This section is a famous article in The Scholars, which can be compared with Fan Jinzhong. With his ingenious pen, the author describes the tragic and ridiculous place where scholars are fascinated by the imperial examination system. Because Zhou Jin was foreshadowed by all kinds of humiliation, which exposed his long-lost state of mind, his obsession and hopelessness for fame and fortune, playing the board seemed natural and unobtrusive. In fact, Zhou Jin and later Jin Fan both want to die sadly and go crazy happily, all of which contain infinite significance. The author reveals that the imperial examination system weakened the survival ability of intellectuals, and made them deeply poisoned by the concept that "everything is inferior, only reading is high" ("Poetry of a prodigy"). Zhongju is their only life goal, and stereotyped writing is their only life skill. If you don't do well in the exam, you won't have other earning power. Zhou Jin would rather play the board, because he knew that he could not stand on his own feet except for the imperial examination. While mocking its ugliness, the author also expressed infinite sympathy for the characters. Because its original intention is not only to expose the filth of the imperial examination and officialdom figures, but also to criticize the social roots that form their various personalities, and extremely sharply point out the alienation effect of the imperial examination on human nature. Since then, Zhou Jin's life has suddenly changed dramatically. If we say that we were poor in the past and suffered cold shoulder, we can say that the spring breeze has been smooth since then. I became a scholar, made a suggestion, learned the Tao, and rose all the way to imperial academy Branch. Of course, Wu Jingzi doesn't want to write a legendary story about knowledge changing fate. In fact, Zhou Jin's comedy ending greatly strengthened the power of satire. This aesthetic style of blending sadness and joy shows the tragic connotation hidden behind the funny reality, and the instantaneous ridiculousness contains eternal sorrow. The author criticizes the whole class of scholars and civil society through the changes of the attitude of scholars towards Zhou Jin before and after he became rich. While writing the protagonist, it also depicts a broader social ecology. The way for scholars to get along with each other is not mutual appreciation in people's imagination, or the same fate. On the contrary, there is a naked food chain relationship between them. Once the examination room is frustrated, it is not sympathy, but contempt and spit on by the whole class. Once you leap over the dragon gate and enter the upper class, you will find the whole class smiling. Wu himself has an unforgettable feeling about this. After making a fortune, people who look down on Zhou Jin are completely different. Mei Jiu pretends to be his student; The couplets he wrote in the village school were respectfully removed and mounted; Xue Jiaji, who dismissed him, also enshrined his "immortal position". Zhou Jin's familiar attitude changes not only reflect the human feelings of the world, but also show the indirect influence of the imperial examination system on people from all walks of life, which is the root of the dirty world. Zhou Jin lived at the bottom of society for the first half of his life, and his position was humble. He sneered at everything and formed a character of resignation. In his later years, he sympathized with Jin Fan, who was born in the lower class and tried again and again, showing that Zhou Jin was honest and pedantic. Wrote the complicated side of his character. In this scholar who is obsessed with the imperial examination, but not so bad-hearted, we can see that the imperial examination system has eroded the literati's soul.
