Ji Qin and Ruan Xiao

Read Yu Qiuyu's "The Distant Silence" and you will have a deeper understanding!

The Distant Silence

Author: Yu Qiuyu

Part 1

I have never dared to write about that era and those characters.

Not only did I not dare to write, I didn’t even dare to look or listen. Sometimes, I wonder if they ever really existed. If

not doubt, then I must doubt many characters from many other eras. I have secretly judged that if they really existed

they could not represent China. But every time I face those chapters in the history of world civilization that make us ashamed, I always want to tell the stories about them to foreign friends. Can foreign friends really understand these stories? It seems difficult. Therefore, only

these stories can represent China. They can represent China but seem strange and lonely in China. Is this their problem or China's?

I have no idea.

Like a strange gust of wind, it has blown away long ago, but the whole earth retains its fear and memory. Even the words presented to it by linguists of all ages are indispensable with the word "wind": romantic, graceful, windy, charming, graceful... Indeed, it was a strange burst of wind. wind.

At this point, readers have already understood that I am talking about the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

The reason I keep avoiding it is because it hurts my spirit too much. It is another spiritual world and personality world.

Even if you just look up, you will see the mediocrity of everything we are used to. Since mediocrity has become a habit, it will bring stability

It seems that it has become our profession and mission to calmly talk about various cultural phenomena that our minds can control.

. Sometimes I wonder, since I can control my own mind, what's the point of talking about it? But if it really makes me enter a kind of shock and unfamiliarity, depending on my temperament and age, I will eventually hesitate and hesitate.

Half a year ago, I was chatting with a graduate student, and unexpectedly we talked about a branch of Chinese culture that can be called "romantic". I suddenly mentioned to him

a kind of traditional culture Saying: What can be called truly romantic is "Poems of Wei and Jin Dynasty Characters in the Late Tang Dynasty". The graduate student's eyes lit up and he seemed to have a deep understanding. Several of the graduate students I taught were university teachers before they applied for the exam, and they had strong cultural foundations. Therefore, when we met several times in the future, the characters of the Wei and Jin Dynasties became an inescapable topic. Every time I talk about it, there is always a strange surge in my heart, but I can't talk clearly every time.

Not long ago, I received the masterpiece "Wei and Jin Qing Tan" from Dr. Tang Jiming, associate professor of the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. Mr. Tang wrote on the title page of the book

that he read it in Taipei One of my books, "I was very surprised, thinking that the sound of Zhengshi can be heard again today." Mr. Tang

The so-called "the sound of Zhengshi" refers to the vivid and vivid expressions of celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties during the Zhengshi period. Xuantan. Of course Mr. Tang won the award, but I held his inscription and couldn't help but think: Maybe at some point, we have silently communicated with the object of our fear.

So, let’s get into it a little bit. I straightened up in front of my desk, calmed myself down, and gently spread out the manuscript paper. No

article has ever made me so cautious.

2

This is a real troubled time.

There have been a number of veritable iron-blooded heroes, they have preached a fierce will to life, and popularized the politics of "the winner is

the king and the loser is the bandit" Logic, even in the deserted alleys and deserted streets, becomes bright and vivid due to shock, admiration, observation, and excitement.

Suddenly, the heroes passed away one after another, and heroes fought with each other for most of their lives. They were roughly the same age, so they always left the world at about the same time. Like suddenly breaking free from a tight rope, history suddenly became relaxed, but then began to shake violently. The passion left behind by the heroes is still there, the descendants are still there, the subordinates are still there, and the cronies are still there, but the giant hand that controls it all has withered in the dark tomb; at the same time, the past has been destroyed. Various social forces concealed and subdued by the heroes' might suddenly surged up to compete for power and status. The collision of these two forces is several levels lower in social value than the majestic confrontation of heroes in the past. As a result, the grand plans disappeared, the magnificent fierce battles

gone, and the poetry of history disappeared. They were replaced by overt and covert struggles, fighting against superiors and inferiors, opportunism, and power tactics, instigating rebellion, and plotting.

