Ji Xiaolan (1724～1805), named Yun, Xiaolan is his given name, was born in Xian County, Hejian (now Cangxian County, Hebei). According to historical records, he was witty, funny, agile, and talented throughout his life. He left many funny words to future generations and was known as a "romantic talent" and a "humor master." He was a famous scholar, poet, bibliographer and novelist in the Qing Dynasty. Overall, his life differed greatly from his folklore and screen image.

In popular folklore and TV dramas, the relationship between Ji Xiaolan and Qianlong is very harmonious, full of trust, ridicule and humor. This is an embellished description, and this was not the case historically. In fact, Ji Xiaolan was just a literary poet cultivated by Qianlong. This starts with Ji Xiaolan’s appearance.

In folklore, Ji Xiaolan's image is suave and talented; on the screen, Ji Xiaolan's image, which is basically "monopolized" by Zhang Guoli, is quite reasonable. This is not the case at all. According to historical records, Ji Xiaolan was "ugly and short-sighted". The so-called "sleeping" means ugly appearance; the so-called "short-sighted" means short-sightedness. In addition, Zhu Gui, who has been friends with Ji Xiaolan for decades, once wrote a poem describing Ji Xiaolan like this:

Hejian Zongbocha, who stuttered and was good at writing books.

Immerse yourself in the four libraries and draw thousands of volumes of records.

In this way, Ji Xiaolan still has a stuttering problem. Of course, since Ji Xiaolan was able to pass all levels of imperial examinations, during which an interrogator checked her physical appearance and speaking ability through dialogue, visual inspection, etc., so as not to affect the "image" of the court ceremony when she went to court, she should not be so ugly that she can't be seen. But no matter what, there is no doubt that Ji Xiaolan is not good-looking. Ugly, short-sighted, and stuttering, these physical characteristics have become important reasons why Ji Xiaolan has been separated from Qianlong throughout his life and cannot be truly trusted by Qianlong.

Some background knowledge needs to be introduced here. Ji Xiaolan's official fate was controlled by Qianlong. Qianlong is a famous "holy lord" in Chinese history. He was also an emperor who grew up in a palace since childhood and had many strange habits. For Ji Xiaolan, the most important thing about Qianlong was the employment standards for his ministers. He not only required these people to be alert, agile, smart and capable, but also handsome, young and beautiful. For example, He Shen, Wang Jie, Yu Minzhong, Dong Gao, Liang Guozhi, Fu Changan and others are all among the best "beautiful men", so they are highly used. It goes without saying that Heshen is beautiful. Even Fu Changan was able to gain favor in Qianlong's later years. On the one hand, it was because he followed Heshen wholeheartedly and became a best friend with him. Another important reason was because he was young and beautiful. Macartney, the British envoy who once came to China, recorded in his book that Fu Changan was very heroic and a typical aristocratic and beautiful boy.

Appearance is determined by God, there is no way to choose. The ugly Ji Xiaolan happened to meet Qianlong again, so no matter how talented he was, it was difficult for him to get real attention and participate in major political decisions. He could only rely on writing to make a living. Ji Xiaolan could only be Qianlong's Ci minister, but it was difficult for him to be Qianlong's favorite and important minister. In his life, Ji Xiaolan served as examiner of the rural examination twice, as examiner of the national examination six times, and as minister of the Ministry of Rites three times, which are all manifestations of this kind of fate. This kind of official position has no heavy or real power and is just a decoration of the Qing court. Even though Qianlong sent him to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and he should have been punished for his poor judgment in the case, Qianlong said: "Ji Xiaolan, who was appointed this time, is a useless and rotten scholar. He was just making up a number. Besides, he is not familiar with the names of criminal punishments." He was short-sighted... The mistakes he made were excusable." This shows Ji Xiaolan's status in his mind.

Actually, appearance is just a superficial reason. There is a deeper reason for the estrangement between Ji Xiaolan and Qianlong, and that is: in essence, an autocratic monarch will not like intellectuals with a little personality and a sense of justice. On one occasion, Yin Zhuangtu, a cabinet scholar, pointed out Chen's bad government, saying that the provincial governors "have a bad reputation and the officials are ineffective. I passed through various provinces and asked about the quality of officials, and people frowned and sighed. This is generally the same in all provinces." Because these words offended Qianlong, who was already old and could no longer listen to honest advice, the military minister wanted to have Yin Zhuangtu beheaded.

