Brief introduction of Wang Zhenggong

Wang Zhenggong (1133~1203), whose courtesy name was Chengfu, whose original name was Shensi and whose given name was Youzhi, was changed to avoid the taboo of Xiaozong. He was a native of Yinxian County (now Ningbo, Zhejiang Province). People from the Song Dynasty. Xunzi. Use shade to supplement generals and ministers. In the 24th year of Emperor Gaozong's reign in Shaoxing (1154), he was appointed as the chief administrator of Yihuang and sought changes to Qingtian. At the beginning of Emperor Xiaozong's reign, he transferred the manager of Junzhou to join the army. In the fourth year of Qiandao (1168), he was in charge of the accounts department of Jinghu South Road Transportation Department. In seven years, he learned about Putian County. In the seventh year of Chunxi (1180), Chaozhou was sentenced to death. In the ninth year, he signed a letter to be the judge of Wu'an Che Jiedu, and in the eleventh year, he changed to Huainan. In the 14th year, the person in charge of Jinghu North Road comforted the driver Yiwen. In the third year of Guangzong Shaoxi's reign (1192), he learned about Lizhou. Ningzong learned about Qizhou in the fourth year of Qingyuan (1198). In six years, he was sentenced to some prison sentences for Guangnan West Road. He died in the third year of Jiatai at the age of seventy-one. There is "Yue Zhai Jingli Collection" ("Gong Wei Collection" Volume 100 "Wang Jun's Epitaph"), which has been lost. The eternal masterpiece

Wang Zhenggong composed a poem

The place that left the eternal masterpiece of Guilin’s landscape poetry is Duxiu Peak in the city center. The author of this masterpiece is Wang Zhenggong.

Wang Zhenggong, to be honest, in terms of official position and literary reputation, it is impossible for him to be compared with those literary giants. However, this eternal masterpiece is enough to make this upright old man one of the cultural celebrities.

This old man from Ningbo has earned his reputation all his life because he believes that officials are upright and honest. He is not afraid of offending powerful people. Therefore, although he has entered the officialdom since he was in his 20s and has been an official for decades, he has achieved considerable political achievements. I didn't see any progress. I was transferred several times and got a slight promotion, but I never made it to the top. When he was in his 60s, he served as a magistrate in Chaozhou. He once built the Xiangzi Bridge on the Han River to facilitate people's travel, and was praised by the local people. Later, in the sixth year of Qingyuan (1200), at the age of 68, he went to Guilin to serve as the prefect of Guangnan West Road, where he served as the prefect of Guangnan West Road, which was considered a slight promotion.

When Wang Zhenggong first arrived in Guilin, he was already an old man and a new official. He was just doing things according to the rules. Logically speaking, there would be no trouble. Soon, the first year of Jiatai (1201) coincided with the annual competition (the year of the rural examination). That year, the number of Guangxi students who took the provincial examinations was 11. Wang Zhenggong had heard for a long time that Guilin students often achieved good results in the imperial examinations, which made people dare not look down upon them. The results of this provincial examination also made him happy for the students, so he followed the convention of the Luming Banquet and, as a local official, hosted a banquet for the successful students in the mansion.

When drinking with students and talking about studying hard and serving the court, it is indispensable to compose poems to encourage each other.

Wang Zhenggong wrote two poems in Qilu when he was slightly drunk:

In ancient Guizhou, there were always many characters.

Egguan Emperor should be able to give orders to those who are talented and capable, and he can advise anyone who is not a Taoist artist.

Economic talent is a far-reaching tool, and rituals and music are in harmony with each other.

The three gentlemen and eight handsome men are all handsome, and they are firmly at the top of Tianjin.

Guilin’s landscapes are among the best in the world, and its jade and greenery can be seen here.

The morale of the army is still high, and the writing field is like a battlefield.

The tigers and leopards at nine passes watch the fierce enemy, and the swans and birds from thousands of miles away stand and talk in the drama.

The old man's eyes were rubbed and he suddenly felt refreshed. You guys are in the south of the battle.

The poem "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world" spread throughout China from this wine table and has been sung for a long time.

After reading the whole poem, we know that the author’s original intention is not to praise the landscape of Guilin, but to hope that students will make further progress in their studies so that they can be as good as the landscape of Guilin. , show off the best in the world. This famous saying may be Wang Zhenggong's original creation, or it may be that he picked it up at his fingertips and quoted other people's sentences. In short, it was used seamlessly, which shows that the author's talent for writing poetry is by no means ordinary.

