Yuan Zhen's Feelings in Tang Poetry (Ⅱ) —— The Mystery of Epitaph
First of all, let's start with the senior high school entrance examination in the first year of Yuanhe. In April of the first year of Yuanhe, Yuan Zhen made a move and was presided over by the emperor. At first, it was probably equivalent to the later entrance examination. It was also one of the shortcuts to get out of office quickly at that time. (As for why Yuan Zhen gave up his existing position as a bookkeeper in Zhongshu Province, he was admitted. This will be explained in detail later when combing Yuan Zhen's thinking). Yuan Zhen should be "both talented and knowledgeable in the subject of physical use" In the first year of Yuanhe, there were many celebrities in this subject, which was also praised by later generations. In this theme, the most famous three are Yuan Zhen, Bai Juyi and Wei Chuhou. Among them, Yuan Zhen and Wei Chuhou are all third-class (Tang Zhi, the first and second cases are not mentioned), and Bai Juyi is fourth-class. Among them, Yuan Zhen is the third-class top name, that is, the top name in the practical sense.
The above is a factual statement, and the following is a deduction.
Who is the examiner of this exam in the first year of Yuanhe?
Because there are many famous people in this exam, it is easy to find-The Biography of Wei Guan in Old Tang Dynasty says: "Later, I took the exam with Zhang Hongjing, the author of the Chinese book. The first time I was 18, and later my name was Wen."
The answer is obvious, Wei Guanzhong and Zhang Hongjing. These two men were the prime ministers of the later Xian Zongchao. One is aloof and indifferent, and the other is headstrong. But that's not the point. The point is their relationship with Yuan Zhen. Or their relationship with Yuan Zhen's wife-"Xie's youngest and favorite daughter"-Wei Cong. Wei Yan's father, Wei, was born in the Wei family in Jingzhao. One of them teaches: "Go to Wu Tianchi, Dewey, south of the city." Jingzhao Weishi Jiufang is a very prosperous family. Wei was born in Longmen Inn. Wei Guanzhong was born in Xiaoyao public house. Kind of like relatives. Although Zhang Hongjing's surname is not Wei, Zhang Hongjing's father is Zhang-that is, Zhang in the allusion of "money can communicate with God". Zhang has a son-in-law named Wei Gao, who is a descendant of Wei Gongfang in Jingzhao. In other words, Zhang Hongjing is a big brother or brother-in-law of wei ren. The joints are also obvious. Both examiners are relatives or in-laws of Wei Cong (of course, the other person in the selection, Wei Chuhou, is too much, Wei Chuhou and Wei Guan are closer, and both of them are close relatives of Xiaoyao Public House). The above deduction shows the importance of Wei Cong to the great poets in Yuan Dynasty, which can be simply summarized by not only feeding wild vegetables, but also adding salaries to fallen leaves.
Let's talk about the example of Wei Cong's mother Pei and Duan. I once said that when Yuan Zhen wrote Duan Jia's epitaph, he could not say anything to his wife because he was afraid of Pei's energy. Let's talk about it this time Wei Cong's mother Pei Jia, foster mother Duan Jia; Wei Tucong died before full term and was raised by the unknown concubine Duan of Wei at that time. Two months after Wei Cong's death, Mrs. Duan also died. Yuan Zhen naturally got the task of writing an epitaph for Duan Jia with his famous literary name at that time. The epitaph of Duan written by Yuan Zhen is included in the whole Tang poetry, and it is also a masterpiece. But at the end of the 20th century, the real rubbings of Mrs Duan's epitaph were discovered in Luoyang, where Mrs Duan was buried. The mutual reference of the two men suddenly exposed Yuan Zhen's thoughts and career. This epitaph Goodbye to the Sun seems to be devoted to revealing the privacy of the great poets of the Yuan Dynasty. Scholar Cheng also discussed Yuan Zhen's selfishness in Seeing Yuan Zhen as a Man (China Classics and Culture, No.3, 1995), but personally, some details are not accurate enough or enough to hit the nail on the head. Moreover, the so-called epitaph written before the collection of the whole Tang Dynasty also needs to be deduced. So I'm going to continue sorting out and deducing, and then look at some small abacus of the gifted scholars in the Yuan Dynasty.
Let's talk about his wife's relatives, Mrs. Pei. Mrs Pei is also a famous Pei family in Hedong. In fact, the Pei family in Hedong is not inferior to Jingzhao Webster's, especially in the earlier Wei and Jin Dynasties. Pei's father is not very famous, but his grandfather Pei Yaoqing was a famous figure in Xuanzong period. He was born in and is a member of the Pei family in Hedong. Later, Pei Ji, who was recommended by Yuan Zhen's army, was also a Pei family in Hedong and an Pei family in Dongwan. Yuan Zhen once wrote "Pei Xianggong's Book", which said:
This article is also included in The Whole Tang Poetry, in which Pei Xianggong refers to Pei Du, a famous figure in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Among them, what the late Pei Bingbu said was Pei Ji. In my opinion, this article was used by Yuan Zhen to establish relations with Pei Du in the central government when he was later demoted to Tongzhou Sima. At that time, Pei Ji died, and Yuan Zhen lost his backer, so although his writing was grandiose, it was flattering. That is to say, Yuan Zhen took the opportunity to write to Pei Du, asking Pei Du to follow Peiji's example and improve himself. Of course, what happened after that was even dirtier. Yuan Zhen did not achieve the purpose of this article, and then he turned to the despised eunuch group. But with the help of the power of the eunuch group against Pei Du. Later, he lost to Pei Du in the political struggle and finally died in the post of Wu Changjun.
