Mr. Lu Xun rated it as "a collection of pieces of brocade, combined into a post, though not huge, but different from time to time." Feng Yuanjun and Lu Kanru's "A Brief Compilation of the History of China Literature" hold that "there are big alcohol flaws".
Although there is no main story in the book, there is a center running through it, that is, opposing the poison of the imperial examination system and feudal ethics and satirizing the extremely hypocritical and bad social habits caused by the passion for fame and wealth. Such ideological content undoubtedly had great practical and educational significance at that time. Coupled with its accurate, vivid and refined vernacular language, vivid characterization, beautiful and delicate scenery description and excellent irony, it has also achieved great success in art.
At that time, due to the limitation of the times, although the author criticized the dark reality in his book, he pinned his ideals on the scholar-officials who were "excellent in character and learning" and preached ancient rites and music, but he could not see the real way out to change the Confucian scholars and society, which should be criticized.
Introduction
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a young man named Wang Mian in a village in Zhuji County. Because of his poor family background, he herded cattle for others since childhood, and he was clever, intelligent and studious. His lotus paintings were vivid and vivid, and he was well-read and talented. He is unwilling to make friends, let alone seek fame and fortune. When the county magistrate came to visit, he couldn't hide; Zhu Yuanzhang gave him the position of "consulting and joining the army", but he did not accept it. He willingly fled to Huiji Mountain and lived an anonymous life.
Wang Mian couldn't help sighing when the Ming Dynasty founded the country and implemented the stereotyped writing system for taking scholars. This system for taking scholars in the form of stereotyped writing not only won't select real talents for the country, but also the only way for future scholars to be honored. Therefore, they will despise the criteria of learning, morality, being an official and retiring. This is a generation of literati met with bad luck! Wang Mian was a hermit who opposed stereotyped writing and was willing to be poor. However, in the society at that time, there were too few people like Wang Mian. During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, a hundred years after Wang Mian's death, the literati took a different road obsessed with the imperial examination.
At the end of Chenghua in Ming Xianzong, there was a teacher named Zhou Jin in Wenshang County, Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province. In order to get ahead and honor his hometown, he took the imperial examinations many times, but he was over 6 years old, but even a scholar failed to pass the examination.
One day, he and his brother-in-law came to the provincial capital and walked into Hiram's Hospital. Touched by the scene, he was deeply saddened. He bumped into the number plate and was unconscious. After being rescued, he rolled on the ground and cried blood in his mouth. Several businessmen saw that he was very pitiful, so they pooled 22 pieces of silver to donate a Guo-zi-jian diploma for him. He immediately kowtowed to the crowd and said, "I will serve you if I turn into a donkey and a horse every week!" "
Not long after, Zhou Jin was admitted to Juren by virtue of his qualification as a supervisor. In an instant, people who are not relatives also come to recognize their relatives, and those who are not friends also come to recognize their friends. Even the school where he taught books actually enshrined the "longevity card" of "Master Zhou Tai". A few years later, he was selected as a scholar, promoted to the position of suggestion, and assigned to study Taoism in Guangdong. In Guangzhou, Zhou Jin discovered Fan Jin. In order to take care of this 54-year-old boy, he repeatedly read Fan Jin's paper for three times, and finally found that it was the best article in the world, so he turned Fan enterprising into a scholar. Shortly after that, Fan Jin went to take the exam again and won a prize.
At that time, Fan Jin was coldly treated at home because of his similar situation with Zhou Jin. His wife called him around, and his father-in-law scolded him in every way. When Fan Jin's family was worried about selling chickens in exchange for rice, there was a happy news that Fan Jin had been found back from the collection. After learning the good news, he went crazy with joy. Fortunately, his father-in-law, Hu Tuhu, slapped him in the face, only to wake him up and cure the madness. In a blink of an eye, Fan Jin's luck changed. Not only did he have money, rice and a house, but he also had slaves and maids. Fan Jin's mother was so happy that she couldn't catch her breath at once, and she died in the west. Hu Butcher is also uncharacteristic, saying everywhere that he has long known that his son-in-law is a literary star, and will not be the same as ordinary people, and he is even more respectful to Fan Jin. Later, Fan Jin went to Beijing to visit Zhou Jin, who was recommended by Zhou Jin and won the Jinshi, and was appointed as a scholar in Shandong. Although Fan Jin developed with eight-part essay, all he knows is the Four Books and Five Classics. When others mentioned Su Shi, a writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, he thought he was a scholar in the Ming Dynasty and made a big joke.
