Regarding Jin Shengsi, modern people know mostly because he commented on "Water Margin", but this is only a drop in the ocean that he has just learned. He was born at an inopportune time and lived in the most authoritarian era in China; he was only eight years old, and he once said that "it is like taking a mustard ear to enroll in school with my talents", but he refused to be imprisoned by the imperial examination and was desperate to advance; he deviated from the scriptures, did not like the Four Books and Five Classics and loved novels alone, mocked the phenomenon of officials forcing the people to rebel, and commented on himself as the "Book of the Six Talents", which was not tolerated by the times, and was eventually killed. The people have mixed praise and criticism of him, the literati who respect him are like gods, and those who hate him are eager to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin.
The modern revolutionary party revered him as a pioneer in resisting the rule of the Qing Dynasty, mainland scholars said that he was the spokesman of the feudal ruling class, Hu Shi praised him as a "great freak" with vision and courage, and Lin Yutang called him "the great impressionist critic of the seventeenth century"... He had so many labels on him, and he laughed and cursed all his life, and he was not enslaved by fame, but when he was dying, the most important thing in his heart was his son.
01
In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (1661), July 13, Sanshan Street, Nanjing.
On the execution ground, the executioner held a ghost-headed knife that flashed with a cold light, and the fierce god stood behind eighteen prisoners like a fierce spirit. Under the execution table, the relatives of the prisoners wept silently and cried out to the heavens and the earth. Jin Shengsi's son Jin Yong was also heartbroken in the crowd, Jin Shengsi looked at his sad son, there was remorse and unwillingness in his heart, but more was the reluctance to the world, the reluctance to his son, the reluctance to his unfinished literary criticism cause, in order to comfort his son, he tried to control his emotions, and slowly said: 'Child, people are inherently dead, crying is useless, I come out of an upper link, you come to the lower link', and then Man Sheng chanted "Lotus (pity) son is bitter in his heart", and the son knelt on the ground and cried bitterly in his heart. Even if you have the heart to pair. After waiting for a while, he saw that his son was just crying, so he said: "Mo is crying, child, I think about the next link for you, pear (away) child's abdominal acid" The son heard the words, and the crying became louder. Jin Shengsi also couldn't help but burst into tears, he really didn't give up, he hated this era, and he hated himself. Although this life and death trick is different, a pun, rigorous in battle, fascinating, and shocking, but it can't stop the cold light of the ghost head knife, accompanied by this earth-shattering, weeping ghost god's eternal singing, a generation of talented full-fledged scholars and literary superstars fell prematurely. This year, Jin Sheng sighed at the age of fifty-four.
He was just about to reconcile with the world, but the wheels of the times rolled by, crushing him to the point of slag.
In the history of Chinese literature, Jin Shengsi was the only famous figure who died for participating in the organization against the harsh government of the imperial court.
02
Jin Shengsi was originally named Cai, the character Ruocai, the third day of march in the thirty-sixth year of the Ming Wanli Calendar (1608), and was born in Wu County, Jiangsu Province (now Suzhou City). Neither father nor grandfather had ever been an official, but When Jin Shengsi was a child, his family conditions were still very good, he had land property, there were servants, he could be regarded as a small and medium-sized landlord class, and his life was leisurely and rich. He entered a private school at the age of ten to study the Confucian classics "University", "Zhongyong", "Analects", "Mencius", etc., but when he studied, he was not interested, and he did not know what he could do in the future by learning these boring things, at that time he was obviously very confused about life for the future, and it can also be seen that Jin Shengsi was a precocious person, after all, at the age of about ten, more people were still on the millstone and mud in the village.
At the age of eleven, Jin Shengsi was given the opportunity to study freely. Because he was often sick during that time, when he was sick and took leave, he could read the books he wanted to read. He is an introvert who does not like to play with his companions, and he devotes his free time to reading for recreation. At the beginning, he read the Lotus Sutra, the Departing Sorrows, and the Chronicle of History, but he was still not interested.
