Directory introduction

Politician Wang Anshi

Wang Anshi's reform

Enlightenment from the failure of Wang Anshi's political reform

Writer Wang Anshi

Wang Anshi's ci collection

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brief introduction

Wang Anshi (102 1- 1086), whose name is Banshan, Badger Lang, Jing Guogong and the king of the world. Linchuan, Fuzhou (now Liyang Village, Shangchi, dongxiang county, Fuzhou) was an outstanding politician, thinker and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was born in a small official family. Father's benefit, word loss, is a judge of Linjiang army, and he has served as a county official in several States all his life. Anshi doesn't like reading very much, has a strong memory and is well educated. In the second year of Li Qing (1042), Yang Town ranked fourth in the Jinshi list, and successively served as a judge in Huainan, a magistrate in Yinxian County, a judge, a magistrate in Changzhou, a criminal prison in Jiangdong, Tiaodian and other local officials. In the fourth year of Zhiping (1067), Zong Shenchu acceded to the throne, and Zhao 'an was called a bachelor of Hanlin from Jiangning Government School. In the second year of Xining (1069), he was promoted to participate in politics. Since Xining three years ago, he has served as a member of the same school twice to publicize the new law. After nine years in Xining, he lived in seclusion in Zhongshan, Jiangning (now Nanjing, Jiangsu) and died. Lenin praised him as a "1 1 century reformer in China".

Politician Wang Anshi

In the past two years (1042), Wang Anshi took the fourth place in the top prize, and successively deposited and sentenced official duties for Huainan (Yangzhou), signed books for Yinxian (now Ningbo, Zhejiang), Zhou Shu (now Buried Hill, Anhui) and other places, and once transferred Fengfu to be the judge of the animal husbandry department, and then transferred to Changzhou and Jiangnan East Road to raise official duties, and later called the third department. Years of experience as a local official made Wang Anshi realize that the root of social poverty in the Song Dynasty was merger, and the crisis faced by feudal rule in the Song Dynasty was "worrying about the country at home and not fearing barbarians abroad". Therefore, Wang Anshi called for a comprehensive reform of the written law since the early Song Dynasty in the book Yan Hong Shu written by Zhao Zhen of Song Renzong in the third year of Jiayou (1058) in order to reverse the situation of poverty and weakness. Taking the fact that historical bosses Merry ma, Emperor Wu of Jin and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty only wanted to "relax" and did not seek reform, and finally fell, for example, Wang Anshi had a rare sense of urgency for reform, shouting: "If we take the past as the standard, we can still do something for the world to prevent chaos, and we should not rush to today", demanding that the reform of written law be realized immediately; Otherwise, the history of Huang Chao's death in the Tang Dynasty will repeat itself, and the Song Dynasty will also embark on the road of extinction. The feudal scholar-officials also placed high hopes on Wang Anshi and looked forward to his coming to power as soon as possible. At the beginning of Xining, Wang Anshi, as the attendant minister of Hanlin bachelor, discussed the way of governing the country with the young Song Shenzong Song Shenzong, which won the appreciation of Song Shenzong. In the second year of Xining (1069), Wang Anshi was appointed as a political adviser, and the next year he was promoted to prime minister and began to vigorously carry out reforms.

