Chapter 11 Chapter Ten: The Distant Sound

one For that era and those characters, I have never dared to write. Not only did I dare not write, I didn't even dare to stare or listen.Sometimes, I wonder if they ever really existed.If not, then I must doubt many figures of many other ages.I have secretly judged that if they really existed, they cannot represent China.But every time I face those chapters in the history of world civilization that make us ashamed, I always want to tell those stories about them to foreign friends.Can foreign friends really understand these stories?It seems difficult, so only these stories can represent China.Being able to represent China but appearing strange and lonely in China, is this their problem or China's problem?I have no idea.

Like a strange wind, it has blown away long ago, but the whole earth retains the terror and memory of it.Even the vocabulary presented to it by the linguists of the past dynasties is indispensable for the word wind: wind, grace, wind god, style, and grace. Indeed, it is a strange wind. At this point, readers already understand that I am talking about the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The reason I've been avoiding it is because it hurts my spirits too much.It is another world of mind and personality, and even just looking up at it will contrast the mediocrity of everything we are used to.Being mediocre will bring stability once we get used to it. It seems that it has become our profession and mission to talk about various cultural phenomena that we can control with our own mind.Sometimes I also wonder, since I can control my mental strength, what's the point of talking about it?But if I really want to let me enter a kind of shock and strangeness, according to my temperament and age, I will hesitate and hesitate after all.

Half a year ago, I was chatting with a graduate student, and I accidentally talked about the romantic line in Chinese culture. I suddenly mentioned to him a saying of the predecessors: what can be called true romantic is the late Tang poetry of Wei and Jin figures.The graduate student's eyes lit up, as if he had a deep understanding.Several of the graduate students I brought were university teachers before applying for the exam, and their cultural background was not weak. Therefore, the characters of the Wei and Jin Dynasties became an inescapable topic when we met in the next few times.Every time I talk about it, there is always a strange surge in my heart, but I can't talk about it every time.

Not long ago, I received the masterpiece "Wei and Jin Qing Tan" presented by Dr. Tang Jiming, an associate professor at Taiwan's Chinese Culture University. Mr. Tang wrote on the title page of the book that he was very pleasantly surprised when he read a book of mine in Taipei. today.Mr. Tang's so-called sound of Zhengshi refers to the incisive and mysterious talks of famous scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties during the Zhengshi period.Mr. Tang is of course flattered, but holding his inscription, I couldn’t help thinking: maybe at some point, we have already had a silent communication with the object of our fright.

So, let's just dive in a little bit.I straightened my waist in front of the desk, calmed down, and gently spread out the manuscript paper.No article has ever made me so cautious. two This is a real mess. There have been a group of veritable iron-blooded heroes, they have preached a fierce will to life, and popularized the political logic that the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. , Excited and brightened.Suddenly, the heroes passed away one after another, and the heroes fought with each other for most of their lives. They were about the same age, so they always left the world at the same time.Like a sudden break from the tight ropes, history suddenly became relaxed, but it shook violently.The passion left by the heroes is still there, the descendants are still there, the subordinates are still there, and the cronies are still there, but the giant hand that controls all these has withered in the dark tomb; All kinds of social forces subdued surged up again, vying for power and status for themselves.The collision of these two forces, compared with the majestic confrontation of the heroes in the past, is several levels lower in social value.As a result, the grand plans disappeared, the magnificent fierce battles disappeared, and the poetic sentiments of history disappeared. Instead, they were replaced by open and secret fights, tricks, opportunism, tactics, instigation, and murder.The original heroes would have played with all this, but only with play, and the theme of their struggle was still loud and charismatic.After the heroes passed away, all the means became the theme, and history lost the spiritual soul that could be put on the table, and entered a state of disorder.Autocratic order will breed darkness, and chaotic disorder will also breed darkness.The troubled times we are used to referring to refer to the disordered darkness.

The Wei and Jin Dynasties were such a chaotic and dark post-heroic period. Cao Cao is a strong hero after all, but as he himself said, although the tortoise lives long, there is still a time for it to fly. It rides the snake and rides the fog, and finally turns into ashes, and dies at the age of sixty-six.Logically, he has twenty-five sons, including the talented Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, who should be able to safely continue the Cao family's foundation from generation to generation. Others feel very sad when they see it. How can they have more power to deal with political opponents outside the family?Not long after, the Sima Group defeated the Cao Group, and Cao Cao's achievements were completely wiped out.Among them, the most pitiful are those literati and celebrities who are more or less politically enthusiastic. They are most likely to be attracted by the heroic personality, not to mention that some of these heroes and their families are themselves great intellectuals with outstanding literary talents. A literati group naturally formed around them, and when the political struggle became fierce, these literati and celebrities became ghosts under the knife one after another, and died more and worse than politicians.

I have been wondering why the lives of literati and celebrities were so worthless in the troubled times of the Wei and Jin Dynasties.The result of thinking is: it seems worthless precisely because it is too valuable.At that time, a large number of literati and celebrities inherited philosophy, sociology, political science, and military thought since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and Qin and Han Dynasties. group.Therefore, winning them is often related to the taste and success of the political group; killing them is because they are really afraid of them and beware of them working for other political groups.

