Original Wang Jin
Tan Sitong, a famous figure in the Restoration, wrote a poem "Inscription Wall in Prison" in prison, which is familiar to many people, especially the two sentences "I smile to the sky with a horizontal knife and leave the liver and gallbladder two Kunlun", which is even more impressive. In the first two sentences - "Looking at the door to stop thinking about Zhang Jian, endure death and wait for Du Gen", Tan Sitong cites two famous historical figures: Zhang Jian and Du Gen. Among them, Du Gan, like Tan Sitong, was punished for writing to the emperor and almost died.
Interestingly, it was the Empress Dowager Cixi who ordered the arrest of Tan Si and others, and it was also a woman who listened to the government - Empress Dowager Deng who let Du Gen die. This inevitably leads readers to compare the Empress Dowager Deng with the Empress Dowager Cixi, and then "habitually" imagine them as unlearned, incompetent, and incompetent. However, such an analogy needs to be "stopped" - this Empress Dowager Deng is a rare and well-educated empress dowager in Chinese history. She loves to read and is tireless in learning throughout her life.
1. Aim at the classics and don't ask about family affairs
When Empress Dowager Deng was still a child, she showed an unusual interest in reading.
Outstanding female politician Empress Dowager Deng from Qing Jiao Bingzhen's "Tales of the Virtuous Queens of the Past Dynasties"
Empress Dowager Deng was born in a famous family. Her grandfather was Deng Yu, who fought the world with Emperor Guangwu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was crowned marquis three times because of his outstanding exploits. Among the twenty-eight generals who founded the Eastern Han Dynasty, he ranked first. After the death of Emperor Guangwu, Emperor Xianzong, who succeeded to the throne, "took Yu Xiandi Yuangong", because Deng Yu made the primary contribution during the time of Emperor Guangwu, so he "worshiped as the Taifu" and invited him to educate the crown prince. Not only that, but also has a lot of respect for him, "when you enter the east, you see even respect", and when you meet him, he does not follow the etiquette of receiving courtiers. When Deng Yu was young, he liked to read, and his acquaintance with Emperor Guangwu was also because of reading. When Deng Yu was 13 years old, he was able to recite the Book of Songs, and later left his hometown Nanyang Xinye to study in Chang'an, Beijing. In Chang'an, he happened to meet Liu Xiu, who also came to Beijing to study and later became the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The two met and became lifelong friends.
Empress Dowager Deng's father, Deng Xun, was Deng Yu's sixth son. Unlike Deng Yu's love of reading, although he "has few great ambitions", he is "not good at literature", so he is often criticized by Deng Yu. However, Deng Xun was a famous general. At that time, the Eastern Han Dynasty was often invaded by the Qiang people in the west. When Deng Xun was ordered to be in danger, he not only pacified the Qiang people, but also won the support and love of the Qiang people, and made outstanding contributions to stabilizing the political situation in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The family's ears and eyes are imperceptible, coupled with talent and intelligence, Empress Dowager Deng was able to appreciate and write the Great Seal at the age of six, "at the age of twelve, she passed the "Poems" and "Analects". When the brothers were studying, the young Empress Dowager Deng was able to ask questions to stump them. In ancient China, women's responsibilities were mainly to teach their husbands and children and manage housework, but Empress Dowager Deng was "determined to be in the classics" and "did not care about family affairs" at all. This came as a surprise to the family. Her mother criticized her in a mocking tone, saying, "Thou wilt not learn from female workers to provide clothes, but thou shalt study more, and would rather be a doctor." Do you want to be elected by the state as a doctoral officer? Empress Dowager Deng was a filial daughter, and when she heard her mother's words, she studied as a female worker during the day and recited the classics at night. "Zhusheng" was a general term for students who were studying in school, especially in Taixue, the highest institution of learning in the country. So her family gave her the nickname "All Beings".
Empress Dowager Deng likes to read, which makes her father Deng Xun, who is a famous general, feel strange. But unlike her mother, her father did not blame her, but "discussed everything in detail, no matter how big or small". Such a "treatment" is extraordinary. It should be known that Empress Dowager Deng was at most 13 years old at that time. The willingness of a veteran of a generation of famous generals to discuss issues and exchange ideas with a young girl under the age of 13 is shocking even today. Of course, this reflects the father's deep love for his daughter, but more importantly, it reflects the excellence of his daughter. We have no way of knowing the details of the exchange between the Empress Dowager Deng and her father, but from her grief over her father's death, it is entirely conceivable that such an exchange left a good memory and profound impact on the Empress Dowager Deng. When the Empress Dowager Deng was confirmed to be elected to the court, it coincided with the death of her father, and the 13-year-old Empress Dowager Deng was grief-stricken, not only "crying day and night", but also did not eat the "salt vegetables" as a condiment during the three years of filial piety, so that she was "emaciated and disfigured", and even the relatives around her did not know her.
