Chapter 15 Preface to "Lao Can's Travels"

sequence -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ A short biography of the author Liu E The author himself signed it as "Hongdu Bailiansheng"; his real name is Liu E, and his style name is Tieyun.Mr. Luo Zhenyu's "Fifty Days of Dream Records" contains an article "Liu Tieyun's Biography", which describes his facts and character in detail; we have no better materials, so we transcribe this article here. Luo Zhenyu's "Liu Tieyun Biography": I know that there are Yinxu characters, which are actually due to Dantu Liu Jun Tieyun.Tie Yun, a strange man, went to Xinjiang to die.Tie Yun has been with me for a long time; the facts of his life cannot bear to be forgotten, and the attached notes are briefly here.

The king's name is Osprey, and he is born sensitive.He has not surpassed the crown in the past year, and he has been able to pass on the knowledge of his predecessors, Zishu and Observation (Cheng Zhong).Gu Fangkuang didn't keep Shengmo, and he didn't give up reading.Yu lives in Huai'an with you; your elder is several years old.When I was young, I already knew the king, but every time I heard the sound of the king's footsteps on the Qulu, I wandered around and avoided it, not wanting to meet the king.At that time, all the friends you met were young men in the well;It is a great regret, and those who close their accounts and collect their traces are more than a year old.Traveling to Shanghai with the technique of Qihuang, but there are few people.Then he abandons it and learns Jia, and devotes all his resources to return.

Guangxu Wuzi (1888), Hejue Zhengzhou.You want to test yourself, and use your common knowledge to serve Wu Hengxuan Zhongcheng.Zhongcheng's speech is strange, and it is quite useful.The king is short-clothed and horses, and works with apprentices; everything that his colleagues are afraid of and can't do is done.The reputation is great.Since the river was blocked, Zhongcheng wanted to show his achievements, so he asked his brother Weiqing to observe (Meng Xiong) and please return to study.Zhongcheng is different. At that time, Fang surveyed and mapped the Yellow River map of the three provinces, and ordered the emperor to charge and transfer officials.When the river map was completed, when the river was affected and moved to Shandong, Zhang Qinguo (Yao) Fang Fudai Fang in my hometown.

Wu Gong is praised, and Qin Guo is calling on the king to go to Donghe. Because of diligence and hospitality, there are many scholars in the curtain, but none of them can know the river affairs.A group of people discussed Fangzhu Jia Rang's saying that he would not compete with the river for land, and wanted to buy all the land along the river to benefit the river.Shi Shaoqing (Shanchang), a philanthropist in Shanghai, and him will transfer the disaster relief funds from overseas to help the government to buy private land.Jun Zhi strives to make it impossible, and advocates the theory of beaming water and brushing sand.Grass "Seven Theories on River Governance", above.Scholars in the middle of the screen tried their best to stop it, and the suffering was beyond words.

At that time, Yu Fang lived at home, and he didn't know each other from you. He was worried that the reason why the river was controlled in the current world was like this. He wrote more than 5,000 words to clarify its benefits and disadvantages.When the brother of the king saw it, he was very angry, and the deputy recorded it and sent it to the king.You are overjoyed when you see Yu's article, and you are the elder brother of the author of "Seven Theories on River Governance". There are still those who are as bright as a public! However, the essays are profound and elegant, and cannot be understood by meat eaters. My writing is as straightforward as old women and children's words. I use Wang Jing's name in the middle, and I don't know who the staff is. Wu can read Yangma's Wenzai?" Shi Jun's cynicism is still like this.

Years old Jiawu (1894), when the battle in the Middle East started, Jun Fang Ding Nei returned to Huai'an with difficulty, and I met you and predicted the military affairs with you.At that time, all the armies were guarding Shanhaiguan to attack the capital.I said that the Easterners know our affairs very well, and they are afraid that the sun will close the door and the Yin will attack the brigade to overwhelm our navy, and our overall situation will be defeated.When the peers heard it, they all blamed each other.The brother of the king also quoted the words of the generals who fought in Fayue, saying that it was difficult to get out of the journey, and he took it as evidence.Dujun intends to agree with me, worrying about the journey and falling into it overnight.It didn't take long to test it.So the peers all cited Yu and the king's teeth, saying that the two are equal in wisdom and madness.

The king was obedient, diligent and fruitful, and the official was replaced by Fu Gong (Run), who was recommended by geniuses.It was recruited and tested in the capital to be used by the magistrate.The king then wished to establish something.Those who stayed in the capital for two years said that the construction of the railway should start from the construction of the railway, and if the road is completed, the industry will flourish, the industry will prosper and the country will become rich, and the country will be rich and then the government will be available.He was quite moved when he wrote to ask for the construction of Jinzhen Railway.When the matter is completed, Duke Wenxiang of Zhang asked to build the Beijing-Hubei line, which is a proposal to stop the town of Beijing.However, the ambition of the emperor has declined a lot, and he wrote a letter saying: "The times are difficult, and there is nothing to do in the current world. I want to use Jin Tie to plan for Jinfu, so that I can invite the court. Jin Tie opens, and the people will win. If the country has no resources, it is better to allow the Europeans to develop it. I will strictly enforce the system, so that in 30 years, the entire mine road will belong to me. If so, then his benefit is for a while, and my benefit It will last for a hundred generations." Yu replied: "Your Majesty, please open the Jin Tie, so those who seek the country will do so, but those who seek it themselves will be seldom. If you are lucky, and the sun will gather, it will benefit the country and harm you. "You don't judge.So things were done and the name of the "traitor" became famous all over the world.