In contrast, the Confucian scholars who were deceived by Qin Shihuang at the beginning had a relatively vague personality image as intellectuals, while the intellectuals who were killed in the Wei and Jin Dynasties were different in every aspect.They have long been real celebrities, and their surnames, deeds, character, and reputation have all penetrated into the land of China and the annals of civilization along with their blood.There is no more tragic culture than this; no more horror than history. He Yan, founder of metaphysics, philosopher, poet, counselor, was killed; Zhang Hua, statesman, poet, author of "Natural History", killed;

Pan Yue, a poet as famous as Lu Ji, the most famous handsome man in ancient China, was killed; Xie Lingyun, the originator of ancient Chinese landscape poetry, and a top-ranking poet who still has many famous words in people's mouths spanning thousands of years, was killed; Fan Ye, an outstanding historian who wrote Huanghuang's historical masterpiece "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", was killed; The list can get very long.There were many crimes for their death, but no one could be found who could save them and defend them.Everyone was very indifferent to their death, and it might have become a topic of discussion for a few days, but the heavy murderous atmosphere was around, and no one dared to talk about it.When the situation has passed and new chaos is in front of people's eyes, the interest in turning over old scores has long since faded.Therefore, in ancient China, mass killings of cultural celebrities never caused much social upheaval, and even the writing of these events in the annals of later generations was as calm as still water in an ancient well.

Those who really couldn't calm down were those celebrities who survived with low eyebrows and avoided by the pool of blood.It is natural for a group of people to be frightened, vulgar, cowardly, tactful, betrayal, and silent. People are very fragile, from the body structure to the nervous system, and we cannot be deeply responsible; Some people recovered from the fright and rethought philosophy, history and the way of life. As a result, a unique style of life floated out from the darkness, chaos and bloody squeeze. three At that time, Cao Cao had a clerk named Ruan Yu who was very talented and trusted, and gave birth to a son named Ruan Ji.Ruan Ji was just ten years old when Cao Cao died, so he was doomed to face the troubled times of the post-heroic era and witness so much blood and heads.Unfortunately, he is full of sense of history and culture, and we have no way of knowing how much suffering he will endure in his heart.

We only know that Ruan Ji likes to wander alone in a wooden cart loaded with wine, driving forward without direction.The dirt road was uneven, the wooden cart was bumping, the wine jar was shaking, and his hands were shaking the reins.Suddenly the horse stopped. He took a closer look and saw that the road had come to an end.Is there really no way out?He asked himself hoarsely, tears welling up in his eyes.Finally, the sobs turned into howls, and when we had had enough, he took the reins and drove the car back, looking for another way.The other road also came to an end, and he cried again.Walking and crying all the way, no one heard him in the wilderness, he only cried to himself. One day, he came to Guangwu Mountain in Xingyang, Henan without any hesitation. He knew that this was the place where the conflict between Chu and Han was the most intense.There are also the remains of the ancient city on the mountain, with Xiang Yu in the east and Liu Bang in the west, with a distance of 200 steps between them and a Guangwu stream flowing.The stream is gurgling, the foundation of the city is slack, the sky is windy, and the mountains are covered with fallen leaves. Ruan Ji lingers for a long time and sighs: "There are no heroes in the time, so Zhu Zi became famous!" His sigh was somehow transmitted to the world.Maybe he made an exception and brought a companion because of the long distance on the trip that day?Or where did he himself record this exclamation?Anyway, this exclamation has become the common aspiration of many historical figures who have both heroic dreams and loneliness in the next thousand years.Until the 20th century, Lu Xun, who was lonely, also quoted it. Mao Zedong discovered it when he was reading Lu Xun's book, and wrote it in a letter home with a more lonely feeling.Lu Xun quoted from memory and remembered two words wrongly, and Mao Zedong followed suit. The problem I encountered was, who was Ruan Ji's sigh pointing at? It may refer to Liu Bang.Liu Bang won the battle between Chu and Han because his opponent Xiang Yu was not a real hero.In an era where there are no real heroes, only mere boys can become famous. It may also refer to Liu Bang and Xiang Yu at the same time.Because what he lamented was fame rather than victory. Liu and Xiang became famous regardless of victory or defeat. In his opinion, they are not worthy of fame, and neither is a hero; It may even be the other way around, he admits that Liu Bang and Xiang Yu are heroes, but they have long since left, and the villains in front of him are left to enjoy their names in vain.Facing the relics of Liu and