Settle the poor and keep the way: honest and honest say three yuan

Mencius said: "Reciting his poems and reading his books, I don't know who he is, but what? It is also based on the world. "San Yuan, the founder and representative of the Gong'an faction of literature, we have recited their poems and studied their works. When we understand their conduct and behavior, it is not difficult to find that one of their characteristics is to be honest and honest.

Whether it is clean or honest, it has the meaning of being clear and fair, clean and prudent. San Yuan was both a scholar and an official, and they had a good performance in both aspects of honesty and honesty during their official years. Zeng Keqian, an important member of the public security faction of the Ming Xin Chou Ke Jinshi (Tanhua), commented that San Yuan was "character, education, and talent, all three" (1).

Speaking of incorruptibility, we will soon think of the famous sentence in Song Zhou Dunyi's "Ai Lian Said", "Out of the mud but not stained, clean lotus but not demons". The era in which Sanyuan lived was the late Ming Dynasty, when the court was extravagant, corrupt officials and corrupt officials were expropriating and expropriating, and the people were empty. It would not be an exaggeration to compare the political ecology of the time to "silt". And it is not easy for the three Yuan brothers, who are officials in this "mud", to be honest and self-controlled!

Sanyuan's difficulty is first of all due to their good family style and tutoring.

The first few generations of the three ancestors worked hard and were good at cost-effectiveness, and by the time of the third ancestor's generation they had become a well-known "big family", but they were by no means misers, but "generous in nature, and anxious for the people of Zhou" (2), sympathetic to the poor. During the Jiajing period, there was a famine in the public security, and his grandfather Dahua lent the only remaining 2,000 stone grains and 1,000 taels of silver to the victims, and then burned the bonds as donations, saving the lives of many victims.

The genealogy of a family is a historical book that continues the bloodline and excellent education of the same ancestor, and it is also a rule that restricts the words and deeds of the clan. In a family-centered society, genealogy is the "family rules" and "family laws". The patriarch has the power to punish and even kill members who violate the "clan rules" and "family laws" in accordance with the rules. "Yuan Family Genealogy" has "Ten Rules of Yuan's Family Education" and "Ten Rules of Yuan's Family Precepts", which educate and warn the clansmen from the two aspects of "morality" and "life" respectively. The fourth part of "Tutoring" clearly puts forward the "righteous heart technique", pointing out that "if the mental skill is bad, that is, wealth and lack will also be lost; At one end of the mind, that is, the poor and the lowly are also prosperous. The fifth "character of the person" points out that "the greedy deeds, Rong Xian is also a villain"; "All deeds are loyal, even the poor are also gentlemen." Emphasizing that "poverty does not lose righteousness, and attainment does not deviate from the road". At the beginning of the ninth chapter of the "Family Precepts", "Learning to Wander", he quoted the ancient precepts: "If the father and brother do not teach first, the rate of the children is not careful", and asked the father and brother to take the lead in educating and setting an example in order to correct the behavior of the children. Yuan Zhongdao said: "The teachings of the first gentleman are not lenient or strict, such as dyeing incense and dew, and teaching the most interesting ones." ”③

Of course, it is not enough to rely on these genealogical "laws", but also on self-restraint, and the Sanyuan brothers are also exemplary in self-restraint.

Let's talk about the boss first.

At the age of twenty-seven, Zongdao went to Beijing to take the first place in the examination and was awarded the title of Jishi of the Hanlin Academy. The Hanlin Academy is a direct institution of the imperial court documents, and Shu Jishi is the "reserve prime minister", and the work of the Hanlin Academy can be described as a step to the sky. Zongdao cherished it very much, "the rooster crowed, the cold and the heat did not stop", and soon became famous. The emperor "knew the prince deeply" and even "hated the prince late" (4), so he asked him to serve as the prince's teacher. At this time, Zongdao was a high and powerful position, and he was deeply favored by the emperor, and in the eyes of ordinary people, this was a good place to make money. No, there is a fellow who is doing the work of electing and conferring official positions that knows that Zongdao is poor and wants to buy him a piece of land in his hometown, but Zongdao refused with a smile after knowing it; There was a county order to send Zongdao 300 taels of silver, and wanted to dredge up the relationship through him, and Zongdao returned it immediately. "Those who are born to retreat from a hundred golds are burdened, or give ten gold, and they are ashamed." (5) Zong Dao wrote in the letter "Sending the Third Brother" (Zhongdao): "I have been an official for ten years, and my debts have accumulated a mountain, and my room is like a hanging chime. That is to say, after ten years as an official, not only did he have no savings, but he was in high debt, and his family was poor.