The imperial examination system not only cultivated a group of mediocre talents, but also nurtured a group of corrupt officials. Jinshi Wang Hui was appointed as the magistrate of Nanchang. The first thing he did when he took office was not to ask about the local public security, the livelihood of the people, the grievances of the case, but the local people's feelings, to know what local specialties were and what places could be accommodated in various cases. Then, a number one library was customized, and all the six rooms in the yamen were handed over, and the profit of various errands was asked, so that everyone could turn the money back to the public. From then on, the sound of clappers, abacus and boards was heard all day in the yamen. The chief and the people were beaten out of their wits one by one, trembling in their sleep. And his own creed is "three years to clear the magistrate, 1 thousand snowflakes and silver." When the imperial court inspected his political achievements, it was unanimously believed that he was "the first capable member of Jiangxi".
Tang Feng, the magistrate of Gaoyao County, strictly enforced the laws and regulations of the imperial court in order to show that he was incorruptible. There was a ban on killing cattle in the imperial court. Without asking the reason, Tang Feng actually flailed the father of the Hui teacher who was engaged in beef business to death, which made the masses indignant and struck the market with gongs. After the incident. Instead of punishing Tang Feng, the inspector asked the victimized Hui people for the crime of "raping the government and holding it accountable according to the law". So "clean" magistrate of a county, a year down unexpectedly also searched eight thousand two hundred pieces of silver.
Officials are corrupt and pervert the law, and under the stereotyped imperial examination, local tyrants and evil gentry also run amok. Zhang Jingzhai, a juren, is a bully in the South China Sea. He communicated with the government and took it by surprise. In order to occupy the land of the temple, he instigated seven or eight hooligans, framed the monk for adultery with women, and made the monk eat the lawsuit inexplicably.
Yan Zhihe, a supervisor in Gaoyao County, is a rich man who regards money as everything, and his family is rich. He was so sick that he couldn't eat, was bedridden and was dying. He was still obsessed with harvesting early rice in the fields and sent the servants of Guanzhuang to the countryside. He was not at ease, but he was just impatient. He was stingy by nature, and his family was full of rice, cattle and horses, but he was reluctant to buy a catty of pork at ordinary times. When he died, he refused to give up his life because he lit an extra lamp.
His elder brother Gong Sheng is strict with Zhong Zhi, and he is even more a villain who runs wild in the countryside. He fenced his neighbor Wang Xiaoer's pig, and when others came to beg for it, he attacked and broke Wang Xiaoer's brother's leg. He blackmailed people everywhere, didn't lend money to others, but forced them to pay interest; He described the cloud cake as a valuable medicine, threatened the boatman and lost a few dollars. After Yan Jiansheng's death, as a brother, he forced his sister-in-law to adopt his second son as his son, seeking to seize his brother's property, and claimed that this was "a birthright of propriety and righteousness, but we squire's family could not make mistakes in these gifts."
The imperial examination system created a number of social moths, but also poisoned the whole society. There is a farmer's son named Kuang Chaoren in Yueqing County of Wenzhou Prefecture. He was simple and honest. In order to support his parents, he went out to do small business and lived in Hangzhou. Later, I met Mr. Ma Er who chose to print eight-part essays. Mr. Ma Er gave him twelve taels of silver to persuade him to study hard. After returning home, Kuang Superman studied eight-part essay hard while doing small business. Soon, he was appreciated by magistrate Li and was promoted to be admitted as a scholar. In order to pursue higher fame and fortune, he studied harder to write eight-part essay. Unexpectedly, something happened to the magistrate of a county. In order to avoid being tied up, he fled to Hangzhou. Here, he met Jing Lanjiang, the owner of the headscarf shop who pretended to be a celebrity, and Pan Sanye, a clerk in the yamen, and learned the ability to take the exam and take the lawsuit for generations. Because of Mr. Ma Er, he became the "writer" of eight-part essay, and boasted that 95 copies of eight-part essay were printed, and everyone was scrambling to buy them. People studying in five provinces and every family offered the "sacred position of Confucian scholars and Kuang Zi" on the case.