According to his own recollection: "There are too many strange words in 'Departure', although I like it but can't fully understand the meaning expressed in it, I read 'Leaving Sorrow' in order to be able to remember one or two wonderful sentences, and I can recite it when I am fine", until one day he saw "Water Margin" and suddenly became fascinated, reaching the point where he held a book from morning to night when he ate and went to the toilet. Later, he read "The Tale of the West Chamber" again, and he was also fascinated by it.
Jin Shengsi recalled in his later years: "I remember when Shengsi was reading "West Chamber" at the beginning of his life, he saw the seven words "How he does not wait for others to be born", and suddenly froze, threw the book aside, lay on the bed for three or four days, and seriously understood these seven words. Forgetting time, forgetting yourself, just throwing all your body and mind into the artistic realm created by "The Tale of the West Chamber". I don't know whether I am dead or alive at this time, whether I am confused or enlightened, in short, I am lying on the bed, lying down for three or four days, during this period, no tea, no food, no words, such as stone sinking in the sea, such as the fire extinguished, all because of the emotional experience and aesthetic understanding brought to themselves by these seven words. Mr. Xu Shuliang, the first teacher, saw that I was not in an abnormal state and asked me why, so I told him the cause and effect of the matter. After listening, Teacher Xu praised me: "The day of the widow is really the seed of reading in the world!" ”
Jin Sheng sighed that his intermittent reading experience for more than a year not only opened a literary window for himself, but also determined his life's interests and pursuits. The word "reading seed" is the teacher's encouragement and expectation of Jin Shengsi, full of the taste of chicken soup for the soul, and it seems to foresee the fate of Jin Shengsi's life.
03
During his private schooling, Kim Sung-si's family underwent tremendous changes, the family gradually fell in decline, and life became increasingly poor. Perhaps people who have experienced the hardships of life mature particularly quickly. In his youth, Jin Shengsi, like all young people, often fantasized that he could become famous early, that he could make plans and suggestions in the temple in middle age, and that he could devote himself to studying as the emperor's literary attendant in his old age. However, the ideal is very full when imagining, but the reality becomes very bone-chilling because of Jin Shengsi's character.
Although Jin Shengsi won the Xiucai exam very early, he seemed to have lost interest in further merits, and enjoyed the process of the game examination hall, which is why he took the exam many times since then but did not pay much attention. He even joked with the examiner during the exam, which eventually led to his removal. There are many anecdotes about the Jin Shengsi exam, and it is said that Jin Shengsi once took the exam, and the title set by the examiner was "Xizi Laiyi".
Jin Shengsi's answer sheet was quickly written, and the full text was 32 words: Kaidongcheng also, Xizi did not come, Kainancheng also, Xizi did not come, Kaixicheng also, Xizi came, I was happy to see this beauty.
The examiner is also a wonderful person, a large stroke of a red cross, to give the comment: beauty to come, unfortunately you a show to lose.
Eating a long and a wise man does not apply to Jin Shengsi, because he feels disdain for the scientific expedition from the heart, he once said: "Since ancient times, I am the only one who is a great talent, and it is like taking a mustard ear to enroll in school with my talent." ”
Jin Shengsi, who was removed from the examiner, changed a vest to continue playing the examination room, and another exam title was "So Is It Safe to Be Moved", Jin Shengtan poured ink and shook it in one fell swoop, and the answer sheet was written like this:
Jin Wanliang, there is a beautiful person, the master is moved? Moving, moving In one breath, I wrote 39 movements, why 39, and the explanation of the Golden Altar is that Old Master Meng said that "forty unmoving hearts" so before the age of forty will be moved.
04
When Jin Shengsi was in his thirties, the name of the text began to appear, and the wild behavior increased day by day. He claimed to be possessed by the fairy Lady Chen, and used the way of helping the beggars to invite the gods to "talk with the pen" with people from all walks of life, and the content of the pen talk was both talented and knowledgeable, so as to express his poetic talent and Buddhist cultivation. Qian Qianyi, the leader of the literary circles at that time, was convinced after writing a conversation, and not only composed poems and sang harmony with Jin Sheng's sighs, but also wrote "The Spiritual Record of Master Tiantai" to publicize this matter. Jin Shengsi also went to the home of the eunuch Ye Shaoyuan, summoned the undead, and used the name of the fairy spirit to preach Buddhism and the concept of "talented women". The interaction with Qian Qianyi and other literary bigwigs made Jin Shengsi quickly become a popular traffic student and began to emerge in the literary world. However, because of absurd acts such as helping the beggars to ask God, they have also attracted a lot of criticism, and these critics will fall into the well after his death.
