The wisdom of “the best talents are exhausted”

There is a saying in the literary world that “the best talents are exhausted”.

Jiang Lang, also known as Jiang Yan, also known as Wentong, was a famous writer in the Southern Dynasties during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. When he was young, he was very talented and "little showed it in his writing", but in his later years, his "talent and thinking faded slightly". The saying that "Jiang Lang's talent has been exhausted" was first seen in Zhong Rong's "Poetry": "In the early days, Yan was dismissed from Xuancheng County, so he stayed in Yeting. He dreamed of a beautiful husband, who called himself Guo Pu. He said to Yan: 'I have a pen that has been with you for many years. Come on, you can see it again. "Yan Tan was in his arms, and he got the five-color pen to teach him. The poems he wrote after that were no longer idioms, and it was said that Jiang Yan's talents were exhausted." "The Biography of Jiang Yan in Southern History" has a similar saying: "(Jiang Yan)" When I returned from being the governor of Xuancheng, I stopped at the Chanling Temple in Zhu. I dreamed of a man who called himself Zhang Jingyang and said, "I sent you a piece of brocade before, and now you can see it is returned." Xie said: "Then I'll cut them all off!" Gu Jianqiu Chi said: "The remaining few feet are of no use, so I'll leave them to you." Since then, he has stayed in Yeting and dreamed of his husband. Calling himself Guo Pu, he said to Yan: "I have had a pen with you for many years, and I hope you can return it." Yan then found a five-color pen in his arms and gave it to him. Since then, he has no beautiful poems, and people at that time said that his talent was exhausted.

It is absurd that Jiang Yan’s talents were exhausted because Zhang and Guo returned his “brocade silk” and “five-color pen”. By the time Jiang Yan was in his later years, he had few masterpieces, which corroborates the theory that his talent was exhausted. So what was the reason for Jiang Yan's death? He was diligent and eager to learn when he was young. He was able to write poems at the age of six. By the age of eighteen, he had memorized the Five Classics. His works "Hate Fu" and "Farewell Fu" showed his talent and were praised as rare works of the ages. It is a pity that the middle-aged Jiang Yan has become a poet. He suddenly stopped writing and gained the reputation of "exhausting his talents". Perhaps people didn't know that the clever Jiang Yan used this trick to fool future generations.

According to " "Book of Liang" records that in the second year of Emperor Shun's reign in the Southern Dynasty (AD 466), twenty-year-old Jiang Yan became an aide to King Jianping of the Song Dynasty, Liu Jingsu, and served as a clerk in Gunzhou with King Jianping. Because he was implicated by Guo Yanwen, the commander of Guangling, he was imprisoned. In prison, Jiang Lang expressed his lamentation in his pen. I don't know whether it was because King Jianping cherished talents or because Jiang Lang's article was so touching. After writing the article, he was immediately released. Soon after, Jiang Yan passed the exam as a scholar in Gunzhou. Because his policy essay was appreciated by his superiors, he was quickly promoted to the position of Zuo Changshi of the Baling Kingdom. After that, Jiang Yan had a prosperous official career and served in the Southern Song, Qi and Liang Dynasties. Three dynasties, and finally ending up as a prince. It can be seen from Jiang Yan's career that his beautiful articles helped him.

Chinese literati have been famous for their talents since ancient times, and Jiang Yan's reputation will last forever. However, it can be seen from Jiang Lang's experience that he is not really exhausted, but on the contrary, Jiang Yan, who lost his father when he was young, came from a poor family, and used to raise his mother by raising money, knew poverty and humiliation best. After he became the censor Zhongcheng, he summed up his previous experiences and lessons, tried to avoid Guangling's shortcomings in writing and painting, and made a trick of writing in a dream, in order to stop writing even if he had no choice. , he only wrote gorgeous chapters such as "Huang Qi's Departure from Yaoji" in order to please the king and survive in troubled times. He turned all his amazing literary talent into surviving in troubled times. Wisdom, although this is the wisdom of being a slave. Writing this, I can't help but think of Mr. Guo Moruo, who was once known as a literary giant.

If Jiang Yan's "Ode to Hate" and "Ode to Farewell" are the masterpieces of the ages, then his "Returning to Dreams" is a unique idea. He was deeply aware of the king's specialization in thinking, and would rather bear the reputation of "a talentless man" and be ridiculed by future generations than get burned because of his writing. He once said to his disciples: "To be happy in life, you must be rich and noble. My fame has been established, and I am about to return to Cao Laier." ("Liang Shu"), this may be the real reason why he stopped writing based on dreams.

In fact, has Jiang Lang ever been so talented? After he stopped writing, Jiang Yan was still smart!

In the first year of Hou Yong's reign in the east of Qi Dynasty, Cui Huijing rebelled because he supported his troops and respected himself. The rebels besieged the capital, and the gentry and bureaucrats joined the rebels one after another. Only Jiang Yan claimed that he was ill and could not leave. After Cui Huijing failed, everyone admired Jiang Yan's wisdom. Later, Xiao Yan led his troops to revolt. The nobles learned from the past and everyone was at ease. However, Jiang Yan took off his official uniform and went to Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan won and proclaimed himself emperor, Emperor Gaozu Wu of Liang. Jiang Lang was re-employed by Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty, and he was promoted to Shangshu Zuocheng, with power in both the government and the public. In this moment of silence, Jiang Lang showed extraordinary political wisdom and intelligence. This is obviously not "the end of Jiang Lang's talents." What’s interesting is that so far no one thinks that “the talent is exhausted” is a misreading of history.

Since ancient times, Chinese literati have generally had three mentalities about social issues: first, they do not write about it without intention; second, they write intentionally but do not write thoroughly; third, they know it is inconvenient and do not write about it. Jiang Yan undoubtedly experienced these three mental and artistic conceptions, and finally gave up writing in order to seek a comfortable life. But, no matter how you say it, the personality under such a mentality is twisted. But this is not Jiang Yan's shame. The autocratic system doomed the literati themselves to tragedy. Of course, there is often comedy in this tragedy. Therefore, today there are always people who like to bring out some ancient people to make fun of. Just like the idiom "Jiang Lang's talents are exhausted", it seems that later generations are making fun of Jiang Lang. However, it is Jiang Lang who used the trick of stopping writing in dreams to make fun of those who made fun of him for more than 1,500 years.