Xiang, he lamented the desolation of the present world.It seems that Su Dongpo understood it in this way. A friend once asked him: Ruan Ji said that there were no heroes at the time who made Shu Zi famous. Did Zhu Zi refer to Liu Bang?Su Dongpo replied: No.There were no Liu and Xiang Ye when he was injured.Lizi refers to the ears of people in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. (See "Dongpo Zhilin" 1, "Dongpo Inscriptions" 2.) Since the completely opposite understanding can also make sense, then we can only treat this sentence with a more superior attitude.The vast land of Kyushu is full of scars left by the struggle to be a hero, but in which eras have real heroes appeared?Since there are no heroes, why is the world so lively?Perhaps, it is because there are no heroes that the world is so lively? I believe that the trip to Guangwu Mountain made Ruan Ji even more tired of the hustle and bustle.In ancient China, paying homage to historical sites was a major event in a literati's life. In the interweaving of history and geography, a lightning strike of life perception would even change a person completely.It must have been at dusk. After leaving Guangwu Mountain, Ruan Ji's wooden cart drove more and more slowly among the decaying grass in the setting sun. This time he stopped crying, but there was still a gloomy air flowing to his throat and mouth. When you spit out, the tone is thick and melodious.The guttural and nasal sounds turned around a few times, and finally the sound was collected between the lips and teeth, turning into a kind of whistle that floats in the mountain wind and evening mist. This whistle is not sharp, but tactful and high-pitched. This is also a way of singing, Ruan Ji has heard it from others before, it seems to be called Xiao.Xiao does not undertake the actual content, does not follow the established format, but expresses a style and a heart song freely, so it is especially suitable for celebrities in troubled times.Noisy as much as you want, you can't catch anything, but everything is inside.On this day, Ruan Ji really experienced the taste of Xiao in the wooden car, and his beautiful and lonely heart echoed in the night air. For Ruan Ji, the more important mountain is Sumen Mountain.Sumen Mountain is located in Huixian County, Henan Province. At that time, there was a famous hermit Sun Deng who lived in seclusion. Sumen Mountain was famous because of Sun Deng, and Sun Deng was often called Mr. Sumen.After Ruan Ji went up the mountain, he squatted in front of Sun Deng and asked him a series of important historical and philosophical questions, but Sun Deng didn't seem to hear anything, didn't say a word, and didn't even roll his eyes. Ruan Ji stared at Sun Deng who looked like a clay sculpture and wood sculpture, and suddenly realized how meaningless his big question was.Then cut it off quickly, maybe it is another vocabulary system that can communicate with the master in front of you?As if driven by a magical force, he whistled slowly.After whistling for a while, I looked at Sun Deng again, and Sun Deng looked at him with a smile and said: Do it again.When Ruan Ji heard this, he quickly stood up and whistled for a long time towards the mountains and sky.Turning around after Xiao finished, Sun Deng had calmed down again. He knew that he had completed an exchange with this master, and this trip was not in vain. Ruan Ji went down the mountain, a little happy and a little dazed.But just walked halfway up the mountain, a miracle happened.Like heavenly music playing, like a sanskrit plucked, like a hundred phoenixes singing together, an unimaginable music suddenly fills the mountains, wilds, forests and valleys.After being shocked for a moment, Ruan Ji immediately realized that this was Master Sun Deng's whistling sound, so brilliant and holy that his own whistling was nowhere compared to it.But Master Sun Deng is obviously not trying to compete with him, but answering all his historical and philosophical questions.Ruan Ji raised his head and listened until the howling ended.Then he hurried home and wrote a "Biography of Mr. Adult". From Sun Deng, he knew what an adult is.In his article, he said that the adult is a kind of existence that is in the same body with the creation, lives with the heaven and the earth, lives freely in the world, and is in harmony with the Tao. In comparison, how ridiculous are the gentlemen in the world who practice self-cultivation and walk on rope ink.The world is constantly changing, what etiquette can gentlemen stick to?To put it bluntly, a gentleman who is polite and self-righteous is like a louse that lives in the crotch.Crawling around without being able to get out of the crotch, he still advertises that he is following the rules; he bites someone when he is hungry, and thinks he has found some feng shui auspicious house. The article is so spicy that we can know how he himself will behave in the world. Four In all fairness, Ruan Ji's political experience in his life was not sinister, so his peculiar behavior cannot be regarded as direct political resistance.No matter how heroic and fierce the straightforward political resistance is, it only belongs to the category of politics, while Ruan Ji seems to be determined to create a new atmosphere in terms