In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, Jin Shengsi completed the evaluation of "Water Margin", and this year he was thirty-four years old. With the financial support of the owner of Guanhuatang, the "Fifth Talent Book Shi Nai'an Water Margin" was published and distributed, and for a time the streets and alleys were talking about the Water Margin, and there were those who liked it, and there were not a few who hated it. People who like Jin Shengsi's comments are interesting, and people who hate Jin Shengsi's comments have lost the original taste of the work, and the reputation is mixed for a while.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty was in the midst of turmoil. Jin Shengsi's mood was contradictory, on the one hand, he hated the layers of exploitation of the people by corrupt officials and corrupt officials and the heavy taxes and fees that overwhelmed the people, on the other hand, he hoped that the Ming Dynasty could bring the chaos back to life. Soon after, Li Zicheng invaded the city of Beijing, the Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide, Wu Sangui led the Qing army into the pass, and many forces chased after the Central Plains. Although Jin Shengsi was not an official in the imperial court, he had a clear view of the current situation, and he said to Ye Shaoyuan with sadness: "Rogue thieves will not cross the river, and suzhou will not be spared after ten years." Later, the development of the situation was indeed as Jin Shengsi said.
05
The Ming and Qing Dynasties brought a double blow to Jin Shengsi, one was the displacement of relatives and friends, and the other was the economic embarrassment, so the psychological sense of disillusionment and impermanence increased, and "desperate to advance". Psychologically, Jin Shengsi began to try to reconcile with the world, and his attitude towards the Qing Dynasty was extremely complicated. At the beginning, he compared himself to Tao Yuanming and held a passive and uncooperative posture. Later, with the stabilization of the Qing Dynasty's rule, he gradually accepted the reality of changing hands in the country, did not hesitate to praise the beautiful government of the officials, and lashed out at the harsh government of the Mo officials, and the words with strong national sentiment gradually disappeared from the poems. It was also during the Ming and Qing Dynasties that Jin Sheng sighed to celebrity Rui, the word Sheng sighed. According to his own words, the reason for the word sheng sigh is because: "There are two 'sighs' in the Analects, in 'Yan Yuan' it is a sigh, and in 'Zeng Dian' it is a holy sigh, giving it the point of the stream Ya Qi! ”
In the seventeenth year of Shunzhi (1660), the emperor praised Jin Shengsi's works and said, "This is a master of ancient Chinese, and it is not possible to look at him with Shiwen's eyes." When Jin Sheng sighed when he heard this, he "wept with feeling and prostrated his head to the north." Jin Shengsi began to reconcile with this world and began to thank the Shunzhi Emperor for his kindness.
For more than ten years in the early Qing Dynasty, Jin Shengsi devoted himself to the study of philology, the I Ching, and Buddhism, and gradually integrated the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, while continuing to comment on the "Records of the Western Chamber". He always read books under the willow trees by the small river in his spare time, and when the interest of commenting came, he would write books, record the inspiration, comment on one or two volumes a day, and when he was not interested, he would leave the books aside to find friends for drinks. His literary criticism career was entirely an impromptu three-day fishing and two-day net-drying, which led to his many "semi-finished products" surviving.
06
Jin Shengsi had a son and three daughters in his lifetime, the son was called Jin Yong, and the pen name of Jin Yong, who wrote martial arts novels in later generations, was a word difference, and similar to Jin Yong's grandfather, Jin Yong was also particularly talented in literature, which may be due to Jin Shengsi's literary genes, Jin Shengsi had high hopes for Jin Yong, and encouraged Jin Yong with the chicken soup that the teacher had encouraged his soul, calling him a "reading seed". When Jin Yong was five years old, Jin Shengsi took him to visit relatives and friends, and let Jin Yong listen to him during the conversation to achieve a subtle effect. When Jin Yong was ten years old, Jin Shengsi used "Water Margin" as a model text to explain to him the method of writing. Although Jin Shengsi himself was not interested in the imperial examination, for the sake of Jin Yong, he still immersed himself in the writing skills of the exam and told Jin Yong about the writing method of the eight strands of text. He put a lot of energy into family education, and for the growth of future generations, he hopes that they can adapt to the changes in society and have a broad and smooth life path, rather than being untimely like himself. It even meant self-denial for himself, a confession of his youth, but he did it anyway for the sake of his son's life path.