Harm. The original heroes would also play with all this, but the playing was just playing. The theme of their struggle was still loud and full of charisma. When the heroes passed away, all means became the theme, and history lost its spirit

and entered a state of disorder. Authoritarian order will breed darkness, and chaotic disorder will also breed darkness. What we are accustomed to referring to as troubled times refers to disorderly darkness.

The Wei and Jin Dynasties were such a chaotic and dark "post-heroic period".

Cao Cao is finally a strong hero, but as he himself said, "Although the turtle has a long life, it still has its time, and the snake rides on the fog.

In the end, it becomes ashes. ", died at the age of sixty-six. Logically speaking, he has twenty-five sons, including the talented Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. They should be able to continue the Cao family's legacy from generation to generation with confidence. However, as we all know, things have just come to Cao Pi and Cao Zhi< /p>

A brother is already so troubled that even others feel sad when he sees it. How can he have more power to deal with political opponents from outside the family

? Not long after, the Sima Group defeated the Cao Group, and Cao Cao's achievements were completely wiped out. Among them, the most pitiable ones are the literati and celebrities who have more or less political enthusiasm. They are the most easily attracted by the heroic personalities, not to mention these heroes and their Some people in the family are great intellectuals with outstanding literary talents, and a literary group has naturally formed around them. When the political struggle becomes fierce, these intellectuals and celebrities will become the ghosts of the sword one after another. The family suffered more and more tragic deaths.

I have always wondered why the lives of literati and celebrities were so worthless during the troubled times of Wei and Jin. The result of thinking is: it seems

not valuable precisely because it is too valuable. A large part of the literati and celebrities at that time inherited the philosophy, sociology, politics, and military ideas of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, and the Qin and Han Dynasties, both in terms of actual intellectual level and broad social prestige. They can effectively assist various political groups. Therefore, winning over them is often related to the taste and success or failure of the political group; killing them is because you are truly afraid of them and be wary of them working for other political groups.

In contrast, the individual personalities of the Confucian scholars who were tricked by Qin Shihuang as intellectuals were still relatively vague. However, by the time of

the intellectuals who were killed during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, It's different in every aspect. They have long been real celebrities. Their surnames, deeds, character, and reputations have all penetrated the land of China and the history of civilization with their blood. There is nothing more painful for culture than this; there is nothing more terrifying for history than this.

He Yan, the founder of metaphysics, philosopher, poet, and counselor, was killed; Zhang Hua, politician, poet, and author of "Natural History"

was killed; Pan Yue , a poet as famous as Lu Ji, the most famous handsome man in ancient China, was killed; The first-class poet, was killed;

Fan Ye, the outstanding historian who wrote the magnificent historical masterpiece "Book of the Later Han", was killed;

…………

The list could be very long. There were many crimes against them, but no one could be found who could rescue them and defend them.

No one could be found. Everyone was very indifferent to their death, and it might have become a topic of conversation for a few days, but there was a strong murderous pressure around them, and no one dared to talk about it. When things changed and new chaos appeared in front of people's eyes, the interest in rehabilitating the old accounts had already disappeared.

Therefore, in ancient China, the killing of cultural celebrities in batches never caused much social disturbance, and even the annals of later generations wrote about these things in a tone as calm as the still water of an ancient well.

The ones who really couldn't calm down were the celebrities who were lucky enough to survive by lowering their eyebrows and avoiding the pool of blood. A group of people were frightened to the point of becoming vulgar, timid, tactful, traitorous, and silent. This is natural. People are very fragile, from their body structure to their nervous system.

That’s true, I can’t blame you deeply; but after all, there are still some people who have recovered from the shock and rethink philosophy, history and the way of existence of life

So, a unique life The style floats out from the squeeze of darkness, chaos, and blood.