of life form and way of life. He has witnessed the cruelty of political struggles with his own eyes, but in his opinion, since neither party is a heroic act, he does not seriously judge who is right and who is wrong.Does the lesson of blood have to be recorded with new blood?No, in the new graves of literati and celebrities whom he knew and did not know, he violently realized how humble and precious life is. and freedom.He has been to Guangwu Mountain and Sumen Mountain, seen the ruins and heard howls. He is already a unique person, and he is approaching the adult in his mind. People will say that he is weird, but in his eyes, it is the real weirdness to live like a louse after being born a big living person. It is the weirdest of weirdness to be complacently looking at people with cold eyes after becoming a louse. . The first thing that makes people feel weird is probably his attitude towards officialdom.For the Chinese of all ages, it is understandable to covet officialdom, avoid officialdom, rectify officialdom, and fight against officialdom, but what Ruan Ji gave to officialdom is a kind of game-like freedom, which makes everyone feel very strange. Ruan Ji evaded official appointments, but not completely.Sometimes I do it on a whim.Coincidentally, during the period of regime change, he not only saved his life by hiding, but also was regarded as a kind of political vision, but he was actually misunderstood.For example, Cao Shuang asked him to be an official. He said that he was in poor health and lived in seclusion in the countryside. A year later, Cao Shuang fell from power and implicated many celebrities. He was safe and sound; but the victorious Sima Zhao wanted to marry him. So, it was like this for two whole months, and the idea of ​​marriage fell through. Once he said casually to Sima Zhao: I once visited Dongping in Shandong, and I liked the customs there very much.As soon as Sima Zhao heard this, he asked him to go to Dongping to be an official.After Ruan Ji rode a donkey to Dongping, he inspected the working methods of the government offices. After looking around for a long time, he immediately ordered to tear down the overlapping walls of the government houses and yamen, so that the officials who had been locked in their own rooms and worked alone could be put away at once. In a bright environment where mutual monitoring and internal and external communication are possible, major changes have taken place in office content and office efficiency.This move, even if viewed from the perspective of today's administrative management more than a thousand years later, can be said to have caught the nose. Aren't the offices of many modern companies in the world pursuing a collective atmosphere of high transparency?But our Ruan Ji just thought about it while riding on the back of a donkey.In addition, he also drastically simplified the decree, and everyone was convinced and followed it.He felt that Dongping's work was done, so he still rode on the donkey and returned to Luoyang.After all, he stayed in Dongping for more than ten days in total. Later generations said that Ruan Ji worked seriously all his life, that is, for more than ten days. Li Bai, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, admired Ruan Ji's unrestrained vigor as an official. He once wrote a poem: Ruan Ji was the prefect, Take a donkey to Dongping. Sentenced bamboo for more than ten days, Once the wind is clear. It only took more than ten days, and Dongping, who was an open-minded official and a well-mannered man, was left behind. To Ruan Ji, it was just a game. They immediately looked embarrassed. Does he also want to use this quick and efficient method to rectify the administrative agencies in many other places?Amid people's doubts, he suddenly offered to take up a military post, and made it clear that he would serve as a lieutenant of infantry in the Northern Army.However, the only reason he asked for this position was that the cooks in the Infantry Lieutenant's Battalion were particularly good at making wine, and he found out that there were still 300 hu of wine in the warehouse.After he took office, he never cared about anything except drinking.In ancient China, there were a lot of officials who were greedy for drinking, and there were many mistakes for drinking too much, but Ruan Ji was so grandiose as an official purely for the few bushes of wine in the warehouse, which is really unique.Knock on the golden seal as a stepping stone, but what is knocked open is a wine cellar with rich aroma, and the so-called Wei and Jin demeanor drifts out from here. Apart from his attitude towards officialdom, what makes Ruan Ji even more weird is his contempt for ethics. For example, as we all know, etiquette is extremely strict on the prevention of contact between men and women. Uncles and sisters-in-law cannot talk to each other, friends’ wives cannot meet each other, neighbor women cannot look directly at them, and so on. A large set of written and unwritten rules have accumulated. , once almost became the most misogynistic group of strange animals, with ridiculous self-confidence and hateful obscene reasoning, both pretending and trembling.For all this, Ruan Ji categorically refused.Once his sister-in-law was going back to her natal