen. He successively served as Huainan judge, Yinxian magistrate, Shuzhou Tongpan, Changzhou magistrate, Tidian Jiangdong prison and other local officials. In the fourth year of Zhiping (1067), Emperor Shenzong ascended the throne and ordered Anshi to be informed of Jiangning Mansion, and he was summoned to become a Hanlin scholar. In the second year of Xining (1069), he was promoted to participate in political affairs. From the third year of Xining, he was appointed Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi twice to implement new laws. After Xining resigned as prime minister in the ninth year, he lived in seclusion and died of illness in Zhongshan, Jiangning (now Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province), with a posthumous title of Wen.
In the second year of Qingli (1042), Wang Anshi ranked fourth in Jinshi, and successively served as a signer of Huainan (Yangzhou) Jiedu magistrate's office, Zhiyin County (now Ningbo, Zhejiang), and Shuzhou (now Anhui). Qianshan) general judge, he was once transferred to Kaifeng to be the judge of Qunmu Division, and then he was transferred to the outside to inform about Changzhou affairs and to handle the criminal and prison affairs of Jiangnan East Road. He was subsequently called to be the magistrate of Duzhi of the third division and knew the imperial edicts. Years of experience as a local official made Wang Anshi realize that the root cause of social impoverishment in the Song Dynasty lay in annexation. The crisis faced by the feudal rule of the Song Dynasty was that "internally, one must worry about the country, and externally, one must not fear the barbarians and the Di." Therefore, in the third year of Jiayou (1058), Wang Anshi submitted a letter of ten thousand words to Song Renzong Zhao Zhen, requesting a comprehensive reform of the laws since the early Song Dynasty to reverse the situation of poverty and weakness. Taking the fact that Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, Sima Yan, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and others only wanted to "escape" without seeking reform, as an example, Wang Anshi had a sense of urgency for reform that was rare among scholar-bureaucrats, and loudly shouted: "In ancient times, "If we keep in mind today, we can still do something about the world's security and control of chaos, but when we can do something, don't rush to today." It requires that the reform of the law be implemented immediately; otherwise, the history of the Han Dynasty's fall by the Yellow Turban and the Tang Dynasty's fall by Huang Chao will surely repeat itself, and the Song Dynasty will also It will surely embark on the road of destruction. Feudal literati also placed their high hopes for peace in the country on Wang Anshi, expecting him to come to power as soon as possible. At the beginning of Xining Dynasty, Wang Anshi, as an attendant of Hanlin scholars, discussed the governance of the country with the young Song Shenzong, Song Shenzong, and was deeply appreciated by Song Shenzong. In the second year of Xining (1069), Wang Anshi was appointed as the counselor of political affairs. The following year, he was promoted to prime minister and began to vigorously implement reforms.
The purpose of Wang Anshi's reform was to enrich the country and strengthen the army, so as to reverse the situation of poverty and weakness in the Northern Song Dynasty and consolidate the rule of the landlord class. Wang Anshi clearly stated that financial management is the top priority for the prime minister, explained the relationship between political affairs and financial management, and pointed out that "the reason for political affairs is financial management, and financial management is the so-called righteousness." More importantly, before taking office, Wang Anshi believed that only on the basis of developing production can the country's financial problems be solved: "The world's wealth is generated by the world's strength, and the world's wealth is taken to provide for the world's expenses." Later, Wang Anshi continued to develop this idea, and once pointed out: "Those who have not done anything now are usually because of insufficient wealth, so I think managing finances is the most urgent thing now." , suppressing mergers, and turning to agriculture as an urgent matter." In this reform, Wang Anshi regarded the development of production as a top priority and placed it in a top priority position. Wang Anshi believes that to develop production, we must first "remove (workers') suffering, suppress mergers, and facilitate farmers", mobilize the enthusiasm of workers, and bring those idlers back to the front line of production. The quality of the harvest will be determined It depends on people and not on heaven. To achieve this goal, the state power needs to formulate corresponding guidelines and policies and carry out top-to-bottom reforms across the country. Although Wang Anshi emphasized the leading role of state power in reform, he did not agree with the state's excessive intervention in social production and economic life, opposed excessive patent searches, and proposed and insisted on the idea that "it is not appropriate to question laws too much." and practices. Under the guidance of Wang Anshi's above-mentioned thoughts, the reformists formulated and implemented a series of new laws such as farmland water conservancy, green crops, exemption from labor, equalization of transportation, market transactions, exemption of money, and mining tax collection system, from agriculture to handicrafts and commerce. From rural to urban areas, extensive social reforms were launched. At the same time, the reformists headed by Wang Anshi reformed the military system to improve the quality and combat effectiveness of the army and strengthen their control over the vast countryside; in order to cultivate more talents needed by society, the imperial examination and school education systems were also reformed. Wang Anshi He personally wrote "Zhou Li Yi", "Book Yi" and "Poetry Yi", the so-called "New Meanings of the Three Classics", which provided new teaching materials for school education reform.