During the Gengzi (1900) Rebellion, Resolutely Played the King Tongyang, Please clarify the canonical punishment.So in Shanghai, I was spared.At that time, Junfang was subject to the Europeans, and he took extravagant food.I urgently use dangerous actions to harm the ruler far away.Although you are against it, you cannot change it.The coalition forces entered the capital, and the two palaces were lucky to the west.All people are suffering from hunger, and they look at each other.Junnai enters the country with capital and discusses Zhenxie.Taicang was occupied by the Russian army, and the Europeans did not eat rice. You asked the Russian army to get it at a low price, and sold the people, so that the people depended on them for peace.The reason why Jun's life has benefited others is because of this, but a few years later, a certain courtier sinned against the king by selling warehouse millet privately, resulting in his death in Xinjiang.

When the king said that Jinfu Hu Zhongcheng played the Jintie, the king was named Zuoou, and he made a treaty with him. Anyone who harmed my rights would be rejected in the name of the government, so it was a long-term agreement.When Jin Fu entered the play, the officials were impeached, and the court decreed that Jin Fu should be dismissed, and the general administration would revise the contract.The Europeans took advantage of the opportunity to pay heavy bribes, and those who asked for Jin Fu but could not get it, finally got it, and the opening of the Jin mine was really a national disease.

... As for the king who is under the control of the Europeans, although he cares about the power of the country, he can't reveal his heart to others, so he is innocent?And the reason for this is that extravagance cannot cleanse itself, so it is also tiring.Alas!It is difficult to be born with talents, and it is a fault of governing if you have talents but cannot use them.How can I not feel guilty for you if you are talented but not good at self-support, and you lose your reputation by killing yourself?After the book is over, I sigh for it. After reading this biography, we can imagine Mr. Liu E's character.He is a very knowledgeable scholar, but also a very knowledgeable and courageous politician.When oracle bone inscriptions were first discovered in Henan, many scholars did not believe that tortoise shell and animal bones could be preserved in the ground for thousands of years.Mr. Liu was the first scholar to appreciate oracle bone inscriptions.His "Iron Cloud Hidden Turtle" can be regarded as the pioneer of many works on oracle bone script research in recent years.Mr. Luo Zhenyu is a master in the study of oracle bone inscriptions, and he only studied these ancient relics because of Mr. Liu's introduction.It's a pity that Mr. Liu has missed the great progress in the study of oracle bone script in the past two decades.

What Mr. Liu E is most confident about is his idea of ​​river governance.Mr. Luo said that he "short-clothed a horse, and did miscellaneous work with apprentices" on the Zhengzhou River Works. We read many places describing the Yellow River and river works, and we can also know that his river control ideas are based on field observations.The two passages in Luo's "Biography" that record Mr. Liu's debate on river governance in Zhang Yao's shogunate can also be corroborated.Zhang Yao is Zhuang Gongbao in "Travel Notes".In the third round, the elders categorically refuted Jia Rang's claim of "not competing for land with the river" and said: Jia Rang only did a good job in writing, and he has never done river work. Mr. Liu himself had "miscellaneously worked with apprentices" on the river project, so he is qualified to refute Jia Rang.At that time, Zhang Yao had already followed Jia Rang's suggestion.Shi Shanchang in Luo's "Biography" is probably the historical observation in the fourteenth chapter of "Travel Notes".His theme is contained in the fourteenth chapter.This time, the results of "not competing for land with the river" and "abolishing the people's walls and retreating to the embankment" were very tragic. In the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of "Travel Notes", the prostitute Cuihuan tried her best to describe the catastrophe of that time, which is very moving.Lao Can's conclusion is: However, the person who made this proposal is not bad-hearted, and he does not have any prejudices for himself; it is just because he can read books and is not familiar with the world, so he will make mistakes in every move. ... Isn't it just Hegong?Three out of ten major events in the world are worse than treacherous ministers, and six out of ten are worse than ignorant gentlemen! (fourteen chapters) Mr. Liu himself advocated Wang Jing's method.Lao Can said: His (Wang Jing) method of controlling the river came from the lineage of Dayu, and he specialized in the word "Yu" for "Yu suppressed the flood". ... He realized it from the words "broadcasting is the nine rivers, and the same is Nihe", "same" and "broadcasting". (three times) This is the method of "blasting water and brushing sand" mentioned in Luo's "Biography".Mr. Liu E is confident that this method is very effective, so he told a fable about Huang Ruihe's festering body in the first chapter of "Travel Notes".Huang Ruihe is the Yellow River, "Every year there are always a few holes; this year it is cured, and next year there will be a few holes elsewhere." The old man "did a little trick": "It's strange to say that although there was a small ulcer this year, there was not a single hole." He said: "The other diseases are the methods