Wang Zhong
Wuyuan County in the Western Han Dynasty was established in the second year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (127 years ago). The county is governed in Jiuyuan (about today's Jiuyuan District, Baotou City). Liu Xin, a member of the Western Han Dynasty, a minister, and a scholar, served as the Taishou of Wuyuan around the third year of Jianping (4 BC).
Liu Xin is a member of the Western Han Dynasty clan, the fifth grandson of Liu Jiao, the half-brother of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty. He wrote "Seven Strategies", which created the earliest book classification method in China; He is the author of "Three Unified Almanacs", which is the world's earliest astronomical almanac; The standard measuring instrument of cylindrical shape, "Liu Xin rate" (pi) was passed down to later generations. Zhang Taiyan said that Liu Xin was "the biggest figure after Confucius." Gu Jiegang said that Liu Xin was "a great man in the academic world." "How can such a big man be too guarded by any party?
Reading the Book of Han, Volume 36, "The Biography of King Chu Yuan", it can be seen that Liu Xin voluntarily stayed away from Kyoto and took the initiative to serve as a local government because his ideas could not be realized and were rejected by the ruling ministers and colleagues.
How Liu Xin governed the government in Wuyuan and how his political achievements were have not yet been seen in historical books, but the "Sui Chu Fu" written when he took office used literary form to describe the route he walked, the scenery he saw, and the complicated mood at that time. This fu is also known as the first documentary narrative in the history of Chinese literature.
The full text of the book is contained in the fifth volume of the Ancient Wenyuan. The text is preceded by a short preface by later generations. Its preface: "The author of "Sui Chu Fu" is also written by Liu Xin. Xin Shaotong's "poems" and "books" can belong to the text, and Emperor Cheng called him as the Huangmen squire, the lieutenant of the middle base, the captain of the Zhongfeng Chedu, and the doctor of Guanglu. Xin Hao "Zuo's Spring and Autumn Period", want to stand in the academic official, when the Confucianism did not listen, Xin Nai moved the book to Dr. Taichang, and the responsibility was deep, for the court ministers were not sick, and they asked for supplements, and they were too guarded by Hanoi. It is also inappropriate for the clan to pawn the three rivers, and the five plains are too guarded. At that time, the government had lost a lot, and the officials who had experienced the domain of the old Jin Dynasty felt the present and thought of the past, so they made a fu, and sighed about the past and sent their own intentions. This preface illustrates the background of the author's assignment.
The text is about 1,200 words, the first part borrows the stars to describe the advance and retreat of the career, and the middle and back parts borrow history to express nostalgia and scenery lyrically. Scholars regarded it as a masterpiece of Han Fu and a rare piece of beauty, while historians valued the narrative of historical figures and events and the causal judgment of the rise and fall of the Zhou Dynasty, while the local villagers were interested in what the past was like in this hot land and how he came to this place from Kyoto.
The description of the scenery and the names of the places in the text can satisfy the interest of the villagers to a certain extent. Such as: "....The edge is down, the wild depression is sparse, and the valley is wrong. Lonely and desolate, the sand rises and disappears. The return wind breeds its fluctuation, and the return of the Lingling. The condensation of the thin dry frost, the coolness of the boiling valley. The snow is white, and the frost is dewed. The hail and hail are restored, and the original spring is yin. The rippling tears of the torrent peek into the latent waters of the nine abysses. The sassy and miserable are miserable, and the wind is cold and cold. The beast looks at the waves with a palace, and the black wings are dredged. The mountains are bleak and the trees are broken and groaning. The ground is cracked and angry, and the rocks are broken. The sky is fierce and high, and Liao (Tuxiao) window is a squeeze. The geese are sluggish, and the wild storks are singing and noisy. The Wangting Tunnel is bright, and the flying flags are fluttering. In today's parlance, the gist of it is: pay attention to the frontier, the wilderness is depressed, the hills and valleys are mixed, the twists and turns are circling, the wind whirls and the sky is dark and clear, the wind blows the cold, and the ground freezes. The snow is covered, the feet are thick with frost, and the hail scattered in the sky is bathed. The ice cave was under the source, the drift ice struck each other, swirled and entangled, and the water of the abyss was sad, and the birds were in a panic and clamped their wings. The rooster crows, the tree cavity makes a sound, the earth cracks, the boulder has cracks, the sky is high and empty. The geese are slow, and the storks are chirping. But the beacon is bright and prominent, and the flag flutters and is eye-catching. This is what the author saw with his own eyes and wrote about in literary language. Reading this text, one feels the desolation of Biandu. A civil official who worked by the side of the Son of Heaven and was once relied on was dismissed because his ideas were not appreciated or recognized by the ruling ministers, and he was transferred to the border county Taishou, his state of mind can be imagined. The cold winter ice and snow, the wind, the birds in the sky, the beasts on the ground, and even the grass and trees are all sad. The author's frustration and sentimentality permeate between the lines. It cannot but be said that this bleakness is related to the mood of the author. But at the same time, let us know that in the Western Han Dynasty, Wuyuan was a very cold place in winter, covered with snow, dew and frost, and hail in the sky. The mountain springs are drifting ice, there are chickens and storks and geese in the air, there are wild beasts running on the ground, the wind blows the old trees, and the birds are noisy. If you are a proud person, when you see such a scene, your pen must depict the beautiful scenery of the harsh winter in northern China, and if the reader carefully ponders these words, the scenery will also change with the change of mood.
