«——【· Preface ·】——»
Gao Qi was the leader of the literary circles in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and it was not easy for Yao Guangxiao's anthology to be so well received by him. Zheng Zhenduo, an outstanding modern scholar, mentioned in his "Illustrated History of Chinese Literature" that poets were rare at that time, and Yao Guangxiao was to blame! What is the reason for this?
«——【· Historical Records ·】——»
Although Yao Guangxiao is a master, his poems have the humor of Wei, Meng, and Wang Wei, which is the only one that mentions Yao Guangxiao in various popular literary history books in modern and contemporary times. In terms of calligraphy and painting, Yao Guangxiao had contacts with famous calligraphers and painters at that time, and had a high artistic level.
In addition, after Zhu Di ascended the throne, he supervised the construction of the world-famous Yongle Bell and designed the soundproof building, which is recorded in a variety of historical books. "History of the Ming Dynasty" recorded his events, slightly called Yao Guangxiao in the palace of King Yan, and the outstanding scientist Fang Yizhi in the late Ming Dynasty revealed the principle of Yao Guangxiao's soundproof room in his "Physics Knowledge".
It can be seen that Fang Yizhi pointed out the principle of building a soundproof secret room for Yao Guangxiao, which is consistent with the records of the "History of the Ming Dynasty" and others. Yao Guangxiao used the ingenious method of building a wall with empty bottles to achieve the effect of "silencing".
From the acoustic principle, bottles, reeds and other small cavities and large cavities, they are densely arranged in the wall, the bottle mouth is facing the house, the sound wave enters the bottle through the exposed bottle mouth, and after many reflections in the cavity, the sound energy is greatly attenuated, so as to achieve the effect of sound absorption and sound cutting.
Of course, the inspiration for Yao Guangxiao's construction of soundproof buildings was probably formed by the combination of records and rumors. This is inseparable from his well-read and wide-ranging academic path.
The soundproof building designed and built by Yao Guangxiao is the first soundproof building in the history of China and the world, nearly 500 years earlier than similar buildings in Europe, and has left its own deep footprints in the history of Chinese science and technology.
In today's Beijing Great Bell Temple, there is a world-famous Yongle Bell. This bell is the oldest existing bell in the world, with superb casting technology, ingenious hanging structure, and melodious bells, and a large number of Buddha inscriptions cast in the bell body.
According to statistics, the Yongle Bell is engraved with a total of more than 230,000 characters of Buddhism and mantras. All of these are unique in the world. The Yongle Bell fully embodies China's advanced metallurgical and casting technology in the early 15th century, and shows the development level of ancient China in mechanics and acoustics.
Therefore, he specially ordered Yao Guangxiao to go north in the spring of the sixteenth year of Yongle and take on the important task of supervising the construction of the big clock. As for the reason why Yao Guangxiao was awarded the task of supervising the construction of the big bell, it was similar to the reason why he was awarded the task of supervising the "Yongle Grand Canon" and (Ming Taizu Records).
That is, he has outstanding merits and status, as well as his proficiency in the three religions, and he is erudite and talented, and he successfully designed and built the soundproof building that Zhu Di urgently needed before the Battle of Jingjing, which shows that he has outstanding achievements in acoustics and other aspects.
As an outstanding representative of the Chinese Buddhist circles at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, he was a highly respected monk, and he always held himself as a monk.
He is even more commendable, extremely difficult, and can be called a miracle and a myth. Throughout Chinese history, there are very few generalists like Yao Guangxiao who can have a high degree of talent and great achievements in so many aspects.
The point is that Yao Guangxiao, an all-round generalist who has been highly talented and accomplished in so many aspects, is only a monk from a poor background, which is all the more breathtaking.
«——【· aspect ·】——»
Throughout Chinese history, great achievements have been made in the humanities and social sciences, and there are very few characters who have achieved a perfect combination.
Yao Guangxiao reached it as a monk, which cannot but be said to be a miracle. You must know that in ancient China, monks were generally not allowed to participate in politics, so naturally they were not qualified and had the opportunity to achieve this perfect combination.
is such a great man who has outstanding talents and great achievements in so many aspects, was extremely prominent during his lifetime, and was extremely honored after his death, but he was no longer honored after his death for more than ten years.
Xuande five years (1430) to complete the "Ming Taizong Record" on Yao Guangxiao has been quite striking, particularly eye-catching, this argument, later was repeatedly quoted, enlightened Qing Dynasty to denigrate Yao Guangxiao's precedent, Qing Dynasty Ji Yun in the "Siku Quanshu General Summary", more vigorously depreciated Yao Guangxiao.
This argument ran through the Ming and Qing dynasties, until the "Beijing Chronicles" during the Republic of China. It is based on this background that in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court used the excuse to withdraw Yao Guangxiao from the Taimiao Temple.
Yao Guangxiao's withdrawal from the Taimiao Temple has a certain relationship with Ming Shizong's dethroned Buddha worship, but the most important reason is based on the intensification of the denigration of Yao Guangxiao since the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Yao Guangxiao was the only civil servant who was worthy of enjoying the Taimiao in the early Ming Dynasty, and after Yao Guangxiao was scattered, it attracted the attention of the literati group.
