Chapter 24 About "The Pillow"

In history, the place name Handan appeared for the first time in the Spring and Autumn Period. At first it was a city belonging to the State of Wei, but it was later occupied by the State of Jin, and became the capital of the State of Zhao in the Warring States Period.As far as its location is concerned, it belongs to the present Hebei Province. The reason why I first introduce the city of Handan is because there is a popular ballad "Handan" circulating in ancient China, and this "Handan" is not about the ancient city of Handan. This ballad comes from the book "Story in the Pillow" written by Shen Jiji in the Tang Dynasty. This book is no stranger to the Japanese.

"The Story of the Pillow" describes a young man named Lu Sheng, who was bewitched by the Taoist Lu Weng. In his dream, Lu Sheng's life changed drastically. The incident happened in the seventh year of Kaiyuan in the Tang Dynasty. It was AD 719, and the emperor of the Tang Dynasty at that time was Tang Xuanzong. At that time, Japan had retired for three years, which belonged to the era of Emperor Gensho, and famous figures in the world included Fujiwara Bubi and others. Lu Sheng in the story has already entered youth, but in the eyes of Lu Weng, who knows the magic of immortals, he is still a child, but Lu Sheng himself often complains:

I am already a mature man, but why do I just plow the fields and ridges every day? In his opinion, the time has come for him to do something, and he shouldn't be dealing with hoes and plows anyway.Because he knew Lu Weng very well, Lu Sheng often complained in front of him.It stands to reason that Lu Sheng's knowledge is relatively profound, but in that era, the imperial examination was implemented. It was very difficult to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi. But for ordinary people, this is the only way to enter an official career. Candidates from all over the country came to the capital in order to win fame, but after years of hard study, what they got in the end may be just a dream. In terms of the admission rate, only one person in a million candidates will be successful. Knowing how fierce the competition is, even if you become a Jinshi at the age of 50, you will still be called young!From this we can see that Lu Sheng is a person with a strong desire for power.

Is there any difference between being a high-ranking official and plowing fields, raising pigs and raising chickens? In order to wake Lu Sheng from his desire for power, Lu Weng gave him a pillow, which was a celadon pillow with small holes at both ends. As soon as Lu Sheng's head rested on the pillow, it was sucked into the pillow.In the dream, Lu Sheng realized his dream for many years and became a high-ranking official with riches and honors, living a luxurious life.When he finally woke up from the dream, he suddenly realized how stupid his previous thoughts were, and the life of prosperity and wealth did not belong to him.In fact, the author's original intention was to use Lu Sheng's dream to hint at the ups and downs of Emperor Xuanzong's period.

This story tells us that a person's life is extremely short compared to the vastness of time and space.This story has been recited by several generations, and finally crossed the ocean and became a Japanese ballad. The Japanese began to call this world the dream world. Since this world is just a dream world, where is the real world?This is also an interesting question worth exploring.