Three

At that time, there was a clerk named Ruan (Wang Yu) who was very talented and well-received by Cao Cao. He gave birth to a son named Ruan

Citizenship. Ruan Ji was just ten years old when Cao Cao died, so he was destined to face the troubled times of the "post-heroic period" and witnessed so much blood

and heads. Unfortunately, he is also full of a sense of history and culture. We have no way of knowing how much suffering he will endure in his heart.

We only know that Ruan Ji likes to drive around alone in a wooden cart, loaded with wine, and driving forward without direction. Mud

The road was uneven, the wooden cart bumped, the wine jar swayed, and his hands were trembling as he held the reins. Suddenly the horse stopped. He took a closer look and saw that the road had come to an end. Is there really no way out? He asked himself hoarsely, tears welling up in his eyes. Finally, the sobs turned into howls. After crying enough, I took the reins and drove back to find another way. In addition, the road came to an end as he walked, and he cried again. He cried all the way, no one heard him in the wilderness, he only cried to himself.

One day, he just came to Guangwu Mountain in Xingyang, Henan Province. He knew that this was the place where the Chu-Han conflict was most intense.

There are also ruins of ancient cities on the mountain. Xiang Yu was stationed in the east city and Liu Bang was stationed in the west city. Two hundred steps apart, there is also a Guangwu stream. The stream is gurgling, the city foundation is in ruins, the wind is strong, and the mountains are covered with fallen leaves. Ruan Ji lingers for a long time and sighs: "There are no heroes in the world.

Make Zhuzi famous!"

His A sigh, I don’t know how it was spread to the world. Maybe he made an exception and took a companion with him because of the long journey that day?

Or where did he record this exclamation himself? Anyway, this sigh has become the common voice of many historical figures who have both heroic dreams and a sense of loneliness in the next thousand years. Until the 20th century, the lonely Lu Xun still quoted it. Mao Zedong discovered it when he was reading Lu Xun's book, and he also wrote it in a letter home that made him feel even more lonely. Lu Xun quoted from memory and misremembered two words, and Mao Zedong also made the same mistake.

The question is, who is Ruan Ji's sigh pointing at?

It may refer to Liu Bang. Liu Bang won the conflict between Chu and Han because his opponent Xiang Yu was not a real hero. In an era when there are no real heroes, only mere boys can become famous.

It may also refer to Liu Bang and Xiang Yu at the same time.

Because what he lamented was "fame" rather than "victory", Liu and Xiang became famous no matter whether they won or lost. In his opinion, they were not worthy of fame and were not heroes;

It may even be the other way around. He admits that Liu Bang and Xiang Yu are heroes, but they have long gone away, leaving these little people in front of him enjoying their fame in vain. Facing the remains of Liu and Xiang, he lamented the desolation of the world. It seems that this is how Su Dongpo understood it. A friend once asked him: Ruan Ji said, "There are no heroes who made Shuzi famous." Does "Shuzi" refer to Liu Bang? Su Dongpo replied

"No. There is no Liu or Xiang when you are injured. The vertical child refers to the ears of people in the Wei and Jin Dynasties." ①

Since the completely opposite understanding can also be explained. , then we can only treat this sentence with a more transcendent attitude.

The vast land of Kyushu is full of devastation caused by the struggle to be a hero, but in which eras have real heroes appeared? Since there are no heroes, why is the world so busy? Perhaps, it is precisely because there are no heroes that the world is so lively?

Right?

I believe that the trip to Guangwu Mountain made Ruan Ji even more tired of the hustle and bustle. In ancient China, paying homage to historical sites was a major event in the life of a scholar

In the intersection of history and geography, a lightning-like understanding of life can even make a person completely reborn. It must have been dusk.

After leaving Guangwu Mountain, Ruan Ji's wooden cart moved slower and slower among the fading grass at sunset. This time he stopped crying, but he still felt heavy.

