There is a famous saying in the West: "Great women lead people to rise." In ancient male-dominated societies, women were a vulnerable group. In the vast history books, only a handful of women’s names are recorded. Especially since the Southern Song Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism has caused even greater harm to women. In order to cater to men's perverted aesthetics, it requires women to bind their feet. In addition to dominating women's bodies, it also puts the spiritual shackles of the "Three Guidelines and Five Constant Rules" on women. In addition, women are deprived of their right to name in genealogies, ancestral halls, and tombstones. Although there is a chapter dedicated to "chastity" in the thick local chronicles, they are a group with no name. There are also many chastity memorial arches for women in Jiangnan. These chronicles and archways are soaked in the bitter blood and tears of women. In the history of thousands of years, the women of Jiangnanyang fought for a place in the world of men with the love and hate of their lives. When the author was browsing the genealogy of the Jiangnan Yang family, I selected several typical women and summarized them as follows.
Sacrifice one's life to save one's son
Zheyuan Village is the residence of the Chen family and has been settled here since the Tang Dynasty. Dou, the wife of Chen Zhi, the third ancestor of Zheyuan, had difficulty giving birth. The doctor said that only one mother and child could survive. Dou said resolutely, "I would rather let me die than let the child live." The mother's heart-wrenching cry was recorded in the "Chen Family Genealogy" and passed down among the descendants of the Chen family. The surviving child was named Chen Qi. Later, he passed the Jinshi examination and became a high official. In order to commemorate his mother's kindness in sacrificing his life, he gave up 80 acres of land to build a "Repaying Enneance Temple" in Lujiang. He was raised by his aunt since he was a child. In order to repay the kindness of raising him, he built a "Baogu Temple" in Xindu (now Longgang). Chen Qi also built her own tomb behind Baoen Temple to accompany her mother day and night. Dou wrote a song of great love in ancient Jiangnan. When Yang Ben, a later generation teacher, was compiling the county annals, he couldn't help but be moved when he saw this story. He wrote in his book "Shuanghongju Night Talk": "The mother with convulsions all over her body appeared in front of me. She was wide open and confused. Eyes full of hope, struggling in a pool of blood, finally died at the cry of the baby. This is a tragic scene, just like on the battlefield, he is willing to give up his life... Hell;" Relics such as Baoen Temple, Chen Qi's Tomb, Baogu Temple (i.e. Longhui Temple) still exist today.
Raising children to become talents
The "Jin Family Genealogy" also records the story of a great woman raising children to become talents. In the Ming Dynasty, he was born in the Qiankujin Department. Jin Shouqing, the son of the State, was appointed as the chief registrar of Heyuan County. His wife's surname was Zhao Miaoshan, a native of Siming (Ningbo) and a descendant of the Song Dynasty clan. Jin Shouqing died in office at the age of thirty-six, leaving behind two sons: nine-year-old Jin Zong and two-year-old Jin Jing. With amazing perseverance, Mrs. Zhao transported her husband's coffin all the way back to her hometown for burial, and then took on the important task of raising her two sons. The eldest son, Jin Zong, was older and very sensible. He assisted his mother in handling his father's funeral. He behaved well and was praised by the locals. Jin Zong later became an official in Sizhou Prefecture.
Zhao remarried Hu, a native of Hanchuan, Hubei, and Jin Jing changed his surname to Hu with his stepfather. Jin Jing was dull at a young age, but Mrs. Zhao was very patient in educating Jin Jing and often read with him until midnight. Jin Jing felt sleepy or hungry while studying, so Zhao prepared tea and porridge for him. When Jin Jing came of age, the Zhao family told him: "You are a descendant of the Jin family, and you have lived in Longjiangli (current money bank) in Jinzhou Township, Pingyang. When your father Jin Shouqing, the administrator of Heyuan, passed away, you were still in your infancy. I transported the coffin thousands of miles back to my hometown for burial, but I was bullied by my tribe. I was left alone and had no choice but to take you to remarry in Huguang. Now that you have grown up, if you want to recognize your ancestors and return to the clan, you must study hard and become a prosperous Jin family in the future. I will die with no regrets."
