“If you live high in the temple, you will worry about the people; if you live far away from the rivers and lakes, you will worry about the king.” This sentence means: as a senior official in the court, you should care about the people; People in the world must not forget to pay attention to the national security. In this way, I am worried about being an official in the imperial court, and I am also worried about being in a remote world.
The source of this sentence is: Fan Zhongyan's "Yueyang Tower" in the Song Dynasty
The original text is as follows:
In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was relegated to Baling County. . In the next year, the government was harmonious and people were in good hands, and everything was renovated. The Yueyang Tower was rebuilt, its old structure was added, and poems by Tang Xian and modern people were engraved on it, and I wrote a composition to record it. (Gu Tong: Ju)
I watched my husband Baling Shengsheng in a lake in Dongting. It holds distant mountains, swallows up the Yangtze River, is vast and boundless, with morning light and evening overcast, and myriad weather conditions. This is the grand view of Yueyang Tower, which has been described by predecessors. However, it is connected to Wu Gorge in the north and Xiaoxiang in the South Pole. Migrant poets and poets often meet here, and the feeling of looking at the things is the same?
If the rain is falling, the moon is not open, the wind is howling, the turbid waves are emptying, the sun and stars are hidden, the mountains are invisible, business travel is impossible, the rafters are toppled and destroyed, the dusk is dark, and the tigers roar and the apes cry. Climbing the tower, there are those who are nostalgic for their country, worried about slander and fear of ridicule, their eyes are full of desolation, and they feel extremely sad. (Yin Yao's first work: Yin Yao; Xin Yu Tong: Fei Yu)
As if spring and the scenery are bright, the waves are calm, the sky is light up and down, a vast expanse of blue, sand gulls are gathering, brocade scales are swimming, and the shore is covered with orchids. , lush and green. Or when the long smoke disappears, the bright moon shines thousands of miles away, the floating light leaps into the gold, the silent shadow sinks into the jade, and the fishermen answer each other's songs, how wonderful is this joy! When you climb the tower, you will feel relaxed and happy, forgetting your favors and disgrace together, drinking wine in the wind, and you will be overjoyed.
Sigh! Why should I try to seek the benevolent heart of the ancients or do something different from the two? Don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself. If you live high in a temple, you will worry about its people. If you live far away from the rivers and lakes, you will worry about your king. It means that you are worried when you advance, and you are also worried when you retreat. But when will you be happy? It must be said, "Be worried about the worries of the world first, and be happy after the joys of the world"! Alas! Weisi people, who can I return to?
It was September 15th, six years ago.
This article translated into vernacular is as follows:
In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was demoted to Baling County as the prefect. In the second year, political affairs went smoothly, the people were happy, and all kinds of neglected projects were started. So the Yueyang Tower was rebuilt, expanded to its original size, and poems and poems by famous Tang Dynasty figures and contemporary people were engraved on it. He asked me to write an article about this incident.
I saw the beautiful scenery of Baling County, all on Dongting Lake. It bites the hill and swallows the long river. The water flow is mighty and boundless. It is cloudy and sunny in a day, and the weather is ever-changing. This is the magnificent scene of Yueyang Tower. Previous accounts have been very detailed. Even so, it leads to Wu Gorge in the north and Xiaoshui and Xiangshui in the south. Most of the officials who were demoted to other places and poets gathered here. The emotions triggered by watching the natural scenery will probably be different. Bar?
Like the continuous rain that does not clear up for several months, the cold wind roars, and the turbid waves rush into the sky; the sun and stars hide their brilliance, and the mountains disappear into shape; merchants and travelers cannot pass, and the ship masts Falling down, the oar is broken; the sky is dark in the evening, tigers are roaring, and apes are crying. When you climb up this building, you will feel like leaving the capital, missing your hometown, worrying about others saying bad things, and fearing criticism. The depressing scene was everywhere, and I felt extremely sad.
When the spring breeze is warm and the sun is shining, the lake surface is calm and there are no stormy waves. The sky and lake light are connected, and it is green and vast. The gulls on the sandbank sometimes fly and sometimes stop, and beautiful fish swim by. Swimming away, the flowers and plants on the shore and on the islet are lush and green. Sometimes the large smoke completely dissipates, the bright moonlight pours thousands of miles away, the fluctuating light shines golden, the quiet moon image sinks into the water, and the fisherman's song sounds as you sing, me and the earth, this kind of fun is really endless! When you climb this building, you will feel open-minded and happy. You will forget all about glory and humiliation. Holding a wine glass and blowing the breeze, you will be so happy.