In March of the following year, Li Yu, the director of the Guizhou Qing Officials Department of the Criminal Department, was replaced by Liu Ji, who was sincere. Liu Ji is a magical figure in Chinese history, who has a great influence in later generations, and has the reputation of "the first founder of the country" in the Ming Dynasty.
But from a historical point of view, there are many deifications of descendants in Liu Ji's deeds. Judging from the comparison between Yao Guangxiao and Liu Ji, later generations think that Liu Ji surpasses Yao Guangxiao. Judging from historical facts, it was not until after the middle of the Ming Dynasty that the exaltation of Liu Ji and the denigration of Yao Guangxiao intensified.
Liu Ji had the opportunity to replace Yao Guangxiao to enjoy the temple court of Emperor Ming, and the Ming people came to Si Xing to record the "Cha'an Xiaojian", and increased the sincerity of Bo Liu Ji, Rongguo Gong Guo Ying's meritorious temple, Ding De and Mao Cheng enjoyed Sang Shijie and Liu Ji were all unashamed, and Liu Zhizhengde had to become a cloud.
This actually means that Yao Guangxiao's title and prestige were far above Liu Ji before, and his status was of course far above Liu Ji. Li Yu, who suggested that Liu Ji should be matched with the temple court, was also not allowed, and Wang Shizhen, the first historian of the Ming Dynasty, later sighed.
For Yao Guangxiao to be withdrawn from the temple to enjoy, the people of the time were generally "saints". Shen Defu, an outstanding historian of the Ming Dynasty, also said that Shen Defu's so-called "public opinion in the sea" refers to the views of the literati and doctors at that time.
However, when Shen Defu recounted this matter, he made an obvious mistake in the chronology, completely reversing the causal relationship, and it should be to withdraw Yao Guangxiao and enjoy it first, so as to make up for Liu Ji later. Today's people only know that there is Liu Ji, but very few know Yao Guangxiao.
In a large sense, it is because of the continuous denunciation of Yao Guangxiao since the Ming and Qing dynasties. As time passed, people's feelings about Yao Guangxiao's great historical exploits gradually diminished, and on the other hand, there were more and more words attacking Yao Guangxiao, especially after entering the Qing Dynasty.
People have no scruples, and the denigration of Yao Guangxiao has never stopped, and their attitude towards Yao Guangxiao is very clear. On the occasion of Yongqian in the Qing Dynasty, the Yongle Bell supervised by Yao Guangxiao was moved to the Juesheng Temple in the northwest suburbs of the capital, and was hung and re-ranging.
This led to another round of denunciation of Yao Guangxiao. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, there has been a saying that Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao cast the Yongle Bell because the two were killed too much in the "Battle of Jingjing", and they felt ashamed after becoming famous.
So he deliberately cast this unparalleled bell for repentance, in order to dissipate the grievances of the ghosts and gods in heaven and earth, in order to seek peace of mind. Among them, the most typical is the singing and poetry of Emperor Qianlong and his minister Shen Deqian.
It can be seen that Yao Guangxiao was belittled in the Qing Dynasty, and the denunciation of Yao Guangxiao began soon after his death. All sorts of prejudices and slanderous collateral rumors followed, the most typical of which were three things.
In the nearly 600 years since Yao Guangxiao's death, he has been denounced continuously, and the relevant prejudices have never been clarified. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, an outstanding historian talked about Qian and denounced Yao Guangxiao. But after all, Yao Guangxiao is a great person who has achieved extremely high achievements in many aspects, and his achievements are absolutely indelible.
Although Li Zhen, an outstanding thinker in the late Ming Dynasty, believed in various rumors denouncing Yao Guangxiao since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, he also believed that Yao Guangxiao had made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty and had immeasurable merits to the national fortune and people's livelihood.
Huang Daozhou, the hero of the anti-Qing Dynasty at the end of the Ming Dynasty, fully affirmed Guangxiao's military talent and believed that he was among the "famous generals". Gu Yanwu, a scholar in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, also believed that Yao Guangxiao was quite creative in his thinking, but unfortunately his views were not recognized by the world.
«——【· Conclusion ·】——»
Gu Yanwu had a different attitude towards later generations' denigration of Zhu Zi's trip. But for Yao Guangxiao, Gu Yanwu has a lot of affirmation. Shen Deqian, an outstanding literary scholar of the Qing Dynasty, was extremely prejudiced against Yao Guangxiao's instigation of the "Battle of Jingjing", but he also had to affirm Yao Guangxiao's literary achievements when selecting and compiling the "Ming Poetry Collection".
As for modern historians who have been freed from the shackles of thought, such as Japan's Makita Diliang and Mr. Shang Chuan in China, Yao Guangxiao has been highly praised from the perspectives of religious history, history of science and technology, and literary history.
Information sources:
History of the Ming Dynasty
Subheading:
Xing killing, being the prime minister, the only one to enter the Ming Ancestral Temple as a civil servant