Chapter 69 On the Scholar's Acidity

On the Scholar's Acidity Scholars are also called scholars.Of course, this is a name that can be proud of. For example, "a scholar" and "a scholar with true qualities" all have lofty connotations.But precisely because he is lofty and out of touch with reality, scholars are also the object of ridicule.People often say "bookworm", "pedantic teacher", "rotten Confucianism", "pedant" and so on, all to ridicule scholars. "Stay" means ignorance of interests, "roundabout" means detours, "rot" means obstinacy, and "pedantic" means one-sided opinion.In short, they all know the past but not the present, know the books but not the people, read dead books or dead books without eating, so in real life they always suffer losses, make mistakes, and make jokes.In short, scholars are ridiculed because they are too obsessed with books; if they are too obsessed with books, the book becomes a talking point.

But there is another word "shabby", which is also used to describe a scholar. "Cold" is "cold element", for "Gaoliang".It is the term used to separate families in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. "Humble family" or "cold people" are not limited to scholars, warriors are also included; "poor scholars" refer to scholars.This "cold" refers to living conditions, refers to family background, and has nothing to do with books; the word alone does not contain ironic meaning.Adding the word "sour" into a conjunction makes it different, as if a pitiful face is alive in front of you. "Shabby" seems to be the original "Sour".Han Yu's "Recommended Scholars" poem, "Sour Cold Liyang Wei", refers to Meng Jiao.Later, it was said that "Jiao Han Dao is thin", both Meng Jiao and Jia Dao were frustrated people, and they also wrote frustrated poems. The contrast between "cold" and "thin" is pitiful enough, but when Han Yu said "sour cold", it seems that "sour" is heavier than "cold".Poor others say "sour cold", poor yourself also say "sour cold", so Su Shi has a poem "The old man left a drink to comfort the cold".Lu You has a poem "Scholar gets old and thin and turns sour and cold". "Old and thin" is of course pitiful, but it is also a little bit grateful to "the old friend stayed for a drink".Fan Chengda said that "sour" is "scholar's smell", but he wants to "wash away the sour smell of scholars", so maybe it is the so-called "a man who is not pitied by others"?

Why is "sour" a "scholar smell"?How is "sour"?The talk seems to be still in the book.I think this "sour" originally refers to the tone of reading.Since the Jin Dynasty, Qingtan has paid great attention to the tone of speaking and reading.Pay attention to the tone and tone of speech, and it is better to be smooth.Reading pays attention to tone, as can be seen from the words of Yin Zhongkan recorded in "Shi Shuo Xin Yu Literature"; he said, "If you don't read for three days, your tongue will feel weak." Just pay attention to tone. "Ren Dan" also records that Wang Xiaobo said: "Celebrities don't have to be geniuses, but they can be called celebrities if they have nothing to do, drink alcohol, and read "Li Sao" well." Reading aloud shows the atmosphere at that time. "Boldness" chapter records "Wang Sizhou (Hu Zhi) sat in Xie Gong (An), chanting "Li Sao" and "Nine Songs" 'Enter without saying anything, leave without saying goodbye, ride back with the wind and carry the cloud flag', the words of people say, 'At that time, I felt that there was no one sitting there.'" It is a good example of this kind of morale.Reading the books of the ancients pays attention to the tone, and reading my own poems naturally pays more attention to the tone. The "Literature" chapter records Yuan Hong's story:

Yuan Hu (Hong Xiaoming's name Hu) was poor when he was young, and he used to be a servant to carry rent.Xie Zhenxi was sailing by boat, the night was clear and bright, and he heard the sound of poetry chanting on the tourist boats between the rivers and lakes.That is to say, it is Yuan Ziyong's epic poem that he sent for interrogation.Therefore, if you ask for it, you will get it. Since then, Yuan Hong's reputation has flourished, which shows the great relationship between recitation.In addition, there are many "singing", "screaming", "satiry", and "satiry", and they are probably reciting the works of the ancients or my own.

