Speaking of the word "Zhai", many people may first think of the vegetarian meals eaten by monks and Taoists. However, "Zhai" had another meaning in ancient times. It was often used as the name of a study or a store. In costume dramas, you can often see names like "Study" and "Xinzhai". Of course, there are also many modern people who use "Zhai". Named place. However, modern people do not use the word "zhai" as frequently as the ancients. Zhai was a commonly used word in ancient times. Why do fewer and fewer people use it in modern times?
The study is an indispensable space for modern intellectual families, but "study" is actually a popular modern term. Most of the ancients liked to use the words "zhai, hall, house, residence". The study rooms are named with the characters such as room, nunnery, pavilion, hut, pavilion, garden, pavilion, and cave.
Such as Pu Songling's "Liaozhai", Ji Xiaolan's "Yuewei Thatched Cottage", Liu Yuxi's "Humble Room", Lu You's "Laoxue'an", etc., among which "zhai" is One of the most commonly used words in ancient studies.
In ancient times, when "loyalty and poetry and books passed down from generation to generation" were emphasized, study culture naturally also received considerable attention. So, what did the study rooms of the ancients look like? How were they arranged?
What did the most ideal study rooms of the ancients look like?
"Why should a room be elegant if there is not much fragrance of flowers?"
Why did "Zhai" become one of the most commonly used words in ancient people's study rooms? What is "Zhai"?
Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi" of the Eastern Han Dynasty explained: "Zhai means abstinence and purity." The implication is that fast is a place where the heart is pure and clean, including respect and restraint of desires, and This is exactly the highest state that the ancients pursued and achieved when they were studying - to be quiet and elegant, to avoid the world, to devote themselves to learning, to read poetry and books, and to cultivate their moral character.
The study rooms of the ancients who pursued this realm were generally very simple, without too many furnishings. Liu Yuxi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, said in his "Inscription on the Humble Room": "If the mountain is not high, it will be famous if there are immortals. If the water is not deep, if there is a dragon, it will be spiritual. This is a humble room, but I am virtuous." Although the study is simple, it has piano playing and some Reading books can avoid the disturbance of secular world and the burden of official duties, which is enough. Therefore, Liu Yuxi quoted Confucius as saying: "Why is there such a thing as shabby?!"
Many ancient study rooms were famous for being "shabby", such as the "thatched cottage" where Bai Juyi lived and studied. "It is so simple that it is even shabby. He said in "The Thatched Cottage": "It's just a wood stick, no red added; it's just a wall, no white added.
It is used for building steps. Stone, power windows and paper; bamboo curtains and curtains, the rate is called "Yan". "It probably means that the wood for building the house is only cut with an axe, no paint is needed; the walls are just painted with mud, no lime is needed. Stones are used to build the steps, paper is used to cover the windows, curtains are made of bamboo, and tents are made of linen. Everything is simple.
The ancients not only did not seek luxury in the study room, but also did not care about the size of the study room. Lu You, a writer in the Southern Song Dynasty, said in the poem "Newly opened a small room": "A small room with side eaves can only accommodate a few people. In the east is a reading window, which was full of paper on the first day..." This newly opened small room "can only accommodate a few people" Lu You was already over eighty years old when he entered the study room, but Lu You was quite satisfied with the cabin: "The windows are quiet and quiet, and the books have an antique fragrance."
Ming Dynasty literati Gui Youguang The study "Xiang Jixuan" is also famous for its "smallness": "The room is only an abbot and can accommodate one person." Even the royal study is not necessarily big. For example, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty's study "Sanxi Hall" located in the Yangxin Hall of the Forbidden City was only eight square meters.
Although the ancients did not pursue the luxury and spaciousness of the study room, they were quite particular about the environment. Take "Xiang Jixuan" as an example. It is a century-old house with a north-facing door that still leaks. Gui Youguang didn't mind that it was broken and small, but he didn't care about the surrounding environment at all. He did it himself. Planting orchids, osmanthus, bamboo and wood in the courtyard transforms the external environment of the study into a very elegant one: "On the night of March 5th, the moon is half-walled, the osmanthus shadows are mottled, the wind moves the shadows, and the mountains are lovely.