Related original text
It is said that Zhou Jin wanted to see Hiram Hospital in the provincial capital, but now he is real, so he had to spend a few pence to go with him. I didn't want to see the word "day", so I ran underground. They all panicked, only knowing that they were possessed for a while. The host said: "I think it's because no one has arrived in this yard for a long time, and it's cloudy." That's why Zhou's guests are possessed. "Jin Youyou said," xian dong! "I'll help him. You can go to the worker and give him water on an excuse." The host brought water as promised, and three or four guests held it together and poured it down. I giggled in my throat and spit out thick saliva. "All right," they said. Help stand up. Zhou Jin looked at the number plate and hit it again; I didn't die this time, and I was in tears. Everyone can't persuade. Jin Youyou said, "Look, isn't this crazy?" Come and play in Hiram Hospital. No one in your family died. Why are you crying? "Zhou Jin didn't hear it, just squatting on the signboard and crying; No.1 cried, and then cried until No.2 and No.3, and rolled all over the floor. People crying and rolling were very sad. This is not a problem for today, and his master partners are holding his arm around. He got up, cried for a while, and cried for a while until blood came out of his mouth. Too many cooks and people carried him out and sat in a tea shed in front of hiram Hospital to persuade him to have a bowl of tea. You have a runny nose and tears, and you are sad. A guest asked, "What is Zhou thinking? Why did he come here to cry? " Jin Youyou said, "You old guest don't know. My uncle is not a businessman. "Because he has studied hard for decades, this scholar has never done anything. Today, when he saw Gong Yuan, he didn't feel sad. Just because this sentence tells the truth of Zhou Jin, he ignored everyone and burst into tears again. Another guest said, "In this case, we are the only ones to blame. "Since Zhou Xiangfu is a gentle man, why did you bring him out to do such a thing?" Jin Youyou said, "Only for the destitute, there is no room to do. There is no choice but to take this road. " Another guest said, "Look at your uncle's conditions. After all, it's good to learn from the chest; " No one can recognize him, so he is very wronged in this respect. "Jin Youyou said," He is very talented, but he is unlucky! " The guest said, "Guo-zi-jian diploma can also come in. Since Zhou Xiang is a public talent, why not donate him as a supervisor? "Now that we have entered the arena, we will not waste our worries today. Jin Youyou said, "I think so, too, but where is the money?" At this moment, Zhou Jin shouted, "It's not difficult," the guest said. Now my brothers have come, and each of them has taken out dozens of taels of silver and lent it to Zhou Xianggong for admission. How much money will we get if you win the office? Even if Zhou Xianggong doesn't pay it back, how much money have we lost there? Besides, it's a good thing. what do you think? ""Everyone said with one voice,' The beauty of a gentleman's adult'. " "If you don't act according to justice, it's because you are not brave," he added. Why not? I just don't know if Zhou Xianghong is willing to bow his head. "Zhou Jin said," if I do this, I will be reborn like my parents. If I become a donkey and a horse, I will serve! "When I climbed underground, I knocked my head several times. They also attended the ceremony. Jin Youyou also thanked everyone and ate several bowls of tea. Zhou Jin stopped crying, talked and laughed with everyone, and returned to the team. The next day, the four guests did prepare two hundred and twenty pieces of silver and paid more than gold; All the extra expenses are paid by money. Zhou Jin thanked everyone and today, the host prepared a table of wine for Zhou Jin and invited all the guests. Jin Youyou took the money and went to the governors' treasury to beg for it. When the master came to this province to record his heritage, Zhou Jin recorded the first volume of Gong Jian. On the eighth day of August, when I entered the first stage, I was overjoyed to see where I was crying. There has been a saying since ancient times,' People are happy when they are happy.' Those seven words are made of flowers; Out of the field, still living in the industry. Jin Youyou and those guests haven't finished buying the goods. I won the lottery until the day it was announced. Everyone loved it and went back to Wenshang County to pay homage to their parents and teachers. Classical history to congratulate him on the position of a deceased student. Wenshang County people, not relatives, also come to recognize relatives; No, I'm looking for Joseph, too. Busy for a month, Shen Xiangfu heard about it, called the members in Xueji, bought four chickens, fifty eggs, and some fried rice balls, and personally came to congratulate him. Zhou Jin kept him for wine and rice. Needless to say, master Xun's gift. Try to go to Beijing and buy clothes, which is more than enough to buy him a place. I went to Beijing to have a try, and won the third place in the Jinshi and Palace Examination, and was appointed as a subordinate. Three years later, he was promoted to the imperial history and was appointed to study Taoism in Guangdong. This week, Xuedao invited several "xianggong" readers to read the article, but he thought, "I have suffered here for a long time. Now that I am in power, I need to read all the newspapers carefully without listening to the audience. I am really talented. " I made up my mind to take my post in Guangzhou. The next day, Hangxiang went public, and he first took two students. The third scene is children in Nanhai and Panyu counties. Sitting in the class, Zhou Xuedao saw young boys come in, young, old, well-dressed, shortsighted, well-dressed and ragged. Finally, a boy came in, sallow and emaciated, with a gray beard and a broken felt hat on his head. Although the climate in Guangdong is warm, it is1early February; The boy, still dressed in linen, begged, cringed with cold, and walked to the number with paper.
