Fan Zhongyan and Yueyang Tower

As the name suggests, Yueyang Tower should be the main content. This is not only determined by the genre of the article, but also by the reason why Fan Zhongyan wrote this article. original intention. In the third year of Qingli in the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan was demoted to Dengzhou, Henan after the failure of the Qingli New Deal. His friend Teng Zijing was also demoted to Hunan because of false accusations. During his tenure in Hunan, Teng Zijing had considerable political achievements. As the saying goes, "Government can be coordinated and people can be harmonized, and everything can be improved." The next year, under his leadership, the Yueyang Tower was rebuilt by "enhancing the old system". In order to record this grand event, Teng Zijing asked his friend Fan Zhongyan to write a story about the Yueyang Tower after it was renovated. Obviously, Teng Zijing wanted the great master Fan Zhongyan to use his pen to record the unprecedented and spectacular scale and shape of the renovated Yueyang Tower to show his political achievements. But as a result, Fan Zhongyan, who was commissioned by a friend to write an essay called Yueyang Tower, only described the renovated Yueyang Tower in a few words as "adding to its old structure and engraving poems of Tang sages and modern people on it." Even the scenery seen when climbing to the Yueyang Tower was described briefly as "prepared by predecessors". Fan Zhongyan, a master of prose and a good friend of Teng Zijing, ignored the advice of his friends and the stylistic characteristics of this type of prose about objects. He not only did not describe the grand scene of Yueyang Tower, but instead wrote it into a poem about borrowed objects similar to a poem about ascending the tower. It is a lyrical prose that satisfies friends, and makes previous researchers unaware of the contradictions that do not match the title of the article. What is the reason, and what is the secret? In short, Fan Zhongyan did not remember the Yueyang Tower because he was in his post in Dengzhou at the time and had never seen the Yueyang Tower after its reconstruction. Not only had he not seen it at the time, he had never been to the Yueyang Tower before or since, let alone seen it. Crossed Dongting Lake. What he knew about Yueyang Tower and Dongting Lake was the late autumn picture of Dongting sent by Teng Zijing and the poems and essays about Dongting Lake and Yueyang Tower by famous writers of the previous generation. With these indirect materials, how could he faithfully record the grand scene of the Yueyang Tower after its reconstruction? How could he faithfully describe the landscape of Dongting Lake? Making something up out of thin air, or pretending to have been to Dongting Lake, copying ready-made materials, and piecing together an article, for ordinary people, this seems to be an ordinary social work. But Yueyang Tower is a scenic spot after all, Teng Zijing is his good friend after all, and he, Fan Zhongyan, is a master of writing. This is not the way to be a person or a writer. Therefore, it is natural that he did not describe the Yueyang Tower and Dongting Lake in detail in his article. However, due to the kindness and kindness of his friend, he asked someone to write a note from such a far away place, and he could not refuse, so he wrote this masterpiece of prose titled Notes of Yueyang Tower, which does not remember Yueyang Tower but directly expresses his feelings. .

It can be imagined that Fan Zhongyan faced the landscape depicted in the Dongting Late Autumn Picture, recited the poems of the previous sages, and saw the outstanding political achievements of his friend Teng Zijing after he was demoted. I think that although I have lofty political ambitions and innovative ideas, I am unable to do anything in the face of the chaotic political situation and worrying national affairs. I think about the rise and fall of many benevolent people through the ages who have empty ambitions and only end up regretting their lives. I can't help but sigh with emotion. So I borrowed the theme and briefly described the Yueyang Tower and its grand view based on "the descriptions of predecessors". Starting from the "emotion of looking at things" caused by the cloudy and sunny scenery on Dongting Lake, I described it as "worry about the world first, and happiness after the world". The thought of "being happy" is expressed vividly. Such thoughts are obviously more touching than simply remembering things and describing scenes, and can arouse the admiration and praise of those with lofty ideals and literati. Moreover, Fan Zhongyan’s article endows Yueyang Tower with extremely rich and profound ideological connotations. It is better not to remember Yueyang Tower than to remember Yueyang Tower. It is higher than any poems and essays written by previous sages about Yueyang Tower. Naturally, no one cares about his writing of Yueyang Tower. But I didn’t remember the contradiction in the title of Yueyang Tower. Another reason why Fan Zhongyan went against his friend's instructions and did not remember Yueyang Tower but was willing to write this Yueyang Tower record for his friend that did not match the name is that his friend Teng Zijing was "heroic and arrogant and rarely praised by others", while Fan Zhongyan "is a real person". There is no time to regulate it." So when Teng Zijing asked to write the Yueyang Tower but he could not remember it, he used the topic to make use of it and wrote "Don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself, worry about the world first, and then the world. The words "happy and happy" are used to encourage oneself and others. And this layer of profound meaning is not noticed by ordinary reporters who read Yueyang Tower. But the reason why people are rarely aware of the inconsistency in the title of Yueyang Tower is that the author did not remember Yueyang Tower because he "spared his pen like gold and did not waste anything." In addition to not knowing that the author had not seen Yueyang Tower when writing, the more important reason is that he did not remember Yueyang Tower. It is also because of Fan Zhongyan's superb writing skills that he avoids reality and avoids weaknesses, exploits strengths and avoids weaknesses, is good at hiding weaknesses, and can cleverly cover up contradictions that do not match the title of his article. In the article, he pointed out that a friend asked him to write the essay, but he did not explain that he was not in Baling County at the time. He did not say that he did not remember Yueyang Tower because he had not seen Yueyang Tower, but said that "predecessors have prepared it." Of course, it would be superfluous to memorize the poems and essays.

In fact, this should not be a reason not to remember the Yueyang Tower, because the predecessors only remembered the Yueyang Tower before it was rebuilt, and what my friend asked him to remember was the Yueyang Tower and its grand view after the rebuilding. How could the predecessors' descriptions be "prepared"? "Woolen cloth? But he handled this point extremely skillfully, saying "This is the grand view of Yueyang Tower, which has been described by predecessors" and then cleverly used the structure to naturally shift the focus of the article to "the feeling of looking at things. "It's nothing like" comes up, and it is natural and smooth to transfer the memory to the lyrical expression. And it is obvious that the few words "connecting distant mountains and swallowing the Yangtze River" are only the general characteristics of Dongting Lake. "It is vast and boundless" and is only common to large rivers and lakes. It is Fan Zhongyan's view of the lake. It was a "copy" of the Dongting Late Autumn Pictures, and he did not explain this point. As for the two sunny scenes written below, although they are extremely wonderful, they are not unique to Dongting Lake, but are the author's imagination. Fan Zhongyang had never been to Dongting Lake, so he could only do this. There is no need to criticize this point. Moreover, people's appreciation for this article is not at all about Yueyang Tower, but for its lyrical discussion. But if you think that Fan Zhongyan's description of the grand view of Yueyang Tower and the magnificent scenery of Dongting Lake is so true and vivid, then it is really a joke.

Mountains and rivers cannot bear too many sorrows,

The first floor carries on the romance of the ages.

Dengzhou is where Fan Zhongyan worked and where he created "The Story of Yueyang Tower" At that place, Fan Gong founded Huazhou Academy here. Now that thousands of years have passed, the pavilions and pavilions have been rebuilt here, and it has become a historical site, so it is worth remembering.

Nowadays, Dengzhou City, Henan Province,

More than a thousand miles away from Yueyang,

Only because of Fan Gong’s wonderful pen,

Huazhou Academy became famous.