The whole story of Father Chen Fuding's creation of stele couplets
Mr. Wang Zhanzhen first drew up a pair: "A man of great talent is full of righteousness; Xuefu has five cars and two sleeves. " Not only is the antithesis neat, but it also conforms to the image of father in most people's hearts, which is quite valuable for reference. I asked Mr. Xie to consult my friends in Wuweizhai.
After careful consideration, Mr. Huang Qinghuan changed it to: "A man of great talent is upright and daring to hit a wall;" It is easy to learn five cars and two sleeves. " Mother thinks it is more thoughtful after the revision, but the word "dare to hit the wall" is one-sided, because father also has a timid side. I had a brainwave and changed it to: "a man of great talent is awe-inspiring in benevolence and righteousness, and he often runs into a wall;" It is difficult to learn to be rich with five cars and two sleeves. "After changing the word, it is self-deprecating. This is a true portrayal of my father's honest life. His career is not smooth, but he is positive, optimistic and humorous. It makes the solemn tablet more playful, and I believe that the father in heaven will enjoy it when he sees it.
Mr. Huang Zhenghui thinks that "a gifted scholar and a beautiful woman" and "learning to be rich" are too ostentatious. In order not to embarrass my father in the grave, I suggest replacing them. As a result, I changed it to "outstanding talent, good health and easy to hit the wall;" The pen is vigorous, and the breeze can't blow away the dust. "Think about it, I'm still not satisfied.
Therefore, gentlemen suggest expanding the scope of choice and considering more than more. Mr. Luo Erhua found another way and drew up a pair: "Gankun is a treasure land of righteousness; The humanistic spirit inspires Kunming. " This takes into account the cemetery's emphasis on geomantic omen and its good wish to protect Hou Kun, and the flavor of couplets is even more sufficient. Mr. Wang Zhanzhen slightly revised it as "Gankun is healthy and healthy, and it is healthy in Zhong Ling; The sun, the moon and the heavenly emperor are brilliant and even more elegant.
Mr. Jiang said: "The lucky star is in the sky, watching the world; Da Gui hides the moon and will always accompany the gods. " This couplet is original. The word "Fu" in the upper couplet and the word "Da Gui" in the lower couplet cover up the father's name. At the same time, "Gui" stands for literary talent, which means "winning laurels".
Mr. Wu intends to associate it with: a text with a long history; The spirit always hangs in the front street. At the beginning, a developer offered a reward to the society for collecting street names. The "Pianqian Street" proposed by his father stood out because of its clear direction, semantic pun and beautiful meaning. Putting into the alliance is a recollection of this past and a rare opportunity.
I continued to extract some sentences from more than 50 poems in which friends mourned their father, which are more in line with the couplet paradigm and have fewer words, and are easy to engrave on tombstones, so I added a few words:
Virtuous and talented, with high reputation; For the people and the government, quality is priceless. (Jiang) According to
Only plum blossoms are reserved for officials, and poetry seeks wonders in the world. (Luo Erhua)
The article inherits the sages of past dynasties, and its style will last forever. (Wu Yaosheng)
For the benefit of the people, one cavity loves; These works are full of real talent. (co-authored by students of Beijing Normal University)
After listing all the couplets mentioned above, I sent a letter to Li Chuanyao, an old headmaster with profound knowledge of ancient studies, for advice. Li Lao replied the next day, indicating that he was most inclined to the first pair.
"Talented people are upright; Xuefu has five cars and two sleeves. " The reason is that in Liancheng, a "man of great talent" and a "well-educated" father are well-deserved, while "integrity" and "clean hands" reflect the relationship between personality and fate and are a true portrayal of his father's life.