home, he said goodbye to her generously and said a lot of words, completely ignoring the etiquette that uncles and sisters-in-law should not talk to each other.The young daughter-in-law in the wine shop next door was very beautiful. Ruan Ji often went to drink and fell asleep at her feet when he was drunk. He did not avoid suspicion, and neither did the young daughter-in-law's husband. One thing that particularly moved me was: a military girl, extremely talented and very beautiful, unfortunately died before she got married.Ruan Ji didn't know anyone in the family, nor did he know the girl. After hearing the news, he rushed to express his condolences recklessly, cried a lot in the mourning hall, and left after pouring out his heartfelt condolences.Ruan Ji didn't know how to pretend, and he had no sense of acting. His torrential tears that day were all sincere.These tears are not shed for family affection, not for unjust cases, but for a beautiful and fleeting life.Therein lies the absurdity, and herein lies the nobility.With Ruan Ji's cry that day, many other life-and-death cries in China for thousands of years seem too specific, too real, and too selfish.Finally, there is a real man who has cried in a decent way, without any other reason, only for beauty, only for youth, only for the opposite sex, only for life, crying abstractly and deeply.In my opinion, this is the end of a man's crying. Another strong point of etiquette is filial piety.The name and method of filial piety have nothing to do with children's actual feelings for their parents.The most astonishing thing is the complicated etiquette when the parents die. Three years of mourning, three years of vegetarianism, three years of widowhood, and even three years of guarding the grave. A little sincerity is expanded into a very fake, so that the living and the dead will suffer for a long time. Fake it on a large scale where it shouldn't be.It was in this atmosphere that Ruan Ji's mother died. That day he happened to be playing Go with someone else, when the news of his death came, the opponent asked to stop playing Go, but Ruan Ji was stern and refused to stop, insisting on deciding whether to win or lose.After playing chess, he asked for a wine glass under the terrified eyes of others, drank two buckets of wine, and then burst into tears. When crying, he spit out a lot of blood.A few days later, when his mother was buried, he ate meat and drank alcohol again, and then bid farewell to his mother's body. At this time, he had already lost weight due to excessive grief. He was completely informal, and drank and ate meat on the day of his mother's death, but what filial son could compare to his grief over his mother's death?This is really a truth of the ages: many rebels are often more loyal to the core behind the layers of external norms than the defenders.Ruan Ji broke through the etiquette of filial piety to truly practice filial piety. Like his other actions, he only wanted to live a real and comfortable life. His approach has a very broad social enlightenment effect.What's more, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, due to the long-term wars, the etiquette has already become increasingly lax. A celebrity like him with his own famous behavior is enough to change the customs.According to "Shi Shuo Xin Yu", even the ruler Sima Zhao was willing to tolerate Ruan Ji's behavior.Not long after Ruan Ji buried his mother, he was invited to attend a banquet hosted by Sima Zhao. Drinking and eating meat were unavoidable during the banquet. An official named He Zeng stood up and said to Sima Zhao: You have always advocated the rule of filial piety, but today Ruan Ji, who is in the midst of a severe mourning period, sits here drinking and eating meat, which is a violation of filial piety and should be severely punished!Sima Zhao glanced at He Zeng, who was filled with righteous indignation, and said slowly, "Didn't you see that Ruan Ji was weak due to excessive grief?"What's wrong with being weak and eating and drinking?You can't share his worries, what else can you say! One of the great benefits of the Wei and Jin Dynasties is the diversity of ecology and mentality.Etiquette is still popular, and Ruan Ji's behavior is allowed, so the world seems very spacious.I remember that when Ruan Ji was in mourning, one day his friend Pei Kai went to offer his condolences and wept in Ruan Ji’s mother’s mourning hall, while Ruan Ji sat with his hair disheveled, neither standing up nor crying, but with straight eyes and a dull expression.Immediately after Pei Kai expressed condolences, someone said to him: According to etiquette, when expressing condolences, the host should cry first, and then the guests should follow suit.This time I saw that Ruan Ji didn't cry at all, why did you cry alone?Most of the people who said these words were villains who sow dissension, let’s not worry about it, but I appreciated Pei Kai’s answer. He said: Ruan Ji is a person who is beyond etiquette, so he doesn’t need to pay attention to etiquette; Among them, so follow the etiquette.I think that although this Pei Kai is a man of etiquette, he has a Wei-Jin demeanor.He himself is not tactful, but he is willing to make the world tactful. Since Ruan Ji cut off the old worldly latitude and