Jin Jing worked hard from then on, and Zhao's efforts were not in vain. Jin Jing passed the Jinshi examination in the Yongle period and became a censor of Zhejiang Province. Later, with the approval of the emperor, Jin Jing was successfully restored to his surname. Brothers Jin Jing and Jin Zong were officials in the same dynasty, and they were both together. Jin Zong contracted a cold and died at the age of fifty-seven. But the Zhao family is still here, enduring the pain of a white-haired person sending a black-haired person away. When Zhao passed away, he left a will: "I am unfortunate enough to be here. After my death, I shall be buried in Hanchuan. Be careful not to disobey me. You can keep your official position and protect it until the end, so that my father knows and has no hatred!" Pass away.
Jin Jingjin obeyed his mother's orders and escorted the coffin back to Hanchuan, Hubei Province, and was buried next to his stepfather.
Zhao may not have been perfect because he did not keep the rules after losing his husband, but he endured the humiliation and cultivated Jin Zong and Jin Jing into talents over more than 20 years, especially Jin Jing, who became the Chief Secretary of Fujian. Consultation. As a mother, she was very successful.
Died to Save Her Husband
During the Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a woman in Jiangnan. She sacrificed her life to save her husband and was enshrined in a shrine. She is Chen, the wife of Wu Baoxiu, a Jinshi in Heqian (now Huqian Community). She is a descendant of Chen Ne, a Jinshi in Jiangkou in the early Ming Dynasty. She is well-educated, intelligent and virtuous. After marrying Wu Baoxiu, the couple fell in love, but because they could not have children, Chen married two more concubines for her husband. Later, the concubines gave birth to children, which Chen regarded as her own. It is said that after the child was born, the biological mother had no milk to feed her. After Chen prayed to heaven, milk gushed out on her own. Of course, this legend is too magical to be reliable.
Wu Baoxiu was appointed as the magistrate of Nankang (today's Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province). Less than a month after taking office, Emperor Shenzong issued an order to arrest Wu Baoxiu in Beijing on the charge of "resisting edicts and hiding taxes" because he offended tax supervisor Li Dao. When the news came, the army and people of Nankang were shocked. Mrs. Chen begged to go to Beijing with her husband, life and death and sexual intercourse. But Wu Baoxiu didn't allow it and persuaded her to take her family back to her hometown in Pingyang to "sweep the tombs of her ancestors." Mrs. Chen put about three taels of silver from her family's remaining money and hairpins into a small cloth bag, gave them to her two concubines, and told them to take care of the children. That night the storm roared, and Chen hung himself from the beam. The local people mourned for Chen's steadfastness. After the mother of Dan Zonggao, a Yimin of Nankang, heard about it, she ordered her son to send a good coffin originally prepared for her so that Chen could be buried smoothly.
Wu Baoxiu's injustice aroused the chivalrous heart of the eminent monk Zhenke. He and Wu Baoxiu were strangers, but he went to the capital to use his connections to smooth things over, especially telling the Empress Dowager about Chen's suicide. , aroused her sympathy, and the Queen Mother indeed defended Wu Baoxiu in front of the emperor. Emperor Shenzong was a filial son and always wanted to give his mother face. With the help of Tian Yi, a eunuch with a sense of justice, Wu Baoxiu finally saved his life. Later, temples were built for Wu Baoxiu and his wife in Nankang and Pingyang, which were recorded in the annals and can be tested.
Textile Teaching
While reading Nanjian's "Yang Family Genealogy", I couldn't help but be moved by another woman. She is the daughter of Liu Xueying, a famous scholar in Liudian, Baisha, and the wife of Yang Run, a Confucian scholar in Nanjing. She is knowledgeable about books and etiquette, and is diligent and thrifty in running her home. Yang Run died young and left behind two young sons, Yang Shi being the eldest. Mrs. Liu is a knowledgeable and strong woman. After her husband passed away, she independently took on the responsibility of raising orphans. Because her family was too poor to afford a husband, Liu made a living by spinning and weaving while personally teaching the scriptures to her two sons. Liu's life was full of hardships. Later, Yang Shi's friend Chen Yajun created a "Textile Teaching Picture", on which celebrities such as Chen Yuantan and Lin Zixiu wrote prefaces, "In the place where the children's curtains are in the hall, the towels are sad. In the past. "Ye Qingjin, once my husband was so brilliant; now I am Huang Juan, and I endure the failure of a weak son. So Zhuyou works hard, hesitating and freehand..." It's really sad and touching, and it makes people cry.