Second, as a princess, you don't waste studying
In the seventh year of Yongyuan (95), three years after keeping filial piety, the 16-year-old Empress Dowager Deng "was elected to the palace with all the sons of all families". Empress Dowager Deng is seven feet two inches long, "beautiful and beautiful", and her beauty is "absolutely different", which makes the people around her very surprised. Empress Dowager Deng's natural beauty may be due to her mother. Her mother, Yin Shi, was the daughter of Empress Guanglie Yin Lihua's cousin. Yin Lihua is the queen of Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and her beauty made Emperor Guangwu fall in love at first sight, so that when he saw the grand execution of Jinwu in Beijing, he did not forget the beauty of Yin Lihua, and blurted out the sigh of "Shi Eun is regarded as Zhijinwu, and his wife should be Yin Lihua". Yin Lihua was later named the queen, but she was not arrogant and extravagant, but "frugal in power, less playful, not like to laugh", and "benevolent and filial, more benevolent". She lost her father when she was 7 years old, although decades have passed, but whenever she talks about her father, "she has never been without tears", such a filial son is affectionate, so that Emperor Guangwu often sighs. Empress Dowager Deng's beauty and kindness inherited Yin Lihua to a certain extent.
During the seven years from entering the palace in the seventh year of Yongyuan to being established as the queen in the fourteenth year of Yongyuan, Empress Dowager Deng was not moved by the change in status and always insisted on studying.
Although Empress Dowager Deng likes to read, his mother also teased her about whether she wants to be a doctor. But after all, she didn't become a doctor, and she is not an expert and scholar specializing in science, so she needs the guidance of a professional expert. A godsend, the famous scholar Ban Zhao at that time was invited by the emperor and the emperor to the palace to "teach classes", and the Empress Dowager Deng seized this opportunity to study and study.
Ban Zhao is famous, his father Ban Biao and his elder brother Ban Gu are both scholars who have learned rich and five cars, and have written the "Book of Han", and another brother Ban Chao is a famous military strategist and diplomat, because of the significant contributions made to pacify the Western Regions, and was named "Dingyuan Marquis", known as "Ban Dingyuan" in history. Born in such a family, Ban Zhao is also "erudite and talented". Before the Book of Han was completed, Ban Gu died, and the emperor and the emperor asked her to continue writing, which shows Ban Zhao's talent. Emperor He also summoned Ban Zhao into the palace and asked her to give lectures to the queen's nobles. In the face of such a university scholar, of course, Empress Dowager Deng, who loves to read, did not let go of the opportunity to study, so she studied with everyone under Ban Zhao. The content of study is mainly scriptures, but also astronomy and arithmetic.
We have no way of knowing how Ban Zhao thought of Empress Dowager Deng at that time, but she probably did not expect that among the students who listened to the lecture at that time, such a beautiful and young girl would preside over the government for nearly 20 years in the future, and there would always be a close relationship between teachers and students.
According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", Ban Zhao "and the Empress Dowager Deng came to the dynasty and heard about political affairs". When Empress Dowager Deng presided over the government, Ban Zhao, who was not a government official, was able to enter and leave the solemn palace to participate in serious political affairs, and participated in so many times that the imperial court specially named Ban Zhao's son Cao Cheng "the marquis of Guannei, the official to the prime minister". From this point of view, Ban Zhao is no longer just an ordinary university scholar, but has become a "senior adviser" to the government all his life.
The talented Eastern Han Dynasty historian Ban Zhao
This is not only reminiscent of the Analects. In the Analects, Zi Yu once asked Zigong: "When the Master arrives at a country, he knows the political affairs of that country." Did he ask for it, or did he take the initiative to tell him?" Zigong replied: "The master is gentle, kind, courteous, thrifty, and let him get it", Confucius obtained it by his own noble character. Confucius himself once said that according to the etiquette system, although I am not involved in the governance of the country now, as a former doctor, I am still qualified to understand national affairs. Empress Dowager Deng has been familiar with the Analects since she was a child, and of course she knows this. However, Ban Zhao was able to learn about political affairs, of course, on the one hand, it is related to Ban Zhao's knowledge and insight, but it does not exclude a good relationship between teachers and students. Perhaps, Ban Zhao admires his "student" very much, and Empress Dowager Deng respects this teacher quite much. This can be seen from Deng Qiu's resignation later.