Yin Songlin, the father of Yin Zhuangtu, and Ji Xiaolan were Jinshi in the same year. When Ji Xiaolan planned to intercede for Yin Zhuangtu, Qianlong became furious and immediately cursed: "I think you are excellent in literature, so I entrusted you with Sikushu. It's really nothing." It turns out that when the emperor asked Ji Xiaolan to compile the "Sikuquanshu", he did not really regard him as an important minister in his own right, but just as an actor to relieve the emperor's boredom. In the first century BC, the great historian Sima Qian made Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty furious and was brutally tortured because he spoke a few words for Li Ling. Sima Qian learned from the painful experience and said: "Literary and historical chronology is almost a matter of divination. It is just a matter of teasing by the emperor and advocating excellent animals, which is underestimated by popular customs." More than 1,800 years later, Ji Xiaolan faced the same situation: in the autocratic world In front of imperial power, it is difficult for an intellectual to have dignity. Facing Qianlong's accusations, Ji Xiaolan could only swallow her anger. I think such a scene would never appear in a TV series, right?

As Mr. Deng Zhicheng, an expert on Qing history, said, Qianlong’s employment “was based on appearance. Wenda (i.e. Ji Xiaolan) was short-sighted and ugly, and he was from Jiangbei, so he was not favored by Emperor Chun (i.e. Qianlong). For a while, Ruo Wengqinxi, Zhu Zhujun, Wang Lanquan, and Zou Yigui were all not allowed to serve in official positions, and their circumstances were quite similar. Emperor Chun recommended them to be bright and sensitive people, and promoted them to governors. Ruo Yu Wenxiang, Liang Wending, and Dong Wengong were all treated as jesters. Store it." Using appearance as the criterion for selecting talents is a historical tragedy.

As mentioned above, Ji Xiaolan's status in Qianlong's mind was nothing more than this. So, from Ji Xiaolan's side, how does he understand his situation? Throughout his life, Ji Xiaolan served as an editor of the Hanlin Academy, an official of the Daily Lectures, a scholar at Zuo Shuzi, a bachelor at the imperial court, Zhanshifu Zhanshi, a cabinet bachelor, the Prime Minister's Zhongshu department affairs, a minister of the Ministry of War, and a censor of Zuodu in the Imperial Examination Yuan. , Minister of the Ministry of War, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, co-organizer of the University, and other officials, were granted the title of Guanglu Dafu, served as a lecturer at the banquet, and served as the direct minister of the Wenyuan Pavilion, and were given the gift of riding horses in the Forbidden City. Among them, only in the 33rd year of Qianlong's reign (1768), he was involved in the salt government deficit case because he tipped off his relatives, Lu Jianzeng, and was sent to Urumqi. However, he was recalled to the capital to serve as an official in just over two years. Therefore, in the eyes of ordinary people, Ji Xiaolan can be regarded as a person with a prosperous official career. However, Ji Xiaolan, who had been in the officialdom for a long time, did not experience much of the joy of rapid success. His heart was more often filled with loneliness and sorrow. This can be seen from several details in Ji Xiaolan's life.

Dare not write a book Ji Xiaolan wrote a lot in his life, including "Sikuquanshu", "Sikuquanshu General Catalog", "Rehe Chronicles", etc., which he presided over the compilation in an official capacity, and also in his private capacity. "Notes of Yuewei Thatched Cottage" written by his identity. But before Ji Xiaolan's lifetime, there were rumors circulating that he never wrote books.

Some people say that Ji Xiaolan believed that her works could not surpass those of the ancients, so she did not focus on writings and did not preserve her works. Ji Xiaolan's disciple Liu Quanzhi said that his teacher was famous all over the world and often wrote articles for people, but they were "randomly lost and no manuscripts were kept." It turned out that Ji Xiaolan always believed that these words were just the dregs of the ancients and had no publication value. Chen He, another student of Ji Xiaolan, also said that since the teacher took charge of the compilation of "Sikuquanshu", looking at ancient and modern writings, he knew that everything that should be there was already there. No matter how hard people later worked, the writings could not go beyond the scope of the ancients. , and those who claim to be superior to the ancients are simply overestimating their abilities. Therefore, Ji Xiaolan "never wrote a book in his life". He occasionally wrote prefaces, tablets and other texts for others, but they were immediately discarded without being preserved. Chen He said with emotion that some people now occasionally write something small and then show it around, eager to show it off. How shameless!

Jiang Fan, a great scholar in the Qing Dynasty, said in his "History of Chinese Studies" that Ji Xiaolan spent all his energy on the book "Summary of the General Catalog of Sikuquanshu" and also liked to write some novels about barnyard officials, so " Too lazy to write books." The writings he wrote during his youth were hidden at home and have never been circulated to the world.