The reform violated the interests of conservatives and was opposed by conservatives. Therefore, Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister for the first time in the seventh year of Xining. In particular, because Wang Anshi, the designer of the reform, and Song Shenzong, the supreme presiding officer of the reform, had differences on how to reform the reform, Wang Anshi did not receive more support after he returned to the throne and could not continue to implement the reform. Coupled with the internal split within the reform faction and the death of his son Wang Yu, Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister for the second time in the ninth year of Xining and lived in Jiangning Mansion ever since. In the first year of Yuanyou (1086), the reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, the conservatives gained power and all previous new laws were abolished. The reversal of the political situation made Wang Anshi deeply uneasy. When he heard that the exemption law had also been abolished, he couldn't help but said sadly and angrily: "Is this the end of it!?" He died of illness soon after.
Wang Anshi is not only an outstanding politician and thinker, but also an outstanding litterateur. In order to realize his political ideals, he closely linked literary creation and political activities, emphasizing that the role of literature lies first in serving society. He opposed the empty and weak writing style of Yang Yi, Liu Jun and others of the Xikun School, believing that "the so-called writers should only be useful to the world. The so-called poets are just like engraving and painting. Sincerely make Qiao County Exquisiteness does not have to be practical; if it is to be applied sincerely, it does not need to be clever and elegant. It must be practical and engraving and painting are the content. The "applicable" view of "the world" is regarded as the foundation of literary creation. Most of his works expose current ills and reflect social contradictions, which have a strong political color. Today there are "Wang Linchuan Collection", "Linchuan Collection Supplements", "Songs of Mr. Linchuan", etc.
Wang Anshi is one of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties". His prose is vigorous, concise, and unique. Most of it is expository essays in the form of books, tables, notes, prefaces, etc., expounding political opinions and propositions. Reform and innovation services. These articles address current affairs or social issues, with clear views and profound analyses. The long articles are comprehensive but not exhaustive, and the short articles are concise but not boring. "Emperor Shanren's Statement" is a representative work advocating social change. Based on an in-depth analysis of the internal and external difficulties of the Northern Song Dynasty, it puts forward complete reform proposals and shows the author's progress in "raising the diseases of the people and the flaws of governing the country" Thought. "A Hundred Years of Nothing in Our Dynasty" not only narrates and explains the situation and reasons of peace and tranquility in the early Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years, but also sharply reminds the crisis-ridden social problems at that time. It hopes that Shenzong will make a beneficial contribution in politics and believes that "the great The time to do something is today.” The policy that was implemented in the second year was like a prelude. "Reply to Sima's Remonstrance", with hundreds of words, strictly refutes Sima Guang's accusations of the new law for invading officials, causing trouble, expropriating profits, and refusing to remonstrate. It is short, concise, concise, and well-worded, which embodies the author's Resolute, decisive and principled statesmanship. Anshi's political essays, whether long or short, are very rigorous in structure, with excellent ideas, thorough reasoning, and simple and concise language. "With only one or two words, he can sweep away large paragraphs of other people" (Liu Xizai's "Art Summary. Wen") "Overview"), with strong generality and logical power. At this time, it played a positive role in promoting reforms and consolidating the achievements of the Northern Song Dynasty poetry and literature innovation movement. Some of Anshi's short essays are well-known, such as "Gun Shuo", "Reading the Biography of Mengchang Jun", "The Biography of the Book Assassin", "Shang Zhongyong", etc., which evaluate the characters with vigorous writing, sharp writing style, full of emotional color, and make people feel To show the fresh feeling. He also has some prose essays on landscape travels, such as "Records of the Rise and Construction of Chengpiyuan", which are concise, clear and labor-saving, similar to Liu Zongyuan's; "Records of Travels to Baochan Mountain", which also record travels and reason, combine the two closely and naturally, even if they are abstract The truth is vivid and vivid, and the specific notes add depth of thought, making the layout flexible and tortuous.