The general Deng Qiu was the elder brother of the Empress Dowager Deng, and once worked with the Empress Dowager Deng to make a decision to ban the Chinese and participated in the secret establishment of major national decisions such as Emperor Yan and Emperor An. Deeply affected by the good family style, Deng Qiu, who is in a high position, knows the truth that prosperity is extreme and decline, and the moon is profitable, so he asked for resignation from important positions and preferential treatment several times, but was rejected by the Empress Dowager Deng. The Han Dynasty ruled the country with filial piety, so when their mother died, Deng Qiu took the opportunity to make another request. Unexpectedly, this time the Empress Dowager Deng actually agreed. But the reason why he was allowed this time was not because his filial piety moved his sister, but because of Ban Zhao's suggestion.
It turned out that when Empress Dowager Deng saw Deng Qiu's letter, she was also prepared not to allow it, but she may have hesitated, so she asked Ban Zhao's opinion. Ban Zhao solemnly gave a note, fully affirming Deng Qiu's "style of modesty" and quoting the "Analects" to emphasize that "if you can use courtesy for the country, what is there in politics". Finally, Ban Zhao implicitly and wisely pointed out that if we do not seize this opportunity and do not allow it, it may bring about unfavorable political consequences. Empress Dowager Deng understood and approved Deng Qiu's request. From this, we can not only see the political insights of the two, but also understand the spiritual understanding between teachers and students.
Ban Zhao is about 30 years old, and Empress Dowager Deng is about 30 years old. Empress Dowager Deng spent about 25 years with Ban Zhao from the time she first met Ban Zhao at the age of 16 to her death at the age of 41. In the past 25 years, Ban Zhao has seen a young girl grow into a middle-aged woman, and witnessed a beautiful and studious palace maid grow into a politician who presides over the government. I don't know how Ban Zhao sighed, but it can be seen from her long-term and close contact with Empress Dowager Deng that they know each other. Ban Zhao was a master of women's education in China, and his writing of the "Female Commandments" had a profound impact. The book was also written during the period of assisting the Empress Dowager Deng. To a certain extent, it can be said that Empress Dowager Deng was the most outstanding student cultivated by Ban Zhao in political circles. In the past 25 years, they have also been teachers and friends, and they have also been kings and ministers, and their common love and pursuit of reading is one of the important reasons.
History is full of many accidents and coincidences, and it also makes us have infinite imagination and emotion. Ban Zhao and Empress Dowager Deng died one year after another: in the first year of Emperor Yongning (120), the 71-year-old Ban Zhao died, and in the following year (121), Empress Dowager Deng died at the age of 41. In the year of Empress Dowager Deng's death, Cai Lun, who went down in history for inventing papermaking, a tool for spreading civilization, also died. Cai Lun was deeply reused by the Empress Dowager Deng during his lifetime and was made a marquis......
3. Listen to politics in the court, bow to self-supervision and test the younger generation to study
Empress Dowager Deng became the empress in the winter of the fourteenth year of Yongyuan (102) at the age of 26. In the first year of Yuanxing (105), she was honored as the queen mother, listened to the government in the court, and officially took charge of the government. Since then, he has been in power for 15 years. In such a high position, Empress Dowager Deng did not abandon reading, but with the change of status, she turned her private hobby of reading into a collective activity of the royal family.
As early as when she was just established as queen, she showed a love of reading when it came to handling tribute. At that time, the local tribute items were all in pursuit of "precious things" in every possible way. After Empress Dowager Deng became the queen, she was "forbidden" and only asked for "paper and ink". This may come as a surprise, but it's completely understandable for those who love to read. In short, this is something that only a true book lover can ask for.
After the advent of the dynasty, the Empress Dowager Deng, who was in charge of everything, still did not forget to study. In the sixth year of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (119), the Empress Dowager Deng issued an edict to gather more than 40 men and women over the age of 5 in the royal family, plus more than 30 people from her mother's family, and set up a place for them to "teach scriptures and self-supervise the examination", hire teachers to teach scriptures, and sometimes conduct examinations in person. For children under the age of 5, they are placed with a master nanny, and let them enter the palace day and night to teach in person, and their affection is very strong.