What's more, after Zong Dao died of "exhaustion", he only had a few taels of silver in his pocket, and the coffin was bought for him by his protégé. His wife (two sons and one daughter died young) could not be "equipped", so his colleagues auctioned his calligraphy and paintings, a few inkstones, etc., to buy a coffin and transport it back to his hometown, but after transporting it back to his hometown, he didn't even have a house to put the coffin. When the dynasty jinshi and a member of the public security faction, Long Ying said in "Crying Yuan Boxiu Brother Wen": "In the country, Jing Zhipu and Chu Zhiheng are also; In the imperial court, Yu Zhifeng, Qi Zhilin is also ...... Take the article as a model, encourage with the behavior, take the wish as the beam, and be born by the world's fame, and the uncle is the master. ”

Later, he said that the second child was grand.

Hongdao was also 27 years old when he was appointed as the county magistrate of Wu County (now Suzhou City), although he was in office for only two years, but he was an upright official, a discerning observer, and governed the government with learning, and solved many problems that were difficult to return to for the people.

Soon after his arrival, Hongdao found that "Wu Fujia is in the world". The reason for this is that local officials, big and small, run rampant in the township, unscrupulously levy taxes and miscellaneous taxes to the old people, and no one dares to ask about this matter. Hongdao was determined to punish the cunning officials, cancel the additional levy, and reduce a large number of taxes for the common people. It also saves lawsuits and facilitates the people, streamlines the administration, and allows redundant officials to automatically return to the fields and farm, "the Wu people call it a rice business". Hongdao is in charge of the government with heart, has a keen response, handles things quickly, and governs a county. Shen Shixing, the prime minister at the time, couldn't help but admire: "For 200 years, there has been no such order. (6) It was when his career was in full swing that Hongdao received a report from home that his grandmother Aunt Zhan was critically ill and hoped to see Hongdao before she died. Hongdao Qishang resigned and asked the official to go home to visit, but not only did the government refuse to approve him because he was talented, but even the local people did not want him to leave Wu County. "Thousands of people from Wu Min, all gathered in the temple, willing to donate ten years of life, extend the day of Aunt Zhan, and keep Renming's parents." (7) It can be seen that Hongdao has won the hearts of the people. Hongdao served as a county magistrate for two years, never accepted a penny from the people, was not greedy or occupied, and even borrowed money from others to settle his wife and children temporarily after resigning. The people here all said: "This order has not been made in recent years, but I drink a sip of water in Wuzhong." ”⑧

"Is there twenty-eight in the world, and there is a person who hangs the car." (9) Hongdao's father's fate was difficult to disobey, and he went to Beijing to make up for the official. In the office of Beijing officials, Hongdao still has a torch in his eyes, handles things fairly, and has many actions that shocked the government and the opposition.

In the process of appointing the post of chief elected official of the Ministry of Officials, Hongdao found that the Ministry of Officials had accumulated a lot of shortcomings. A group of cunning officials have been in contact with the central officials internally, and have relied on their in-laws outside, engaged in irregularities for personal gain, recruited power and accepted bribes, and bought and sold officials, resulting in "the power of the officials and ministries has long been left behind." After Hongdao consulted with his colleagues, he found the right time to cut it first and then play it, and punished the felony with lightning speed. This is one of them.

According to the usual practice, the imperial court inspects foreign officials once every three years, and Beijing officials inspect once every six years, and there are corrections from time to time, but there is no assessment method for minor officials in the imperial court. Therefore, these petty officials have no fear and pervert the law for bribes, causing confusion among the officials and deacons. In order to rectify the rule of officials, Hongdao began to establish the law of year-end inspection of officials, which was approved and implemented by the imperial court, "those who can stay are not allowed to go", "more punishment tools, lawbreakers, from time to time to blame". (10) Yang Shiqiao, the left attendant of the Ministry of Ministers in the "Year of Wangba", praised: "Today's public is also a blessing for the country." (11) This is also the case.

We know that in the imperial examination, rich and powerful people will use a lot of money or power to buy or subdue the examiner to give the examinee a high evaluation, in order to be on the gold list, or leak the test questions and ask the "gunman" to do the questions in advance, and the candidates will be entrained into the venue and become famous, which is seriously unfair. Hongdao was ordered to take the main examination of Shaanxi Township, take the discipline examination seriously, put an end to cheating in private, personally participate in the marking of the papers, change the bad habit of only reading the "intended person" in the past, treat everyone equally, read it all over the field, and most of the people recorded are "newcomers" found from the Tao "Elimination Papers", and most of them are famous and cold. The admittators rejoiced, the eliminators were convinced, and the people praised this admission as the first in the world. This is also the third.

