Border Tribute

Border Tribute

Bian Gong (1476-1532 A.D.) was named Tingshi. He lived near HuaQuan and was named huaquanzi. He was born in Licheng (now Jinan City, Shandong Province). He is a famous poet and writer in Ming Dynasty. Hongzhi nine years (1496) bingchenke Jinshi, official to taichangcheng. Bian Gong was famous for his poems during the reign of Hongzhi and Zhengde. Together with Li Mengyang, he Jingming and Xu Zhenqing, he Gong was known as the "four heroes of Hongzhi". Later, Kang Hai, Wang Jiusi and Wang Tingxiang were added to the list, which was called the "top seven scholars" of literature in Ming Dynasty.

(overview photo source: the portrait of Bian Gong painted by Ming Dynasty, collected by Shandong Provincial Museum)

Life of the characters

family origin

Born in a bureaucratic family, Bian Gong received traditional Confucian education since childhood. Hongzhi nine years (1496), Jinshi Ji, only 20 years old. When a young man enters the imperial examination, he is famous both in the court and in the field. Dr. Taichang was first granted and transferred to Shizhong. The sixth division of the Ming Dynasty was in charge of the issue of banknotes and issued a series of rules and regulations, and it was responsible for checking the violation of the regulations. During his term of office, Bian Gong did not avoid the powerful and the powerful, regardless of interests. He wrote to impeach the eunuchs and generals who were greedy, cowardly and incompetent. He also wrote to Yan Bian Bing Feng Shi Shu. At that time, the eunuch Miao Kui was trusted by the emperor. Bian Gong's writing is sparse, direct and incisive, and the audience is awe inspiring, showing his character of caring about state affairs and daring to remonstrate.

Happy official career

Here, Li Mengyang, a famous writer, was the head of the household department. Since then, he Jingming, Xu Zhenqing, Wang Jiusi, Kang Hai and Wang Tingxiang have also been promoted to serve in various ministries of the cabinet. Bian Gong returned his poems and essays with them, so he became a poetry friend and was known as "the first seven sons" in the world. Since the reign of emperor Yingzong in the Ming Dynasty, politics has been increasingly corrupt and class contradictions have been deepening. Since Hongzhi, some upright courtiers wanted to restrict the castration of the party and reform the government in order to save the decline of the Ming Dynasty. In literature, Li Mengyang and he Jingming, the first seven scholars, tried to change the situation that the weak "Taige style" dominated the literary world. "They advocated that literature must be written in Qin and Han Dynasties and poetry must be prosperous in Tang Dynasty" ("biography of literary garden of Ming Dynasty"), and launched a huge literature retro movement, which was followed by scholars all over the world. During the Jiajing period, Li Panlong, Wang Shizhen and other "the last seven sons" echoed with it, which promoted the movement to the climax. After the efforts of "the former and the latter seven scholars", they finally took the place of "Taige style" and dominated the literary world. This literary retro movement has played a positive role in changing the weak style of "Taige style" and eliminating the bad influence of stereotyped writing on literary creation. However, due to his emphasis on the restoration of the ancients, his literary creation was led to the road of blindly respecting the ancients, resulting in the bad influence of plagiarism and the pursuit of resemblance. Li Mengyang was attached to the frontier tribute, so his early poems naturally had the same wrong tendency. The works of this period are mainly imitated works and poems of sacrificing mausoleum. For example, the four character ancient style imitates the book of songs, as well as the "Ji Du sentence" and "Ji Jiang Yan sentence", which are all ancient and have no poetic flavor. However, in the poems of farewell and sightseeing, there are many fresh and beautiful works.

In the Hongzhi Dynasty, the frontier tributaries enjoyed their official career, and the officials often won the throne. After the death of emperor Hongzhi, Emperor Zhengde was a ridiculous emperor who didn't care about the government, and the power of the government was controlled by eunuch Liu Jin. They were not good at flattering, so they were released to the governor of Weihui in Henan Province and granted to the governor of Jingzhou in Hubei Province. When he was promoted, he was suddenly released, which greatly frustrated his enterprising spirit. Since then, his failure to return to Beijing was also a major turning point in his political life.

Going to Jingzhou as an office

In the spring of 1510, Bian Gong went to Jingzhou as an official. In the imperial court, he witnessed the corruption of the government; on his way to office, he saw the broken ruling situation of the Ming Dynasty under the impact of the peasant uprising. From the capital to Jingxiang, peasants who could not bear feudal oppression and exploitation rose one after another. Liu Liu and Liu Qi uprising in Hebei, and LAN Tingrui, Yan Benshu and Liao Hui peasant uprising in Sichuan and Hubei. He deeply felt the deep crisis of Ming Dynasty. As an official of the Ming Dynasty, he worked hard to suppress the peasant uprising; as a poet, he was different from the feudal officials who only knew how to pursue wealth. He was loyal to the Ming Dynasty and hated the eunuchs and corrupt officials who had eaten the Ming Dynasty; he hated the peasant uprising and sympathized with the suffering of the peasants. The two are contradictory and unified. In his view, the suffering of the peasants was not caused by the decadent rule of the Ming Dynasty and the feudal system on which it depended, but by the eunuch's abuse of power and the corrupt officials' lawlessness. Therefore, during his tenure in Jingzhou, he was depressed when he drove all over the country to visit the people, or when he visited the mountains and rivers. Looking south by the river, the autumn scenery of Dongting reminds him of Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet of Chu state. Thinking about the ups and downs of his official career, he wanted to write a Ode to Huaixiang to express his resentment and resentment. Boating in the river, the scene of dangerous waves made him want to return to his hometown. When he visited pangtong's seclusion in lumen mountain, he was filled with melancholy. That is, the five poems chanting Begonia, though chanting things, also express the poet's life experience in praising the character of Begonia when it is in full bloom in autumn and accompanying with pine.