passed down by Shennong Huangdi, and only this disease is caused by Dayu." The method passed down; later in the Tang Dynasty, Wang Jing got this teaching, and no one knew this method after that. This passage clearly shows his belief in this law. We compare and contrast the story written by Mr. Luo Zhenyu, and we can know that the old man in this novel is the shadow of Mr. Liu E himself.His name is Tieyun, so Lao Can's surname is Tie.He is from Dantu and lives in Huai'an; Lao Can is from Jiangnan, and his hometown is in Xuzhou, Jiangnan. (Three chapters) Luo's "Biography" said that Mr. Liu once "traveled in Shanghai with the technique of Qi Huang, but there were no birds in the door";The most obvious is the idea of ​​river governance; in this regard, Lao Can is completely Liu E, and he has made no secrets. Mr. Liu E had four major events in his life: one was the construction of the river, the other was the recognition of oracle bone inscriptions, the third was to open a mine in Shanxi, and the fourth was to buy rice from Taicang to relieve refugees in Beijing.For the latter two things, he received much slander.Taicang Mi's case actually caused him to be exiled to Xinjiang, but those who knew about it could forgive him and say he was innocent.Only the case of mining and building roads in Shanxi, few people at that time knew about him. His plan is to "strictly establish the system, so that in 30 years, the entire mine road will belong to me. If so, his benefit will be for a while, and my benefit will be for a hundred years." This method is very far-sighted. .But in that bewildered era, people with far-sightedness could not escape the crime of deceiving the world and harming the country, so Mr. Liu was called a "traitor".His old friend Mr. Luo Zhenyu couldn't help but say: "Since the king is under the control of the Europeans, although he cherishes the power of the country, he can't reveal his heart to others. Is there no guilt in the king?" Not guilty, let alone people who generally don't know each other? The first "wedge" was Mr. Liu's confession of "self-evident". This time can be regarded as his autobiography or autobiography.Lao Can, together with his two best friends, De Huisheng and Wen Bo—his own wisdom, morality, and writing—gazing at the sky, wind and sea on the Penglai Pavilion, suddenly saw a sailboat "in the midst of the huge waves, It's not dangerous."That sailboat is China. The captain sits on the rudder tower, and the four people downstairs are in charge of turning the rudder.There are six old sails hanging on six masts at the front and rear; there are two new masts hanging on a brand new sail, a sail that is half new and not old. The four steering rudders are ministers of military aircraft, the six old masts are the old six, and the two new masts are the two new ones. Although the boat was twenty-three or four feet long, it was damaged in many places: one piece on the east side, about three feet long, was destroyed, and the waves poured in; Zhang, the water waves gradually soaked in; the rest of the place, there is no one without scars. Twenty-three or four zhang are twenty-three or four provinces and vassals.The three feet to the east are the three eastern provinces; and the one foot to the east is Shandong. The eight sail stewards were serious about stewarding the sails, but they each steered their own sails, as if they were on eight boats, without taking care of each other.Those [those] sailors just ran about in the procession of men and women who were sailing, not knowing what they were doing.If you look carefully with the telescope, you will know that they [they] searched for the dry food brought by their men and women, and stripped the clothes on those people. Lao Can and his friends were very angry when they saw this strange situation.De Huisheng and Zhang Wenbo asked Lao Can how to rescue them, and Lao Can said, "In my opinion, the driver was not wrong, but there were two reasons that made the boat messy."Why two reasons?One is that they are traveling in the "Pacific Ocean", and they only live in peace. When the wind and sea are calm, he can control the driving situation with ease. Unexpectedly, they encountered such a big storm today, so they are all hands and feet; I hadn't prepared a target, and on a sunny day, I walked according to the old method, and there were sun, moon, and stars to see, so the north, south, east, and west were not too far away.This is called "depending on the sky to eat".But in this cloudy day, the sun, moon and stars are all covered by clouds, so they have no one to rely on.It's not that I don't want to do it for the benefit, it's just that I don't know the north, south, east, and west, so the more I go, the more wrong I go.For the current plan, according to brother Zhang's method, drive a fishing boat to catch up with him. His boat is heavy, but our boat is light, so we will definitely be able to catch up.After arriving, give him a compass, and he will leave when he has the direction. Then tell the owner of the difference between driving with wind and waves and without wind and waves. If they follow our words, won't they go to the other side immediately? That is to say, the habitual method will be useless at such a dangerous time. Only when there is a policy, a clear recognition of the direction, and a plan can it be feasible.Lao Can proposed to give them "a most accurate steering wheel, a chronograph, and a few items for sailing". But when they got there, they heard someone on board making a speech, intending to kill the man at the helm.The old and disabled do not approve of revolution, especially