07
Jin Shengsi died because the times had changed, and the Shunzhi Emperor was still gentle with the Han scholars during his reign, but when he was dying, he was greeted by the counterattack of the old Manchurian nobles, and under the pressure of the Manchurian noble group, he had to repent of his guilt in the edict. In Fu Lin's testament, he repented of his policy toward Han scholars, and the first article said: "Since the pro-government, discipline and law, the use of people in administration, can not rely on the law Taizu, Taizong Mo Lie, follow the rules, and go along with the present. And gradually learning From the traditional Chinese customs, from the simple old system, there are more and more zhang, so that the rule of the country is not perfected, and the people's livelihood is unsuccessful, which is also a sin of degeneration. The fifth article says: "Manchurian vassals, who have been loyal all their lives, or who have served for many years, should be trusted and do their best." He can't be trusted, and he can't show his talents. Moreover, when the Ming Dynasty lost the country, most of them were partial to the use of civilian ministers, and they appointed Han officials without thinking of warning, that is, the Ministry of The Seal and Letter also made the Han officials in charge, so that the Manchu ministers had no intention of doing things and their energy was slack, which was also a sin of decay. "The edict of sin shows that the policy of the ruling class towards han scholars and doctors is about to undergo a major change, and winter is coming.
08
At this juncture, a major event occurred in Wu County, Jiangsu Province, which is called the "Weeping Temple Case" in the history books. The origin of the matter was that WuXian County ordered Ren Weichu to severely torture the people during his term of office, force the people to pay money and grain, and enforce the law unfairly, and the more and less they owed were heavily responsible for the thirty plates, and many people died on the spot under the punishment, in addition, he also stole and sold grain from the official warehouse to let the people fill the deficit.
Ren Weichu's perverse behavior aroused the anger of the people of Wu County, and the indignant Xiucai Ni Yongbin, Xue Erzhang, and others gathered more than a hundred classmates to ring bells and drums, and wept bitterly in front of the Confucius tablets in the Temple of Literature to protest. Jin Shengsi wrote an article entitled "Ten Fu Sees" to this end, mocking Ren Weichu and participating in writing the message at the Weeping Temple. On the day of the Weeping Temple, Jin Shengsi was not the leader, but he played a role in fueling the waves. After the Weeping Temple, the protest team marched to Suzhou Fuya, and on the way, the protest team continued to grow, followed by more than a thousand people.
Inspector Zhu Guozhi of Jiangsu and other officials were paying homage to the Shunzhi Emperor at the palace, and immediately ordered a suppression, arresting eleven people on the spot. When Daotai Wang tried the case, Ren Weichu admitted the fact of stealing and selling the official warehouse, but defended that the silver obtained from the theft and sale of the official warehouse was used to cope with the bribe demanded by the inspector Yamen.
Zhu Guozhi saw that Ren Weichu's confession was unfavorable to him, and hurriedly changed the testimony overnight, changed the cause of the case to ZhiXian's urging for military pay, and the inferior students took the lead in resisting the disturbance, and set the charges very serious, and the main charges were formulated into three articles: First, the protest contingent rushed to Shunzhi's spiritual position; second, the protest contingent claimed to hit ren Weichu of the county order, without seeing the imperial court; third, distributing stickers and privately contacting and gathering the people. In the song, Zhu Guozhi took the phrase "Wu County's money and grain have been in arrears for many years, and following the old practice, a little stricter ratio, they will wantonly poison the claws." If dafa is not displayed, it will be fearful that Zhu Yi will follow you, and there will be a sense of desperation... He did not dare to pursue the court again" to intimidate the imperial court. This touched the pain point of the Manchurian rulers, so the imperial court not only immediately sent four Manchurian officials to try the case, but also subsequently issued an edict to the whole country to urge the payment of money and grain by extremely severe means.