Soon, the magistrate Li, who had promoted him, was rehabilitated and promoted to Beijing official, and Kuang Superman followed him to Beijing. In order to curry favor with the powerful, he abandoned his wife and son to become the nephew and son-in-law of his teacher, and his wife died in poverty in her hometown. At this time, Pan Sanye, who had helped him, went to prison. For fear of affecting his reputation and future, Kuang Superman broke off relations with Pan Sanye and refused to even look at it. For Mr Ma Er, who once helped him, he not only failed to repay kindness, but also slandered and laughed at him, completely degenerating into devil wears prada who betrayed his soul.
The imperial examination system not only deprives people, but also is an accomplice of feudal ethics. Wang Yuhui, a poor scholar in Huizhou Prefecture, who is over 6 years old, failed in the imperial examination every year, but he stuck to the code of ethics. His third son-in-law died, and his daughter wanted to be martyred, but his in-laws refused. Instead, he advised his in-laws to let his daughter die. He said to his daughter, "My son, since you are so, this is a matter of leaving a name in history. Should I stop you instead?" Just do it. " Eight days later, his daughter, dressed in white mourning clothes, died of hunger strike. He laughed and said, "Good death! Good death! " But after the incident, when his daughter's spirit tablet was sent to the martyr's shrine for public sacrifice, he suddenly felt sad. When he came home to see his old wife's grief, he couldn't bear it and went out to relax. Along the way, he mourned for his daughter, and when he arrived in Huqiu, Suzhou, he saw a young woman in white on the boat, but he suddenly remembered his daughter who was martyred in mourning clothes, and his heart choked and tears rolled down.
All these customs formed during Chenghua period of Ming Dynasty were intensified during Wanli period. The examination hall is proud and is considered to be outstanding; Anyone who is frustrated in the examination hall, such as Li Bai, Du Fu's literary talent, Yan Yuan and Zeng Shen, is regarded as stupid and incompetent. Large families talk about promotion and wealth, while poor Confucian scholars study flattery. The Confucian scholars have fallen and the society has become more corrupt. It seems that if we want to find a "strange man" who is not affected by stereotyped writing in the imperial examination, we can only put aside the Confucian forest and look at the ordinary people.
There are really some strange people in the middle of the street in Nazhi.
one can write. This man's surname is Ji, and he is a distant year. He has been homeless and unemployed since he was a child and always lives in these monasteries. His handwriting is the best, but he refuses to learn from the ancient calligraphy. He just creates his own style and writes with pen. His character is perverse, but mortals want to ask him to write. He wants to fast for a day and grind ink himself for a day, and he won't be happy until he is willing. If he doesn't want to, let your princes and princes give him a lot of money, and he doesn't even look at it. He was unkempt again, wearing a thin straight fold and aiming at a pair of worn-out sandals. I wrote every day, got the money from others, ate at home, and gave him the rest of the money, so the poor people I didn't know casually gave it to him. One snowy day, his rotten shoes stepped on the mud all over his friend's house, and his friend asked him to change his shoes. He actually said that I can't sit in your house with these shoes? I'm sitting in your house, and I'm flattering you Once, he saw a box of fine fragrant ink in the monk's room. No matter whether people wanted to write, they used it to write. When a powerful squire asked him to write, he swore, "I don't want your money, I don't admire your power, and I don't borrow your light. How dare you ask me to write!"
the other one is selling tinfoil bobbin. This man's surname is Wang, and his name is Tai. He likes playing Go best since he was a child. He has no livelihood, and sells fire paper tubes around Hujufu every day.
On that day, Miaoyi Temple will do something. Mrs. Wang will come in and meet three or four senior officials surrounded by two people playing chess there. Everyone looked down on him at first, but they had to throw a dice to admit defeat after just half a game with Mrs. Wang, and everyone was frightened and would pull Mrs. Wang to eat wine. Mrs. Wang said with a smile, "There's something as happy as killing chess! I've killed chess, and I'm very happy. I can't eat and drink there! " After that, he laughed and went away without looking back.