I also wrote to Professor Cui Shuhua of Beijing Normal University for advice and asked if I could learn from Mr. Qi Gong's self-deprecating epitaph and add humorous elements. Mr Cui replied:
"I understand that the so-called self-written epitaph is essentially different from epitaph, tombstone and other words. The former is mainly Zhi Ming, often with a sarcastic taste; The latter is mainly to express the feelings of future generations of the world for the deceased, which cannot be irrelevant or completely objective. Some "flattery" is a normal phenomenon in this style. I secretly think that this kind of couplet is not suitable for being too literary or too musical, and people need to know the general achievements of the tomb owner at a glance. Therefore, I still think that the original 16 word couplet (author's note: that is, "a man of great talent is upright; It is better to learn to be rich in five cars and add six words (author's note: that is, add "often hit the wall" and "can dust off"). For reference. "
I continued to ask Mr. Luo Qiusheng for advice. Mr. Qiu Sheng wrote back as follows:
"Cedar:
Read it a few times and tell me what you think. Go straight, it doesn't matter. I fully understand your intentions. I want to make the couplets in memory of my father perfect by collecting opinions from all sides. The good intentions of being a son are commendable. In fact, this intention itself, the process of revision, is used to show the deep love between your father and son, which is touching. If a father has knowledge under the grave, he should prove why he was proud of having a pair of excellent children before he died. In China's cultural heritage, it is very common that the deceased is the greatest and the ancestors are the most respected. It is common to use compliments when remembering our ancestors. But I think, besides pursuing perfection, we should try our best to be practical. All famous folk couplets, no matter which dynasty and who drafted them, are unique, breathtaking, well-known and immortal because they conform to the actual situation of people, events, times and places. To paraphrase a literary language, it is called "a typical character in a typical environment". From this point of view, after reading the content sent, I feel: "A man of great talent is a man of righteousness; It is impeccable to copy idioms, but when praising the virtues of ancestors, the wording is extremely high, which will make people feel "arrogant" "Eight Doors" and "Five Cars" are usually used on masters of Chinese studies, such as Qian Zhongshu and Jiang Yang, and Nanrao in the North Pole (Peking University and Ji Xianlin). Although this is an obituary for the dead, it is inevitable to use praise. Generally speaking, there is a degree between memorial and praise. We should take into account the heroic deeds, contributions, academic attainments, social influence and historical status of our ancestors before their death, and pay special attention to the typical personality and personality characteristics, that is, the most shining highlights of the mourners' personality. Pay attention to this point, then the couplets are in line with the other "this pair", although each has its own advantages, but in addition to praising and exaggerating beauty, there are also defects of generalizing. Knowing your father is not as good as knowing your son, and your "talent wall" and "pen dust" (author's note: "outstanding talent, knowledge is easy to hit a wall; Comparatively speaking, I think it is the best. It is suggested that "Yi" should be changed to "Chang", which can not only explain his bookishness, but also conform to his personality. Rodin, a classmate of Beijing Normal University, told me that Chen Fudan would be a very competent professor if he went to teach. Because of his personality, he didn't go to the drugstore to get the medicine. It seems more appropriate to change "vigorous brushwork" into "brilliant brushwork" He is not only rich in classical Chinese, but also good at parallel prose, and he can write novels, poems and songs in one stroke. But "flower" is more comprehensive than "vigorous". Heroism refers to political theory, which seems to be not his strong suit. When I was reporting in western Fujian, I didn't know much about how the editorial was written, so I couldn't talk about it. "
In short, Mr. Huang Qiusheng changed it to "outstanding talent and integrity often hit a wall; A clever pen makes flowers, but it's hard to keep the breeze clean. "
Really, different people have different opinions! But opinions vary and we can't make up our minds.
The next day, Mr Huang Qiusheng called me and recommended Mr Huang Zhenghui to me. Mr. Zheng Hui's writing is concise and meaningful, and his literary talent is extraordinary. He is a great writer in western Fujian, and his father once forwarded his articles to me for reading. This proposal coincides with my idea.