A group of children who leave the family at such a young age must be difficult for the family to accept. In this regard, she wrote to her cousins Deng Bao and Deng Kang to explain that the reason why I want to gather the children to study and study is to take into account the current decline of culture and education. Against this backdrop, if we don't educate our children, our families may be declining. The book says well, "It is absolutely impossible to eat all day long and do nothing!" In such a corrupt last days, if the emperor's relatives and families who enjoy the benefits do not pay attention to the education of their children, then they will suffer disaster. Empress Dowager Deng, who has insight into people's feelings, also uses her family ancestors to inspire everyone. Although our ancestor Deng Yu mainly left his name in the history of the martial arts, he did not forget to use the virtue to educate his children and grandchildren, so he asked each of his 13 sons to learn an art, and could not be idle and idle. Only in this way can we discipline and cultivate ourselves and avoid touching the national legal network. In the end, Empress Dowager Deng said sincerely, I hope that the younger generation of children can inherit the grand and beautiful cause pioneered by their ancestors, understand my good intentions to the bottom, and strive to encourage themselves!
There is a precedent in the Western Han Dynasty for the use of literature and virtue to carry out indoctrination to avoid disaster. In the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen Empress Dowager Dou was born poor, left her parents when she was a child, and was also separated from her elder brother Changjun and younger brother Shaojun. When the siblings said goodbye, the elder sister had already become the queen of the dynasty. The sister and brother reunited, with mixed feelings, Queen Dou hugged the brothers and cried. Empress Dowager Dou not only gave the two brothers generously, but also settled them in Chang'an. When the Marquis Zhou Bo and the general Guan Ying heard about it, they said, "The life of our minister is in the hands of these two people." Because they come from humble backgrounds, they have not received a good education, they do not know the general situation, they do not know etiquette, and they may behave recklessly after they become rich. At present, there is only one way to save the way, and that is to choose loyal and virtuous elders to live with them and let them feel a good education. In the end, "Dou Changjun and Shaojun are therefore concessionary gentlemen, and they dare not be proud of their wealth and wealth." ”
Empress Dowager Deng's name is Sui, who reigned for 20 years, according to the provisions of the "Law of the People's Republic of China", so she was called "Queen Hexi" after her death. Such a nickname reflects the contribution of the Empress Dowager Deng to the government, "Since the Empress Dowager came to the court, there have been ten years of floods and droughts, four foreign invasions, and thieves from within." Every time I hear that people are hungry, or they don't sleep for a long time, they bow down to relieve the disaster, so the world is restored, and the years are still abundant." The achievement of such an achievement is inseparable from the innate kindness of Empress Dowager Deng and the diligent study of the day after tomorrow.
When Empress Dowager Deng was young, she was deeply loved by her grandmother. When she was five years old, her grandmother cut her hair herself. The elderly grandmother's eyes were dizzy and accidentally injured the back of the Empress Dowager Deng's forehead, but the Empress Dowager Deng couldn't bear the pain. The people around her asked her, "Aren't you in pain?" Empress Dowager Deng replied: "It's not painful, Mrs. Tai's pity is for broken hair, and it is difficult to hurt the old man's heart." Therefore, the ear of forbearance. The goodness of Empress Dowager Deng's nature can be seen from this. "The literary quality is polite, and then the gentleman", the simple and kind nature coupled with the diligent reading of the day after tomorrow, the "literature" and "quality" complement each other, so that her kind nature can grow healthily and become a politician who will go down in history.
After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu calmly asked at a banquet with meritorious princes: "If the princes are not met, what do you want to do?" If you had not encountered changes in the country, what would you do? Deng Yu, the grandfather of the Empress Dowager Deng, spoke first: "The ministers have little knowledge, but they are doctors of literature. Deng Yu expects his life to be a doctor, and the mother of the Empress Dowager Deng also ridiculed whether the Empress Dowager Deng wants to be a doctor. What is the meaning of "doctor"? The explanation of the "Book of Han" is: "The official of Confucianism, the four seas and the plains, should be known in the past and the present, review the old and learn the new, and understand the national system, so he is called a doctor." Although the ideals of both grandparents and grandchildren were not realized, they both truly practiced the meaning of "doctor". Perhaps, they are the real "doctors"!