longitude so simply and got straight to the original meaning of life, then of course he would not be subject to the burden of interpersonal relationships.He is a celebrity, and there are many people who want to make friends with him in the society, and a large part of these people make a living by eating celebrities: making friends with celebrities is to share celebrities, covet while sharing, inform and stir up trouble whenever there is trouble , In an instant, the celebrity was pecked with scars.Ruan Ji lives in troubled times, so he has seen a lot in this regard.He is well aware of the unreliability of secular friendship, so he will never be fooled by a circle of friends who seem real and illusory.The person he was looking for is gone, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu left only a deserted city, Master Sun Deng left only a mountain full of screams, his dear mother has gone, and even a lovely character like a talented military daughter is here. He was no longer alive when I heard about it.Unbearable loneliness surrounded him, he was tired of the hypocritical comings and goings around him, and often looked at each other with blank eyes.After a long time, Ruan Ji's white eyes became a clear and unmistakable social signal, a psychological barrier for self-defense.However, when Ruan Ji rolled his eyes outward, he was not happy in his heart.How he wished that he would not roll his eyes less, and let his dark brown pupils face the other pair of pupils sincerely!He has been looking for it, and it has been very difficult.During the vigil of his mother's funeral, he sincerely thanked the guests who came to express their condolences, but his gratitude was limited to gratitude. People found that even when Ji Xi, who had a high official position and social reputation, came to express his condolences, the twinkle in the corner of Ruan Ji's eyes flickered. , is still a piece of white. When people mourn his mother, he also rolls his eyes at each other!This incident was very unreasonable, and Ji Xi and his attendants were a little displeased. When they went home and talked about it, Ji Xi's younger brother heard it.The younger brother was startled when he heard this, Zhi Yi thought about it, and suddenly came to his senses, and hurriedly prepared wine and came to the mourning hall with the qin in his arms.Wine and qin are so contradictory to the mourning hall, but Ruan Ji stood up and greeted him.Are you here, my friend who disregards etiquette like me, do you want to bid farewell to my mother who has worked so hard all her life with fine wine and music?Feeling hot in Ruan Ji's heart, he finally cast his dark brown eyes on the young man. This young man is called Ji Kang, who is thirteen years younger than Ruan Ji. From now on, they will become lifelong friends, and all versions of Chinese cultural history for future generations will put their names together forever, and they cannot be separated. five Ji Kang is Cao Cao's grandson-in-law, and his relationship with the heroic era that has passed away is more direct than Ruan Ji. Ji Kang can be regarded as the most lovely person in the history of Chinese culture. Although he is tied with Ruan Ji and is younger than Ruan Ji, in terms of overall personality, his status in my mind is much higher than that of Ruan Ji. I have always admired Ruan Ji.I have thought many times about the reason for this feeling.After much deliberation, he finally realized that Ji Kang was clearer and more thorough than Ruan Ji in terms of what he opposed and what he pursued, so his life movement was clearer and louder. His life proposition made the people at that time startled when they heard it: it is not Tang Wu, but Zhou Confucianism, and the more famous and taught, the more natural.He completely ignores all kinds of dogmas and etiquettes that have been handed down for a long time, and he completely hates officialdom and official career, because he has a realm of life in his heart that makes him fascinated.The basic content of this state of life is to get rid of constraints, return to nature, and enjoy leisure.Professor Luo Zongqiang said in the book "Metaphysics and the Mentality of Wei and Jin Scholars" that Ji Kang humanized Zhuangzi's philosophy, so he also poetized it, which is very reasonable.Ji Kang was a practical practitioner. He lived in seclusion in Shanyang, Jiaozuo, Henan Province for a long time. Later, he went outside Luoyang City and even opened a blacksmith shop, where he forged iron under a big tree every day.He does not charge others for blacksmithing, but he will be very happy if someone rewards him with food and wine, and he will lead others to drink to his heart's content in the blacksmith's shop. A rare university scholar and great artist actually strikes iron near a big city!No one asked him to fight, it was only voluntary; there was no real purpose, just for fun.Compared with those emaciated hermits who were far away from the world, and those poor and weak scholars, Ji Kang was really enviably healthy. Ji Kang is very handsome, which is comparable to Ruan Ji.Why did scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties look so tall and straight?Look at the serious "Book of Jin", when writing about Ruan Ji, Ji Kang and others, they have to spend a lot of ink