It can also be seen from this poem that this famous saying originally came from an imperial examination poem, which shows that as early as the Song Dynasty, the value of pursuing fame through the imperial examination had been deeply rooted in the hearts of Guilin.

Wang Zhenggong composed poems at the banquet. He became stronger and more energetic, and was impressed by his disciples. A man named Zhang Ciliang carved these two poems by Wang Zhenggong on the Reading Rock at the southern foot of Duxiu Peak. The stone here was chosen probably to echo the name of Reading Rock.

Posthumous events after composing this poem

Shortly after composing this poem, the case of Xing'an County Magistrate's indulgence in his son beating to death a county official occurred.

As the local chief official, Wang Zhenggong enforced the law impartially and sent the criminal to a nearby road for custody in order to facilitate a confession. This offended the Xing'an County magistrate and violated the unspoken rules of officialdom, and he was falsely accused and dismissed from office. Later, although the case was investigated and Wang Zhenggong's reputation was restored, he had no official position and was old. He was sent by the imperial court to serve as a temple priest in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province, and to be in charge of Chongyou Temple. He retired to the second line and died there.

Perhaps it was because Wang Zhenggong was dismissed from office that the person concerned deliberately covered the stone carving above Reading Rock with mud in order to get out of the relationship; perhaps it was because over time, the rainwater seeping from the cliffs mixed with the rock The sand between the cracks covered the stone carving. In short, Wang Zhenggong's poem engraved on Duxiu Peak Reading Rock soon disappeared from the light of day and was even forgotten by people. Fortunately, the influence of famous quotes is astonishing. Wang Zhenggong's poems written at the Deer Ming Banquet were brought to Lin'an, the capital, by the students at the banquet, and spread from Lin'an to all directions. With the passage of time, and the different cultural upbringings and artistic tastes of the eulogists, the whole poem was omitted or forgotten by the eulogizers, leaving only the sentence "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world", which has been circulated for thousands of years and has never ceased to exist. .

Shocking discovery

In 1983, two young Guilin archaeologists were sorting out the stone carvings on the cliff of Duxiu Peak when they discovered a piece of fluffy grass on the cliff above Reading Rock. Below, there seems to be a crack, which is not integrated with the stone wall. They gently lifted up the humus layer, and unexpectedly discovered a well-preserved stone carving. When they cleaned the stone wall and then used skilled techniques to rub the stone carvings, they discovered that what was covered under the layer of humus was actually the location of a famous saying that had been buried in the dust of history for almost eight hundred years! Forever passed down

The poem "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world" will be passed down forever

■ Tang Xiangping

"Guilin's landscape is the best in the world". This poem has been passed down through the ages and has influenced people at home and abroad. People who have never been to Guilin are fascinated by it. It was created by an official named Wang Zhenggong in the Southern Song Dynasty. Wang Zhenggong (1133~1203), whose courtesy name was Chengfu, was originally named Shensi and also had the courtesy name Youzhi. He changed his name to avoid the taboo of Song Xiaozong Zhao Shen (pronounced "Shen"). A native of Yin County (now Ningbo, Zhejiang Province). Although he only served as an official in Guilin for two short years, he left such a rich gift.

Finding the Master in Quatrains

In the works of modern literati such as the patriot Wu Mai of the Republic of China, Guo Moruo, the famous poet He Jingzhi, etc., the poem "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world" frequently appears. But where does this poem come from and who is the original author has puzzled many researchers for a long time. Someone discovered that in the sixth year of Baoyou in the Southern Song Dynasty (1258), Li Zengbo, who was the envoy of Guangnan and the prefect of Jingjiang Prefecture at the time, wrote the sentence "Guilin's mountains and rivers are the best in the world" in his article "Reconstruction of Xiangnan Tower"; Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty In the eighth year (1882), Jin Wuxiang, the governor of Guangxi, wrote a poem "Traveling to the Mountains and Rocks of Guilin", changing the "mountains and rivers" in Li Zengbo's "Guilin's mountains and rivers are the best in the world" to "landscapes". Therefore, the origin of "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world" has been debated in academic circles from the late Qing Dynasty to the 1980s. Some people say it comes from Li Zengbo's "Guilin mountains and rivers are the best in the world", while others say it comes from Jin Wuxiang's poem. It wasn't until one day that a stone tablet appeared that the debate ended.