The purpose of Wang Anshi's political reform is to enrich Qiang Bing, so as to reverse the situation of poverty and weakness in the Northern Song Dynasty and consolidate the rule of the landlord class. Wang Anshi clearly put forward that financial management is the prime minister's first priority, expounded the relationship between politics and financial management, and pointed out that "politics is the principle of financial management, and financial management is the so-called righteousness." More importantly, before Wang Anshi came to power, he thought that only on the basis of developing production can the national financial problem be solved: "The wealth of the world is born with the strength of the world, and the wealth of the world is taken from the expense of the world." After Wang Anshi took office, he continued to play this view. He once pointed out: "Those who do nothing today are short of money, so I put financial management first", while "financial management is urgent for farmers, and farmers are eager to get rid of hardships, restrain mergers and promote agriculture". In this reform, Wang Anshi put the development of production in the first place as the top priority. In Wang Anshi's view, in order to develop production, the first thing is to "relieve (laborers) suffering, restrain mergers and take pleasure in agriculture", mobilize the enthusiasm of laborers, and bring those idle people back to the front line of production. Harvest depends on people, not on the sky. To achieve this goal, the state power needs to formulate corresponding principles and policies and carry out top-down reforms nationwide. Although Wang Anshi emphasized the leading role of state power in the reform, he disapproved of excessive state intervention in social production and economic life, opposed excessive patent collection, and put forward and adhered to the proposition and practice of "not too much monopoly law". Under the guidance of Wang Anshi's above thoughts, the reformists formulated and implemented a series of new laws, such as farmland water conservancy, young crops, exemption from labor, fair loss, easy market, exemption from money and mining tax system, and carried out extensive social reforms from agriculture to handicrafts, commerce and from rural areas to cities. At the same time, the reformists headed by Wang Anshi reformed the military system, improved the quality and combat effectiveness of the army, and strengthened control over the vast rural areas; In order to cultivate more talents needed by society, the imperial examination and school education system have also been reformed. The so-called Three Classics and New Meanings, such as Zhou, Yi Shu and Poetic Art written by Wang Anshi himself, have provided new teaching materials for school education reform.

Political reform goes against the interests of conservatives and is opposed by conservatives. So Wang Anshi and Ning JaeHee went on strike for the first time in seven years. In particular, due to the differences between Wang Anshi, the designer of the reform, and Song Shenzong, the supreme moderator of the reform, Wang Anshi could not get more support after reunification and could not continue the reform. Coupled with the internal division of the reformists, his son Wang Kan died, and Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister for the second time in the ninth year of JaeHee Ning, and has lived in jiangning house ever since. In the first year of Yuan You, Song Zhezong (1086), conservatives came to power, and all previous new laws were abolished. Wang Anshi was deeply disturbed by the reversal of the political situation. When he heard that the exemption law was also abolished, he couldn't help but say with indignation, "So that's it!" ? "Soon he died of depression.

Wang Anshi's reform

Because he was deeply appreciated by Zongshen, in the second year of Xining (1069), Wang Anshi became a political counselor, and the next year he was promoted to prime minister, and began to vigorously promote political reform and reform. Wang Anshi clearly put forward that financial management is the prime minister's first priority, explained the relationship between political affairs and financial management, and thought that only on the basis of developing production can the national financial problems be solved well. After Wang Anshi took office, he continued to play this view. In the reform, he took the development of production as the top priority and put it in the first place. Although Wang Anshi emphasized the leading role of state power in the reform, he disapproved of excessive state intervention in social production and economic life, opposed excessive patent collection, and put forward and adhered to the proposition and practice of "not too much monopoly law". Under the guidance of Wang Anshi's above thoughts, the reformists formulated and implemented a series of new laws, from agriculture to handicrafts and commerce, and from rural areas to cities, and launched a wide range of social reforms. At the same time, the reformists headed by Wang Anshi reformed the military system, improved the quality and combat effectiveness of the army, and strengthened control over the vast rural areas; In order to cultivate more talents needed by society, the imperial examination and school education system have also been reformed. The political reform violated the interests of the big landlords and bureaucrats, and Empress Dowager Cixi, the royal family and the conservative literati joined forces to oppose the political reform. So Wang Anshi and Ning JaeHee went on strike for the first time in seven years. See you next year. Wang Anshi can't get more support after the resumption of the phase and can't carry out reform. In the ninth year, Yu Xining resigned as prime minister for the second time and has lived in jiangning house ever since. In the first year of Yuan You, Song Zhezong (1086), conservatives came to power, and all previous new laws were abolished. Wang Anshi died of depression soon.

Enlightenment from the failure of Wang Anshi's political reform

After the failure of Wang Anshi's political reform, the victorious old party suddenly lost its opponent, so the literati could not unite as one, so they were divided into three factions: Luo Party, Shu Party and Shuo Party, and they abused each other for some trivial differences, even more fiercely than the struggle with the new party.

For the sake of the country's prosperity and economic prosperity, there were emperors and promising politicians in ancient China. They all tried to survive through reform, and experienced glory and failure. Among them, there are tragic heroes, famous ministers and emperors in history, and historical passers-by who have been complaining for ages. Wang Anshi, a passer-by of history, left a mark, left right and wrong, but left no glory. If there is glory, it is literature, not achievement.

