This couplet is posted in the ancestral hall of Li Hongzhang in Nanjing.
Part one: Being an official is not to enjoy a happy life. As long as you have money in your pocket, rice in the warehouse and poetry in your stomach, you are the prime minister in the mountains.
Bottom line: You don't need to take medicine to pray for a long life. I hope you are healthy, carefree and have no creditors. You can be a fairy on the ground.
Horizontal batch: happy every day.
The evaluation of Li Hongzhang, an important official in the late Qing Dynasty, has always been mixed. But there is no doubt that Li Hongzhang does have some real talents. The Li family and his son are known as "three scholars in one school". According to legend, Li Hongzhang helped Zeng Guofan to revise the throne and changed "repeated defeats and wars" to "repeated defeats and wars". With a slight change, the indomitable courage of the Xiang army was extracted. As a result, instead of blaming Zeng Guofan, the court rewarded him.
Li Hongzhang is outstanding in literary talent and good in writing. Like other literati, he often writes couplets. These couplets reflect the inner world of this historical figure and his life track from a specific angle.
Li Hongzhang served as the governor of Zhili for a long time in the Qing court, which influenced the political situation in China for forty years. After he was promoted to a bachelor's degree in Wenhua Temple, he wrote a couplet: "Courtiers are often called predecessors, but there are still good people who are called posthumous title." Self-satisfied modeling and exuberant irrepressibility show the trade union.
In Baoding Zhili Governor's Office, there are couplets inscribed by Li Hongzhang when he was governor of Zhili. The first part is: In the past, it was Kyrgyzstan's aid, but now it controls the strict border, and it is idle to look at politics, and the layout of a valley and a hill. The bottom line is: near Taihang, far from Bohai, full of lofty sentiments, and follow suit. Looks high-spirited and full of ambition.
There used to be a pair of copper couplets on the gate of the Qiao family courtyard in Shanxi: "Children and grandchildren have wisdom, and the family will be big; Brothers are fat at home. " According to legend, this couplet was given by Li Hongzhang, and Qiao Zhiyong, a Shanxi businessman, paid a large sum of money to pledge100000 silver for the establishment of beiyang fleet. But this pair of couplets is simple and auspicious, with far-reaching implications.
Li Hongzhang once proposed and donated money to repair the Middle Temple and Baogong Temple in his hometown. Zhongmiao Temple is located in Fenghuang Rocky on the north bank of Chaohu Lake, which is named after it is located between Chaoxian and Hefei. On the east side of the nave, there is a Zhao Zhong Temple built in memory of soldiers of the Huai Army. In the temple, "Zezhong people return to the city, and go down with the stream. The river flows in front of them, and Feng Ling, the jade seat, is the oldest daughter of the town; Li Hongzhang inscribed the couplets of the two new temples in Hunan and Huaihe, with Junshan Mountain in the south and Laoshan Mountain in the north. He used the Milky Way to wash his nails, publicize fragrance and praise the narcissus king. Baogong Temple is located on Xianghua Wharf in Baohe Park, Hefei. The stone tablet behind the temple is engraved with the words "Rebuilding Baogong Temple" and "Laughing at the riverside, the country has heard about grass; The couplet "Qian Qiu Town is here, I recommend fragrant flowers when I am old" was also written by Li Hongzhang.
"There are thousands of rooms in Ande Guangsha, sheltering the whole world; I am willing to be a good person in the village with the second and third sons of our party. " This is a couplet inscribed by Li Hongzhang for the Anhui Guild Hall in Hangzhou. Very easy to use, very dedicated.
The above couplets reflect Li Hongzhang's attention to nostalgia and homesickness, as well as his admiration for the sages in his hometown.
Everyone has a difficult book to read, and great men are no exception. 1884 On the eve of the Sino-French War, warring factions and peace factions in the imperial court were at daggers drawn. Li Hongzhang tried his best to avoid war and was listed as "six killers" by anti-French people. Li Hongzhang was very timid, so he quickly shut up and wrote a couplet: "After all the hardships in the world, there will be spring in his chest." It looks a little disheartened but not cold, and it is very self-deprecating.