According to Ji Xiaolan’s own statement, it is slightly different from the above. Ji Xiaolan once said in his later years, "I studied poetry in my early years. During this period, I was very high-spirited and sang with everyone in the world. I was always unwilling to be left behind. Now that I am almost 80 years old, I have turned to shrinking and dare not say a word. What I have written in my life I dare not keep my manuscripts by myself."

He said this was because as his experience increased, he looked back at his proud works and found that most of them were things that the ancients had already said. His hard work in writing was just in vain. Judging from Ji Xiaolan's words, he did not "never write a book". In his early years, he still had the courage to recite poems and write poems. However, later he gradually gained a deeper understanding of the world he lived in and became less and less afraid to engage in writing. And I don’t dare to save my manuscript. To say that he stopped writing because he was afraid of not being able to surpass the ancients seems to be a very reluctant reason. There is also a huge social and political background behind this reason, that is, the strengthening of ideological control during the Qianlong period, and literary prisons were common.

The literary prisons of the Qing Dynasty concentrated in the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong periods, which were known as the prosperous times. Among them, the famous ones were Zhuang's "History of the Ming Dynasty" prison and Dai Mingshi's "Nanshan Collection" prison during the Kangxi period. During the Yongzheng period, there were Cha Siting Prison, Lu Liuliang and Zeng Jing prisons. Among them, apart from the unwarranted charge of "Cha Si Ting Jing", the others are more or less taboo due to the writing. During the Qianlong period, the literary network was more strict, and most of them were made up of nothing and used topics to play off people. For example, there is Hu Zhongzaoji, a cabinet bachelor. There are two lines in Hu Zhongzao's poems that aroused Qianlong's sensitivity. One sentence is "One's heart can judge the turbidity and the purity". Qianlong believed that it was disrespectful to deliberately add the turbidity to the name of the Qing Dynasty. The other sentence is "The old Buddha is not sick now, and the court can't open the door to hear it". Qianlong thought this was It is a satire that he does not open the door and does not admit talents. And because Hu Zhongzao once asked the question "There are three lines of Qian that are not like dragons" when he was in Guangxi's academic administration, Qianlong thought that dragon and long had the same pronunciation, which was a slander against his reign name. Qianlong relied on these strong excuses to kill Hu Zhongzao. Most of the literary inquisitions during the Qianlong dynasty were like this. As a Ci official of Qianlong, Ji Xiaolan was naturally deeply aware of these literary inquisitions.

At the same time, Ji Xiaolan and his colleagues also suffered from the embarrassment caused by writing while compiling "Sikuquanshu", and even lost their families and died. Originally, when carrying out such a large cultural project, some mistakes are inevitable. As long as you try your best, correct any mistakes and improve them, that's it. It's a pity that Ji Xiaolan and the others are facing Emperor Qianlong, who is arbitrary and loves great achievements. A little imperfection can lead to death. In the process of compiling the Siku, Chief Editor Ji Xiaolan, Lu Xixiong, and Chief Editor Lu Feiqi were scolded, submitted to the Ministry for discussion, and fined for their mistakes many times. In the end, Chief Editor Lu Xixiong died while traveling to Northeast China. On the way to school, Lu Feiqi was dismissed from his post because he could not afford the revision costs of Jiangnan Three Pavilions. He died in depression, his family property was confiscated, and his wife and children were separated. The personal experiences of his colleagues and himself will definitely bring deeper feelings to Ji Xiaolan and make him truly realize the danger of his own environment.

There is an anecdote about Ji Xiaolan in "Qing Bai Lei Chao" that is worth recalling. It is said that when Ji Xiaolan was working in the Hanlin Academy, one day he was drafting documents and his literary thoughts were exhausted, so he left the house and walked along the corridor. There was a veteran sleeping soundly in the corridor, snoring loudly. Ji Xiaolan patted the soldier awake and asked him if he slept well. The veteran said it was good. Ji Xiaolan then brought him a book to ask him to read, but the veteran said he couldn't read. Ji Xiaolan said thoughtfully at this time: "Literacy in life is the beginning of hardships. If you are illiterate, you are really happy." This anecdote may not be true, but the mentality it reflects may be different from the real Ji Xiaolan Not far. Ji Xiaolan fell in love with a pen and inkstone at the age of 4, and later embarked on an official career through writing. However, he did not expect that writing would often bring death to people and bring him embarrassment. It is reasonable to feel this way. Let's look back at his phenomenon of "shrinking and not saying a word". Doesn't it reflect his trepidation in front of the autocratic monarch?

Ji Xiaolan, a Taoist of Guanyi, has a unique nickname, "Taoist of Guanyi". In his later years, Ji Xiaolan enjoyed playing Go. While playing chess, he also learned about officialdom, the world, and people's hearts. In the fifty-first year of Qianlong's reign (1786), he once asked his friend Shen Yunpu to draw a picture of "Viewing the Game in the Tongyin" and wrote a poem by himself:

There is a constant sound of tinkling and falling, and the pattern of catalpas (qiū) is all day long. A few wins or losses.