The most noteworthy thing here is the so-called "Luoxia Scholar's Chant" or "Luosheng Chant" for short. "Book of Jin Xie An Biography" says: An Ben can chant for Luoxia scholar.There is a nasal disease, so its voice is dull.Celebrities love their chants but they can't match them, or cover their noses with their hands to imitate them. "Shi Shuo Xin Yu·Slightly Slandering" writes: People asked Gu Changkang, "Why don't you make the chanting of Luo Sheng?" He replied, "Why do you make the voice of the old maid!" , seems to mean too sad.The tone of the recitation at that time seemed to be dominated by sadness.Wang Xiaobo said, "If you are familiar with "Li Sao", you can be called a celebrity." Wang Huzhi also chanted "Li Sao" and "Nine Songs" on Xie An's seat, both of which are "Songs of Chu".At that time, when I recited "The Songs of Chu", I probably knew that Chu tunes were used, and there were also Chu tunes in Yuefu tunes.However, Chu Sheng Chu Diao has always been dominated by sadness.The recitations at that time were probably greatly influenced by monks' Sanskrit recitations or Sanskrit chants, which were mainly long chants, the so-called "chants". There are many long sentences in "Chu Songs", and the Chu melody and the long-recited Sanskrit tune complement each other, and can even "chant" a sad "emotion".There are two extant epic poems written by Yuan Hong. The first one begins with the sentence "Zhou Chang Ji Ji Chen".The famous lines of five-character poems cited in Shen Yue's "Song Shu Xie Lingyun Biography" and Zhong Rong's "Poetry Preface" are almost all "generous elegy". There is another story in "Book of Jin".In the poem "Ganjiu" written by Cao Yu of the Jin Dynasty, there are two lines: "The rich and the noble get along with others, and the poor and humble relatives leave".Later, Yin Hao was deposed as a commoner and sent his beloved nephew back to court. Reciting these two sentences aroused his sense of life experience and he burst into tears.This is an example of mournful recitation.But if you don't have real sorrow, just go to learn fashion, pinch your nose to learn the sad "old maid's voice" of "Luo Shengyong", then it is too much, that is the so-called "sour" since Zhao and Song Dynasties .

Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty had a poem entitled "A Gift to Zhang Gongcao on the Fifteenth Night of the August Moon", which begins: Slender clouds roll around the sky without a river, The breeze blows away Yue Shubo, Sha Pingshui breathless sound shadow, A cup belongs to the king and sings. Then say: Your song is sour and bitter, I can't listen to tears like rain. Then came the "sour" and "bitter" lyrics: The Dongting sky is full of doubts, Jiaolong haunts orangutan. Ten lives and nine deaths went to the official office, Living in a secluded place is like hiding and fleeing in silence.

Getting out of bed fears snakes and eats medicine, The sea air is damp, smelly and smelly. Yesterday, the hammer and drum in front of the state, The heir emperor succeeded the sage Deng Kuigao. The letter of pardon travels thousands of miles a day, All crimes are eradicated to death. Those who moved back chased those who moved back, and those who moved back returned, Wash away the flaws and clean up the shift. The state's application for the envoy's family suppresses, The ups and downs had to be moved. It is unbearable for the judge to be humble, Unnamed beat the Chu dust.

At the same time, there are many generations on the road, The road to heaven is dangerous and difficult to follow! Zhang Gongcao was Zhang Shu, who was demoted to the remote south with Han Yu, and Shunzong came to the throne.He was only ordered to be transferred to Jiangling, which is closer to Jiangling, to be a small official, and he was not allowed to return to Chang'an, so there were such bitter words.These are Zhang Shu's words, and they are also Han Yu's words.But the poem goes on to say: King song, don't listen to my song, My song is now with Jun Shuke. Han Yu's own song has only three lines:

There are more bright moons and tonights in one year, Life is up to you, not him, If you have wine, don't drink Nai Minghe! He said resigning to fate is fine, let's just drink and watch the moon.This kind of sentimentality is actually just a disguise of suffering.Although the "song" in the previous paragraph is bitter and sour, it is genuine and not excessive. From the "sour voice", we know that the poetry recitation does have a sad tone, but the so-called "song" is actually just a satire.Probably since the Han Dynasty, unlike the Spring and Autumn Period, scholar-bureaucrats no longer knew how to sing. Most of them were scholars, so they used satire or chant instead of singing.They—especially frustrated scholars—

The bitterness of life is vented in this kind of reciting or reciting. Since the Warring States period, singing seems to be dominated by sorrow, which reflects the turbulent era. "Liezi·Tang Wen" records Qin Qing's "elegy song for the festival, the sound vibrates the forest trees, and the sound stops the clouds", and Qin Qing is quoted, saying that Han E "wailed in a wailing voice in the place of Yongmen in Qi State Sorrows and tears are facing each other, and three days without food", and later "singing and singing, old and young a mile, good at jumping and living in the house Can sing happy songs, but if you read it together with Qin Qing’s own story of tragic songs, you know that sad songs are the main ones. In addition to the story of Qi Guoqi Liang’s wife crying down the city, it is the still popular Meng Jiangnu crying down the Great Wall It is obvious that the sad song is more moving. The scholar recites the sad song, and the sad song is handed down in one continuous line. But the sour voice must say goodbye to the bitter, and the sad song must be bitter; if there is no bitter feeling, there is only bitter words, and even There are no bitter words, only the sour tone, which is too much, not only cannot move people, but will be ridiculed. Scholars are often pretentious, and there are naturally some proud ones, but only a few, and there are too many frustrated ones So I always lament the old humbleness, the long songs should be crying, and the mourning face looks pitiful. Zhu Zi said in "Chu Ci Dialectical" that the imitated works of the Han people "poetic and gentle, not deep, as if there is no pain but strong "For those who groan". "Moaning without any pain" is the so-called "moaning without disease". Later, sighing laobai is also moaning without disease. Moaning with disease is nervous, can get sympathy, and even make people sour. Moaning without illness, sickness is fake, fake, moaning is also fake, fake, pretending to moan with sour nose, sour but not bitter is like a clown playing, naturally it can only make people laugh.