In the third year of Jiayou (AD 1058), Wang Anshi was appointed as the judge of the Third Division. Feeling the poverty and weakness in the Northern Song Dynasty, he made a suggestion to Song Renzong: he demanded reform in order to be strong. Zhao Zhen is willing to stick to his guns, regardless of pioneering work, and is not interested in his suggestions. Until the second year of Xining (A.D. 1069) and the second year of Zongshen's accession to the throne, Wang Anshi was fond of studying Han Feizi since childhood, and Zhao Yong, who was keen on financial reform, was worshipped as a political adviser (deputy prime minister). The following year, he was promoted to Prime Minister and began to push the idea of political reform. Its laws of total loss, young crops, land tax, farmland water conservancy, tax exemption and easy market are beneficial to financial management and rich countries; Protecting horses and armor makes soldiers simple and convenient. Wang Anshi, with the good intention of "people don't increase taxes and the country uses them to the best of its ability" and the determination of "things change without fear, people don't care about each other, and the ancestors don't keep the law", stopped talking twice and promoted the new law without avoiding difficulties and obstacles. As a result, he worked hard and got twice the result with half the effort. He did not succeed in the reform, but constantly struggled and split in his own camp under the opposition of many big bureaucrats. Because of the doubts and the intervention of Cao (wife of Injong), Gao (wife of Yingzong) and his wife Xiang, who are famous for their virtues, the political reform failed. In the tenth year of Xining (A.D. 1077), they stopped talking and gradually faded out of the political arena. Later, although the new party headed by Cai Jing continued to carry out the new law under the banner of Wang Anshi's political reform, the new law has become a tool for emerging bureaucratic groups to collect money and disturb the people, and set up a monument for the Yuan You Party to persecute the famous ministers who opposed the new law at that time, but it was also despised by the world because of corruption and profiteering, and eventually became a traitor who ruined the Northern Song Dynasty. It has been notorious for thousands of years, and Wang Anshi is also involved.

Good wishes and motives do not necessarily lead to good results. The failure of Wang Anshi's political reform can be used as a footnote to this thesis. Since ancient times, what we have to solve is actually four words "managing money and employing people". Financial management is the most basic requirement of political reform to enrich Qiang Bing. The employment of personnel is related to where the financial management has gone, and actually to the success or failure of political reform. Wang Anshi did not solve the problem of employing people. Therefore, his original intention is very good, and the measures cannot be said to be invalid, but they have not received the due results. Instead, it has become a tool for emerging bureaucratic groups to search for land and disturb the people, which runs counter to Wang Anshi's good intentions. Why on earth?

No matter how contemporary historians vilify Han Qi (former prime minister), Fu Bi (who knew Yanzhou, was able to resist Xixia and protect the northwest territory, and served as prime minister), Sima Guang (a great historian with impeccable personal conduct), Wen Yanbo (an envoy of the Tang Dynasty, a generation of courtiers), Fan Chunren (Fan Zhongyan, his father's true biography) and even Su Shi's brothers. In the history of empresses, how did a woman who had no more than half an inch of boudoir training, was sensible, such as Cao Hou and Gao Hou, and had unparalleled virtuous self-control join the opponents of the reform that was originally beneficial to Zhao's rule? It is unscientific, at least contrary to the historical facts, to simply use the big landlords and bureaucrats to unite against the new law focusing on restraining the merger of powerful countries for their own interests, which leads to the failure of the new law.