Yuan Zhen's life has many intersections with Pei's relatives in Hedong. Is to promote PeiJi first, and then in the middle of Pei Du to have hope. Therefore, the power of Pei's family made Yuan Zhen deeply afraid. Therefore, the articles collected by the whole Tang Dynasty will do this:
The epitaph unearthed is as follows:
Important differences are highlighted in bold type. There are two main differences between Complete Tang Poetry and epitaph. One of the less obvious points is the way to introduce the identity of the tomb owner. Throughout the Tang Dynasty, it was:
Mother said Duan's family was in Wuwei, so Sitian of Quzhou joined the army as her second daughter.
In the epitaph is:
My mother said that Mrs Duan was from Wuwei. Four generations of grandfathers praised Yangzhou, the governor of lord protector, adding luster to the generals, keeping secrets and making contributions to the country.
The intention is to make a judgment, and the epitaph starts with Xuanhe's family background; The whole Tang Dynasty began with Mrs. Duan's father, whose position was the lowest. The most important thing is that there have been military exploits in the history of the country. Duan's ancestor was Duan, who was honored as lord protector in Lingyange. Even in storytelling, he was one of Jia Jialou's forty-six friends, one of Di Chin's six golden knives and one of the four elders in the Tang Dynasty. It is really puzzling that Yuan Zhen, the life story of Xuanhe, is not put in front of him as a facade. It needs to be combined with the layout behind to understand.
The most striking difference between Quan Tang Shu and epitaph is that Yuan Zhen didn't address Duan's wife in Quan Tang Shu. The first sentence becomes a puzzling Wuwei Duan Jia, followed by the last sentence that deliberately does not call his wife. The whole Tang Dynasty was a noble person, and the epitaph was a noble lady. It means that you must be praised by human figures, and your name is the true attitude of sons and nephews to evaluate their ancestors.
Let's try to arrange the mystery with human feelings.
First of all, I also think that Yuan Zhen's orderly circulation of this passage is the first. The version of the whole Tang Dynasty was published in the Qing Dynasty, and its source can be traced back to Changqing Collection of Yuanshi County in Sikuquanshu. It is also called "Song Xuan and Jian 'anlin were circulated and reprinted in Songjiang in Ming Dynasty". Bai Juyi, who really may have seen the original collection of Changqing in Yuanshi County, said it might be a hundred volumes. It is different in scale from the sixty volumes of Changqing Collection of Yuanshi County. But in any case, there should be no doubt that the Changqing Collection of Yuanshi County was compiled by Yuan Zhen before his death. Therefore, the epitaph of the whole Tang Dynasty, which has been circulated in an orderly way, seems to be the version that Yuan Zhen allowed to be circulated to later generations. Everyone should know the function of epitaph. Epitaphs need to be buried in graves. The difference is obvious. One is the version that needs to be handed down to later generations, and the other is the version that is buried in the grave and does not affect the living. The significance of this is quite obvious. This trick played by Yuan Zhen has no contemporary risk. Make an extremely flattering version, and ask wexler people to engrave it and put it in the epitaph. Then change a text version that won't offend Pei people as a handed down version. Dig deep, in fact, in Yuan Zhen's epitaph writing and even in the next ten years, Pei Ren should be more important to him than wei ren. The weight of Pei Ji and Pei Du is far greater than that of Wei Guanzhong and Wei Chuhou in the same period. Especially Pei Du's four dynasties elder, three dynasties. Therefore, there are still some reasons for Yuan Zhen's choice.
Let's talk about the buttons left before, why Yuan Zhen should be promoted instead of waiting for a promotion in the position of school bookkeeper. However, this question is purely personal speculation, only supported by some materials. Yuan Zhen and Yuan He should be built in the first year. The biggest thing that happened in the year before the first year of Yuanhe was the failure of Yongzhen's innovation. Tang Shunzong's inner meditation was given to Tang Xianzong, and the two kings lost power. The joint is Wei Zhiyi, one of the eight sons of Sima. Wei Zhiyi and Yuan Zhen's Wei are not only a family, but also close brothers. At the beginning of Yongzhen's reform, Wei Zhiyi was in charge, even more prominent than Wang in official position and power. Yuan Zhen and Wei Yan's eldest daughter-Wei Yan's only daughter-Yuanbaozi was betrothed to Wei Xuan of Wei Zhiyi. Wei Xuan's date of birth and death is not recorded in the history books, but according to Wei Xuan's age from the first year of Liu Yuxi's Changqing (AD 82 1), Wei Xuan is about 793 years old, that is, Yong Zhenyuan (805) is about 12 years old. According to the early engagement of these aristocratic men, it is reasonable to infer the early engagement of Wei Xuan and Yuan Baozi. Yuan Zhen also took this opportunity to climb the halls of Wei Zhiyi. Then the court events changed rapidly, and Yongzhen's innovation failed; Wei Zhiyi lost power and influence. Originally, I wanted to borrow Yuan Zhen, the superior of Wei Xiang, and thought that promotion from the school bookseller was hopeless and time-consuming. So try it in the first year of Yuanhe. Then I hitchhiked with Wei Guanzhi and Zhang Hongjing, two examiners of Webster's family. ...
Although Chen Yinque's evaluation of Yuan Zhen was mean, he really hit the nail on the head, became a smart official and got married.
Hehe, it basically conforms to my arrangement and deduction. Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so.