The Taoist sat idle in the shade of the tung trees and watched, smiling in the cool breeze.

He Xiangu

Here, he compares himself with "a Taoist who watches chess", leisurely watching the changes in the world. Seven years later, he reviewed "Tongyin Guanyi Diagram" again and sighed again.

He believes that when he asked someone to make a game-viewing diagram, it was just because the Taoist (that is, Ji Xiaolan himself) did not personally participate in the victory or defeat, but he still had a desire to win in his heart. And now it seems that even this desire to win is not there. It's all an illusion. This mentality is fully exposed in another poem related to the game of chess. This poem is about "The Picture of the Eight Immortals". The eight immortals in the picture have different moods: He Xiangu plays chess with Han Xiangzi, the other five immortals watch, but Tieguai Li is sleeping soundly aside. Ji Xiaolan wrote:

The two in the game and outside the game are silent, just like the winning mentality in the world.

It seems like a stubborn fairy and an idiot are unconscious, and butterflies sleep deeply in the spring breeze.

Han Xiangzi

"Naughty Immortal" refers to both Tieguai Li and Ji Xiaolan's self-description; "Spring Breeze Butterfly" is a metaphor for Zhuangzi's story of turning into a butterfly, which is a metaphor for freedom and freedom from the world. The desire to win or lose. Ji Xiaolan expresses a detached attitude here, which can be regarded as seeing through the world of mortals. However, he had been struggling in Qianlong's officialdom for half a century, and it was not easy to be detached.

Self-elegy couplet When Ji Xiaolan was 69 years old, one day he was chatting with his colleagues and got excited and said: "In the past, Tao Yuanming composed his own elegy. Today I also composed an elegiac couplet. I hope everyone can use it after I die." It holds me." This self-elegiac couplet is as follows:

The ups and downs of officialdom are like gulls, and the collection of books about life and death is like silverfish.

The first sentence of the elegiac couplet says that the ups and downs in the officialdom are like gulls, which describes the hardships of official career. The second sentence says that he is immersed in books, like a silverfish that lives and dies in books, which expresses his lament about his own fate. From this self-elegiac couplet, we can see Ji Xiaolan's boredom with officialdom, which also contains Ji Xiaolan's understanding of her life.

It can be seen from the above details that Ji Xiaolan is unlikely to become Qianlong's favorite and most important minister. At best, he is just a literary minister raised by the emperor.

Relationship with Heshen

In TV dramas, the relationship between Ji Xiaolan and Heshen is often like water and fire, and they are incompatible. There are also many folk legends about how Ji Xiaolan played tricks on He Shen. "The Unofficial History of the Qing Dynasty" records that He Shen built a pavilion in the Prime Minister's Mansion and needed a piece of pavilion, so he asked Ji Xiaolan to inscribe it. As a result, Ji Xiaolan readily agreed and inscribed the pavilion with the Chinese characters "Bamboo Bud". These two words come from the sentence "like bamboo buds, like pine trees" in "The Book of Songs, Xiaoya, Siqian". People often use "bamboo buds and pine trees" to praise the completion of a beautiful house and the prosperity of the family. He Shen was very happy to get Ji Xiaolan's inscription, so he hung it high on the pavilion. Qianlong happened to visit Heshen's residence. When he saw Ji Xiaolan's inscription, he immediately knew that Ji Xiaolan was playing a trick on Heshen. He smiled and said to Heshen: "Ji Xiaolan is calling your family 'all idiots.'" As a result, Heshen hated Ji Xiaolan deeply and slandered Ji Xiaolan several times.

In fact, this kind of thing is simply impossible to happen. We can see this from just one incident. In the late Qianlong Dynasty, Ji Xiaolan's good friend and imperial censor Cao Xibao wanted to impeach He Shen. Although Ji Xiaolan was worried about his friend, he only sent him a Song Dynasty poem "Yong Crab":

The clear water avoids double Ao black, It's hard for Qiu Lao to escape the red color on his back.

This means that the time to impeach Heshen may not be mature enough now. But Cao Xibao did not listen to Ji Xiaolan's warning and resolutely wrote a letter against Shen Heshen. As a result, Qianlong was furious and wanted to punish Cao Xibao. At this time, Ji Xiaolan no longer devoted herself to her friends like she did when she saved Lu Jianzeng last time. Instead, she tried her best to confess her love in front of Qianlong, claiming that she had no knowledge. As a result, because he was too explicit, Qianlong believed that Ji Xiaolan was the instigator behind the scenes. It can be seen that how could Ji Xiaolan establish herself as the opposite of He Shen?