Looking at the employment of Wang An's political reform, he basically implemented the cadre line of "opposing differences with the party". As long as he firmly supports the new law verbally and does not hesitate to overcorrect the backwardness of the new law, regardless of his character, moral integrity and whether or not he takes mind as the ultimate goal, he can learn from the benefits of many people humbly, endure humiliation and unite with his colleagues, and achieve the same goal by different routes. This is the object of Wang Anshi's trust and reuse. It is precisely these people, most of whom are motivated by political speculation, do not really support the political reform, but just use this shortcut to the south to achieve their career advancement. Ceng Bu was promoted to Shao Qing of Sinong Temple by Wang Anshi, who was in charge of the reform and was also a participant in the formulation of the Young Crop Law and the Market Change Law. However, under the unanimous opposition of the courtiers and the post-Party, when he wavered in the political reform, he joined hands with Wei Jizong, the initiator of another political reform, to strike a blow at Lu, another right-hand man of Wang Anshi who implemented this law. This shows the character of Ceng Bu and Wei Jizong. Han Jiang, the first three emissaries, advocated that official laws were harmful to farmers (Wang Anshi became prime minister for the first time and continued to implement the new laws), which had many differences with Lv Huiqing, Wang Anshi's right-hand man. After Wang Anshi joined forces, he was at odds with Wang Anshi in Yishi and resigned as the magistrate. Wang Anshi recommended Lu for the poetry company and was dissatisfied. The two sides have bad feelings from time to time, as Wang Anshi's son Kun knows. He just instructed Cheng Dengwan to impeach Lv Huiqing to buy land in Huating County by enriching the people's wealth, and the county collectors collected rent for "greed", which led to a strike in Lv Huiqing, implicated Zhang Chun and made Wang Anshi lose his arms. Such an impromptu reformist whose personal conduct can always add reasons for criticism and impeachment, how can he not let Wang Anshi fall into the dilemma of internal and external affairs and fall into a dilemma?

Wu Chong, the Tang Dynasty envoy who succeeded Wang Anshi as prime minister, is Wang Anshi's children's in-laws, but he is unwilling to make new laws and take the lead in amending them. Wang Anshi's younger brother and Feng Jing, the son-in-law of the former prime minister, jointly wrote a letter attacking Lu's "theory of meeting the party." Sima Guang, who lived in Luoyang for four years, wrote down the disadvantages of the new law. First, young crops make people in debt and officials have no income. The second kind is people who collect money but don't serve and raise waves. Third, Garbo disturbs people's hearts. At least it touched on the fact that the new law was aggravated by officials in the implementation process, which made the law deteriorate. Wang Anshi, who has powerful political enemies outside and lax morality inside, can only lose his career. Where can he choose? At this point, the new law has become a tool for Cai Jing's six thieves (Gao Qiu, Tong Guan, Wang Fu, Zhu Myanmar and Li Yan) to collect money and harm the people, which has led to chaos in the world, and the people are miserable, with domestic troubles and foreign troubles coming one after another. Wang Anshi has been wronged for years!

If Wang Anshi can openly talk with Han Qi, Fu Bi, Fan Chunren, Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo, the reformers and wise men of that year, and impress them with the fundamentals of the country, I believe that the vast majority of these famous ministers will not cling to the past and only talk about state affairs for their own benefit. Because after all, they are not corrupt bureaucrats who take bribes and bend the law. Wang Anshi was narrow-minded and even made too many enemies in establishing the United front of reform. If Wang Anshi listens to his words, observes his deeds and adheres to the line of appointing people on merit instead of opposing differences with the party, at least the new law will not change its flavor in the implementation process and become a tool for some nouveau riche to engage in malpractices for personal gain and enrich themselves in the name of reform. Famous officials unanimously opposed Wang Anshi's political reform. I'm afraid that to a great extent, some people appointed by him are looked down upon by famous officials and naturally disdain to associate with them. Moreover, not all Shi brothers are opposed to political reform, otherwise there would be no story of Sima Niu.