Alas! I once explored the thoughts and feelings of people with noble moral character in ancient times, or their moods were different from the above two people. Why is this? It is because we do not feel happy or sad due to changes in external objects and our own situation. When you are a high-ranking official in the imperial court, you should care about the people; when you are in a remote place, you should not forget to pay attention to the safety of the country. In this way, I am worried about being an official in the imperial court, and I am also worried about being in a remote world. In this case, when will they feel happy? Probably you will definitely say: "Be worried before the people in the world are worried, and be happy after the people in the world are happy." well! If there is no such person, who should I go with?
Written on September 15th, the sixth year of Qingli.
It may be difficult to understand the meaning just by reading the article, so it is easier to understand if we interpret it based on the context of the article's creation:
This article was written in the sixth year of Qingli ( AD 1046). Fan Zhongyan lived in an era when the Northern Song Dynasty was experiencing internal and external troubles. Internal class conflicts were becoming increasingly prominent, and externally the Khitan and Xixia were eyeing him. In order to consolidate power and improve this situation, the political group headed by Fan Zhongyan began to carry out reforms, which later generations called the "Qingli New Deal." However, the reform offended the interests of the conservatives of the feudal big landowner class and was strongly opposed by them. The emperor's determination to reform was not firm. Under the pressure of the conservative bureaucracy, the reform ended in failure.
After the failure of the "Qingli New Deal", Fan Zhongyan offended Prime Minister Lu Yijian, and Fan Zhongyan was demoted to Dengzhou, Henan. This article was written in Dengzhou, not Yueyang Tower.
Now that we have said this, let us appreciate and analyze this article together:
"The Story of Yueyang Tower" was written by the author at the request of his friend Teng Zijing, the prefect of Baling County, to rebuild the Yueyang Tower. A piece of prose created by. By writing about the scenery of Yueyang Tower and the different feelings it brings to people when it is rainy and sunny, this article reveals the ancient benevolent heart of "not to be happy with things and not to be sad with oneself", and also expresses his "worry about the world first" The patriotic feelings of loving the country and loving the people after worrying about the happiness of the world. The article goes beyond the narrow scope of simply writing about landscapes and views, and combines the changes in nature, the wind and rain, and the "emotion of looking at things" of "immigrant poets", thus placing the focus of the entire article on discussing political ideals. , which expands the realm of the article. The full text integrates narration, scene description, lyricism, and discussion, with movement and stillness, light and dark contrasting, simple words, harmonious syllables, and the use of parallelism to contrast scenes, which has become an innovation in miscellaneous notes.
The full text of "Yueyang Tower" has three hundred and sixty-eight words and five paragraphs.
The article gets right to the point at the beginning, describing the origin and origin of the matter. The writing begins with "spring of the fourth year of Qingli" to indicate the time, and the style is solemn and upright; calling Teng Zijing "relegated to Shou" already implies the sadness of the ups and downs of his official career, setting up a lyrical ambush for the following text. In the following, only eight words are used to describe Teng Zijing's political achievements, including the reconstruction of Yueyang Tower and the writing of notes, which serve as the guide for the entire text.
In the second paragraph, the style is uplifted and the words are passionate. First of all, he said, "The beauty of Baling is located in Dongting Lake" and set the scope of the description below. The following few words "carrying distant mountains and swallowing the Yangtze River" describe the grand view of Dongting Lake. One "title" and one "swallow", there is momentum. "The vastness of the water stretches across the boundless horizon", which expresses the majestic waves of the water; "The morning light and evening clouds create myriads of weather conditions", which briefly describes the changes in cloudiness and sunshine, which is concise and vivid. The first four sentences describe the spectacular scene of Dongting Lake from the perspective of space and the last two sentences from the perspective of time. The sentence "Predecessors have prepared their accounts" connects the past and the future, and responds to the previous sentence "Poems of Tang Xian and modern people". This sentence is not only modest, but also implies a turning point. The change of "ran" leads to a new artistic conception, from simply describing the scenery to using the brushwork of blending scenes to describe the "emotion of viewing things" of the "immigrant scholar", thus constructing a The main body of the full text.
The third and fourth paragraphs are two parallel paragraphs, running in parallel, one sad and one happy, one dark and one bright, like two different streams of emotions, conveying the mutual interaction between scene and emotion. A completely opposite life situation.
The third paragraph describes those who feel sad after seeing things. Starting with "Ruofu" is profound. This is a word that triggers discussion, and it also expresses the sentiment of virtuality. This virtuality is the condensation, refinement and sublimation of countless realities, which is quite typical. "Ruofu" below describes a sad situation, from the bad weather to the sadness of people's hearts. Four-character short sentences are used here, layer by layer, and gradually elaborated. The obscene rain, gloomy wind and turbid waves constitute the main scenery, which not only makes the sun and stars dim, hides the shape of the mountains, but also stops business travelers from moving forward; or when the dusk falls and the "tiger roars and the ape cries", it makes the passing "immigrants" come to a standstill. "There is the emotion of "going to the country and missing my hometown", the fear of "worrying about slander and ridicule", and the feeling of "being extremely sad".