There are historical records that after Heshen became prosperous, he sang poems and essays with literary celebrities. Sometimes he privately asked Ji Xiaolan and Peng Yuanduan to polish his works. Ji and Peng, considering He Shen's great power, could not bear to be beaten by him if he disobeyed, so they often fought against each other. Of course, it is just to polish the text. Ji Xiaolan does not want to rely on He Shen to seek a high position. According to what North Korean envoy Xu Youwen saw, He Shen had been in power for decades, and all the officials at home and abroad had taken refuge in him. Only Liu Yong, Ji Xiaolan, Zhu Gui and others had never relied on him.

It seems that in the dangerous political environment at that time, all Ji Xiaolan could do was try his best not to fall in line with He Shen.

In his later years, Ji Xiaolan often used chess as a metaphor to express his aspirations. For example, the poem "Eight Immortals" quoted above expresses his detached attitude. In fact, this is a very sophisticated attitude, and it is also the experience Ji Xiaolan has accumulated from many years of hard work in officialdom. Ji Xiaolan has been in the officialdom for a long time, and his official position is not low. He must have his own way of being an official if he can have both sides of the officialdom. This way of being an official is to avoid offending each other and try to maintain a neutral identity. And he followed Qianlong for a long time, traveling around mountains and rivers, reciting poems and writing poems, mostly flattering works, which can also be seen in his personality. Judging from Ji Xiaolan's character traits, he will not have a face-to-face conflict with He Shen. Those scenes in the TV series will never appear at all.

In the tenth year of Jiaqing (1805), Ji Xiaolan died in the capital at the age of 82. During his lifetime, he wrote his own elegiac couplet: "The ups and downs of officialdom are like gulls, and the books on life and death are like silverfish." Such a "sophisticated old man", how could he be willing and dare to directly confront the powerful He Shen?

A star for the common people

Since Ji Xiaolan was just a literary minister of Qianlong, and he was not a tit-for-tat fighter with Heshen, yet he was extremely popular among the general public. It seems that It can be said that he is a star among the common people. Why is this? There are countless folk legends about Ji Xiaolan. This is probably a rare treatment for Chinese literati, right? If you think about it carefully, I am afraid it is related to the following reasons.

First, Ji Xiaolan has a humorous and genuine temperament. Ji Xiaolan was recorded in the notes of the Qing Dynasty, and the most mentioned thing was Ji Xiaolan's humor. For example, Niu Yingzhi's "Yuchangxiaoyilu" said: "Ji Wen Da Gong Yun is fond of humor, and court officials are often insulted." Qian Yong also said in "Lv Yuan Cong Hua": "Xian County Ji Prime Minister and the country are good at humor. Everyone knows it. "It would probably not be wrong to say that Ji Xiaolan is humorous. But humor alone is not enough to reach the point where everyone praises it. Ji Xiaolan has a humorous and sincere side. Among the humorous stories handed down about Ji Xiaolan, there are two outstanding points that best reveal Ji Xiaolan’s true temperament. This is why Ji Xiaolan dares to make small jokes with powerful people, and can also tell dirty jokes.

For example, he dared to call Qianlong "old man" and dared to take the opportunity to ridicule the Heshen family. Although these stories are not necessarily true, they should reflect Ji Xiaolan's attitude towards powerful people to a certain extent. Humor style. Ji Xiaolan also dared to make a joke about eunuchs that literati generally did not dare to offend. One day at the end of the court, an eunuch wanted to hear Ji Xiaolan tell a joke. Ji Xiaolan pretended to be deep in thought for a long time and said: "Once upon a time, there was a eunuch..." After half a sentence, he stopped talking. The eunuch waited for a long time and then asked: "How is it down there?" Ji Xiaolan replied: "There is nothing down there." Hearing this, he was absolutely stunned. In response to such ridicule, it is difficult for the person involved to say anything and to retaliate. This may be the reason why Ji Xiaolan uses humor to express her temperament.

Ji Xiaolan also makes some jokes from time to time, which shows her temperament. Once, a friend named Ping became the groom. Ji Xiaolan gave him a copy of "Poetry Rhythm" to congratulate him. People were curious about the mystery of this gift. Ping thought about it for several days before he realized that Ji Xiaolan had made a joke on him by using four tones, namely "flat, up, go, and enter". This kind of dirty jokes have always been popular among the masses, and it is difficult to prevent them from being spread all over the world. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, about half of the contents of "Xiao Lin Guang Ji", a very popular collection of jokes among the people, were related to sex.