Wang Mian painted lotus. There was a great painter named Wang Mian in Ming Dynasty, who was best at painting lotus. Many people came from far away to get his lotus painting. Although Wang Mian was famous, he was poor when he was a child. He has to herd cattle for others during the day and study by himself at night. One day, when Wang Mian was herding cattle by the lake, it suddenly began to rain and stopped for a while, but the lotus and lotus leaves in the lake were washed clean by the rain. Wang Mian liked it so much that he wanted to draw it, so he quickly used his pocket money to buy paper and pens and began to draw. I didn't draw very well at first, but I kept drawing, and finally the more I drew, the more I looked like it, just like it was real. Wang Mian sold the lotus and took the money home to honor his mother. Because Wang Mian painted lotus flowers very well, many people rushed to buy them, so his environment gradually improved and he stopped herding cattle for others. At the same time, his fame spread far and wide, and he eventually became a famous great painter in China. Wang Mian, a scholar in Wang Mian, is from Zhuji. When he was seven or eight years old, his father ordered Niu to go to school and sneak into the school to listen to the students' endorsements; Listen to yourself and learn from your memory. At dusk, I forgot my cow, and my father angered me. As good as ever. Mother said, "My son is so stupid that he doesn't listen to anything?" Because the crown is gone, I live by the monk temple. At night, I dive out and sit on the Buddha's lap. I will read with the ever-burning lamp. Buddha statues are full of clay figures, which are hideous and outrageous; Guaner, if you don't know. Koreans in Anyang have different personalities. They are recorded as disciples and studied as Confucian scholars. Sexual death, personal crown, in fact. When his father died, he raised his mother when she went to town. After a long time, Simu returned to her hometown, bought a cow and drove the mother car, which was taken away by Gu Guan. The children in the village scrambled to build the road and smiled, and so did the crown. Wang Mian is from Zhuji County. When he was seven or eight years old, his father told him to herd cattle on the ridge, and he sneaked into the school to listen to the students. After listening, I always remember it silently. When he came home at night, he forgot all the cows he was grazing. Wang Mian's father was furious and gave Wang Mian a good beating. After that, he was still like this. His mother said, "The child is so obsessed with reading, why not let him?" Wang Mian left home and stayed in a temple. At night, he sneaked out and sat on the Buddha's lap, holding a book in his hand. By the light of the ever-burning lamp in front of the Buddha, the sound of reading was read until dawn. Most of the Buddha statues are clay sculptures, all of which are ferocious and frightening. Child as Wang Mian is, he doesn't seem to see it. Han Xing, an Anyang native, was amazed when he heard about this man, so he accepted him as an apprentice, and Wang Mian soon became a well-read and knowledgeable Confucian scholar. After Han Xing's death, the owner of Han Xing treated the crown like Han Xing. At that time, Wang Mian's father had passed away, so Wang Mian took his mother to Yuecheng to raise her. After a long time, my mother was going back to her hometown. Wang Mian bought cows and built a car for her mother, and put on ancient clothes and followed. The children in the village gathered on both sides of the road to laugh, and Wang Mian himself smiled.