Su Dongpo has a poem "Giving Poetry to the Monk Daotong": Majestic and wonderful, bitter and plump, Only Qin Cong and Mi Shu. The language is hazy since ancient times, The gas contains vegetables and bamboo shoots to nothing. ... Cha Shenxing quoted Ye Mengde's "Shilin Shihua" as saying: There are many monks and poets in modern times, but none of them have any interest in detachment and self-satisfaction. They often pick up and imitate what the scholar-bureaucrats left behind, and then create their own style.Zizhan... tasted the words and said, "Do you understand the term 'vegetable bamboo shoots'? It means there is no 'sour stuffing'." Everyone who heard it couldn't help laughing. Dongpo said that Tong’s poems do not have the air of “vegetable bamboo shoots” and therefore do not have the air of “sour stuffing”. Monks practice asceticism, eat vegetarian food, and have no oil and water, so they may be more “cold” and “thin” than scholars; poems that blindly reflect this kind of life It's like the stuffing of sour vegetables and steamed buns. It's dry and sour, and you can't eat it or smell it. Dongpo seems to be saying that it doesn't matter if it is bitter, as long as it is "bitter and plump" and a little oily, it won't be so sour. .The "sour" of this sour gas still comes from the "sound sour".And the so-called "scholar's sour smell" should refer to this "sour smell".Although the monks are suffering, the monks can be "transcendently self-satisfied", but they want to learn to recite poems, and they are infected with the sourness of scholars.It is true that many scholars are frustrated, but those who lament the old and humble may not be bored if they are really poor, and boredom will become their "moaning without illness".In the early Song Dynasty, Yang Yi, the leader of Xikun style, ridiculed Du Fu as a "village master", probably because he thought he lamented too much.But Du Fu's "stealing comparisons with land and deeds" is actually lamenting the vastness of the world, and it is by no means limited to his own gains and losses.Yang Yi is a proud person, so he forgot why he said such unfair things.But like Chen Shidao's poems, lamenting the old and humble, chanting over and over again, only focusing on oneself, it is indeed tiresome.This falls into the trap, and if you fall into the trap, you will inevitably feel a little "groaning without illness", that is, a little "sour". The rise of Daoism means that the status and responsibilities of scholars have increased, and they have become more pretentious and self-sighing.Even the real "village master" or "three-family village pedant" with sharp eyesight will show off the few rote books he has memorized in front of others, lamenting everything, so as to put up his empty shelf of a scholar.The "Kong Yiji" described by Mr. Lu Xun seems to be a poorer scholar, but "he always speaks a lot of words when he talks to people, so that people don't understand." People said he stole books, but he argued, "Steal Books can’t be considered stealing...stolen books!...Scholar’s ​​business, can it be considered stealing?” “One after another, there are difficult words, such as ‘gentlemen are poor’, and what’s like ‘Zhehu’, which caused everyone to laugh.” .The children looked at his dish of fennel beans. Kong Yiji panicked, stretched out five fingers to cover the plate, bent down and said, "Not much, I don't have much." He straightened up and looked at Dou again, shaking his head and said, "Not much, not much!" How much? Not too much'" The group of children scattered amidst laughter. It is ridiculous and pathetic that it is so desolate, but it can only "talk about it", and it is far away from the real people. Although "Scholar True Colors" is respectable at times, his sourness is always ridiculous and pathetic.The most typical example of this kind of sourness seems to be Wen Xiaosheng on the stage, especially Wen Xiaosheng in Kunqu Opera. The humming, wriggling, and wagging tunes are really "sour"!Naturally, this type of model is somewhat exaggerated, but it's almost the same. It has always been said that "poor" and "poor", it seems that the sourness always gathers on frustrated scholars.After you are proud, you will be well-informed, and if you add "one line of officials, this matter will be useless", then you will no longer be attached to the book, at least not too attached to the book, the "sour smell" can be much More or less "washed" off.Not all frustrated scholars are sour.They can be more open-minded, so-called philosophical, but it is not easy to be philosophical, and it is often just a disguise.They can look at the big picture, "short and full of air" is majestic and heroic, not sour.As for the intellectuals in modern times, the times forced them not to read dead books or dead books, so they no longer cling to those ancient books.Classical Chinese gradually changed to vernacular, and reciting was no longer needed; reciting was replaced by reciting and singing that were separated and combined.The most important thing is that they see themselves clearly, they are among the people, and they can no longer be pretentious.Although they still have some free time, it is not easy to "have nothing to do often".They gradually lost the empty frame and walked forward in a down-to-earth manner.In the early days, I couldn't help but have a sentimental atmosphere, self-love and self-pity, with tears and snot in my nose; this can be regarded as sour, although the chanting is not an ancient book but a foreign book.But in the past few years, the times have become more pressing, and everyone had to wipe away their noses and tears and walk forward.This is really "washing away the sour smell of scholars". Made on November 15, 1947. (Originally published in "Century Review", Volume 2, Issue 22, November 29, 1947)