Second, Ji Xiaolan is good at the play of couplets. Couplets, commonly known as "couples", are not only the most basic course for literati to receive education and enlightenment from childhood, but also a popular entertainment activity among the people, deeply loved by the people. Ji Xiaolan is quick-thinking, witty and uninhibited. She is especially good at couplets and often has witty remarks. For example, the couplet he wrote for a poor blacksmith is:

"A Concise Catalog of the Imperial Sikuquanshu" compiled by Ji Xiaolan and others

Three rickety houses, and a man who has been tempered for a long time.

Another example is the couplet he wrote for the barber:

Although he has no skills at all, he has the utmost skill.

The few figures are so precise and fascinating that they can be called absolute.

One time when Ji Xiaolan came to the South Study Room on duty, an old eunuch who had heard of Ji Xiaolan for a long time came to see him. He was wearing a leather robe and, according to the custom of the literati at that time, holding a folding fan. The eunuch then asked the question:

Little Hanlin, wearing winter clothes and holding a summer fan, has he read the Spring and Autumn Period?

This couplet cleverly combines the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and it also contains a mockery of Ji Xiaolan's dress, which is very difficult to answer. Unexpectedly, Ji Xiaolan responded easily:

Old manager, I was born in the south and came to the north. Is that thing still there?

The incident quickly became a joke.

It should be a fact that Ji Xiaolan is good at couplets. Ji Xiaolan's talent had been circulated in the official circles at that time for a long time.

The first thing Ji Xiaolan caught Qianlong’s attention was a pair of lantern riddles he created. One year during the Lantern Festival, Qianlong ordered his ministers to work on lantern riddles for hanging in the Forbidden City. The lantern riddle presented by Ji Xiaolan is a pair of riddle couplets, indicating one word for each of the upper and lower couplets:

Black is not, white is not, red and yellow are not; they are like foxes, wolves, cats and dogs, neither domestic animals nor domestic animals. beast.

There are also poems, lyrics, and the Analects of Confucius; they are vague about east, west, south, and north. Although they are short pieces, they are also wonderful articles.

Qianlong couldn't guess the answer. He found out that it was Ji Xiaolan who had asked the question, so he called him to reply. He found out that the answer was the radical riddle of the word "guessing the riddle", and he greatly appreciated it. Ji Xiaolan's mentor Liu Tongxun and others also took the opportunity to praise Ji Xiaolan to Qianlong. Since then, Ji Xiaolan's reputation has become even greater.

In the twenty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign (1760), on the occasion of Qianlong's fiftieth birthday, civil and military officials wrote couplets and poems one after another. The couplet written by Ji Xiaolan is unique:

The Imperial Map of Forty Thousand Miles, since ancient times, there has never been a single dynasty that has unified all 40,000 miles;

In the fifty-year holy life, I have been here since then, There are still nine thousand nine hundred and fifty years left.

The first couplet refers to the fact that after the Qing Dynasty unified the country, it started from Congling in the west, the sea in the east, the Waixing'an Mountains in the north, and the South China Sea in the south. It was 40,000 miles in length and breadth. The territory was unprecedentedly large in history. Yes; the second couplet refers to the fifty holy life plus nine thousand nine hundred and fifty years, which is exactly long live. I wish Qianlong a long life without borders. After seeing this couplet, Qianlong was overjoyed and immediately sent an order to promote Ji Xiaolan to the first rank of Beijing Inspector and to be named in the Taoist Prefecture.

In October of the 27th year of Qianlong's reign (1762), 39-year-old Ji Xiaolan was ordered to leave the capital and serve as an academic administrator in Fujian. Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles, for Hanlin, going away to study abroad is undoubtedly a turning point in his official career. Ji Xiaolan was overjoyed about this. He boarded the car and set off, then took a boat to Jinan and headed south along the canal. Along the way, he saw beautiful mountains and rivers. He also kept writing poems and rhymes. Later, he compiled and published a collection called "Miscellaneous Odes of the South Journey".

It is said that during the boat trip, Ji Xiaolan met an old man who also took a big boat to go south. He also sent him a note: "I think you must be a scribe. I have a couplet like this." If your Excellency is able to get out, our boat will have to stay away. If you can't get out, we will have to treat your Majesty the rear. "The old man's first couplet is:

Two boats are traveling side by side, and the oars are not as fast as the sails.