Mr. Zheng Hui is really witty. After understanding the whole process, he replied that night:
"The collection of this group of articles, there are several pairs that are literally good. But some fine products are too real, some are too empty, some are too dull, or the logic is unclear. I mean, if I can upgrade my trimmed pair, can I change it to: You are authentic and clean, so you can be elegant and elegant. The couplet is an official, praising his moral character and blessing his hometown, where the cemetery is located, which highlights this meaning. Learn the article by downloading the form. (Jia, Jiahui, that is, giving benefits and benefiting. Scholars, intellectuals, academics, and literary circles. The literati who praised his flamboyant literary talent was Wen Yuan of Hui Ze. This is more logical and more in line with the main characteristics of Fugong's moral knowledge in his life. There is no need to make a fuss about righteousness. Your father is not a judge, not a character like Lin Zexu. He is a scholar in the forest, and his refined spirit is his main feature. For reference only, please give us your feedback. "
"Only true and clean can be elegant and elegant." ! From the context, the posture is low and the tone is calm. It is expected that my father can feel at ease under the grave. Silver Sang Zi and Jia Shilin summarize the spiritual wealth he left to future generations from the perspectives of official service and writing, which are the concretization and reality of "creating the future" and "Yu Xiukun". From the metrical point of view, it has exceeded the basic requirement of "135 regardless, 246 points". Except the first word, every word has the same part of speech and is even. It can be seen that this pair of couplets is carefully designed by Mr. Zheng Hui. Everyone praised it unanimously. Mr. Zheng Hui told me that "this is the result of collecting everyone's wisdom and constantly thinking about improvement" and encouraged me to reconsider.
Finally, with the consent of Mr. Zheng Hui, I changed "integrity" to "sexual rate" as the official final draft, that is, "sexual rate, clean quality, clear wind shadow; Only a high life is elegant and elegant. " In this way, even the first word is flat and even, and the rhyme of the whole couplet is very harmonious. More importantly, the word "rate" embodies his father's frankness, frankness, scholar temperament and occasional stupidity, which makes the tablet couplet infected with fireworks.
After three weeks of negotiation and discussion, the dust finally settled and my hanging heart fell to the ground. Dramatically, the next day, when I was about to send it to the workshop for engraving, I suddenly learned that in addition to the couplets on the main monument, a pair of couplets needed to be engraved on the side column of the tombstone. According to the customary practice, the workshop chooses auspicious sentences to burn, such as "Qingshan Lan Zhi Mao; The same edition of "Bi Hai Han Ze Chang". My father didn't like slogan couplets before his death, and he was even more ashamed to pick people's teeth. I must find another couplet that belongs only to him! But there is only one day left.
It suddenly occurred to me that Mr. Anthony wong once suggested to Mr. Jiang on the phone that "good luck is in the sky, and long knowledge is in the world;" The moon is hidden in the big laurel, and the immortal will always be with you. This is a high evaluation. In particular, the word "big osmanthus tree hidden in the moon" is unique, targeted and artistic, but unfortunately the content of the joint article is not rich enough. I borrowed Mr. Jiang's idea of "hiding the moon in the big laurel tree" and put forward the following suggestions:
"The breeze sings mulberry fields lightly, and Dagui hides themoon deeply." The first couplet "Hefeng" is the pseudonym of father Chen Fudan. "The breeze sings the land of mulberry", that is, Chen Fudan sings his hometown. "Breeze" and "Shallow Poem" refer to two poetry collections written by my father, namely "The Breeze in Guanpian" and "Shallow Poem in Liancheng", which reflect an innocent child and feelings of home and country. "Singing mulberry fields with the wind" is a semantic pun. The following couplet "Da Gui" is a drum, which echoes the above couplet "Hefeng" and has the same meaning.
"Toad Palace" is the Moon Palace, which is used together with "Da Gui" to take the meaning of the laurel of the moon.
In this regard, I consulted Mr. Zheng Hui. He believes that the word "Sang Zi" already exists in the couplet of the main monument. In order to avoid repetition, I suggest replacing this word. I thought and thought, and finally decided that it was "a breeze singing a country song;" Da Gui hid the moon's "rural songs", which means "Xiangzi" and "shallow singing", forming a verb-object structure, which is more logical. Metrically speaking, it is completely in line with the paradigm.
At this point, two tablets were finalized.
Finally, once again, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mr. Xie for his enthusiasm, his warm contact and the communication of opinions from all sides during the formation of the alliance. Thank you, Mr. Wang Zhanzhen, Mr. Jiang, Mr. Wu, Mr. Luo Erhua, Mr. Wu Yaosheng, Mr. Li Chuanyao, Mr. Cui Shuhua, Mr. Luo Qiusheng and Mr. I respect your talent. You have no reservations and don't mind being considered by me. On the contrary, you encouraged me to think more and compare more. These two couplets condense your wisdom and efforts, as well as your sincere friendship with my father. This heart, this feeling, can be learned from the sun and the moon!
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