those "heroes who only collect money for themselves and make others bleed."They jumped into the boat and gave the steering wheel, chronograph, etc. to the people on the big ship. While they were discussing, there was a roar among the low-ranking sailors, saying: "Captain! Captain! Don't be fooled by this man! They are using foreign steering wheels, they must be traitors sent by foreign devils! They are Catholics. They have already sold this big boat to foreign devils, that’s why they have this steering wheel! Please the owner of the ship tie up and kill these three people to avoid future troubles; Even if we take the foreign devil's deposit, he will come to take our boat!" Unexpectedly, all the people on the boat were shocked by this noise.Even the hero who gave the speech shouted: "This is a traitor who sells boats! Kill him quickly! kill quickly! Hearing this, the ship owner and helmsman hesitated. There was a helmsman among them, who was the ship owner's uncle, and said, "You have very good intentions in coming, but it's just that public anger is hard to offend. Go quickly." "The three of them wept and hurried back to the small boat. But the people on the big boat were still angry. Seeing that the three of them got into the small boat, they hurriedly used the broken piles and broken boards broken by the waves to get off the boat. Think about it, a small boat How can a small fishing boat be smashed by hundreds of people? In an instant, the fishing boat was smashed to pieces and it seemed to sink into the sea. What saddens Mr. Liu the most is that the shouts of "traitors" not only come from among the "lower sailors", but also from the mouths of "heroes who speak"!A group of "heroes and heroes" only know that advocating revolution is saving the country, but they don't know that presenting the steering wheel and chronograph is also saving the country, and risking the world's evil to borrow money to open mines and build railways is also saving the country!Therefore, the crime of Liu E's "traitor" is decided and cannot be changed. He should be exiled into the army and die in Xinjiang. Erli's thoughts There is an autobiography of Guangxu Bingwu (1906), in which the author described this book as a kind of weeping, a kind of weeping that "is very strong, and its journey is far away, and weeping is not called weeping".He said: When we are in this world, we have feelings for life experience, family and country, society, and teaching.The deeper their feelings, the more painful their crying: this is why hundreds of practitioners in Hongdu wrote it.The chess game is broken, we are going to grow old, do we have to cry if we want to? It is obvious that this novel is a book in which the author expresses his views on life experience, family and country, and religion. A suave and uninhibited talent, a very courageous politician, but in the end he has to write a novel to pin his emotional opinions instead of crying: this is a very sad situation, and we all have it naturally. Unlimited compassion.Therefore, when we read, we should first pay attention to the emotional insights developed in this book, and then discuss the literary techniques of this book. In the twenty chapters, only two cruel officials are written: Yuxian is written in the first half; Gangbi is written in the second half.This book is different: "Xian Xing Ji" can only pick up sporadic crimes in the officialdom, without any wise or kind insights; "Travel Notes" writes about the crimes of officials, and always maintains a central idea, which is to point out the horror of the so-called "honest officials".The author himself once said: Corrupt officials are hateful, and everyone knows about them; honest officials are especially hateful, and many people don’t know it.Corrupt officials know that they are sick, and dare not openly do wrong; honest officials think they don’t want money, so they can do whatever they want.I have seen it with my own eyes, but I don't know how much it is.Try looking at Xu Tong and Li Bingheng, they are obvious.In the twenty-four histories, it is unbearable.The author earnestly hopes that honest and upright officials in the world will not act capriciously without money.Novels have always exposed the evil of corrupt officials; there are those who have exposed the evil of honest officials, from the beginning. (Sixteen original reviews) This passage is the central idea of ​​.Qing Confucian Dai Dongyuan once pointed out that the influence of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties has cultivated a group of stupid and useless Neo-Confucianists who talk about the principles of heaven and human desires, thinking that they understand the principles of heaven, but they are actually just opinions; they think their opinions are not selfish. Heavenly principles, in fact, are just self-willed in my opinion.Reason is the order of objective things, which can only be found with an open-minded attitude and precise methods. This is not only the case for scientists, but also for detectives and old officials who are jailed.The ancient "upright officials", such as Bao Zheng, can be passed down forever, not because they are clean and free of money, but because they have a clear mind, can carefully examine the facts, judge prison lawsuits, and avenge the people's grievances. in vain.If "honest officials" only rely on incorruptibility, why doesn't the country make a few statues and carve puppets? Wouldn't it be absolutely free of money?A group of pedantic officials are confident that they can confront God and question ghosts and gods without money. They don't pay