In any case, there is no doubt about Han Qi's morality, but there is something wrong with his ability. In the war between Xixia States in the Northern Song Dynasty, he was the commander of the difficult war zone. He has a characteristic, that is, he has repeatedly lost and fought. Throughout the study of Song history, we will find that Han Qi has some IQ problems. The contents of his famous "Seven Rules" are really puzzling. He thought that if he gave up planting trees for national defense (after the political reform, of course) to trade with North Korea, the moat would be silted up, the city walls would collapse, and the people would suffer, which would make Liao happy and the Northern Song Dynasty would not be in trouble again. Zhao Youyuan's villain adulterer (Wang Ancheng) and honest gentleman (he and Sima Guang) will make the world peaceful. We really don't understand why a patriot would use such a word. Wen Yanbo, this man has no people-oriented thought at all. Zhao Yong once told him that "nobody supports political reform". Wen Yanbo said, "Does your Majesty rule the country by Wang Zhiguo or by a scholar-bureaucrat?" . This short-sighted nature is completely exposed, and we really don't understand why a adherent of Confucius and Mencius is so opposed to Monk's thought. Most of the Northern Song Dynasty were courtiers for the simple reason that the most severe punishment for nonsense in the Northern Song Dynasty was to stay away from the central authorities and be demoted to local officials. This is more likely to be a return, not only the vested interests will not be damaged, but also a good reputation such as positive value will be obtained. Song didn't do as well as Tang in this respect, because people in the Tang Dynasty were responsible for their own remarks, and the emergence of that era was something worthy of China people's comfort. Fan Chunren, (Fan Zhongyan's son is the true story of his father) I have always had some doubts about Fan Zhongyan's character. In China's books, Fan Zhongyan is described as a hero who is loyal to the monarch and patriotic and dares to fight the Xixia people. In fact, this is a way of saying that he avoids the important. Fan Zhongyan is a layman militarily, but he has chinese odyssey's internal propaganda ability. Less than a month after he arrived in Dingnan War Zone, he began to publicize that "Fan Xiao Lao Zi (himself) has millions of armored soldiers in his chest, unlike Lao Fan Lao Zi (Fan Yong)."

As a result, under the leadership of him and Han Qi, Song Jun was defeated. Fan Zhongyan's administration was exquisite, and he gave up the New Deal before he succeeded (in order to avoid personal attacks). It is far worse than Wang Anshi's.

So we come to the conclusion that high morality does not mean strong ability, and the morality of those famous ministers is somewhat pedantic. Those so-called excellent people don't know how to look at problems from a historical perspective, although their original intention is good and the result is serious. If it weren't for Wang Anshi's political reform, the Northern Song Dynasty might not even be able to cope with Xixia. Later, under the impetus of Wang Anshi, the military genius Wang Shao was sent out. After the political reform, he led troops to defeat Xixia and recovered the territory of Tufan for 200 years, not to mention Nuzhen.

Writer Wang Anshi

Wang Anshi is not only an outstanding politician, thinker, but also an outstanding writer. In order to realize his political ideal, he closely linked literary creation with political activities, emphasizing that the role of literature lies in serving the society first. He opposed the vague and powerless style of Yang Yi and Liu Yun of Quincy School, and thought that "the so-called writers are just doing something to make up for the world." The so-called resignation, there are still sculptures. Really be a clever fairy China, there is no need to apply it; If you apply it, you don't have to be smart and flashy. It should be application-oriented and painting-oriented. "It is precisely because Anshi regards the concept of" application "of" serving the world "as the foundation of literary creation that his works reveal the drawbacks of the times, reflect social contradictions and have a strong political color. Today, there are Wang Linchuan Collection, Linchuan Collection and Mr. Linchuan Song.

Wang Anshi was one of the eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties. His prose is vigorous and concise, extraordinary and steep. Most of them are essays in the form of books, tables, notes, preface, etc., which explain political opinions and opinions and serve the reform and innovation. These articles have clear views and profound analysis on current political or social issues. Long articles are horizontal but not concise, short ones are broken but not detailed. Quotations from Emperor Ren Shang is a masterpiece advocating social change. On the basis of in-depth analysis of the diplomatic dilemma of internal troubles and foreign invasion in the Northern Song Dynasty, it put forward a complete political reform proposal, which showed the author's progressive thought of "ruling the country from the people's diseases". "Nothing happened in this century", while describing and explaining the peaceful situation and reasons in the early Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years, pointed out sharply the social problems that were at stake at that time, expected the Sect to make political achievements, and thought that "the promising day is today". It played the overture of the government, which began in the second year. Answering Sima Zhi's remonstrance, he refuted Sima Guang's accusation that the new law invaded officials, caused trouble, demanded benefits and refused to remonstrate. It is short and clear, and its wording is appropriate, which reflects the author's firm and principled statesmanship. An Shi's political essays, whether long or short, are very rigorous in structure, excellent in thinking, thorough in reasoning and concise in language. "It only takes one or two sentences to wipe out a large number of others" (Liu Xizai's Art Outline). Text outline), with strong generality and logic. At this time, it played a positive role in promoting the political reform and consolidating the achievements of the poetry innovation movement in the Northern Song Dynasty. Some of Anshi's essays, such as GunShuo, Reading Biography, Biography of Book Assassin, Shang, etc., are well-known, with strong comments on characters, sharp writing style and rich feelings, giving people a fresh and clear feeling. He also has a part of landscape travel prose "The Creation of the City Pit Courtyard", which is concise, lively and labor-saving, just like Liu Zongyuan; A trip to Baochan Mountain not only records a trip, but also is very meaningful. The two are closely and naturally combined. Even if the abstract truth is vivid, it adds ideological depth to the specific notes and makes the layout flexible and tortuous.