It is said that Li Hongzhang went to Shimonoseki for negotiations, and Japanese Prime Minister Ito Bowen said it was difficult: "There is no phase inside, no generals outside, and you should be jade." Li Hongzhang made a couplet about this: "The sky is unpredictable, and the earth is unpredictable. This is a measure of the English system. " It reflects the embarrassment and potential sadness of Li Hongzhang who played the role of "paperhanger" in the falling incident. Later, someone added "what will happen in the future" and "quantity doesn't matter" at the end of the upper and lower couplets, which is a wonderful pen with strong irony.
A few years ago, at a folk collection exchange meeting, a pair of couplets attracted attention. This pair of couplets reads "The economy in the mountains only seeks medicine, and the mood in my later years only loves books", and it is signed by Li Hongzhang. This couplet seems to have been written by Li Hongzhang in his later years. Between the lines, it shows the lonely situation and sad state of mind of this important official in the imperial court at the time of dying.
After Li Hongzhang's death, the Qing government built 10 ancestral temple in his birthplace and workplace to show his long-term kindness. In the ancestral hall of Li Hongzhang in Nanjing, there is a couplet written by modern people, which is said to be written by Li Hongzhang: "It is not an official who enjoys happiness. As long as you have money in your pocket, millet in your warehouse and poetry in your stomach, you are the prime minister in the mountain; I pray not to take medicine in the new year. I hope that I am not sick, have no troubles, have no creditors, and be a fairy on earth. " Some people say that Li Hongzhang wrote this when he was dismissed from office at home. Lianzhong revealed the helplessness and yearning for a quiet life of this senior official who has been at the center of the whirlpool of contradictions, but he was in a high position and could not help it.
As an important historical figure in the late Qing Dynasty, "Li Hongzhang" sometimes appears in couplets written by others. Couplets published by Sanqin Publishing House recorded two satirical couplets related to Li Hongzhang.
One is "Yang San died without Su Chou, and Mr. Li Er was a traitor." Yang San refers to Yang Mingyu, a famous ugly Kunqu opera at that time, which was called Li Er because Li Hongzhang ranked second among the brothers. In couplets, praise and criticism are clear at a glance, and they are straightforward. "Death" is also very magical to "Sir". It can be seen that the history of signing the treaty on behalf of the Qing government left a great shame on Li Hongzhang.
The other is "the prime minister Hefei is thin in the world, and the farmer Changshu is barren in the world." Li Hongzhang is a native of Hefei, Anhui Province, a university student in Wenhua Hall, equivalent to the prime minister. The "Xing Nong" in the second couplet refers to Weng Tonghe, a senior minister of the household department. He was also in charge of Qian Gu in the Qing Dynasty, so he was called Xing Nong. Weng was from Changshu, Jiangsu. This couplet contains their official positions and places of origin, which is a pun, reflecting the situation of the poor in the country at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Experienced ups and downs, life has come to an end. Shortly after the signing of the Xin Chou Treaty, Li Hongzhang died of depression and overwork, vomiting blood. Many elegiac couplets written to Li Hongzhang are excellent.
The elegy written by Yu Yue, a famous writer and educator in the late Qing Dynasty, goes like this: "Just after forty, you were conquered, and before fifty, you were slaughtered. You were proud of your classics and stood proudly in the world, making it difficult and making your career worse; Three fairs are teachers, and eating thousands of households is vulgar. They are important to the sky and decorate the last ceremony. However, the border police are still cloudy, still far away, still surprised and loyal. " It can be said that confrontation is stable and official duties are proper. It's just a one-sided view, which is suspected of singing a hymn.
Yan Fu, a modern enlightenment thinker and translator in China, wrote an elegy: "If you did your best at that time, you would get more results;" If you can't see yourself in the evening, what about the scholar's theory? "It can be seen that Yan Fu has both affirmation and criticism of Li Hongzhang.
Liang Qichao said in Li Hongzhang's Biography: "I respect Li Hongzhang's talent, I cherish Li Hongzhang's knowledge, and I mourn Li Hongzhang's experience." Generally speaking, Li Hongzhang is a tragic figure in history, and the controversy surrounding him has never stopped. Li Hongzhang in couplets can be described as bittersweet and salty, which makes people feel a lot.