attention to the methods and means of searching for evidence, studying facts, and judging right and wrong. If it is small, it will kill people, if it is large, it will harm the country."Mr. Liu E saw that Yuxian, Xu Tong, and Li Bingheng, who were named for their incorruptibility, later used their bad views to kill people and harm the country. No wonder he felt angry and wrote this book, denouncing the hateful "honest officials" loudly. Terrible. Zhang Yao (Zhuang Gongbao) is most praised, but the author is also very dissatisfied with Zhang Yao's words regarding the Zhihe case.At first Zhang Yao was unwilling to sacrifice the production of tens of thousands of families and hundreds of thousands of people in Jiadi, but he finally listened to the words of the shogunate and implemented their river control methods. In the fourteenth chapter of "Travel Notes", Lao Can commented on this matter: The person who created this idea was not bad-hearted, and he didn't have any personal opinions; it's just because he can read and doesn't know the world, so he can make mistakes in every move. ... Isn't it just Hegong?Three out of ten major events in the world are worse than treacherous ministers, and six out of ten are worse than ignorant gentlemen! Isn't that a harsh criticism? When he wrote Yuxian (Yuxian), he was even more unforgiving.Yuxian was the chief culprit in the Gengzi boxing bandit case; but when he was the magistrate of Caozhou, Shandong, he had a very good reputation and was known as an "upright official" and "capable official".Mr. Liu wants to describe his various tyranny in Caozhou, and prepares to keep it as historical materials.He wrote about the case of Yu's family being stolen by robbers. When he went to court, Lord Yu took the lost bill and handed it over, and said, "Do you have anything to say?" The hall was startled, and he shouted: "The man has found the stolen goods, and he is still calling for injustice? Get him up! Go!" The left and right messengers dragged him down. (four times) "Standing" is the death penalty of "standing in a cage". The head on duty here walked up to the public case, knelt down on one leg, and replied: "My lord's words: there is no room for standing in the cage today, please show me." When the lord Yu heard this, he said angrily, "Nonsense! I I don’t remember anyone standing in the past two days, how could there be no gaps?” The day messenger replied: "There are only twelve cages, and they are full in three days. Please check the book, sir." After checking the book, Master Yu checked it with his hand and said, "One, two, three, yesterday There are three. One, two, three, four, five, the first one is five. One, two, three, four, and the first one is four. If there is no time, it will be good to arrive.” The messenger replied again: "Can you put them in prison first today? Tomorrow there will be a few dead, and when there is a vacancy in the cage, fill them up, okay? Please show me." Master Yu concentrated his attention and said: "I hate these things the most! If you want to put them in prison, won't he live another day? Absolutely not. You go and put down the four who stood the day before yesterday, and bring me here. Look." Send someone to put down the four people and drag them into the hall.Your Excellency personally wrote the case, touched the noses of the four people with his hands, and said, "Yes, there is still a little bit of spirit." Fu Xing sat up in the hall and said, "Each person hits two thousand boards, and see if he dies!" Ten boards, those four people are all dead. This is an "upright" behavior! Later, the old man of Yu's family stood up and died first, and Yu Xueli's wife, Wu Shi, knelt down at the gate of the government office, cried loudly in front of Yu Xueli, and drew her knife to kill herself.This incident touched the officers of the third class, and they asked the drafting master to ask Lord Yu to release her husband, "to comfort the ghost of the martyr".Master Yu smiled and said: You are good!Suddenly compassion arises!You will be merciful to Xueli, will you not be merciful to your master? ... Besides, Mrs. Wu is especially hateful: he always thinks that I have wronged his family!If it wasn't for a woman, even though he was dead, I would still beat him two thousand boards to vent my anger! So the father and son of the Yu family died in the cage. Gangbi seems to be a pseudonym, only borrowing the pronunciation of "gangbi", but it does not insinuate anyone.The thirteen murders of the Jia family were also fabricated.The place where the accident happened is called Qidong Town, "the hometown of Qidong savages in the Zhou Dynasty".And the two bitter masters, one Jia and one Wei, mean hypocrisy.This murder case is too bizarre, with a bit of "supernatural" color, which can be regarded as a shortcoming of this book.However, the description of Gang Bi, who is "incorruptible and honest", is a bit of a profound observation.The Wei family refused to invite a foolish Hu Juren to offer bribes. Gang Bi thought that bribery was evidence of guilt, so he tortured Jia Wei.She couldn't survive the sentence, so she admitted to murdering thirteen lives. The first chapter (eighteen chapters) of Baiqi's reexamination is just to teach people how to put aside prejudices, study facts, and examine evidence.He said to Gang Bi, "What my brother saw is very true."But brother...don't dare to be prejudiced at this moment.Like my elder brother, who is smart and upright, he has everything in mind beforehand, so naturally there will be no disadvantages.The brother's qualifications are very poor, so he has to discuss the