Hongdao has been holding leading positions in the front line, from the county order to the ministry of Langzhong, from handling government affairs to selecting officials, to presiding over the township examination, "living in the official for 19 years, not opening and closing the field", not trying for money, the breeze and two sleeves, Wenyou Tao Shijiao praised Hongdao "has a hard heart to meet the world, and a poor heart to endure hunger". (12) At the age of forty-three, Hongdao resigned from the capital again and returned to the Liulang Pavilion of the Public Security, but the Liulang Pavilion was flooded and could not live, so he chose to live in Shashi. Shashi had no place to live, so he had to spend all his savings and sell the Liulang Pavilion, and buy an old building by the Shashi River to repair and settle down (13). Soon after his death, a serious illness came, and after he died on September 6 of that year, he did not even have the money to buy a coffin. There were only fifty carts of silver left in his pocket, and his younger brother Nakamichi had to use his belongings as collateral to borrow money to buy back the coffin. ⑭

Let's talk about the third middle way.

In order to interpret Confucianism with Zen and enrich the theory of sexual spirituality, the three Yuan brothers have made a lot of efforts in Zen, and always take its positive side to warn themselves, cultivate their self-cultivation, and be indifferent and desireless. In the article "Heart Rhythm", Zhongdao said: "However, the money from the field, and the money from the gift of the scriptures, and the money for the purchase of the scriptures, are all things, and they must be distinguished." "You must not ask for money that you do not belong to yourself." Even if it is a matter of mutual communication and human nature, such as borrowing, try not to happen. He even repented of his previous loan and failed to repay it. Although the amount is not large, and it can be repaid in the future, he vows that he would rather die of hunger and cold in the future than borrow a penny from others.

In the forty-fourth year of Wanli, after learning of the famine in Shandong, Zhongdao said in the court of the above table that he would "keep the vegetarian festival and help the times together" (15). This is a concrete embodiment of the fine character of serving the public and sharing worries for the country.

The seventh part of the "Ten Rules of Yuan's Family Education" requires: "The house does not have to be too gorgeous, the clothes do not have to be too beautiful, the diet does not have to be too rich, the relatives and friends do not have to pay for it, the birth of children does not have to be extended, and the crown wedding and funeral sacrifice do not have to be overly ceremonial." "The middle way strictly follows the "tutor". He said in "Heart Rhythm" that ordinary people should pay attention to saving in everything they do, "Weddings and funerals are given with branches." If you don't build a house, you can live in it. And by the time he was forty-three years old, "wives and children began to have a place to live, and so did the suffering of the poor." (16) "Teaching should be diligent at the top, and the rate should be at the bottom" is also one of the Yuan family mottos. Zhongdao is not only strict with himself, but also does not forget to educate his younger brothers and nephews, since the age of 34 after 12 or 3 years, Zhongdao only took the Jinshi examination, which is really gratifying. When I returned home, relatives and friends came to congratulate him. Two half-brothers and four nephews and others, slaughtering pigs and sheep, doing a lot of things, Zhongdao immediately admonished: "My generation should keep the industry together." ”⑰

Keeping the poor and keeping the way, being honest and honest is one of the criteria for testing people's character and even human nature.

Isn't it since the Song Dynasty that "three years of Qing prefect's mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver"? Sanyuan is also a five-grade official, why is he so poor? To put it bluntly, most of the "100,000 snowflake silver" of those "prefects" were obtained by embezzlement, and their fortunes could only live in peace and support their families. Sanyuan adheres to the concept of "a gentleman solidifies the poor", abides by integrity, and uses his short and poor life to leave a rich cultural heritage to the world. Sanyuan's soul is pure and quiet, and Sanyuan's spiritual world is rich. They are poor out of character, poor out of innocence, poor out of beautiful personality.

In 2024

Concentrate:

(1) Zeng Keqian's "Preface to the Collection of Mr. Sanyuan"

(2) Yuan Zhongdao "Lines"

(3) Yuan Zhongdao "Preface to the Second Zhao Shengwen"

(4) Zeng Keqian's "Preface to the Collection of Mr. Sanyuan"

(5) Yuan Zhongdao "The Biography of Mr. Shipu"

(6) Table in the way "line"

(7) Yuan Zhongdao "Lines"

(8) Yuan Zongdao "Send the Third Brother"

(9) Yuan Zhongdao "Lines"

(10) Yuan Hongdao "Hair Removal Giant Rape Shu"

(11) Yuan Zhongdao "Lines"

(12) Yuan Zhongdao "Lines"

(13) See Yuan Zhongdao's "Kexue Zhai Collection" of "The Story of the North Yan Building" and "The Story of the Snow Building"

(14) See "Youju Persimmon Record ·Volume 5"

(15) Yuan Zhongdao's "Kexue Zhai Collection" "Intended to Commemorate the Shandong Famine ......"

(16) Yuan Zhongdao "Wandering Persimmon Record ·Volume 7"

(17) Yuan Zhongdao, "Youju Persimmon Record·Volume 11"

Source: Reading Times

Author: Wang Fuxue

Editors: Pan Qian, Yang Min (intern)

[Disclaimer: This number is the official public welfare account of "National Reading Promotion", and this article is reprinted for the purpose of conveying more information. If there is a source label error or other inaccuracies, please contact us. We will correct it in a timely manner. Thank you]