Wang Anshi's poetry can be roughly divided into the early and late periods of Baxiang (around 1076). There are obvious differences in content and style. "Wang Jinggong was young and self-confident, so his poems only followed his direction and were no longer more subtle... Later, he became a shepherd officer. From the Song Dynasty, he collected fake Tang Dynasty poems. Interesting" (Ye Mengde's "Shilin Poetry"). The early poems were good at reasoning and had a very clear tendency. They involved many important and sharp social issues. They paid attention to the pain of the lower class people and made a voice of injustice for them. "Feelings", "Annexation", "Provincial Soldiers", etc. describe and remind the Song Dynasty's national weakness or internal corruption from political, economic, military and other aspects, and point out the impact of land annexation by big landlords and big businessmen on the country and people. He put forward the suggestion of "selecting the best soldiers"; "Collecting Salt", "Hebei People", etc., reflected the tragic experience of the people who were oppressed, harmed and squeezed by the rulers at that time; "Examination Yuan Zhong", "Evaluation Exam Paper" etc., directly criticized the imperial examination system that used poems and poems to select scholars, and required the recruitment of talents with the ability to manage the country; "Yuanri", "Ge Yuanfeng", etc. enthusiastically eulogized the new atmosphere brought by the reform and the people's happiness. Joy; "Shang Yang", "Jia Sheng", etc. express their new insights and progressive significance through the merits and demerits of historical figures. Anshi's secluded life in his later period brought about the evolution of his poetry creation. He lingered and was intoxicated in the mountains, rivers and countryside, and his subject matter was relatively narrow. A large number of poems about scenery and poems about objects took the place of the early political poems and expressed a leisurely taste. However, the artistic expression has reached maturity, "Elegance is exquisite, and it is free from vulgarity. Every time it is ironic, it will sink into the teeth and cheeks." (Huang Luzhi's words in "Houshan Poetry Talk") and "Bochuan Guazhou" "," "On the River", "Plum Blossoms", "Book on the Wall of Mr. Hu Yin" and other poems are meticulously observed, exquisitely crafted, and have a distant and fresh artistic conception. They express the praise and love for the beauty of nature and have always been recited by people.
In terms of poetic style, although Anshi's ancient-style poems often use allusions and are easy to generate discussions, poems like "Ming Fei Song" and "Peach Blossom Journey" are novel in conception, full of emotion and rich imagination. The rhymed poetry uses steady wording and appropriate parallelism, but sometimes it suffers from excessive carving. The Five Jue and Seven Jue are particularly famous. "Wang Banshan has prepared all kinds of styles and mastered quatrains" ("Hanting Poetry"), "Jinggong's quatrains are wonderful all over the world" ("Tingzhai Poetry"). His poems have an influence on contemporary and later generations, and are called "Wang Jinggong Style" (Yan Yu's "Canglang Poetry Talk").
About 20 of An Shi's poems have been extant. Although he is not a famous ci poet, his "works are thin and elegant, washing away the old habits of the Five Dynasties" (Liu Xizai's "Art Overview. Ci and Music Overview").
"Guizhixiang. Jinling Nostalgia", by describing the magnificent scenery and nostalgia of Jinling (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province), reveals the decadent life of the ruling class in the Six Dynasties, which was "prosperous and diligent". It was heroic and melancholy, and was praised as a masterpiece of ancient times. Together with the phrase "the scenery is different when autumn comes under the fortress" in Fan Zhongyan's "The Proud Fisherman", it pioneered Su Dongpo's boldness and exerted a good influence on the later poetry circles.
From a literary perspective, Anshi’s works have outstanding achievements in poetry, prose and lyrics. The poetry innovation movement launched in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty was strongly promoted by him, and he contributed to the eradication of the glitz and glamor that was prevalent in the early Song Dynasty. However, Anshi's literary ideas placed too much emphasis on "practicality" and often underestimated the role of artistic forms. Many of his poems often appear to be too heavy on argumentative elements, thin and lacking in image and charm. There are also some poems about Zen and Buddhism, which are obscure and dry.