Hermits who are indifferent to fame and fortune like them still exist in the market, but in the eyes of the dignitaries, the pursuit of fame and fortune is the right way.
Zhang Hui Catalogue
The Scholars was originally only 55 times. According to Cheng Jinfang's Poems of Feeling for People, it can be proved that Wu Jingzi had written the manuscript at the age of 49, but it was not until more than ten years after the author's death that Jin Zhaoyan carved it for him. This engraving has been lost today. At present, there are 56 engravings, the last of which is a forgery by later generations.
The first time, it is said that Dayi Chen borrowed celebrities to cover the full text
The second time, Wang Xiaolian's knowledge in the village was the same as that of Zhou Meng's teacher in the next year. The third time, Zhou Xuedao's scholar was a real talent. Hu Tuhu's murder was a good news. The fourth time, he recommended that the monk die and the lawsuit was fought against the squire. The fifth time, Wang Xiucai proposed that Yan Jiansheng, a partial family, died suddenly. The sixth time, the squire died. The seventh time, Fan Xuedao regarded the academic journal master En Wang as a foreign minister and established a friendship with Chao Dun
The eighth time, Wang observed that the poor road was always good, and Lou Gongzi's hometown met with poverty
The ninth time, Lou Gongzi donated money to redeem his friend Liu Shoubei, who took the surname of boatman
The tenth time, Lu Hanlin took pity on him and chose his husband, Peng Gongsun's rich room to recruit his wife
The eleventh time, it was difficult for Miss Lu to make justice, and the groom, Yang Sixun, went to the
The 13th time, Mi Fu asks for the virtuous and asks for help in Ma Chun.
The 14th time, Mi Gongsun Bookstore sent his good friend Ma Xiucai to meet the immortal in the cave.
The 15th time, Ma Xiucai sent his mourning parents, Kuang Tongsheng, to be filial.
The 16th time, the filial son in Daliuzhuang was close to the virtuous and slaughtered lover in Yueqing County.
The 17th time, Kuang Xiucai revisited. Pan San
The 19th session of Kuang Superman was lucky to have a good friend, Pan Ziye, and suffered a disaster
The 2th session of Kuang Superman was happy that Niu Buyi died on Chang 'an Road, Wuhu Pass
The 21st session of the boy who took the surname, seeking fame and missing relatives, was ill for a long time
The 22nd session of recognizing that his grandparents and grandchildren had made friends with Zong Ai, staying in the snow lodge
The 23rd session of Kuang Superman was sighing about the old scene, and the widow was looking for a husband
The 24th session of Niu. Litigation Bao wenqing tidies up his old career
the 25th time Bao wenqing meets the old Ni Tingxi in Nanjing, and marries his wife
the 27th time Mrs. Wang and her husband turned against each other, and the Ni Tingzhu brothers met
the 28th time Ji Wei, Xiao Jinxuan, son-in-law in Yangzhou, selected books in white
the 29th time Zhuge You met his friend Du Shenqing, Naji in Jiangjun County
Love Shao-jun, visit friends and gods, be optimistic, make merry, and have a high meeting in Mochou Lake
Thirty-first visit to Tianchang County, visit heroes, give books and buildings, get drunk, and get high friends
Thirty-second visit to Du Shaoqing's flat residence, make bold moves, Lou Huanwen's last words
Thirty-third visit to Du Shaoqing's couple to visit mountains and discuss the ceremony of friends in Chihengshan Mountain
Thirty-fourth visit to celebrities, prepare a bow for visiting friends, and > back to the thirty-sixth time, the birth of Confucian scholars in Changshu County, the main sacrifice of famous people in Taibo Temple
back to the thirty-seventh time, the sacrifice of the sage Nanjing was sent to the filial son Xishu to find relatives
back to the thirty-eighth time, Guo Xiaozi met a tiger in the mountains, and Ganlu monk met his enemies in a narrow road
back to the thirty-ninth time, Xiao Yunxian rescued Mingyueling, Ping Shaobao played in Kaiqingfeng City
back to the fortieth time, Xiao Yunxian enjoyed snow in guang wu shan, and Shen Qiongzhili went to the bridge to sell