on their appearance, and Ji Kang is even more written, saying that he has reached the point where he has reached the state of being a dragon and a phoenix, and his nature is natural.A friend Shan Tao once used such a beautiful sentence to describe Ji Kang (Shu Ye): Shu Ye is a human being, and Yan Yan is as independent as a lonely pine.When he is drunk, he is as majestic as a jade mountain that is about to collapse. Now, this lone pine tree, this majestic jade mountain is forging iron, with strong muscles, joyful shouts, blazing fire, and clanging hammers.Could it be that this blacksmith is the "Soundless Sorrow and Joy Theory", "Taishi Admonition", "Natural Difficulty and Easy Learning", "Guan Cai Theory", "Bright Bravery Theory", "Explanation of Selfishness", "Health Preservation Theory" and so on. " and the author of many wonderful poems ?This iron hits really well. Ji Kang didn't want many people to know about Blacksmithing, and he didn't want others to visit.His good friend and writer Xiangxiu knew his temper, and quietly came to him without saying anything, just buried himself in helping him forge iron.Speaking of which, Xiang Xiu is also a great person, well-written articles, and proficient in "Zhuangzi", but he prefers to be the most loyal friend, rushing to the blacksmith's shop to do his job, and he is at ease.He also went to Shanyang to help another friend, Lu An, plant vegetables and irrigate the garden. Lu An was also a good friend of Ji Kang.These friends all believe in returning to nature, so they all do some physical work and travel to many places to take care of Xiu, fearing that their friends will be too tired and lonely. When Ji Kang and Xiang Xiu were blacksmithing together, they didn't like to talk about the rights and wrongs of the world, so they didn't talk much.The only topic is to talk about a few friends, besides Ruan Ji and Lu An, there is also Shan Tao.Lu An's older brother, Lu Xun, is also on good terms.There are only five or six people who can be called friends, and they all cherish them very much.In the wild and natural ecology, they never give up the comfort of family affection.This kind of family affection is tacit to each other, so strong that it is almost indifferent. Just as they were clinking irons, they suddenly saw a luxurious convoy coming from the city of Luoyang.The leader was Zhong Hui, a noble son favored by the imperial court at that time.Zhong Hui is the son of Zhong Yao, a great calligrapher. Zhong Yao served as the Taifu of Wei State, and Zhong Hui himself is also knowledgeable and versatile.Zhong Hui admired Ji Kangsu, and was once in awe. For example, after he finished writing "Four Books", he wanted Ji Kang to read it, but he lacked the courage to quietly put the article in Ji Kang's residence. in the window.Now that his status is not low, he heard that Ji Kang was forging iron outside Luoyang City, so he decided to pay a grand visit.Zhong Hui's visit this time was very ostentatious. According to the records in "Wei Shi Chunqiu", it was a matter of being fat and light, and the guests were as obedient as clouds. Zhong Hui made the visit so grand, maybe out of respect for Ji Kang, or maybe to show Ji Kang something, but Ji Kang was very resistant when he saw it.This sudden noise seriously violated the comfort he had worked so hard to create. He glanced at the clock meeting, didn't even say hello, and then buried himself in the iron with Xiang Xiu.He swung the hammer and pulled the bellows towards Sula, as if no one was there. This pushes Zhonghui into an embarrassing situation.Before he set off, he had boasted to his followers, but now they all looked at him suspiciously, so he could only stare at Ji Kang and Xiangxiu resentfully, watching them work unhurriedly.After watching for a long time, Ji Kang still had no intention of talking. He waved his hand to the servants, got into the car and drove the horse, and went back. After walking a few steps, Ji Kang asked, "What did you hear?"Where do you see and go? Zhong Hui was startled, and immediately replied: Come here when you hear what you hear, and leave when you see what you see. Both the questions and answers were concise and ingenious, but Zhong Hui really didn't like it.The whips rang several times, and the huge caravan team went back to Luoyang. Ji Kang didn't even lift his head, but Xiang Xiu stared blankly at the dust flying behind the convoy for a while, with a hint of worry in his eyes. six For Ji Kang, it is his friends who can really disturb him from the bottom of his heart.For visits outside of friendship, he can bow his head and leave without saying a word, but it is different for friends. Even a little bit of psychological barrier will make him anxious and painful. Therefore, no matter how deep the friendship is, there will be interference. how deep. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happened between him and his good friend Shan Tao. Shan Tao is also a very famous celebrity. At that time, some people praised his character as like jade in the rough.The difference between him and Ruan Ji and Ji Kang is that he has the concept of celebrity but not fierce, and he can maintain a gentle and friendly relationship with the court, with rituals, and with all kinds of people.But he is not vulgar, and he is loyal to friendship, has an elder style, and is a very reliable friend.He held a very important official position at that time; Shangshu Libulang, who was doing what he was doing and didn't want to do it, wanted to resign. The court asked him to recommend a qualified person to succeed him, and he recommended Ji Kang sincerely. When Ji Kang knew about this, he immediately wrote a letter of resignation to Shan Tao.Shan Tao's character is Juyuan, so this letter is called "Letter of Breaking Friendship with Shan Juyuan".I think it is not too much to say that it is the most important letter of breaking up diplomatic relations in the history of Chinese culture. Anyway, anyone who has a rough knowledge of Chinese classical literature cannot avoid it, and it is still the case today after more than a thousand years. 這是一封很長的信。其中有些話，說得有點傷心 聽說您想讓我去接替您的官職，這事雖沒辦成，從中卻可知道您很不瞭解我。也許您這個廚師不好意思一個人屠宰下去了，拉一個祭師做墊背吧？ 阮籍比我醇厚賢良，從不多嘴多舌，也還有禮法之士恨他；我這個人比不上他，慣於傲慢懶散，不懂人情物理，又喜歡快人快語；一旦做官，每天會招來多少麻煩事！我如何立身處世，自己早已明確，即便是在走一條死路也咎由自取，您如果來勉強我，則非把我推入溝壑不可！ 我剛死了母親和哥哥，心中淒切，女兒才十三歲，兒子才八歲，尚未成人，又體弱多病，想到這一些，真不知該說什麼。現在我衹想住在簡陋的舊屋裏教養孩子，常與親友們敘敘離情、說說往事，濁酒一杯，彈琴一曲，也就夠了。不是我故作清高，而是實在沒有能力當官，就像我們不能把貞潔的美名加在閹人身上一樣。您如果想與我共登仕途，一起歡樂，其實是在逼我發瘋，我想您對我沒有深仇大恨，不會這麼做吧？ 我說這些，是使您瞭解我，也與您訣別。 這封信很快在朝野傳開，朝廷知道了嵇康的不合作態度，而山濤，滿腔好意卻換來一個斷然絕交，當然也不好受。但他知道，一般的絕交信用不著寫那麼長，寫那麼長，是嵇康對自己的一場坦誠傾訴。如果友誼真正死亡了，完全可以冷冰冰地三言兩語，甚至不置一詞，了斷一切。總之，這兩位昔日好友，訣別得斷絲飄飄，不可名狀。 嵇康還寫過另外一封絕交書，絕交對象是呂巽，即上文提到過的向秀前去幫助種菜灌園的那位朋友呂安的哥哥。本來呂巽、呂安兩兄弟都是嵇康的朋友，但這兩兄弟突然間鬧出了一場震驚遠近的大官司。原來呂巽看上了弟弟呂安的妻子，偷偷地佔有了她，為了掩飾，竟給弟弟安了一個不孝的罪名上訴朝廷。 呂巽這麼做，無異是衣冠禽獸，但他卻是原告！不孝在當時是一個很重的罪名，哥哥控告弟弟不孝，很能顯示自己的道德形象，朝廷也樂於藉以重申孝道；相反，作為被告的呂安雖被冤枉卻難以自辯，一個文人怎麼能把哥哥霸佔自己妻子的醜事公諸士林呢？而且這樣的事，證據何在？妻子何以自處？家族門庭何以避羞？ 面對最大的無恥和無賴，受害者往往一籌莫展。因為製造無恥和無賴的人早已把受害者不願啟齒的羞恥心、社會公眾容易理解和激憤的罪名全都考慮到了，受害者除了淚汪汪地引頸就刎，別無辦法。如果說還有最後一個辦法，最後一道生機，那就是尋找最知心的朋友傾訴一番。在這種情況下，許多平日引為知己的朋友早已一一躲開，朋友之道的脆弱性和珍罕性同時顯現。有口難辯的呂安想到了他心目中最尊貴的朋友嵇康。嵇康果然是嵇康，立即拍案而起。呂安已因不孝而獲罪，嵇康不知官場門路，唯一能做的是痛罵呂巽一頓，宣佈絕交。 這次的絕交信寫得極其悲憤，怒斥呂巽誣陷無辜、包藏禍心；後悔自己以前無原則地勸呂安忍讓，覺得自己對不起呂安；對於呂巽，除了決裂，無話可說。我們一眼就可看出，這與他寫給山濤的絕交信，完全是兩回事了。 朋友，這是一個多麼怪異的稱呼，嵇康實在被它搞暈了。他太看重朋友，因此不得不一次次絕交。他一生選擇朋友如此嚴謹，沒想到一切大事都發生在他僅有的幾個朋友之間。他想通過絕交來表白自身的好惡，他也想通過絕交來論定朋友的含義。他太珍惜了，但越珍惜，能留住的也就越稀少。 儘管他非常憤怒，他所做的事情卻很小：在一封私信裏為一個蒙冤的朋友說兩句話，同時識破一個假朋友，如此而已。但僅僅為此，他被捕了。 理由很簡單：他是不孝者的同黨。 從這個無可理喻的案件，我明白了在中國一個冤案的構建為什麼那麼容易，而構建起來的冤案又為什麼會那麼快速地擴大株連面。上上下下並不太關心事件的真相，而熱衷於一個最通俗、最便於傳播、又最能激起社會公憤的罪名；這個罪名一旦建立，事實的真相更變得無足輕重，誰還想提起事實來掃大家的興，立即淪為同案犯一起掃除。成了同案犯，發言權也就被徹底剝奪。因此，請原諒古往今來所有深知冤情而閉口的朋友吧，他們敵不過那種並不需要事實的世俗激憤，也擔不起同黨、同案犯等等隨時可以套在頭上的惡名。 現在，輪到為嵇康判罪了。 統治者司馬昭在宮廷中猶豫。我們記得，阮籍在母喪期間喝酒吃肉也曾被人控告為不孝，司馬昭當場保護了阮籍，可見司馬昭內心對於孝不孝的罪名並不太在意。他比較在意的倒是嵇康寫給山濤的那封絕交書，把官場仕途說得如此厭人，總要給他一點顏色看看。 就在這時，司馬昭所寵信的一個年輕人求見，他就是鍾會。不知讀者是不是還記得他，把自己的首篇論文誠惶誠恐地塞在嵇康的窗戶裏，發跡後帶著一幫子人去拜訪正在鄉間打鐵的嵇康，被嵇康冷落得十分無趣的鍾會？他深知司馬昭的心思，便悄聲進言： 嵇康，臥龍也，千萬不能讓他起來。陛下統治天下已經沒有什麼可以擔憂的了，我衹想提醒您稍稍提防嵇康這樣傲世的名士。您知道他為什麼給他的好朋友山濤寫那樣一封絕交信嗎？據我所知，他是想幫助別人謀反，山濤反對，因此沒有成功，他惱羞成怒而與山濤絕交。陛下，過去姜太公、孔夫子都誅殺過那些危害時尚、擾亂禮教的所謂名人，現在嵇康、呂安這些人言論放蕩，毀謗聖人經典，任何統治天下的君主都是容不了的。陛下如果太仁慈，不除掉嵇康，可能無以淳正風俗、清潔王道。 我特地把鍾會的這番話大段地譯述出來，望讀者能仔細一讀。他避開了孝不孝的具體問題，幾乎每一句話都打在司馬昭的心坎上。在道義人格上，他是小人；在誹謗技巧上，他是大師。 鍾會一走，司馬昭便下令：判處嵇康、呂安死刑，立即執行。 seven 這是中國文化史上最黑暗的日子之一，居然還有太陽。 嵇康身戴木枷，被一群兵丁，從大獄押到刑場。 刑場在洛陽東市，路途不近。嵇康一路上神情木然而縹緲，他想起了一生中好些奇異的遭遇。 他想起，他也曾像阮籍一樣，上山找過孫登大師，並且跟隨大師不短的時間。大師平日幾乎不講話，直到嵇康臨別，才深深一嘆：你性情剛烈而才貌出眾，能避免禍事嗎？ 他又想起，早年曾在洛水之西遊學，有一天夜宿華陽，獨個兒在住所彈琴。夜半時分，突然有客人來訪，自稱是古人，與嵇康共談音律，談著談著來了興致，向嵇康要過琴去，彈了一曲《廣陵散》，聲調絕倫，彈完便把這個曲子傳授給了嵇康，並且反覆叮囑，千萬不要再傳給別人了。這個人飄然而去，沒有留下姓名。 嵇康想到這裏，滿耳滿腦都是《廣陵散》的旋律。他遵照那個神祕來客的叮囑，沒有向任何人傳授過。一個叫袁孝尼的人不知從哪兒打聽到嵇康會演奏這個曲子，多次請求傳授，他也沒有答應。刑場已經不遠，難道，這個曲子就永遠地斷絕了？想到這裏，他微微有點慌神。 突然，嵇康聽到，前面有喧鬧聲，而且鬧聲越來越響。原來，有三千名太學生正擁擠在刑場邊上請願，要求朝廷赦免嵇康，讓嵇康擔任太學的導師。顯然，太學生們想以這樣一個請願向朝廷提示嵇康的社會聲譽和學術地位，但這些年輕人不知道，他們這種聚集三千人的行為已構成一種政治示威，司馬昭怎麼會退讓呢？ 嵇康望了望黑壓壓的年輕學子，有點感動。孤傲了一輩子的他，因僅有的幾個朋友而死的他，把誠懇的目光投向四周。一個官員衝過人群來到刑場高臺上宣佈：宮廷旨意，維護原判。 刑場上一片山呼海嘯。 但是，大家的目光都注視著已經押上高臺的嵇康。 身材偉岸的嵇康抬起頭來，瞇著眼睛看了看太陽，便對身旁的官員說：行刑的時間還沒到，我彈一個曲子吧。不等官員回答，便對在旁送行的哥哥嵇喜說：哥哥，請把我的琴取來。 琴很快取來了，在刑場高臺上安放妥當，嵇康坐在琴前，對三千名太學生和圍觀的民眾說：請讓我彈一遍《廣陵散》。過去袁孝尼他們多次要學，都被我拒絕。《廣陵散》於今絕矣！ 刑場上一片寂靜，神祕的琴聲舖天蓋地。 彈畢，從容赴死。 這是公元二六二年夏天，嵇康三十九歲。 eight 有幾件後事必須交代一下 嵇康被司馬昭殺害的第二年，阮籍被迫寫了一篇勸司馬昭進封晉公的《勸進箴》，語意進退含糊。幾個月後阮籍去世，終年五十三歲。 幫著嵇康一起打鐵的向秀，在嵇康被殺後心存畏懼，接受司馬氏的召喚而做官。在赴京城洛陽途中，繞道前往嵇康舊居憑弔。當時正值黃昏，寒冷徹骨，從鄰居房舍中傳出嗚咽笛聲，向秀追思過去幾個朋友在這裏歡聚飲宴的情景，不勝感慨，寫了《思舊賦》。寫得很短，剛剛開頭就煞了尾。向秀後來做官做到散騎侍郎、黃門侍郎和散騎常侍，但據說他在官位上並不做實際事情，衹是避禍而已。 山濤在嵇康被殺害後又活了二十年，大概是當時名士中壽命最長的一位了。嵇康雖然給他寫了著名的絕交書，但臨終前卻對自己十歲的兒子嵇紹說：衹要山濤伯伯活著，你就不會成為孤兒！果然，後來對嵇紹照顧最多、恩惠最大的就是山濤，等嵇紹長大後，由山濤出面推薦他入仕做官。 阮籍和嵇康的後代，完全不像他們的父親。阮籍的兒子阮渾，是一個極本分的官員，竟然平生沒有一次酒醉的記錄。被山濤推薦而做官的嵇紹，成了一個為皇帝忠誠保駕的馴臣，有一次晉惠帝兵敗被困，文武百官紛紛逃散，惟有嵇紹衣冠端正地以自己的身軀保護了皇帝，死得忠心耿耿。 Nine 還有一件後事。 那曲《廣陵散》被嵇康臨終彈奏之後，杳不可尋。但後來據說在隋朝的宮廷中發現了曲譜，到唐朝又流落民間，宋高宗時代又收入宮廷，由明代朱元璋的兒子朱權編入《神祕曲譜》。近人根據《神祕曲譜》重新整理，於今還能聽到。然而，這難道真是嵇康在刑場高臺上彈的那首曲子嗎？相隔的時間那麼長，所歷的朝代那麼多，時而宮廷時而民間，其中還有不少空白的時間段落，居然還能傳下來？而最本源的問題是，嵇康那天的彈奏，是如何進入隋朝宮廷的？ 不管怎麼說，我不會去聆聽今人演奏的《廣陵散》。《廣陵散》到嵇康手上就結束了，就像阮籍和孫登在山谷裏的玄妙長嘯，都是遙遠的絕響，我們追不回來了。 然而，為什麼這個時代、這批人物、這些絕響，老是讓我們割捨不下？我想，這些在生命的邊界線上艱難跋涉的人物似乎為整部中國文化史作了某種悲劇性的人格奠基。他們追慕寧靜而渾身焦灼，他們力求圓通而處處分裂，他們以昂貴的生命代價，第一次標誌出一種自覺的文化人格。在他們的血統系列上，未必有直接的傳代者，但中國的審美文化從他們的精神酷刑中開始屹然自立。在嵇康、阮籍去世之後的百年間，大書法家王羲之、大畫家顧愷之、大詩人陶淵明相繼出現，二百年後，大文論家劉勰、鍾嶸也相繼誕生，如果把視野再拓寬一點，這期間，化學家葛洪、天文學家兼數學家祖沖之、地理學家酈道元等大科學家也一一湧現，這些人，在各自的領域幾乎都稱得上是開天闢地的巨匠。魏晉名士們的焦灼掙扎，開拓了中國知識分子自在而又自為的一方心靈祕土，文明的成果就是從這方心靈祕土中蓬勃地生長出來的。以後各個門類的千年傳代，也都與此有關。但是，當文明的成果逐代繁衍之後，當年精神開拓者們的奇異形象卻難以復見。嵇康、阮籍他們在後代眼中越來越顯得陌生和乖戾，陌生得像非人，乖戾得像神怪。 有過他們，是中國文化的幸運，失落他們，是中國文化的遺憾。 一切都難於彌補了。 我想，時至今日，我們勉強能對他們說的親近話衹有一句當代熟語：不在乎天長地久，衹在乎曾經擁有。 我們，曾經擁有！ 寫作此文，與嵇康彈完《廣陵散》而赴死的日子同樣是炎熱的八月，其間相隔一千七百三十二年。