The depressed air flow rushed to his throat and mouth. He exhaled for a long time, with a deep and melodious tone. The guttural and nasal sounds rolled several times, and finally the sound was collected between the lips and teeth, turning into a whistle floating in the mountain breeze and dusk. This whistle was not sharp, but gentle.

High pitched.

This can be regarded as a way of singing. Ruan Ji has heard it from others before and seems to call it "howling". Xiao does not bear any concrete content and does not follow the established format. It only expresses a style and a heartfelt message as it pleases, so it is especially suitable for famous people in troubled times. I screamed to my heart's content and couldn't catch anything, but everything was inside. On this day, Ruan Ji truly experienced the deliciousness of whistle in the wooden cart, and the beautiful and lonely voice echoed in the night air.

For Ruan Ji, the more important mountain is Mount Sumen. Mount Sumen is located in Huixian County, Henan Province. At that time, there was a famous hermit Sun Deng who lived in seclusion there. Mount Sumen became famous because of Sun Deng, and Sun Deng was often called Mr. Sumen. After Ruan Ji went up the mountain, he squatted in front of Sun Deng and asked him a series of important historical and philosophical questions, but Sun Deng seemed to have heard nothing and remained silent. Not even rolling his eyes.

Ruan Ji looked stupidly at Sun Deng, who looked like a clay and wood sculpture, and suddenly realized how meaningless his major problem was. Then

cut it off quickly. Maybe there is another vocabulary system that can communicate with the master in front of you? As if being shaken by a magical force, he roared slowly. After whistling for a while, he looked at Sun Deng again. Sun Deng commented to him with a smile and said, "Let's do it again

." Upon hearing this, Ruan Ji quickly stood up and whistled to the mountains and sky. A long time. After turning around after roaring, Sun Deng had calmed down again. He knew that he had completed an exchange with this master and that his trip was not in vain.

Ruan Ji came down the mountain, a little happy and a little confused. But just halfway up the mountain, a miracle happened. Like heavenly music playing,

like the sound of a Buddhist harp, like a hundred phoenixes singing in unison, an unimaginable music suddenly fills the mountains, forests and valleys. Ruan Ji was shocked for a moment and immediately realized that this was the roar of Master Sun Deng. It was so brilliant and holy that he couldn't compare it to his own roar. But Master Sun

Master Deng was obviously not trying to compete with him, but was answering all his historical and philosophical questions. Ruan Ji raised his head and listened until the whistle ended. Then he hurried home and wrote a "Biography of Mr. Adult".

From Sun Deng, he learned what it means to be an "adult".

He said in the article that "adult" is a kind of existence that is of the same body as creation, coexisting with heaven and earth, carefree and floating in the world, and complete with Tao. How ridiculous it is for a gentleman to walk on the ropes

The world is constantly changing. What etiquette can gentlemen stick to? To put it bluntly, a gentleman who practices etiquette but is self-righteous is like a louse living in the crotch of his trousers. He crawls around but can't get out of the crotch seam, and he claims to be following the rules; he bites someone when he is hungry, and thinks he has found some Feng Shui auspicious house.

The article is so poignant that we can know how he himself would behave in the world.

IV

To be fair, Ruan Ji's personal political encounters in his life were not dangerous, so his strange behavior cannot be regarded as straightforward political resistance.

No matter how brave and fierce Zhijie's political resistance was, it only belonged to the political category, while Ruan Ji seemed determined to create a new atmosphere in his life style and lifestyle.

He has witnessed the cruelty of political struggle with his own eyes, but in his opinion, since no party is heroic, he will not

seriously judge who is right and wrong. . Must the lessons of blood be recorded with new blood? No, among the new graves of a group of well-known and unknown literati, he suddenly realized the extreme humbleness and preciousness of life, and he made up his mind

Stretch out your hands and claim back a little autonomy and freedom in the name of life. He has been to Guangwu Mountain and Sumen Mountain, seen ruins and heard whistles. He is already a unique person and is getting closer to the "adult" in his mind.