"Similarly, the outside of Liu Yuxi's "humble house" is also "green with moss marks on the steps and green grass on the curtains"; Bai Juyi's "thatched cottage" was built in the beautiful Lushan Mountain and was located between Xianglu Peak and Yiai Temple, " Its scenery is extremely beautiful, also known as Mount Lu. ”
It can be seen from the above-mentioned celebrity study rooms that the ideal study room in the minds of the ancients is actually "there is no need for a large room to be elegant, and not to have too many flowers." Therefore, this sentence is often written by the ancients The couplets are hung in the study room.
How did the ancients like to decorate the study room?
I still have some incense sticks left. ”
The study room of the ancients pursued the word "elegance". A table, a chair, a lamp, and a few shelves of books are enough to become a study room, but if you want to make the study room elegant It is not a simple matter to be free from vulgarity and pleasing to the eye. Li Yu, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, once said: "Those who place the utensils and objects must be arranged appropriately so that when people enter the house and enter the hall, everything they see is not arranged in a careless manner, and everything is unique." deep feeling. ”
In addition to basic items such as tables, chairs, cabinets, lamps, pens, ink, paper, and inkstones, the study rooms of ancient people often also added several couches, Musical instruments, incense vessels, water vessels, calligraphy and paintings, antiques, jewelry, potted plants, etc.
How to display these utensils and supplies?
Gao Lian gave a decoration plan in "Eight Notes of Zunsheng". Some excerpts are as follows: "One long table in the studio, one ancient inkstone, one old bronze water ink, one old kiln pen grid, and one mottled bamboo pen holder. , an old kiln pen washer, a paste bucket, a water sink, a bronze and stone paperweight. There is a couch on the left, a rolling footstool under the couch, a small table at the head of the bed, and a bronze flower statue or a Ge kiln vase on top.
When they are in bloom, they are placed in a vase to collect the fragrance; when they are idle, they place Pu stones on top to collect morning dew to clear their eyes. Or set up a cauldron and use it to burn seals and seals to make them scented. Winter heater one. There is a guqin hanging on the wall and several more in the middle. For example, the Yunlin table in Wuzhong is of good style. There is one painting hanging on the wall, and only two paintings in the bookcase; the landscape is the top priority, followed by the flowers and trees, and the birds and figures are not included. Or you can paint landscapes, clouds, and statues of gods and Buddhas in honor of your name. The paintings of famous people and those with elegant poems can lead to great things..."
The furnishings in Gao Lian's study are indeed high-end and classy, ??but this is not a wealthy family. No, the study rooms of ordinary people in ancient times were mostly just "a table, a chair, a lamp and a few shelves of books."
Apart from this, there were only incense burners, bonsai, and couplets. The three things were most valued by the ancients. This can be seen from the paintings of literati after the Song and Yuan Dynasties. For example, in the anonymous painting "Figure" of the Southern Song Dynasty now collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the furnishings in the study are relatively simple and refreshing. The most prominent ones are: It is the pot of flowers in the front and center, and there is a "portrait" of myself hanging on the screen at the back.
Among the three items, the incense burner is indispensable for burning incense in the ancient study. , is a living habit that has been formed in the pre-Qin Dynasty. Like tea drinking, it later became a way of life for ancient literati, known as "elegant custom". Lu You wrote in "Burning Incense": "The spitting pot is gone, but it still remains. I study incense sticks for stoves"; Sun Zhiwei, a scholar in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, also recorded in "Collected Works of Gaitang": "The famous people of the time said that if you are poor, you must burn incense and you must sip tea..." There are many uses and benefits of burning incense. After burning, you can know the time. This is what Yuan Mei, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, said: "Reading on a cold night forgets to sleep, and the brocade quilt is ashes and the incense burner is smokeless." Incense can also soothe the mind, disinfect the air, and purify the indoor environment. Gao Panlong of the Ming Dynasty said in "Gao Zi's Suicide Notes·Mountain Residence Course": "Sip tea and burn incense to refresh your mind, and then read." ”
It is worth noting that in the study room of the ancients, a few couches were also necessary. Why did the ancients like to put couches in the study room? Mingwen Zhenheng’s "Chang" The article "A few couches" in "Wu Zhi" says: The couch in the study "must be quaint and lovely, and it will be comfortable for sitting and lying on." "More importantly, you can also put things on it and use it as several cases: "In Yan's free time, use it to display classics and history, read calligraphy and painting, Chen Dingyi, Luo Yaohe, and use pillow mats, what not to do?"