This is a semantic double association. "Oar speed" refers to the famous civil servant Lu Su of the Three Kingdoms, and "fan speed" alludes to the famous warrior Fan Kuai of the Western Han Dynasty. One is civil and one is military, which happens to form a double meaning. On the surface, it means that the oar is not as good as the sail, but the implicit meaning is that the literature is not as good as the military. Ji Xiaolan knew that this couplet was difficult to match, so she couldn't help but think hard about it, but in the end, she let the old man sail away. After he arrived in Fuzhou, he presided over the college examination and the music was booming. Ji Xiaolan was moved by the scene and came up with the following couplet:

When eight notes are played in unison, how can the flute be as clear as the flute?

"Di Qing" alludes to Di Qing, a famous general in the Northern Song Dynasty, and "Xiao He" alludes to Xiao He, the prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty. They are also double entendres.

There are some true and false stories about Ji Xiaolan and his wife circulating in the world. For example, there is a story that Ji Xiaolan once accompanied Qianlong on his southern tour and passed by the gravel beach of the Yellow River. Qianlong wrote a couplet: "The scum of the stone is smashed and the stick is hard." Ji Xiaolan replied casually: "The water of the Yellow River is rolling and cold." Both the upper and lower sentences of the couplet reflect a relationship of unity of opposites, which is good. But in fact, during Qianlong's six southern tours, Ji Xiaolan was not included in any of his retinues. However, Ji Xiaolan is good at being true to her pairs, and these true and false stories spread Ji Xiaolan's name more widely.

Thirdly, Ji Xiaolan had friends all over the court and disciples all over the world. In his early years, Ji Xiaolan formed a literary club with a group of like-minded literati and bachelors. They met once every half month to talk about the past and present, and compare poems. Among the literary societies were his elder brothers Ji Zhao and Qian Daxin, who later became famous scholars. Even Liu Yong, a Jinshi scholar in the Imperial Academy, who had been promoted from editor to lecturer at the Hanlin Academy, also participated. After a period of running-in, Ji Xiaolan and Liu Yong were promoted as leaders of the literary society. Because of his outstanding literary talent and modest personality, Ji Xiaolan quickly developed a group of friends with similar interests in the court.

Ji Xiaolan has served as an examiner many times. He successively served as the chief examiner of the Ji-mao Shanxi Rural Examination in Qianlong, the co-examiner of the Gengchen Examination, the co-examiner of the Renwu Rural Examination of this province, the admiral of Fujian Academic Affairs, the vice president of the Jiachen Examination, the chief executive of the Jiyouwu Examination, and the Jiaqing Bing Examination. The Chen Hui Examination is the chief official, the Jiwei Wu Hui Examination is the chief official, the Renxu Hui Examination is the chief official, etc. Precisely because he often served as an examiner, he had many disciples.

Having many friends and disciples, Ji Xiaolan’s name inevitably appears frequently in their spoken words and writings. How could Ji Xiaolan's reputation not spread over time?

Fourth, it is related to two books that are famous all over the world. The first part is the great cultural project of the Qing Dynasty - "Sikuquanshu". Ji Xiaolan is the chief editor of this book. Ji Xiaolan also took this opportunity to delete an important bibliographic masterpiece: "Summary of the General Catalog of Sikuquanshu". This book is also famous in academic circles. The second book is Ji Xiaolan's own "Notes of Yuewei Thatched Cottage". This note has been widely circulated and has been highly praised by later generations. Lu Xun believed that this book "examines the moods of ghosts and gods, and reveals the subtleties of the human world". It is both interesting and insightful, and its "narration is graceful and elegant, full of natural interest.

No one can take his place later. ". Lu Xun accordingly praised Ji Xiaolan as "a very courageous person" in the society at that time. Novelist Sun Li believes that this notebook occupies a position that cannot be surpassed by other similar works in the history of Chinese literature. "It and "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" are two great tunes with different approaches but similar effects." Both of these books have left their names for future generations, and their compiler, Ji Xiaolan, has naturally become famous all over the world.

After Ji Xiaolan's death, he was given the posthumous title "Wenda", which was a very high recognition of his literary talent. Jiang Fan said in "Han Xue Shi Cheng Ji" that he was a generation of Confucian scholars, "with a frank mind and a funny nature, he was known as Chen Ya. But when I suddenly heard his words, they were almost humorous, and after thinking about them, they were famous quotes." This means that Ji Xiaolan is not only good at knowledge, but also has a good temperament and a very reasonable sense of humor. It should be said that this evaluation is basically realistic.

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China In the Qing Dynasty, there was a man in official history and He is a very dazzling figure in unofficial history. He not only occupies the spotlight in orthodox historical biographies, but also has a good reputation among the people.

This figure is Ji Xiaolan, who was the leader in academics during the Qianlong period and became a literary scholar of the generation.