Through the historical relics and touching feelings mentioned in the text, we can also understand that in the Western Han Dynasty, from the capital Chang'an to the border capital Wuyuan, there was a route that people and horses could travel: "Chi Tai Xing's strict guard, into the courtyard of Qiao Pass". The so-called "Qiao Pass of Tianjing" here is in the southernmost part of Taihang Mountain, Shanxi, called Tianjingguan, also known as Taihang Pass. "The former residence of Li Hou", the "former residence of Li Hou" mentioned here is Li Ting, Huguan County, Shangdang County. Li Ting is in Liling Village, North Sanli, Changzhi County, Shanxi Province. "Hanshu Geographical Chronicles" Shangdang County Huguan County Note: "Ying Shao said: Lihou Guoye, now Li Ting is." "The heart is cleansed to Mu Yuanxi, and he returns to Gaodu and marches north", which means that he goes north through Gaodu. "Gaodu" is in the area of Jincheng in present-day Shanxi. "The tyranny of the drama strong Qin, hanging Zhao Kuo in Changping", Changping, that is, the northwest of Gaoping County, Shanxi Province, was defeated by Zhao Kuo, the general of Zhao State in the "Battle of Changping" during the Warring States Period. "Riding a horse and watching the wind, Qing Xinjia is the eldest son", the author has been the eldest son of the county. Changzi County is in the southeast of present-day Shanxi Province, and according to legend, it was named after Emperor Yao's eldest son, Danzhu, who was enshrined here. "Holding Sun Kuai Yu Tun Liuxi, saving the king and the master Yu Tuwu". To the north of Changzi County is Tunliu County. "Sigh and sigh, sad and fair." Xia Yu, in the northwest of Xiangyuan County, Shanxi Province. "Hanshu Geographical Chronicles": There are lower gatherings in Tonglu County, Shangdang County. "Pity the queen of the king's sustenance, condolences to the prince in the copper bar, the more Hou Jia and the long drive, the uncle to fly to it", the four sentences of the Tong Ba, Hou Jia respectively in the south of Qinxian County, Shanxi Province, Jincheng City, Yangcheng County, Qinchi Town. "Yueshan people have salvation, Lao Qi Xi in Taiyuan", Taiyuan County in the Western Han Dynasty is equivalent to Taiyuan City. "Yi is the capital of China, and the sentence is annotated with Lingli. After the wild goose gate and into the clouds, it passed away. Ji Linwo and distant thoughts, the edge of the city. This paragraph talks about the four places of the sentence note, Yanmen, Yunzhong, and Linwo. Sentence note: It is the name of the mountain, in the northwest of the present-day Yanmen Pass, and it is also the name of the pass, that is, the present-day Yanmen Pass. Yanmen: The name of the county in the Han Dynasty, in the northwest of present-day Shanxi. Yunzhong: The name of a county in the Han Dynasty, in the northwest of present-day Shanxi and the southern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Linwo: The name of the original county of Han Wuyuan. The series of these place names are: Tianjingguan (south of Taihang), Liting (north of Changzhi County), Gaodu (Jincheng), Changping (Gaoping), Changzi, Tunliu, Xiayu (northwest of Xiangyuan County), Tongba (south of Qin County), Houjia (Qinchi Town, Yangcheng County), Taiyuan, Juzhu (northwest of Yanmen Pass), Yanmen (northwest of Shanxi), Yunzhong (northwest of Shanxi, southern part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), Linwo (now the area of Kundulun District, Baotou, Inner Mongolia). It's a dozen places to examine, and it's a circuitous road to connect.
Liu Xin did not stay in office for a long time, about a year. However, in the eyes of later generations, its literary value and historiographical value are extremely high, and it has attracted the attention and favor of later generations of literature and history. For example, before the inclusion of the "Ancient Wenyuan", Liu Xian's "Wenxin Carving Dragon" commented on it, while the Fenshui Note and Qinshui Note in Li Daoyuan's "Notes on the Water Classic" excerpted some sentences from "Sui Chu Fu" for annotation.
About the Author
Wang Zhong: Retired staff member, lover of literature and history. Librarian of the Museum of Culture and History of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He has published literary works such as "Pure Realm" and "Moon's Deviation" on the theme of educated youth. In addition, local historical monographs such as "** Inner Mongolia Periodical Cover Atlas" and "Inner Mongolia Books, Newspapers and Periodicals Illustrated History" have been published. He has published many articles on literature and history in newspapers and periodicals in the region and abroad.
*: Yellow River Sena).