Where did the ancients put their books?
“Broken cypress is used as a bookcase, and the cypress in the cabinet becomes strong again.
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The most important and core thing in the study room is of course books. Where were the ancient people’s collections of books? In the early days, most of the books and clothes were hidden in boxes (books), which were precious. This is where the word "Secret Book" comes from.
Boxes, boxes, cupboards, cabinets and other storage utensils were commonly referred to as "勋物" by the ancients, and they were made of wood. Different materials, such as bamboo and leather, are called "boxes" that are smaller than boxes and are easy to carry. Putting books in boxes is one of the traditional ways of storing books for ancient scholars. There is a line in Su Shi's poem that "the family keeps it in ancient and modern times." The post, the ink color shines on the box. "The description is what he saw at Lu Yi's house in Qianzhou. Putting books in boxes is very common even in modern times when bookcases are popular.
Book Box
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The cupboard was not originally needed to store books, but for kitchen utensils. Ming Fang Yizhi's "Tongya·Miscellaneous Uses" said: "It is also used to store food, so it is called. 'Kitchen', commonly known as 'cupboard'. "During the Jin Dynasty, the phenomenon of using cupboards to store calligraphy and painting works had already appeared. "Book of Jin·Biography of Gu Kaizhi" records: "Kaizhi often sent a cupboard of paintings to Hengxuan. "Also according to "Southern History·Lu Cheng Biography": "Wang Jian's play is said to be Lu Gong's book and kitchen. ”
Cabinets officially became the standard feature of study rooms. It should be in the Tang Dynasty when study rooms flourished. Bai Juyi already had wooden bookcases in his study room. He said in "The Cabinet of Inscriptions": "The broken Cypress is used as a bookcase, and the cypress is strong again. Who collects and stores the collection? The title says Bai Lotte. "Pi Rixiu's "Visiting Li Chushi's Residence in the Autumn Evening" also said: "The rat in the bookstore has broken through the kitchen, and the bamboo garden is idle after the frost. "What's interesting is that Pi Rixiu also described the phenomenon of rats biting books that book collectors hate the most.
The bookcases in the Tang Dynasty were quite exquisite. Su E of the Tang Dynasty "Du Yang" "Zabian" records: Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty, who was fond of the way of immortals, "The horse-headed wine is three feet square, as dark as Qian's, and extremely skillful. It is made with a book for storing immortals and placed on the side of the tent." "This agate cabinet was a tribute from the Bohai Kingdom.
During the Song Dynasty, the cabinets containing books in the study were often made into compartments or drawers and could be locked. Li Renfu was in When compiling "Xu Zi Zhi Tong Jian Chang Bian", ten large bookcases were specially made. The "Historical Methods" in Zhou Mi's "Guixin Miscellaneous Knowledge" (Later Collection) of the Southern Song Dynasty said: "In the past, Li Renfu was the chief editor and made ten wooden kitchens. Each kitchen makes twenty pieces of boxes, and each box is marked with a jiazi. Everything that happened during the year and heard must be returned to this box, and it is arranged in order by month and day. It is well organized and can really be used as a law. "According to Song Zheng Jingwang's "Mengzhai Bi Tan", there were dozens of bookcases placed in the study of Fu Bi, the famous Prime Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty. Among them, one cabinet containing Taoist alchemy and other secrets was tightly locked.
There is a difference between ancient bookcases and bookcases. The former is tall and the latter is shorter. The cabinet can be used as a desktop. According to Gao Lian of the Ming Dynasty, the production of bookcases was very advanced. "Zunsheng Eight Notes·Yan Xianqing Appreciation Notes": "In the early Ming Dynasty, there was a system of bookcases, which was wonderful in the world. There is a flat plate on top, with both sides tilted up to hold the rolls. The lower space contains books, and the side panels are engraved with ribbon rings. Both sides of the cave door are doped with gold and copper rolling Yang lines. On the left side of the middle grid is a small cupboard surrounded by four panels, which can be opened and closed with doors. The gold-doped copper hinge is extremely skillful. "A very popular bookshelf in modern study rooms has been in use since the Ming Dynasty, and is called "book shelves". The book shelves are open, with most doors on the front, and the sides and back are mostly open. You can see the books placed on the shelves.