Poetry achievement
Wang Mian is an innocent farmer who has lived in difficulties all his life. His poems are full of rebellious spirit, revealing the national contradictions and class contradictions at that time, and showing deep concern for the fate of the motherland and the disasters of the working people. Most of his poems are included in Zhu Zhai's Poems. "A Concise Catalogue of Siku Quanshu" said: "The crown is crazy, the genius is easy to escape, and its body is vertical and horizontal, so it cannot be confined to norms." Liu Ji once had a correct evaluation of Wang Mian's poems. He said: "When I was in Hangzhou, I heard that Wang Yuanzhang was good at poetry, and all the literati praised him, but I hate not knowing." Only on the first day of Wu Jia (1354) did the poems written by Bird be fully watched. Cover straight without twisting, good quality, luxury without longevity, strangeness without strangeness, knowledge without exaggeration, loyalty to the monarch and love for the people, and the ambition to do everything except evil, are truly seen in the meaning of the word, not in acts, because of great respect. "At that time, some people opposed Wang Yuanzhang's poems, saying that' poetry aims at self-adaptation and is not conducive to criticism'". Liu Bowen refuted this kind of person and said, "What is evil about poetry? He said that in Yu Shu, "poetry expresses ambition". Bu Yu Xia said: "Poets, their desire lies in being exposed to weathering and being stabbed by the wind. He who speaks is innocent, but he who listens is enough to quit. "What is the fruit of evil poetry? Zhou Zuo toured for five years, and ordered his master to keep the national style, which made the poets vain and vain, chanting flowers and chanting the moon without saying anything about the world. What should the king do to abide by it? " (Preface to Zhu Zhai's Poems) Here Liu Ji expressed sympathy and admiration for Wang Mian's ability to serve the people and boldly accuse the people of their sufferings; At the same time, it criticized the school of singing and playing the moon with the purpose of self-adaptation of poetry. Song Lian also commented on Wang Yuanzhang's poems. He said: "When the weather is fine, there are thousands of poems, and the anger is overwhelming, and the reader's hair is stunned." (Song Lian's Biography of Wang Mian) In the third year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, Zhu Peng of Qiantang said, "Reading poetry is worth two people in the world. One day, Wang Feng, a native of Ximaoshan, cooked Wang Mian, a stone farmer. If it is two people, the last name is the same; When it happens, when it happens in Shan Ye, when it dies, it is reduced to death, which makes no difference. Speaking of poetry, it expresses its spirit, feels the chronicle of the times, and writes its openness and restraint in pottery, instead of being bound by the habits of the Yuan Dynasty. Also a hero. " (Preface to Zhu Zhai Poetry) In the fourth year of Jiaqing, Guo Yu of Yin Shan was ecstatic when he got a new engraving of Zhu Zhai by Wang Yuanzhang. Although it was autumn and winter at that time, he "looked at it by the light and didn't know that mosquitoes and flies were stinging and sweating." So he said, "My hometown is Yangtieya and Wangshanlong, and poetry is in the Yuan Dynasty." On the whole, these predecessors' comments are realistic. In the history of modern and contemporary literature, Wang Mian's poetry is also highly appraised, and it is believed that the poetry of Yuan Dynasty reached its peak in Wang Mian. Here are some selected songs. (1) Some people sympathize with the sufferings of the working people, such as "Jiangnan people": "Jiangnan people are sincere and pitiful, and the epidemic is even more rampant. The army is stationed in a million, and the rice barrel is worth 3000. Last year I went to farm, and this year I chose Ding Shoubian. The old man was hungry and turned to the ravine, and he was poor. " Regret for the Past: "The year before last, the eldest daughter sold her child last year. They are all forced by official taxes, not by hunger. Cloth wears out grass and clothes, and there is no frost and snow in a winter. These days, young and old are not in groups, and taxes are unknown. " (2) Some people exposed the tyranny of the ruling class in the Yuan Dynasty, such as "A Song of Happy Rain to Yao": "This year's drought is worth C, and Songkhla is more than one Wan Li. Rice grains are like mercury, and the whole world is half a ghost. There are no clouds in the south and no clouds in the north, and the white fields are like paper. My life is to sit in the ravine and sigh, and there are wolves and tigers walking during the day. " (3) Some reflect ethnic contradictions. For example, "The Road to Jizhou" reveals the bad behavior of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty in destroying national culture: "Even if there are good children and grandchildren, they are no different from dogs and pigs. They have all become old men and don't know a word." When the rule of the Yuan Dynasty was about to collapse, he wrote the poem "Hull froze to death under the Great Wall, only then did he believe that there was still a spring in Jiangnan". (4) Some show his open-minded, aloof and upright mind, such as Lonely Tan Song: "Last night, the frost flew in the summer South China Sea, and the beauty in the mountains was relegated. Get up and rub the house loose, the color will not change as usual. You are generous when you wander around. This thing is a real pillar. Alas, since it is really a pillar, why doesn't the son of heaven be Fu Tang Ming! " Poets have their own ambitions, and often compare themselves to Zhuge Liang in their poems, such as "The thatched cottage wants to dream of plum blossoms, but suddenly it recalls that there is Wolong in Nanyang", and "There is no Wolong in the thatched cottage recently, and Mo Wen is a hero in the world". He used "loneliness" as a metaphor, which is precisely a sigh of loneliness and pain.
I've found so many, you can select them selectively and hope to adopt them.