The fourth paragraph describes those who are happy after seeing things. Led by "Zhi Ruo", a sunny picture opens. Although "Zhi Ruo" is also an enumeration tone, its syllables have become high-pitched and loud, and its style has become bright and powerful. Although the following description is still a short four-character sentence, the tone has changed, depicting a beautiful scene of a gentle spring breeze, bright scenery, and clear water and sky. There are even gulls flying freely, fish swimming happily, and even the ignorant aquatic plants and orchids are full of vitality. The author uses extremely concise pen and ink to describe a picture of lake light and spring scenery, which is as if you are reading it right in front of your eyes. It is worth noting that the sentence structure and rhythm of this paragraph are generally similar to the previous paragraph, but there are also variations. The sentence "And or" further expands the artistic conception, enhances the meaning of superimposed chants, and pushes the "joyful" atmosphere to a climax, and the state of mind of "climbing the tower" has also become the detachment and harmony of "loving, humiliating, and forgetting together." "Bring wine to the wind" with ease.
The fifth paragraph is the focus of the whole article. It starts with "域夫" and has both lyrical and argumentative meanings. After enumerating the two situations of sadness and happiness, the author's writing style suddenly became exciting, expressing a higher ideal state beyond the two, which is "not to be happy with things, not to be sad with oneself". Although it is human nature to be moved by feeling things and feel sad and happy because of things, it is not the highest state of being a human being. The benevolent people in ancient times had a firm will that was not shaken by changes in external conditions. Whether "living high in the temple" or "far away from the rivers and lakes", the concern for the country and the people remains unchanged. "As we advance, we also worry, as we retreat." This seems counterintuitive and somewhat unbelievable. The author also formulated a question and answer on this, relying on the ancient sage's words, and made an oath to "worry before the world's worries, and rejoice after the world's happiness". The song ends with a graceful performance, which highlights the main theme of the whole article. "Hey! Who can I return to, Weisi people?" The conclusion is "like resentment, like admiration, like crying, like complaining." It is sad and generous, and deeply affectionate, which makes people sigh. The writing time is indicated at the end of the article, which corresponds to the beginning of the article.
This article expresses the author's strong will to not give up his ideals despite being persecuted and worried about national affairs. At the same time, it is also an encouragement and comfort to his demoted comrades. "The Story of Yueyang Tower" is famous because of its lofty ideological realm.
Ouyang Xiu, another writer at the same time, said in an inscription written for him that he had been determined to be in the world since he was a child, and often recited to himself: "A scholar should worry about the world's worries first, and rejoice after the world's happiness." It can be seen that. What is said at the end of "Yueyang Tower" is "worry about the world's worries first, and rejoice after the world's happiness", which is the code of conduct of Fan Zhongyan throughout his life. Mencius said: "If you are powerful, you can benefit the world; if you are poor, you can only benefit yourself." This has become the creed of many scholar-officials in the feudal era. When Fan Zhongyan wrote this article, he was demoted from the official position and was "far away from the world." He could have adopted a self-isolated attitude and ended up in leisure and happiness. However, he proposed that upright scholar-bureaucrats should adhere to the principle of integrity and believed that personal honor, disgrace, and promotion should be ignored. "Don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself", "worry about the worries of the world first, and be happy after the happiness of the world", encourage yourself and your friends, this is commendable. The spirit embodied in these two sentences, the quality of enduring hardship first and enjoying pleasure last, undoubtedly still has educational significance.
Finally, I think it is necessary to introduce the author of this article:
Fan Zhongyan (October 1, 989 - June 19, 1052), courtesy name Xi arts. His ancestral home is Pizhou, and he later moved to Wuxian County, Suzhou. A politician and writer in the early Northern Song Dynasty. Fan Zhongyan lost his father when he was young, and his mother remarried to the Zhu family of Changshan, so she changed her name to Zhu Shuo. In the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1015), Fan Zhongyan studied hard and passed the exam, and was awarded the title of Guangde Army Manager to join the army. Later, he successively served as magistrate of Xinghua County, school administrator of Mi Pavilion, general magistrate of Chenzhou, magistrate of Suzhou, etc. He was repeatedly criticized for his impartiality and outspokenness. In the fourth year of Huangyou's reign (1052), he changed his name to Yingzhou and died on the way to take office at the age of sixty-four. He was given many gifts to the Grand Master, Zhongshu Ling and Shangshu Ling, and Duke of Chu. He was given the posthumous title "Wenzheng" and was known as Fan Wenzhenggong in the world.