A drunkard was angrily kicked into the wine vat by his wife and immersed for three days and three nights, but he crawled out and said a word, which has become a strange story that has been passed down through the ages! What's going on here?
This person is Liu Ling, speaking of Liu Ling, a strange man in the Wei and Jin dynasties, his unruliness and drunkenness really make future generations laugh.
As one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, Liu Ling's attitude towards life can be described as extremely absurd. How do you say that? Let's start with his family background and career.
Liu Ling was originally a person with a prominent family background. His family is the kind of wealthy family that has a good position in the imperial court. You must know that his father was quite favored under Cao Pi back then, and it can be said that the scenery is unique.
Unexpectedly, the good times did not last long, and his father died early, leaving Liu Ling with a somewhat insignificant official position, which can be regarded as a second-generation official. Do you want to say that Liu Ling is incapable? That's wrong.
He is a talented man, but he always runs into a wall in his career, especially the appearance is really difficult to see, in that generation that looks at the face, how can he do it if he doesn't look good?
As a result, Liu Linghuai didn't meet him, and he had to have fun by himself when he got his head, became addicted to alcohol, and embarked on the road of indulgent life. Drunk and dreaming all day long, life is almost inseparable from wine.
He really regarded wine as his only friend, and even used it to escape the cruelty of reality. The down-and-out Liu Ling was not depressed because of this. On the contrary, he lived more and more chic, and lived the life he thought was free.
This kind of lifestyle is naturally ridiculous, but from another point of view, isn't this a kind of resistance after Liu Ling is powerless to resist reality?
But his wife can't stand it, Liu Ling's wife, a smart and considerate woman, has long endured her husband's debauchery and alcoholism.
She tried her best to give Liu Ling gentle persuasion and endless tolerance, hoping to awaken the once elegant and ambitious young man in his heart.
However, every time Liu Ling returned drunk, the chaos and smell of alcohol brought home were silently eroding the warmth and harmony of this home.
His wife's heart became more and more desperate, and the advice in her mouth became more and more frequent, but it seemed to be like playing the piano to a cow, Liu Ling still went her own way and turned a deaf ear to his wife's persuasion.
At the extreme, his wife decided to use a more drastic way to give Liu Ling a "revelation" to quit drinking. She began to prepare to set up an altar, praying that the gods between heaven and earth could redeem Liu Ling's path and allow him to extricate himself from the abyss of alcohol addiction.
Unexpectedly, this last effort became an outpouring of anger in an instant.
On one occasion, when Liu Ling returned drunk again and disdained the advice of her and the gods, his wife was in tears, unable to bear it, and finally decided to give the most severe punishment - she kicked Liu Ling into the wine vat, as if to say: "Since you are so intoxicated with this, let you immerse yourself in this sea of wine forever!" ”
In the wine vat, Liu Ling seemed to have found his own paradise, and for three days and three nights, he was drunk and dreamed of death, carefree. The wine in the vat seemed to have become his exclusive memory of being isolated from the world, and everything in the outside world seemed to have nothing to do with him.
In these sleepless days and nights, his wife completely lost hope, her heart was full of despair and helplessness, and she didn't even want to think about whether this drunken man was not the partner who had promised to walk with her for the rest of her life.
However, the three days and three nights spent in that wine vat were by no means a glamorous chapter for Liu Ling, but a major turn in the trajectory of his life.
Until then, he thought he was enjoying life romantically, but in reality, he was mired in self-destruction.
And this time, it was not only a man full of alcohol who crawled out of the vat, but also a thoughtful and repentant soul.
This repentance made Liu Ling want to come out with a set of life introspection called "Four Words of Loneliness". These four sentences are simple and profound, reflecting his deep reflection on what he has done in the past.
From blindly indulging oneself to being deeply ashamed, and then to vowing to be a new person, every sentence is like a hammer, knocking on the hearts of others, and at the same time repositioning Liu Ling's own life.
He began to understand that life should not be a purposeless drinking carnival, but should be responsible, pursued, and responsible.
It is this series of understandings that not only touches Liu Ling, but also seems to be a call to many confused souls in that troubled world, reminding them to be alert to the vastness of the world and not to indulge in alcohol to escape reality.
After this repentance, Liu Ling's life underwent a fundamental change.
He began to pick up the identity that should have belonged to him - a learned, virtuous, and respected Confucian scholar.
He is no longer the drunkard who indulges in alcohol all day and speaks incoherently, but has become a good teacher who teaches and leads by example.
His family was reconciled as a result, and his wife's eyes were no longer hopeless and disappointed, but full of love and support.
Liu Ling used his own changes to prove to people that even if they fall to the extreme, as long as they are willing to repent, life can still get back on track.
This is not only his personal salvation, but also to tell everyone that there is no hurdle that cannot be overcome, only a heart that is unwilling to cross.
In the end, the four words of loneliness not only reshaped Liu Ling's image, but also left a deep mark in the long history, becoming a fresh teaching material for future generations to reflect on themselves and have the courage to correct.
From a man who crawled out of a wine vat to a Confucian scholar with a harmonious family and a prosperous academic, Liu Ling's transformation tells an eternal truth: as long as you have the courage to reflect and renew yourself, your life can be beautiful.
Resources:
CNKI, "On the Historical Inheritance of the Folk Tale "Liu Ling's Drunkness"" - Zhang Yun