At first, Jin Shengsi was not implicated. However, with the development of the case, Zhu Guozhi wanted to take the opportunity to crack down on dissident forces, so he involved Cheng Yicang, the current suzhou government professor who was at odds with him, and Gu Yuxian, a member of the official who was sick and leisurely living, and these two people usually had a lot of contacts with Jin Shengsi. During the manchurian meeting, Cheng Yicang was forced to confess Jin Shengsi. On April 27, Jin Shengsi was arrested and escorted to Nanjing.
When he was interrogated in Nanjing, he was just dragged to the church and tortured, and Jin Sheng sighed and shouted "Emperor Xian". It is hoped that the chief judge will be able to loose the sentence for the sake of the former emperor's knowledge. Unexpectedly, it was added fuel to the fire, and the chief judge angrily rebuked: "The emperor has just taken the throne, you call the emperor "the first emperor", you are cursing the emperor!" He ordered the servant to slap Jin Shengsi for an extra twenty times and sentence him to a beheading.
When he was imprisoned and about to be beheaded, Jin Sheng sighed and said to the jailer, "There is something important to tell." The jailer thought that Jin Shengsi would reveal the secret of the heirloom treasure or some earth-shattering event, so he took it and took it to serve him. But I didn't expect that Jin Shengsi's "dying matter" was actually humorous. Jin Sheng sighed and pointed to the food given by the jailer and said, "Peanut rice is chewed together with dried beans, and it has the taste of walnuts." Get this skill passed on, die without regrets also! ”
As soon as the verdict came down, Zhu Guozhi hurried back to Suzhou and eagerly confiscated the assets of each family. As a result, rumors spread in Suzhou Prefecture, some saying that they were going to carry out a great purge, some saying that they were going to be slaughtered, and the people were panicked, and every household was very afraid. Or: 'Why did the shows do this!' Or: "If you want to hear such an ear, how can you do things with the crowd!" 'Or there are those who have fled far away."'
09
On July 13, Inspector Zhu Guozhi of Jiangsu was afraid that the night would be long and dreamy, and he could not wait to execute Jin Shengsi's eighteen people at the same time. So the scene at the beginning of the article happened.
The next day, Zhu Guozhi ordered the Suzhou government to escort Jin Shengsi and eight other wives and children to Ninggu Pagoda, and the scene was unbearable:
Whoever is five or six years old twists his hand. When the father sends the daughter, the public sends the wife, the brother and sister send the sister, the sister sends the sister, there are also women who send the mother, the daughter-in-law sends the aunt, and the relatives send each other. Wailing and weeping, miserable cries, resounding for miles. Bystanders sighed and wept, chilled and worried, and cursed fuchen (Zhu Guozhi) for the tragic moment.
Of course, this was only one of the countless massacres of the Qing Dynasty to crush the people of Jiangnan and suppress the people of Jiangnan. But this time it can be recorded in the historical record, and the reason is exactly as Yin Lan Yisuo said: "(Jin Shengsi) was stricken, the world regretted it, it is called the taboo of heaven, as far as Si!" Up to seventeen people can be immortalized by the holy sigh. ”
More than ten years later, there is still a folk song about Jin Shengsi in Suzhou: "Oh my God, it is really wrong for Shengsi to kill his head." This year, the holy lamentation of the country was killed, and the rule of the country was destroyed by the thieves of the country. (Zhu Guozhi was later killed by Wu Sangui) It can really be said that the cycle of heavenly reason, retribution is not happy, and justice is in the hearts of the people.
The struggle of the Jin Sheng sighs was mild, but even such a gentle struggle was intolerable to the feudal autocratic rulers. In the annals of The Chinese "Scholars", collective action fought against corrupt officials and officials, and paid the price of blood and heads, only this time by Jin Shengsi. Under the crushing wheel of the times, Jin Sheng sighed that "zero fell into mud and dust", with his regret and reluctance, nourishing the blood of the literati with his legacy.