matter carefully, and dare not say that he has no faults, but it is lucky to have few faults. "Everything is known in advance", this is the attitude of the self-proclaimed Mr. Neo Confucianism. "Talk about the facts as they stand, and deduce them carefully", this is the attitude of the old prison official, the detective, and the scientist's attitude of seeking the truth. We don't need to talk about the details of the review.After the case was finalized, Gangbi still didn't understand why the Wei family was willing to spend money since they were innocent.He said: "I have never given money to anyone in my life." Bai Gong laughed loudly and said: "My brother has never given money to anyone, so why would you be honored when you come on stage?"It can be seen that not all people in the world are open to money.Honest people are the most admirable, only one person has a bad temper, he always thinks that everyone in the world is a villain, and he is the only one who is a gentleman.This thought is the worst.I don't know how much the world's major events have been harmed!My brother also makes this mistake, don't blame my brother for speaking out.As for the Wei family's spending of money, it's not surprising that he, a countryman, has no experience. Some people say: What Li Boyuan did, what Liu Tieyun did was an official textbook.In fact, "discuss the matter as it stands, and seek it carefully", these eight words are more than just an official textbook?It is simply a textbook for learning and being a man. My friend Mr. Qian Xuantong once criticized a large section (8 to 12 chapters) of Encountering Yugu and Huang Longzi at night in Peach Blossom Mountain in the middle. There are many old superstitions mixed in the mystery. Out of mind."Mr. Qian's criticism is certainly very good, but there are also some valuable insights in this long paragraph, which cannot be completely erased.Even the most absurd part can also test the mind of an old and new party, and it is not without the value of historical materials.Those of us who study the history of thought must, on the one hand, know how brilliant the ancients' thinking was, and on the other hand, have to know how stupid the ancients' thinking was. The most ridiculous thing in the book is the prophecy of "Northern Fist and Southern Revolution".A group of confused people praised this book, saying that he "cared about the chaos, calculated the rise and fall, and studied the strengths of Yixiang with the pen of history" (forged forty chapters of the preface by Qian Qiyou); , has the magic of guessing and step-by-step calculations, which is especially clearer than the number books of "Tuibeitu" and "Shaobingge"" (preface to Fu Youpu in Jiaozhou, the same book). Such nonsense is not worth laughing at.However, this fallacy of "buying a basket for a pearl" is too much to slander this book, and we have to say a few words of correction. This book was written after the Gengzi Rebellion and was completed in the Bingwu year, five years after the Boxer Rebellion, and only five years after the Xinhai Revolution.He said that the fist disaster was just a postscript, not a prophecy.When he said revolution, he only made a guess based on the trend at that time, and it was not a prediction.However, Mr. Liu E put these words in Huang Longzi's mouth, adding a little air of mystery, not to say that they were theoretical speculations, but calculated using the Ganzhi, so he pretended to be prophetic.If you look at it as a prophecy, Huang Longzi's speculation is completely wrong.First, he only saw the reform in Jiachen (1904), and thought that the abolition of the imperial examination and the five ministers going abroad could achieve a constitutional monarchy, so he scheduled another major reform in Jiayin (1914), which is constitutionalism implementation. "After Jiayin, civilization flourished, suspicions between China and foreign countries, and suspicions between Man and Han all disappeared." He guessed wrong on this point.Second, he guessed that the revolution broke out in Gengxu (1910), and Gengxu was a year before the Revolution of 1911, which he almost guessed.However, he calculated that the revolutionary movement would "disappear" after Gengxu, which was another big mistake.Thirdly, he guessed that "after Jiayin, the world will be a civilized and prosperous world...until Jiazi (1924) will be a civilized and solid world, and it can stand on its own."This was again a big mistake. In short, none of the prophecies are good.This is all because Mr. Liu does not approve of revolution at all. "North fist and southern revolution are all demons and ghosts subordinate to Asura." The calculations were all wrong.However, there are still many delusional people who regard this book as the most spiritual book of prophecy!There is really no cure for the arrogance of others! However, the one-night story in Peach Blossom Mountain also has merits.Yugu explained the word "attacking heresies", saying that the word "duan" should be said at the beginning, and holding on to its two ends means holding on to its two ends; If you use a few words to avoid Buddhism and the old mantra, you are considered a saint....Confucianism of Confucius and Mencius was made small and small by Song Confucianism, so that it disappeared." (nine times) Although this statement indicates that the author lacks historical vision, it can also express the author's skeptical attitude.Later, Ziping heard it and praised it again and again.Said: "Fortunate to see a girl today, it is like being a wise teacher! But there are places where Confucianism in Song Dynasty misunderstood the