Wang Anshi's poems can be roughly divided into early and late periods, with obvious differences in content and style. "Wang Jinggong is not so confident, so his poetic language is what he wants, and he is no longer so introverted ... Later, he became a group of shepherds, made a fake collection of poems in the Tang Dynasty from the Song Dynasty, and used it for reference. In his later years, he began to have a deep and unpretentious interest" (Ye Mengde's Shi Lin Shi Hua). The early poems are good at reasoning and have obvious tendencies, involving many important and sharp societies. The problem noticed the sufferings of the lower classes and made an unfair voice for them. Feelings, mergers, reinforcements, etc. Describe and prompt the weakness of the national situation or the corruption of internal affairs in the Song Dynasty from the political, economic and military aspects, point out the harm to the country and people caused by the annexation of land by big landlords and businessmen, and put forward the suggestion of "elite soldiers"; "Collecting Salt" and "Hebei People" reflect the tragic experience of the people being oppressed by the rulers at that time. "In the Examination Room" and "Examination Paper" directly criticized the imperial examination system of giving scholars poems, and demanded the use of talents who can contribute to the country; The new atmosphere and people's joy brought by the enthusiastic reform of Yuan Ri and Song Yuanfeng; Shang Yang and Jia Sheng, etc. By evaluating the merits and demerits of historical figures, their new viewpoints and progressive significance are expressed. An Shi's reclusive life in his later period contributed to his poetry creation. He lingered and reveled in the countryside, with a narrow theme, and a large number of poems about scenery and things replaced the previous political poems, expressing a leisurely interest. But artistic expression is perfect. "Elegant and exquisite, vulgar and unbearable, every irony will sink between the teeth and cheeks." Poems such as Poems on the Back of the Mountain, Boating in Guazhou, Flowers on the River, Plum Blossoms and Mr. Yin's Wall in the Book Lake are carefully observed, exquisitely carved, with distant and fresh artistic conception, showing praise and love for the beauty of nature, which has always been told by people.

As far as the poetic style is concerned, Anshi's ancient poems mostly use classics and arguments, but like Qu and Taoyuan Xing, they have novel ideas, rich feelings and rich imagination. Rhyme, on the other hand, is steady and appropriate, but sometimes it is inevitable to lose too much carving. Five musts and seven musts are especially famous. "Wang Banshan has many styles and is good at quatrains" (Hanting Poem) and "Gong Jing's quatrains are amazing in the world" (Boat House Poem). His poems have great influence on contemporary and later generations, and are called "Wang Gong Jing Style" (Yan Yu's Poems on Canglang).

There are about twenty poems written by An Shi today. Although he is not a famous poet, his "works are thin and elegant, washing away the old habits of the Five Dynasties" (Liu Xizai's "Art, Ci and Qulue"). The word "Gui Zhi Xiang Jin Mausoleum Nostalgia" reveals the decadent life of the ruling class in the Six Dynasties by describing the magnificent scenery and homesickness of Jinling (now Nanjing, Jiangsu), and is known as the swan song of ancient times. Coupled with Fan Zhongyan's "Fisherman's Passion" and "Qiu Lai's Unique Scenery", Su Dongpo's bold voice was opened, which had a good influence on later ci circles.

From the literary point of view, Anshi's works have made outstanding achievements in poetry, prose and ci. The poetry innovation movement in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty was vigorously promoted by him, which contributed to sweeping away the glitz and splendor that was all the rage in the early Song Dynasty. However, An Shi's literary thought overemphasizes "practicality" and often underestimates the role of art forms. Many of his poems often show that the elements of argument and reasoning are too heavy, thin and stiff, and lack image and charm. There are also some poems about Buddhism and Buddhism that are obscure and dry.