In 1983, when Guilin cultural relics workers conducted a comprehensive investigation and cleaning of the Duxiu Peak stone carvings, they found that there seemed to be cracks under a piece of fluffy grass on the rock wall at the entrance of the Reading Rock, which was not integrated with the stone wall. They gently lifted up the humus layer and made an unexpected discovery: this was a cliff stone carving that had not been discovered since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. When they cleaned the stone wall and used skilled techniques to rub the stone carvings, they found that the two poems on the stele were engraved verbatim with the lines "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world". The authors were Qingyuan and Qingyuan of the Southern Song Dynasty. During the Jiatai period, Wang Zhenggong, a native of Yinxian County, served as the prison guard on Guangnan West Road. The famous saying, which had been buried in the dust of history for nearly 800 years, finally came to light again. This poem by Wang Zhenggong was published about 50 years earlier than Li Zengbo's.

Guilin City *** has copied the cliff stone carvings of Wang Zhenggong's poems on Duxiu Peak and erected them in the Guilin Central Square. It has also built a huge statue of Wang Zhenggong on the bank of Guilin Shan Lake - this old man in his 60s is writing the poem. Write a poem that spreads Guilin's landscape to the world - to remind future generations to remember this sage's contribution to promoting Guilin's landscape, history and culture more than 800 years ago.

The best line comes from a poem to encourage driving

In fact, "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world" comes from a poem to persuade driving by Wang Zhenggong, but the theme of the poem is not about Guilin's landscape.

The two poems engraved on the Duxiu Peak stone tablet are as follows:

(1)

In ancient Guizhou, where there are hundreds of mountains and thousands of peaks, it is difficult for people from rural areas to 俦.

Egguan Emperor should be able to give orders to those who are talented and capable, and he can advise anyone who is not a Taoist artist.

Economic talent is a far-reaching tool, and rituals and music are in harmony with each other.

Three kings and eight emperors are all in good condition, and Tianjin is firmly at the top.

(2)

Guilin’s landscapes are among the best in the world, and the green jade and green flowers can be seen.

The morale of the army is still high, and the writing field is like a battlefield.

The tigers and leopards in the Nine Passes watch their powerful rivals, and the Kunpeng in the Wanli Pass stands in the drama to talk.

The old man’s eyes were rubbing and he suddenly felt refreshed. You guys are in the south of the fight.

There is also a preface engraved on the stele: "When Jiatai changed to Yuan Dynasty, there was a great competition in Guilin. On September 16th, there were ten people who were with Ji. They used stories to celebrate the banquet. Give some prison rights. The government affairs are in Siming (there is Siming Mountain in Wang Zhenggong's hometown). Wang Zhenggong wrote this poem to persuade him to drive. "It can be seen from the preface that these two seven-line poems are poems to encourage driving.

"Persuading someone to drive" means to persuade someone to take up a position or do something. It is an act of courtesy for officials in ancient China. To persuade means to encourage; to drive means to recommend talents and to be willing to drive them to the capital in person. There is this passage in "The Book of Han: The Second Chronicle of Emperor Gao": "If any wise scholar or official is willing to travel with me, I can honor him and announce it to the world so that my intention is known... In the imperial censor, the law is enforced by the county guard, and his intention is Those who are said to be virtuous must persuade and drive them. "Wang Zhenggong's "Encouragement to Drive" comes from this allusion. The meaning of the preface to Wang's poem is that as a prefect (the prefect is commonly known as "prefect" or "prefect"), he was very happy that 11 people in the area under his jurisdiction could pass the examination. He specially organized a deer-minging banquet as a rule and encouraged them to go to the capital to participate in the next year. Take examinations and palace examinations to gain fame.

Both poems focus on exhortation. The first poem begins with a landscape, the third sentence means that the Confucian scholars in Eguan Bodhisattva collectively echoed the Mingchun Rites Examination (i.e. Li Wei, Huixi), the fourth sentence praises them for their proficiency in Taoism, and the last couplet congratulates them They rushed to take the exam and succeeded.