will of sages, but the merits of inventing orthodoxy are also beyond reach. For example, the words 'reason', 'desire', Words such as 'Zhu Jing' and 'Cuncheng', although they all have the words of ancient sages, once put forward by Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, later generations have benefited a lot. People's hearts are corrected by this, and customs are mellowed by this." The woman smiled sweetly, looked charmingly at her, and glanced at Ziping.Ziping felt that the green eyebrows were delicate, the red lips were beautiful, and there seemed to be a faint fragrance permeating the muscles and bones, and he couldn't help but wander.The woman stretched out a pair of hands as white as jade and as soft as cotton, holding Ziping's hand across the kang table.After holding it, he said: "Excuse me, sir: How is this time compared to when you were a young man in the study and your master held your hand to 'pounce for punishment'?" Zi Ping was speechless.The woman said again: "Speaking of conscience, your love for me at this moment is better than your love for your teacher? The sage said: "The so-called sincere ones, don't deceive yourself.Such as bad smell, such as good sex. ’Confucius said: “Loving virtue is like lusting.” Mencius said: “Food and sex are also sex. ’ Zixia said: “The virtuous and the virtuous change their color. It’s human nature to be lustful. Song Confucians want to say that they like virtue and don’t like lust, so why is it not self-deception? Self-deception and others are extremely dishonest! Don’t hate it! The sage talks about love and etiquette, but not reason and desire, and deletes poems with "Guan Ju" as the first. Let me ask "a fair lady, a gentleman is fond of a scorpion", "I can't ask for it", as for "tossing and turning", can it be said that this is the law of heaven, isn't it Do people want it? This shows that the sage never deceives others. The preface of "Guan Sui" said: "The estrus begins, and it ends with etiquette and righteousness." Lin, I can’t help but be in love, and I’m in love. When the husband came, he was very tired, and after a long time, he should be more tired, but he is refreshed. It can be seen that he likes it very much, and he is also in love. Among girls, men Sitting opposite each other in the middle of the night is not as good as nonsense, it is more than ritual and righteousness. This is exactly the way of a sage. If Song Confucianism deceives people, it is difficult to describe it all. However, Song Confucianism is definitely not true, but there are still merits; if today's learning Confucianists in the Song Dynasty, Zhixiang wish, and those whom Confucius and Mencius hated and hated!" (Nine Chapters) This is a bold criticism.The Confucianism of the Song Dynasty came out of the religions of the Middle Ages.Religions in the Middle Ages—especially Buddhism—rejected the flesh and suppressed lust, which was the most anti-human and inhumane.Song Confucianism replaced Buddhism with the Confucianism of human relations, which is certainly a great progress.However, Song Confucians were unknowingly influenced by the ascetic religions of the Middle Ages, and they could not get rid of their fundamental attitude of rejecting lust. Therefore, they strictly distinguished the distinction between "natural principles" and "human desires", and therefore made many inhumane claims.Dai Dongyuan said that the abuse of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty made later Confucians "kill people with reason"; modern people also have the famous saying of "cannibalistic ethics", which is not an excessive judgment.In this book, Mr. Liu E wrote two "upright officials" who were confident that their opinions were not out of selfish desires, so they insisted on their own prejudices, thought they were right, and did not hesitate to kill people and destroy their homes in order to implement the principles of heaven in their minds: this is " Eli kills" specific description.A passage from Yu Gu only fundamentally denies Song Confucianism's distinction between reason and desire.She did not hesitate to show her own experience, pointing out the self-deception of Song Confucianism, pointing out that "Song Confucianism's deceptions are too numerous to describe."Although these are the words of an old and new party with a "clear mind", in this regard, this old and new party is indeed far superior to many famous scholars who compliment Song and Ming Neo Confucianism as "inner life" and "spiritual cultivation" . Three Literary Techniques But the greatest contribution in the history of Chinese literature does not lie in the author's thoughts, but in the author's ability to describe scenery and characters.Writers of novels in ancient times were quite capable of describing characters; but the ability to describe landscapes is almost absent in old novels.Writing about Song Jiang's inscription in Xunyang Tower can be regarded as being able to describe characters; however, when writing about the scenery on the river, there are only eight words: "The scenery of the river is very beautiful, but the view is not enough".When writing about the West Lake, it is only said that "there are five steps to the first floor, and ten steps to a pavilion; one is a gold powder tower, the other is a bamboo fence hut; the other is peach willows competing for beauty, and the other is mulberry and hemp everywhere".And the description of the scenery is just a few clichéd four-character sentences, without any profound description.There is only such a paragraph in the first chapter: Wang Mian is tired of herding cattle and sits on