People will say that he is weird, but in his eyes, the real weird thing is to live like a louse after giving birth to a living person. Looking at people with complacency and cold eyes is the weirdest of weirdness.

The first thing that makes people feel weird is probably his attitude towards officialdom. For Chinese people of all ages, it is understandable that they covet officialdom, avoid it, rectify it, and fight against it. However, what Ruan Ji gave to officialdom was a kind of free and easy play. This

It makes everyone feel very strange.

Ruan Ji avoided official appointment, but his avoidance was not complete. Sometimes I do it on a whim. It happened to be a period of regime change.

His hiding not only saved his life, but was also seen as a political vision, which actually misunderstood him. For example, Cao Shuang wanted him to be an official, but he said he was in poor health and lived in seclusion in the countryside. A year later, Cao Shuang fell, implicating many celebrities, but he was safe and sound; but the victorious Si Ma Zhao wanted to Marrying him, every time I went to his house to talk about kissing him, he would get drunk. He stayed like this for two whole months, and the idea of ????marriage fell through.

Once he said to Sima Zhao casually: "I once visited Dongping in Shandong Province and liked the customs and people there very much." When Sima Zhao heard this, he asked him to go there. I went to Dongping to become an official. After Ruan Ji rode a donkey to Dongping, he inspected the office style of the government office. After looking around for a short time, he immediately ordered that the overlapping walls of the government office be torn down and that they be kept in their respective rooms< /p>

Officials working alone here were suddenly placed in an open environment where they could monitor each other and communicate with each other internally and externally. The office content and

efficiency immediately underwent major changes. This move, even if we look at today's administrative management science more than a thousand years later, can be said to have captured the "nose". Many modern companies in the world are pursuing a certain office space. Is there a collective atmosphere of high transparency? But our Ruan Ji just thought about it for a moment while riding on the back of a donkey. In addition, he also drastically streamlined the laws and regulations, and everyone was convinced and complied with them completely. He felt that Dongping's work was done, so he still mounted the donkey and returned to Luoyang. After all, he stayed in Dongping General Hospital for more than ten days.

Later generations said that Ruan Ji worked seriously all his life, that is, these more than ten days.

Li Bai, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, admired Ruan Ji's unrestrained energy as an official. He once wrote a poem: Ruan Ji was a prefect and rode a donkey to the East

Ping. After more than ten days of judging bamboo, the wind turned clear.

It only took more than ten days to leave behind Dongping, a man with open government offices, good political connections and people. For Ruan Ji, this was just a fun

playing like this. Beautiful, it immediately makes countless bureaucrats who have done nothing but look embarrassed.

Does he still want to use this quick and efficient method to rectify administrative agencies in many other places? Amid people's doubts, he suddenly expressed his willingness to take up a military position and made it clear that he wanted to serve as an infantry colonel in the Northern Army. However, the only reason he asked for this position was that the chef at the Infantry Colonel Barracks was particularly good at making wine, and he learned that there were still 300 dendrobium wine stored in the warehouse.

After taking office, apart from drinking, he did not care about anything. In ancient China, there were many officials who drank too much and ruined their affairs. However, it was rare for someone like Ruan Ji to become an official just for the few handfuls of wine in the warehouse. Using the gold seal as a stepping stone, I knocked on it, but what I found was a wine cellar with rich aroma, and the so-called "Wei and Jin style" emanated from here.

.

In addition to his attitude towards officialdom, what is even more strange about Ruan Ji is his contempt for ethics.

For example, as we all know, etiquette strictly prevents contact between men and women. Uncles and sisters-in-law are not allowed to talk to each other, the women of friends are not allowed to meet

meet, women from the neighborhood are not allowed to look directly at each other, and so on. A large set of written and unwritten rules have been accumulated. Chinese men once almost became the most misogynistic group of strange animals, with ridiculous unconfidence and hateful lewd reasoning, which is both pretentious and pretentious. Again

trembling with fear. Ruan Ji flatly refused all this. Once when his sister-in-law was going back to her parents' home, he said goodbye to her openly and said a lot of things, completely ignoring the etiquette that prohibited dialogue between uncle and sister-in-law. The young daughter-in-law in the wine shop next door was very beautiful. Ruan Ji often went to drink wine. When she got drunk, she fell asleep at her feet. He did not avoid suspicion, and the young daughter-in-law's husband did not suspect her either.