Deeply feeling the sufferings of the people

Soon after his recovery, many officials in Jingzhou were persecuted and expected to be appointed. However, one year later, he was promoted to the Deputy envoy of Shanxi tixue, and at the same time, he received the obituary of his father's death, so he did not come to work. In the middle of the ninth year of Zhengde (1514), he served as deputy envoy of Henan tixue. He did not return to Beijing to take up his post, but was released to another post. Although he was promoted, he was in a very low mood. "Waiting for the Xuan solution" to masturbate. In spite of this, when the border tribute arrived, he still did his duty, which led to a great rise in the style of Henan scholars. He did not accept the request and chose the best impartially; he did not take intimacy as a condition, but chose literary talent, even though his friends were no exception, thus winning the praise of honesty. During this period, Bian Gong, as a student of the school entrance examination, visited Fu, Zhou, and county schools, and traveled all over Henan Province. He also felt the sufferings of the people and wrote poems sympathizing with the sufferings of the people, such as "bridge building resentment" and "husband pulling ballad".

Fu Gui Li

The Bian Gong felt that the government was not in good condition, and he was ill. In 1517, he became an official at the end of his life, but his mother died, so he went back to Li and lived in mourning. In 1522, he began to work again. During his stay at home, Bian Gong read books, taught apprentices, sang with friends, and spent more time wandering in the scenery of his hometown. Therefore, he wrote a lot of poems about the scenery of the ancient family. For example, eight sceneries in Xiyuan, four poems about Jiayuan, four poems about lake on July 4, miscellaneous prosperity on the lake, climbing Qianfo Mountain Temple, visiting Longdong mountain, leaving Jincun to wanglingyan temple, Mount Tai to huimaling and four poems about Liu Xi and Yin Yun are all excellent works, which show the poet's love for his hometown. Secondly, the poet also wrote many poems about farming, such as "looking at the rain", "worrying about the drought" and so on.

Be impeached and removed from office

In March 1521, Zhu houzhao, the emperor of Wuzong, died of illness. His cousin Hou Yu succeeded to the throne and ordered Fu biangong to be the Shaoqing of Taichang temple in Nanjing and the governor of Siyi hall. Nanjing is the capital of Nanjing. The government offices are in vain, and officials have no rights. Poets often feel uneasy living here. In 1528, he was transferred to the right Minister of the Ministry of punishment. With the promotion of the official position, the poet's idea of retiring has also bred. In the winter of that year, he took advantage of the opportunity to go to Beijing to report on his work and went back to the south of the economy. On the ground of extending medical treatment, he went to Shanghai to beg for rest. Without permission, he bowed to the Minister of imperial civil service and moved to the Ministry of household affairs. In the seven years since Jiajing's reign, Huazhi was elected in the five elections and was promoted many times. The frontier tribute was supposed to be content with his duty, but he was full of complaints and begged to be an official again and again, which was difficult for ordinary people to understand. The poet Gai was not an ordinary person of wealth. He wanted to do something but could not do it. He was not willing to live a simple life, so he often felt sad and anxious for peace of mind. Under the circumstances of wanting to do something but not be able to do it, and wanting to retire but not be allowed to do it, the border tribute wrote a large number of poems chanting the landscape around Nanjing in his spare time, such as miscellaneous paintings and upper painting, which were all written in a real and delicate way, cordial and touching. The poems about Jingsheng of the West Lake, such as Jing Xi Hu and ye Wen Shan Ci, have profound charm and vivid writing style, which are highly appreciated.

Things happen by chance. Like his father, Bian Gong was impeached and removed from his post: Bian Fu was framed for not bribing eunuchs; Bian Gong was careless and free. Don't be harmed. The reason is different, but the zhicao Gengjie is one. After returning home, the poet was often bedridden.

When he went to every place, he had to "visit the mountains and rivers, buy ancient books, inscriptions on gold and stone, and accumulate tens of thousands of volumes". Later, he was impeached by the imperial censor and dismissed from office. I like to collect books all my life, and have a hobby of seeking ancient books. In 1531, he was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown. He built a "wanjuan Lou" on the Bank of Daming Lake in Jinan, which included the gold and stone books he had collected all his life. Unfortunately, in the second year, that is, the 11th year of Jiajing (1532), "wanjuan Lou" fire, he looked up and cried: "Hoo hoo, even lost me!" The poet suffered so much that he fell ill and died. He was 57 years old.

Characteristics of poetry

Bian Gong is famous for his poems. Hongzhi and zhengdejian, together with Li Mengyang, he Jingming and Xu Zhenqing, are famous for their rich literary talent. A comprehensive survey of the Bian Gong poetry anthology shows that there are many excellent works, such as "the wind and the lingering charm of the people, so there is no lack of them" (Ming poetry anthology), and the archaic excerpts are also mixed with them; the calmness and plain style are its strong points, while the narrow subject matter, many tunes and suffering are its weak points. His works of imitating the ancients and abstracting sentences have negative influence, while his works of being beautiful and elegant have gradually developed "charm". Wang Shizhen, a famous poet in the early Qing Dynasty, collated and reprinted his poems