the green grass.After a while, thick clouds were covered, and a heavy rain passed. The black clouds were fringed with white clouds, and gradually dispersed, revealing a group of sunlight, shining bright red all over the lake.On the mountain by the lake, there is one piece of green, one piece of purple, and one piece of green.The branches look like they have been washed with water, especially the green ones are lovely.There are more than a dozen lotus flowers in the lake. The clear water drips on the buds, and the water drops roll on the lotus leaves. In the old novels, such landscape paintings can be regarded as unique and unique.Why are old novels so lacking in the technique of describing landscapes?In my humble opinion, there are two main reasons.The first reason is that most of the literati in the old days were scholars who did not travel far and lacked the observation of real objects and scenes, so they could not write, so they had to use ready-made words to fill their numbers.This layer is easy to understand and does not need to be explained in detail.Second, I thought it was because of language barriers.When writing about a character, such as Lu Zhishen, Sister Wang Feng, or Father Cheng, all the clichés in ancient Chinese prose are not applicable, so we have to use live language, new words and sentences, and do actual description work.But when it comes to the scene, many idioms in the parallel prose poems will naturally come up, squeeze up, and you can't get rid of it, and you can't catch up.The nature of human beings is mostly to seek refuge and take refuge in the direction of the least resistance; since there are so many ready-made sentences and ready-made words, why not use them?Why bother to cast new words and phrases?We can understand this kind of psychology when we try to read a large section of Jia Zheng and his sons visiting the Grand View Garden in the seventeenth chapter, where such ready-made words are used everywhere. What he is best at is the technique of description. No matter when he writes about people or scenery, the author refuses to use stereotypes, and always wants to cast new words and make real descriptions.In this respect, this book is unprecedented. Mr. Liu E is a man of great literary genius; his literary views are also very detached. In the thirteenth chapter of "Travel Notes", he used the mouth of a prostitute to scold those poets with clichés.Cuihuan said: When I was in Ershilipu, I saw a lot of passing guests, and often wrote poems on the wall.I like best to ask them to tell me.After hearing it, it probably doesn't mean that. ... So I think the business of writing poetry is very meaningless, just spreading rumors. I advise many people in the world who love to write poems not to be laughed at by the kiln sister in Ershilipu! Unfortunately, we have not seen Mr. Liu E's collection of poems and essays. 《游记》有他的三首诗。第八回里的一首绝句，嘲讽聊城杨氏海源阁（书中改称东昌府柳家）的藏书，虽不是好诗，却也不是造谣言的。第六回里的一首五言律诗，专咏玉贤的虐政，有“杀民如杀贼，太守是元戎”的话，可见他做旧律诗也还能发议论。第十二回里的一首五古，写冻河的情景，前六句云：地裂北风号，长冰蔽河下。后冰逐前冰，相陵复相亚。河曲易为塞，嵯峨银桥架。 ... 这总算是有意写实了。但古诗体的拘束太严了，用来写这种不常见的景物是不会满人意的。试把这六句比较这一段散文的描写：老残洗完了脸，把行李铺好，把房门锁上，也出来步到河堤上看，见那黄河从西南上下来，到此却正是[河]的湾子，过此便向正东去了。河面不甚宽，两岸相距不到二里。若以此刻河水而论，也不过百把丈宽的光景。只是面前的冰插的重重叠叠的，高出水面有七八寸厚。再望上游走了一二百步，只见那上流的冰还一块一块的漫漫价来，到此地被前头的拦住，走不动，就站住了。那后来的冰赶上他，只挤得嗤嗤价响。后冰被这溜水逼的紧了，就窜到前冰上头去。 前冰被压就渐渐低下去了。看那河身不过百十丈宽。当中大溜约莫不过二三十丈。两边俱是平水。这平水之上早已有冰结满。冰面却是平的，被吹来的尘土盖住，却像沙滩一般。中间的一道大溜却仍然奔腾澎湃，有声有势，将那走不过去的冰挤的两边乱窜。那两边平水上的冰被当中乱冰挤破了，往岸上跑。那冰能挤到岸上有五六尺远。许多碎冰被挤的站起来，像个小插屏似的。看了有点把钟工夫，这一截子的冰又挤死不动了。 这样的描写全靠有实地的观察作根据。刘鹗先生自己评这一段道：止水结冰是何情状？流水结冰是何情状？小河结冰是何情状？大河结冰是何情状？河南黄河结冰是何情状？山东黄河结冰是何情状？须知前一卷所写是山东黄河结冰。（十三回原评） 这就是说，不但人有个性的差别，景物也有个性的差别。我们若不能实地观察这种种个性的分别，只能有笼统浮泛的描写，决不能有深刻的描写。不但如此，知道了景物各有个性的差别，我们就应该明白：因袭的词章套语决不够用来描写景物，因为套语总是浮泛的，笼统的，不能表现某地某景的个别性质。我们能了解这段散文的描写何以远胜那六句五言诗，便可以明白白话文学的真正重要了。 里写景的部分也有偶然错误的。蔡孑民先生曾对我说，他的女儿在济南时，带了去游大明湖，看到第二回写铁公祠前千佛山的倒影映在大明湖里，她不禁失笑。千佛山的倒影如何能映在大明湖里呢？即使三十年前大明湖没有被芦田占满，这也是不可能的事。大概作者有点误记了罢？ 第二回写王小玉唱书的一大段是《游记》中最用气力的描写： 王小玉便启朱唇，发皓齿，唱了几句书儿。声音初不甚大，只觉入耳有说不出来的妙境：五脏六腑里像熨斗熨过，无一处不伏贴；三万六千个毛孔，像吃了人参果，无一个毛孔不畅快。 唱了十数句之后，渐渐的越唱越高，忽然拔了一个尖儿，像一线钢丝抛入天际，不禁暗暗叫绝。 那知他于那极高的地方，尚能回环转折。几转之后，又高一层，接连有三四叠，节节高起，恍如由傲来峰西面攀登泰山的景象：初看做来峰削壁千仞，以为上与天通，及至翻到傲来峰顶，才见扇子崖更在傲来峰上；及至翻到扇子崖，又见南天门更在扇子崖上。——愈翻愈险，愈险愈奇！那王小玉唱到极高的三四叠后，陡然一落，又极力骋其千回百折的精神，如一条飞蛇在黄山三十六峰半中腰里盘旋穿插，顷刻之间，周匝数遍。从此以后，愈唱愈低，愈低愈细，那声音渐渐的就听不见了。满园子的人都屏气凝神，不敢稍动。约有两三分钟之久，仿佛有一点声音从地底下发出。这一出之后，忽又扬起，像放那东洋烟火，一个弹子上天，随化作千百道五色火光，纵横散乱。这一声飞起，即有无限声音俱来并发。那弹弦子的亦全用轮指，忽大忽小，同他那声音相和相合，有如花坞春晓，好鸟乱鸣。耳朵忙不过来，不晓得听那一声的为是。 正在撩乱之际，忽听霍然一声，人弦俱寂。这时台下叫好之声轰然雷动。 这一段写唱书的音韵，是很大胆的尝试。音乐只能听，不容易用文字写出，所以不能不用许多具体的物事来作譬喻。白居易、欧阳修、苏轼都用过这个法子。刘鹗先生在这一段里连用七八种不同的譬喻，用新鲜的文字，明了的印象，使读者从这些逼人的印象里感觉那无形象的音乐的妙处。这一次的尝试总算是很成功的了。 里写景的好文字很多，我最喜欢的是第十二回打冰之后的一段： 抬起头来看那南面的山，一条雪白，映着月光分外好看。一层一层的山岭却不大分辨得出。 又有几片白云夹在里面，所以看不出是云是山，及至定神看去，方才看出那是云那是山来。虽然云也是白的，山也是白的；云也有亮光，山也有亮光，只因为月在云上，云在月下，所以云的亮光是从背面透过来的。那山却不然，山上的亮光是由月光照到山上，被那山上的雪反射过来，所以光是两样子的。然只就稍近的地方如此，那山往东去，越望越远，渐渐的天也是白的，山也是白的，云也是白的，就分辨不出甚么来了。 这种白描的功夫真不容易学。只有精细的观察能供给这种描写的底子；只有朴素新鲜的活文字能供给这种描写的工具。 民国八年（1919）上海有一家书店忽然印出一部号称“全本”的，凡上下两卷，上卷即是原本二十回；下卷也是二十回，说是“照原稿本加批增注”的。书尾有“著述于清光绪丙申年山东旅次”一行小字。这便是作伪的证据。丙申（1896）在庚子前五年，而著者原序的年月是丙午之秋，岂不是有意提早十年，要使“北拳南革”都成预言吗？ 四十回本之为伪作，绝对无可疑。别的证据且不用谈，单看后二十回写老残游历的许多地方，可有一处有像前二十回中的写景文章吗？看他写泰安道上—— 一路上柳绿桃红，春光旖旎；村居野妇联袂踏青；红杏村中，风飘酒帜；绿杨烟里，人戏秋千；或有供麦饭于坟前，焚纸钱于陌上。 ... 列位看官在前二十回里可曾看见这样丑陋的写景文字吗？这样大胆妄为的作伪小人真未免太侮辱刘鹗先生了！真未免太侮辱社会上读小说的人们了！ 四尾声 今年我作序的时候，前半篇已付排了，后半篇还未脱稿。 上海有一位女士，从她的未婚夫那边看见前半篇的排样，写信来和我讨论的标点。她提出许多关于标点及考证的问题；她的热诚和细心都使我十分敬仰。她的未婚夫——一位有志气的少年，——投身在印刷局里做校对，所以她有机会先读亚东标点本的各种小说的校样。她给我作了许多校勘表。我们通了好几次的信。六月以后，她忽然没有信来了。我这回到了上海，就写信给她，问她什么时候我可以去看她和她的未婚夫。过了几天，她的未婚夫来看我，我才知道她已于七月八日病死了。这个消息使我好几天不愉快。 我现在写这篇序，心里常常想到这篇序作成时那一位最热诚的读者早已不在人间了！所以我很诚敬地把这篇序贡献给这位不曾见过的死友，——贡献给龚羡章女士！ 一九二五年十一月七日作于上海 《胡适文存三集》卷六