One thing that particularly moved me was: a military girl, extremely talented and beautiful, unfortunately died before getting married

Ruan Ji didn't know anyone in the family or the girl at all. After hearing the news, he rashly rushed to express his condolences. He cried profusely in the funeral hall and left after pouring out his heartfelt condolences. . Ruan Ji can't pretend and has no sense of performance. His tears that day were all sincere. These tears are not shed for family affection, nor for an unjust case, but for a beautiful but fleeting life. The absurdity lies in this, and the nobility lies in this. With Ruan Ji's cry that day, many other cries of death

over thousands of years in China seemed too specific, too real, and too selfish. Finally, a real man cried decently

There was no other reason, just for beauty, just for youth, just for the opposite sex, just for life, crying abstractly and dripping with tears< /p>

To the fullest. In my opinion, this is the end of a man's crying.

Another strong point of ethics is "filial piety". The name and method of filial piety have nothing to do with the actual feelings of children towards their parents.

The most astonishing thing is the complicated etiquette when parents die, including three years of mourning, three years of vegetarianism, three years of celibacy, and even three years of guarding the tomb. A sincerity is expanded into a lot of pretense, making the living and the dead indifferent. Those who have been lied to will suffer for a long time, and they are lying on a large scale in places where they should not be false.

It was in this atmosphere that Ruan Ji's mother passed away.

He happened to be playing Go with others that day. When the news of his death came, the opponent asked to stop, but Ruan Ji refused to stop with a livid face

and insisted on deciding the winner or loser. After playing chess, he asked for the wine glass under the horrified eyes of others, drank two cups, and then burst into tears. While crying, he vomited a lot of blood. A few days later, after his mother was buried, he ate meat and drank wine again before saying goodbye to her body. At this time, he had already lost weight rapidly due to excessive grief. When he saw his mother's body, he burst into tears and vomited several liters of blood. Almost died.

He was completely unconventional and drank wine and ate meat on the day of his mother's death. But his grief over his mother's death was so deep that no filial son could compare to him

? This is a truth that is true throughout the ages: Many rebels are often more loyal to the core underlying the layers of external norms than defenders.

Ruan Ji broke through the etiquette of "filial piety" to truly perform filial piety. Like his other actions, he just wanted to live authentically and freely.

His approach has a very broad social enlightenment effect. What's more, the long years of war in the Wei and Jin Dynasties had already led to the laxity of etiquette and ethics. A celebrity like him could use his famous behavior to change customs. According to "Shishuoxinyu", even the ruler Sima Zhao was willing to tolerate Ruan Ji's behavior. Soon after Ruan Ji buried his mother, he was invited to a banquet hosted by Sima Zhao. Naturally, there was drinking and eating meat during the banquet. An official named He Zeng stood up and said: >Sima Zhao said: "You have always advocated governing the country with filial piety, but today Ruan Ji, who is in a period of heavy mourning, is sitting here drinking and eating meat. This is a big violation of filial piety and should be severely punished!" Sima Zhao was filled with righteous indignation after seeing this. He Zeng glanced at him and said slowly: "Didn't you see that Ruan Ji was weak due to excessive sadness? What's wrong with eating and drinking when you are weak? What else can you say if you can't share his sorrow? ! ”

One of the great benefits of the Wei and Jin Dynasties is the diversity of ecology and mentality. Etiquette is still popular, and Ruan Ji's behavior is allowed,

So the world seems to be very spacious. I remember that during Ruan Ji's mourning period, one day my friend Pei Kai went to express his condolences and cried in the mourning hall of Ruan Ji's mother. However, Ruan Ji was sitting with his hair disheveled, neither standing up nor crying, just looking at him. Hair straight, expression dull.