Ji Xiaolan, named Yun, Xiaolan as his given name, Chunfan, also known as Tea Star, Master of Thirty-Six Pavilions, Guanyi Taoist, and later nicknamed Old Man Gushi and Shiyun. He was a native of Xian County, Hejian Prefecture, directly under the Central Government (now Cang County, Hebei Province). He was the first scholar in Shuntian in Dingmao during the Qianlong reign. He was a Jinshi in Jiaxu and became a commoner in the Hanlin Academy. He taught editors and handled academic affairs. He served successively as an official in daily life, as an official in charge of daily affairs, as a student at Zuo Shuzi, and as a bachelor at the Imperial Academy. Later, because of his involvement, he His children and in-laws, Lu Jianzeng (also known as Danyuan and Baosun, named Yayu and Daoyuezi, a native of Dezhou, Shandong Province, served as Changlu and Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy), was assigned to a case He went to Urumqi and served as the seal officer Zhang Jing in the garrison, and Yang was in charge of writing books. This was in the 34th year of Qianlong's reign. In the third year, he was called back by grace order and reinstated as editor.

From then on, his official career was smooth sailing, and he successively served as a bachelor of daily affairs, an official of daily affairs, a bachelor of Shishi, a minister of Zhanshifu, a bachelor of the cabinet, and a prime minister of Chinese calligraphy affairs. He also served as the minister of the Ministry of War, the censor of Zuodu of the Duchayuan, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and the Minister of Rites. He was granted the title of Guanglu Dafu, an official at the banquet, and the director of the Wenyuan Pavilion. He was given the gift of riding horses in the Forbidden City.

However, Ji Xiaolan’s most important achievement in his life was his academic activities. He has always been the leader of official academic work. Whenever there is editing or book revision, he will be there. He served successively as editor and editor of Wuying Palace, promotion and editor of "Three Links" Museum, chief editor of "Meritorious Officials Museum", chief compiler of "Excerpts of the Martyrs of Ministers of the Victorious Kingdom", chief compiler of National History Museum, and chief editor of Fanglue Museum. , "Sikuquanshu" Chief Compiler, "Official List" Chief Compiler, "Eight Banners Annals" Chief Compiler, Vice President of Shilu Hall, and Vice President of Huidian Hall. He participated in the compilation of many important classics in his life, which is countless.

In addition to revising books, another thing he did a lot of was serving as an examiner. He successively served as examiner of the Qianlong Shanxi Township Examination, co-examiner of the Gengchen Examination, co-examiner of the Renwu Provincial Township Examination, admiral of Fujian Academic Affairs, vice president of the Jiachen Examination, chief executive of the Jiyouwu Examination, and Jiaqing Bingchen Conference Zhengzongguan, Jiweiwu Huixi Zhengzongguan, Renxu Huixi Zhengzongguan. Every time he takes office, he must write a poem to convey to his colleagues to encourage each other with sincerity. He was not afraid of doing his best to encourage young people to learn, so he had many disciples. Through his hands, he mentored many talents.

Ji Xiaolan’s ancestral home is in Jijiabian Village, Shangyuan County, Yingtian Prefecture, Jiangsu Province. In the second year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1404), he moved to the south of the Yangtze River and took his surname Shijifu. Ji Xiaolan’s ancestor Ji Jiaopo went all the way north, and finally Naturalized in Jingcheng, Jiushili, Lixian County. During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, the branch of Ji Shen, the ancestor of Ji Xiaolan, moved to Cuierzhuang, three miles away from Jingcheng.

After more than two hundred years, the population of descendants has multiplied. By the Qing Dynasty, the Ji family had become one of the few surnames in Xian County.

Xian County is located in the southeast of Zhili Province and is the gateway from Beijing to the southeast region. "From Nanjing to Beijing, there are eighteen bows on the royal road." This royal road passes through Xianxian County. It borders the Bohai Sea in the east, Taihang in the west, Qilu in the south, and Jingwei in the north. It is also a cultural center. Liu De, the half-brother of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was named the King of Hejian. The capital was located in Xian County. It is said in history that King Xian studied ancient times well, sought truth from facts, worked hard to organize ancient books, and rescued cultural heritage. All he obtained were ancient texts and pre-Qin books.

Ji Xiaolan once said in his "Luanyang Xiaoxiaolu": "The Yu family is only a hundred miles away from the sea, so Hejian was called Yingzhou in ancient times, and the terrain tends to the east? brgt;

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Ji Yun (1724-1805) was also known as Xiaolan, Chunfan, and Shiyun. Guanyi Taoist was also called the Old Man of Gushi in Xian County, Zhili of the Qing Dynasty (today's Cangzhou City, Hebei Province) because of the huge Taihu Stone in his residence at Hufang Bridge in Beijing.