The first two sentences of the second poem also describe the landscape. The neck couplet and the chin couplet are mainly words of praise. The author believes that the people are as high in morale as those who set out on an expedition, and their future is promising. After praising the talents of the scholars, describing the fierce battles in the literary field, and wishing them a bright future, Wang Zhenggong poured out his feelings. "My old eyes felt refreshed when I rubbed them", which means that these talented people made him overjoyed and made his eyes refreshed. Wang Zhenggong wished them to be like the six stars of the Southern Dipper, hanging high in the sky and shining brightly. The theme of celebrating the prosperity of talents has been completed.

In both poems, the first two sentences (or even one sentence) are used to describe the scene. The following sections are mostly reasoning, such as "It has always been difficult for people to be together", "Who is not a master of Taoism and art", etc., All in a discussion tone. The two poems make extensive use of allusions, and almost every word has its origin. This is the embodiment of "taking discussion as poetry" and "taking talent and learning as poetry" in the Song Dynasty. It also shows that Song poetry is based on meaning, focusing on reasoning, and is new and thin.

With the eternal quatrain "Guilin's landscape is the best in the world", "Poem to Encourage Driving" and its author Wang Zhenggong are enough to be immortalized.

He is remarkable as an official

Wang Zhenggong is remarkable both as an official and as a person.

In the seventh year of Chunxi in the Southern Song Dynasty (1180), Wang Zhenggong was appointed as the general magistrate of Chaozhou. There was no bridge on the Hanjiang River in Chaozhou in ancient times. "Chaozhou Sanyang Zhi·Bridge Road" records: "When entering Guangzhou from the east, there is a river blocking the tide. The sand is flat and the water falls, and a reed is navigable; when the rain accumulates and the river rises, the waves are rapid and far away from the shore. Lao Yucao Boaters should be afraid that they will not be able to travel four or five times in a day, and those who come and go will suffer from two diseases. "In order to cross the river, people often "stay out day and night to wait for their convenience." It can be seen that it is difficult to cross the Hanjiang River and the people have no trouble without a bridge. In the seventh year of Qiandao in the Southern Song Dynasty (1171), Zeng Wang, the magistrate of Chaozhou, connected 86 boats together, put stones into the boats, and tied them with ropes to fix them, and built a pontoon Kangji Bridge (this is the earliest Guangji Bridge). Jiqiao). After Wang Zhenggong arrived in Chaozhou, he built additional bridge piers on both sides of the Hanjiang River, and added giant trees on them to connect the two sides, making the bridge a combination of a pontoon bridge and a girder bridge. After successive generations of construction, Guangji Bridge integrates beam bridge, arch bridge and pontoon bridge, which is unique in the history of bridges in my country.

Chaozhou Guangji Bridge was later listed as one of the four ancient bridges in China along with Zhaozhou Bridge, Luoyang Bridge and Marco Polo Bridge. In 1988, it was also listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

In the sixth year of Qingyuan (1200), Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty, Wang Zhenggong went to Guilin to serve as the governor of Guangnan West Road Criminal Prison and Quan Zhifu. He was in charge of the judiciary and criminal prisons in Guangxi, interrogating prisoners, reviewing relevant documents, and reporting to them. The imperial court impeached relevant personnel and monitored local officials. During his tenure, Wang Zhenggong was loyal to his duties and enforced the law impartially. There was a murder case in Xing'an County. The county magistrate's son beat to death a minor official who had offended him. The magistrate protected the son. After receiving the report, Wang Zhenggong immediately arrested the county magistrate's son. In order to prevent collusion with the confession, the criminal was also sent to a neighboring county for custody. He offended the magistrate of Xing'an County. The county magistrate colluded with some corrupt officials who had been impeached by Wang Zhenggong before, and falsely accused Wang Zhenggong, which led to Wang Zhenggong's dismissal from office. Although the case was later revealed, Wang Zhenggong was unable to be reinstated because of his old age. He then went to Wuyishan, Fujian, and became a temple worshiper (the person in charge of incense in the temple). He died in Wuyi Mountain in 1203 at the age of 71.

According to records, when Wang Zhenggong bid farewell to Guilin, which he was infinitely fond of, he wrote a poem to his subordinates and friends to express his farewell emotions:

Jue Zhi Guanli Shaoyi Tutu , Begin to believe that there is no embarrassment in leisure.

If you believe in Coca-Cola in life, who will stop your return to Kangzhuang?

***Zui had a limited cup during his lifetime, pouring the present and past in my chest.

I had known that wealth would be like floating clouds, and I would sigh and return to the fields without being able to make a fortune.