After Pei Kai came out to express condolences, someone immediately said to him: "According to etiquette, the host cries first when condolences, and then the guests follow suit. This time I saw that Ruan Ji didn't express his condolences at all. Cry bye, why are you weeping by yourself?" Most of the people who said this were scoundrels, so let's forget about it. I really appreciated Pei Kai's answer. He said: "Ruan Ji is a person who transcends etiquette and law, so he does not need to talk about etiquette and law; I am still within etiquette and law, so I follow etiquette and law." I feel that although this Pei Kai is a man of etiquette and law, he also has the style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties . He himself is not tactful but is willing to make the world tactful.

Since Ruan Ji so simply tore off the old worldly warps and got straight to the original meaning of life, of course he would not be subject to the burden of interpersonal relationships. He is a celebrity, and there are many people who want to make friends with him in society, and a large part of these people make a living by eating celebrities: the purpose of making friends with celebrities is to share them, and to covet them while sharing them. , as soon as there is any disturbance, they will inform and stir up trouble. In an instant, celebrities will be pecked with scars. Ruan Ji lives in troubled times and is well-informed in this regard. He

is well aware of the unreliability of worldly friendships, so he will never be fooled by a circle of friends that seems both real and illusory. The people he was looking for were gone

Liu Bang and Xiang Yu only left an abandoned city, Master Sun Deng only left a mountain full of roars, his dear mother was gone, even like

A lovely person like the daughter of a military strategist with both talent and beauty was no longer alive when I heard about it. Unbearable loneliness surrounded him. He was tired of the hypocritical comings and goings around him, and often rolled his eyes at each other. As time went by, Ruan Ji's rolling eyes became an unmistakable social signal and a psychological barrier to self-protection. However, when Ruan Ji rolled his eyes outwards, he was also unhappy inside. How he wished he could roll his eyes less and let his dark brown pupils face the other pair of pupils sincerely! He has been searching

and it was very difficult. During his mother's funeral wake, he sincerely thanked the guests who came to express condolences, but his gratitude was limited to gratitude. People discovered that even Ji Xi, who had a high official position and social reputation, came to express his condolences. , what flashed in the corner of Ruan Ji's eyes was still white.

When someone expressed condolences to his mother, he would just look at her with blank eyes! This matter was very unreasonable, and Ji Xi and his entourage were a little displeased. When they returned home, they were overheard by Ji Xi's younger brother.

The younger brother was shocked when he heard this. After thinking about it, he suddenly realized what he was saying. He quickly prepared wine and came to the mourning hall with his piano. Wine and piano were so contradictory to the mourning hall, but Ruan Ji stood up and went to greet them. Are you here

A friend who has the same disregard for etiquette as I do, do you want to use wine and music to bid farewell to my mother who has worked hard all her life? Ruan Ji's heart felt hot, and he finally cast his dark brown eyes on the young man.

This young man is called Ji Kang, who is thirteen years younger than Ruan Ji. From now on, they will become lifelong friends, and all versions of Chinese cultural history for future generations will regard them as The names are arranged together forever and cannot be separated.

Five

Ji Kang is Cao Cao's grandson-in-law, and his relationship with the bygone heroic era is even more direct than that of Ruan Ji.

Ji Kang can be called the first-class lovable figure in the history of Chinese culture. Although he is tied with Ruan Ji and is younger than Ruan Ji, in terms of

overall personality, he is in my mind In his mind, his status is much higher than that of Ruan Ji, although he has always admired Ruan Ji throughout his life. I

have thought about the reasons for this feeling many times. After thinking about it, I finally realized that Ji Kang was clearer and more thorough than Ruan Ji about what he opposed and pursued, so his life movement was clearer and louder.