Yang Shi's fame failed, but he inherited his father Yang Run's legacy and founded "Jihongxuan" at home, immersed himself in learning and determined to write. He is the author of fourteen kinds of books including "Collection of Ouhai Relics". There are poems, songs, and historical materials, covering a wide range of categories. At that time, Lupu was a remote place, and it was really amazing that Yang Shi could produce so many works. When the county governor Yuzhang was presiding over the compilation of "Wenzhou Fu Zhi", he received Yang Shi's work from the squire Yang Zhiting. After reading it, he couldn't help but sigh: "This is a doctor from five counties!"
I once browsed through the remaining 20 or so copies of "The Lost Pearls of Ouhai" in the Ancient Books Department of Wenzhou Library, all of which were written in neat small regular script. I touched the handwriting of the sages and was deeply convinced. His diligence and genius. But if it weren’t for his mother Liu’s textile teachings, how could Yang Shi have achieved such success?
Women in Wartime
War is a game for men, and women and children mostly exist only as trophies. There are also strange women in Jiangnan. During times of social turmoil, like men, they raised the flag of rebellion and sent out a few weak shouts in the suffering world, adding a bit of light to the annals of history.
During the Dade period of the Yuan Dynasty, the court was corrupt and the people were in dire straits. ***, Jiangnan Yang also raised the flag of righteousness. Surprisingly, the leader was actually a woman. According to records in "Qihai Suo Tan" of the Ming Dynasty, in April of the first year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty (1297), Chen Kongya, a native of Jiangkou, and his sister-in-law Su Jinniang gathered people to fight against the Yuan Dynasty and established their "Luoping Kingdom" with the reign name Zhengzhi. Unfortunately, Su Jinniang was defeated and captured in October. This peasant "utopia" only lasted for half a year before perishing.
Hundreds of years later, in Yanting on the seaside in the south of the Yangtze River, there lived a beautiful woman with a bold and romantic nature. She "liked to stay in the wild at night". Her husband couldn't control her, so he sold her to a man. Although she was a barber, her temperament remained unchanged and her beauty spread far and wide. Cai Qian, the leader of the pirate group, went to see her. Although she was disguised as a guest, the woman was quite knowledgeable. The two chatted and speculated, and Cai Qian bought her for more than a dozen taels of gold. After this woman joined the pirate group, she was like a dragon swimming in the sea and a horse letting go of the Nanshan Mountains. She managed the army lawfully, fought skillfully, and was unstoppable. She repeatedly defeated encirclement and suppression attacks by officers and soldiers. Because she did not know her name, people called her "Cai Qian's mother".
On one occasion, Xiang Tong, a veteran of naval battles, led dozens of fleets to duel with Cai Qian's group at sea. Xiang Tong was sitting on the stern of the ship, with soldiers holding Luogai to protect him from the sun. Cai Qianma personally lit the cannon and fired at Xiang Tong. Xiang Tong happened to lean over to pick up the pipe. The cannonball killed the person holding the lid behind him, and Xiang Tong escaped by chance. In this battle, the army admiral Li Changgeng was killed and Cai Qian's army was victorious. From then on, this female pirate made the officers and soldiers fearful. Later, Cai Qian's mother angered Cai Qian for some unknown reason, and was kicked to death by Cai Qian. Soon, the pirates of Cai Qian's group were also wiped out by the official army.
In June of the 26th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1900), influenced by the Boxer Rebellion in the north, Jin Zongcai from Cailangqiao, Pingyang, set up an altar to recruit disciples and established the "Shenquan Association", which attracted a large number of farmers to join. , among them was Zhang Chen, the female leader of Jiangnan Long, known as the "Third Girl", who was the wife of Chen Youli, the leader of Yuantong in Qihe Village, Jiangnan. Jin Zongcai and Zhang Chen led their troops to attack Qianku Catholic Church, but they were attacked by officers, soldiers and militia. They were attacked from both sides and suffered defeat. Zhang Chen fled to Zhengjialou, where he was captured by local regiment member Zheng Youben, escorted to the government, and eventually beheaded.