His life propositions were shocking to people at the time: "It is not Tang Wu who is weak but Zhou Kong", "More famous teachings and let nature take its course".

He completely ignored all the time-honored and grandiose dogma and etiquette, and completely hated officialdom, because he had a realm of life in his heart that enchanted him. The basic content of this realm of life is to get rid of constraints, return to nature, and enjoy leisure

. Professor Luo Zongqiang said in the book "Metaphysics and the Mentality of Scholars in Wei and Jin Dynasties" that Ji Kang humanized Zhuangzi's philosophy and therefore made it poetic

, which makes sense. Ji Kang was a hands-on practitioner. He lived in seclusion in Shanyang, Jiaozuo, Henan Province for a long time. Later, when he arrived outside Luoyang City, he actually opened a blacksmith shop and forged iron under a big tree every day. He does not charge money for others' blacksmithing. If someone pays him with wine and food for his work, he will be very happy and lead others to drink happily in the blacksmith shop.

A rare great scholar and great artist was forging iron near a big city! No one asked him to fight, he just did it voluntarily; there was no practical purpose, he just thought it was interesting. Compared with those skinny hermits who are far away from the world, and compared with those frail scholars who are brilliant and poor in scriptures, Ji Kang is really enviable in health.

Ji Kang is very handsome, which is comparable to Ruan Ji. Why did the scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties all look so tall?

You see, the serious "Book of Jin" writes about Ruan Ji, Ji Kang and others, and spends a lot of ink on their appearance. It writes even more about Ji Kang, saying that he has achieved the "dragon, chapter, and phoenix posture" , nature is natural". A friend Shan Tao once used such a beautiful sentence to describe Rong Ji Kang (Uncle Ye):

Uncle Ye is as human as a rock is as independent as a solitary pine. When he is drunk, his majestic jade mountain is about to collapse.

Now, this lone rock pine, this majestic jade mountain is forging iron, with strong muscles, joyful shouts, blazing fire, and the sonorous sound of hammers. Could it be that this blacksmith is the "Lun on No Sound of Sadness", "Teacher's Proverbs", "On Difficult Nature to Be Eager to Learn", "Lun on Guan Cai", "Lun on Ming Dan", "Lun on Ming Dan" and "Lun on Discipline" that have been passed down through the ages. Author of "Private Essays", "Essays on Health" and many beautiful poems? This iron is so well shot.

Ji Kang doesn’t want many people to know about his blacksmithing, and he doesn’t want others to visit. His good friend and writer Xiang Xiu knew about his temper, so he came to him quietly without saying anything, and just immersed himself in helping him blacksmith. Speaking of which, Xiang Xiu is also a great person

He writes well and is proficient in "Zhuangzi", but he is more willing to be the most loyal friend and rush to the blacksmith shop to help.

Safe and at ease. He also went to Shanyang to help another friend, Lu An, grow vegetables and irrigate the garden. Lu An was also a good friend of Ji Kang.

These friends all believe in returning to nature, so they all do some physical work, running around to take care of Xiang Xiu, fearing that their friends will be too tired and afraid of friends

They are too lonely.

When Ji Kang and Xiang Xiu were blacksmithing together, they didn't like to talk about the rights and wrongs of the world, so they didn't talk much. The only topic was to talk about a few friends, besides Ruan Ji and Lu An, there was also Shan Tao. Lu An's brother Lu Xun also has a good relationship. There are only five or six people who can be called friends

and they all cherish them very much. In the wild and natural ecology, they will never give up the comfort of family affection.

This kind of affection is tacit to each other and is so strong that it is almost indifferent.

Just as I was hammering away at the iron, I suddenly saw a luxurious motorcade coming from Luoyang City. The leader was a noble son named Zhong Hui who was favored by the imperial court at that time. Zhong Hui is the son of the great calligrapher Zhong Yao. Zhong Yao served as the Taifu of the State of Wei

and Zhong Hui himself is also very knowledgeable