Women in Wartime
Of course, there were chaste and martyr women in Jiangnan, as well as women with both talent and beauty. For example, Yin Zhizhong's concubine Zheng Hui (1850amp; mdash; 1872), named Xuelan, originally from Yongjia, was the concubine of Yin Zhizhong in Jinxiang City. Yin Zhizhongxiang assisted Qin Ruhu, the general in charge of Fujian Province, to suppress the money society and became the prefect. Although he already had a wife, when he saw Zheng Hui, a 15-year-old daughter of his relative Zheng Songyan, who was young and beautiful, he forcibly married her as a concubine. Zheng Hui is smart and likes to read "Chu Ci", "Du Shi" and other books, and she is very diligent. "Every night, she gets up when she hears a chicken and bends over her desk to recite." Zheng Hui writes poems by mouth, but it is a pity that she is infertile. A few years later, Yin Zhizhong fell in love again and took Xu Qiong as his concubine. When Xu Qiong gave birth to a son, Yin Zhizhong became even more alienated from Zheng Hui. Poor Zheng Hui is lonely and helpless, and can only survive by poetry and writing. Xu Qiong was also a talented woman. Under the influence of Zheng Hui, she also learned to compose poetry. Zheng Hui, who fell out of favor, was abandoned by Yin Zhizhong in Changle County, but he took Xu Qiong to Yunxiao County to take office. Zheng Hui had no relatives and wrote hundreds of poems. Some people commented that her poems are "inspired by the feelings of things, the language is concise and the purpose is far-reaching, and it washes away the habit of being a lady."
Married to Yin Zhizhong for nine years, with more hardships and less joy, she was only 20 years old Three-year-old Zheng Hui died in depression. On her deathbed, she asked her relatives to burn the poems she had written throughout her life. He also asked someone to bring a message to his parents: "It is useless to have a daughter." After Zheng Hui's death, Yin Zhizhong finally still had a conscience. He took the poems he burned and translated them into a volume called "Suxin Pavilion Collection", and asked the famous scholar Li Ciming to write an epitaph.
The Unlucky Virgin
The above-mentioned characters may be touching because of their great love, or they may be beautiful and unlucky, or they may be pornographic, which makes people gasp in admiration when they read them. But in life, women cannot control their own destiny. Caught between the tension between ordinary ethics and human desires, they often sacrifice their youth and even their lives for the sake of fame and integrity. If women choose the latter because they are forced by real life or unable to resist moral pressure and have no choice but to accept it, that is worthy of sympathy.
However, there are also many women who, for the sake of reputation, take the initiative to do some things that even men are shocked by. I don’t know whether to call them sad, such as sacrificing their husbands.
Yang Peizhi of Zhangjiabao was a famous big landowner and a famous country squire in Jiangnan. He once assisted his uncle Yang Peizhuo in forming the Jiangnan Militia. After Yang Peizhi passed away, during the coffin period, he had a young concubine who was from Wenzhou City, and it was no different from usual. Later, she suddenly took a shower and changed clothes. Just before Yang Peizhi's funeral, she drank the poison that had been prepared and committed suicide. She was caught off guard, and later the Yang family paid tribute to her.
The Xiakou Wu family also had such a woman. Her name was Zheng Heyun. When she was six years old, her father engaged her to Xiakou Wu. She was well-behaved and never left home, and her relatives also I rarely see her face. When he was 21 years old, Wu Kaixing passed away. Zheng wanted to go to the funeral, but her mother refused. Mrs. Zheng cried and went on a hunger strike, and even threatened death to get permission. After arriving at Wu's house, she met with her husband's relatives, then held his coffin and cried bitterly, staying with him day and night. At night, she lit a lamp and put the books read by Wu Kaixing on the table. Although she was illiterate, she made gestures with her fingers and sometimes shed tears. When eating, two sets of cutlery are prepared, one for the deceased husband. She had been traveling between her husband's family and her parents' house for three years. Every time she went to her parents' house, she would shut herself in her room and sit in silence. Late one night, her mother woke up from sleep and found that her daughter was missing. She saw that the window was half-open, and she felt bad. Zheng's body was found on the river the next day. Her face looked lifeless, and everyone said something strange. Later, the Wu family took the body and buried it with Wu Kaixing.
The martyrdom of Zheng's daughter who committed suicide at the death of her husband is deeply moved. Wu Rongli, Wu Kaixing's great uncle, wrote a poem to commemorate her: "Determined to go to the funeral with blood and tears, and returned to Ningzhong to donate her life at night. Qin Lou never met and blew. Xiao couple, the Chu water swirls with the sound of drums and harps, and they have been in love for three years. They have been pure and sincere for thousands of years. How can the alchemy book shine and be virtuous, so that the fragrance can reach the imperial capital."
In ancient society, the concept of chastity harmed many young women. Under the power of their husbands, they were a group of nameless weaklings. But this woman used her own way to fight for a few pages of genealogy in a man's world.
I cover up my genealogy and can only sigh!