Chapter 9 Reading at Si Yuqing Palace
When I was six years old, Empress Dowager Longyu chose a teacher for me to teach, and Qin Tianjian chose an auspicious day for me to start school.On the eighteenth day of the seventh lunar month in the third year of Xuantong, I started to study.
The study room was first in Zhongnanhai Yinghebutong Bookstore, and later moved to the Yuqing Palace on the right side of the Zhai Palace in the Forbidden City. ) of the bedroom.The courtyard of Yuqing Palace is very small, and the house is not too big. It is an I-shaped palace tightly sandwiched between two rows of short and small rooms.The inside is divided into many small rooms, only the two larger rooms on the west side are used as study rooms, and the rest are empty.
Compared with other rooms in the palace, these two study rooms are arranged more simply: under the south window is a long table, on which are displayed things such as hat holders and vases; against the west wall is a kang.At first, people studied on the kang, and the kang table was the desk. Later, they were moved to the ground, and the eight immortals table replaced the kang table.There are two tables on the north wall, where books and stationery are placed; on the east wall is a row of chairs and coffee tables.On the east and west walls, there are screens of sincere poems written by Prince Chunxian to Guangxu.What is more eye-catching is that there is a big clock on the north wall. The diameter of the disk is about two meters. The pointer is longer than my arm. The clock’s mechanism is behind the wall. Something like a crank.I don't remember where this strange behemoth came from, why it was installed here, or even what sound it made when it moved around, or how loud it was when it told the time.
Although the clock in Yuqing Palace is astonishingly large, the people in Yuqing Palace have the least sense of time.You can tell by looking at what books I read.The main textbook I read is the Thirteen Classics, plus auxiliary textbooks "University Yanyi", "Zhu Zi's Family Instructions", "Ting Xun Motto", "Sheng Yu Guang Xun", "Yu Cri Tong Jian Collection", " "The Story of the Holy Warrior", "The Founding Strategy of the Qing Dynasty" and so on.At the age of fourteen, I took English classes again. Apart from the "English Reader", I only read two books, one was "Alice in Wonderland" and the other was the Chinese "Four Books" translated into English.Manchu is also a basic class, but I didn't even learn the alphabet, so it ended with the death of the teacher Iketan.In short, from the third year of Xuantong to the eleventh year of the Republic of China, I have never learned addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, let alone sound, light, chemistry, and electricity.Regarding my motherland, I only read "Tongguang Zhongxing" from the book. Regarding foreign countries, I only traveled to the wonderland once with Alice.What Washington, Napoleon, Watt invented the steam engine, Newton saw the apple fall, all do not know.Regarding the universe, it cannot be surpassed by "Taiji produces two forms, two forms produce four phenomena, and four forms produce gossip".If the teacher was not willing to gossip outside of the textbooks, and I read some idle books after I gained the ability to read, I would not know the location of Beijing City in China, nor would I know that rice grows from the ground.When it comes to history, none of them are willing to expose the myth of Changbai Mountain Fairy, and when it comes to economy, no one mentions how much a catty of rice costs.So for a long time, I always believed that my ancestors were born by the fairy Fokulun eating a red fruit. I always thought that every common people would have a table of dishes when they ate.
I have read a lot of ancient books, and the time is not short. It stands to reason that I should have a certain attainment in ancient prose, but I am not.First of all, I study very hard.In addition to frequent minor illnesses and not going to study, I really have no problems and am not happy to go to school, so I asked the eunuch to tell the teacher to take a day off.Before I was ten years old, I was not as interested in the books in Yuqing Palace as I was in the juniper tree outside Yuqing Palace.In the east courtyard of Yuqing Palace, there is a juniper tree, and in summer there are always ants on it, going up and down all day long, busy all day long.I became very curious about them, and often squatted there to observe their lives, fed them with snack scum, helped them carry food, and forgot to eat by myself.Later, I became interested in crickets and earthworms, and asked people to bring in a large number of ancient porcelain pots and vats to feed them.When I was studying in the house, my interest was not so great. When the reading was the most boring, I just wanted to come out to see my friends.
After I was a teenager, I gradually understood the relationship between reading and myself: how to be a "good emperor" and why an emperor is an emperor is a matter of course, and I became interested.This interest is only in "Tao" and not in "Wen".This kind of "Tao" is mostly the right of the emperor, but rarely the obligation of the emperor.Although the sages said things like "the people are the most important, the society is second, and the king is the least", "the king regards his ministers as worthless, and the ministers regard him as a bandit and enemy", but more words are said for the ministers and the people, as the so-called "Junjun Chenchen father father son son" and so on.In the first textbook "The Classic of Filial Piety", it stipulates the principle of "beginning with relatives and finally serving the king".Before the lecture, I heard these pleasing truths from the master's extracurricular chats. After the lecture, the master also said more than what was written in the book.So the real ancient prose did not impress me more than the old sayings of the master.
Many people from the old school have memorized books. It is said that this hard work has indeed benefited them.I did not enjoy this benefit.The master never asked me to recite the book, but just read it several times in the study.
Maybe they also considered that reading should be memorized, so they stipulated two methods: one is that when I go to the Queen Mother to say hello, I have to read the book to her from the beginning in front of the Queen Mother; the other is that I get up every morning. , the chief eunuch stood outside my bedroom and recited to me several times the homework I learned yesterday.As for how much I can remember, no one cares whether I want to remember or not.
The teachers never check my homework.There has never been a topic composition.I remember that I made a couple of pairs and wrote one or two verses. After finishing, the teacher did not comment, let alone revise.In fact, when I was a teenager, I liked writing and writing, but since the teacher didn't pay much attention to this stuff, I had to write in private, for myself to appreciate.After I was thirteen or fourteen years old, I read a lot of casual books, such as notes and unofficial histories since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, historical romances published in the late Qing and early Republic of China, sword immortals, gongan novels, and "Shuobu Series" published by the Commercial Press. Wait, I rarely haven't seen it.When I was a little older, I read some English stories.I used to imitate these Chinese and foreign ancient and modern works, and according to my own fantasy, I made up many "legends", and I made my own illustrations, compiled and read them myself.I also submitted manuscripts to newspapers under a pseudonym, but most of them failed.I remember once using the pseudonym "Deng Jionglin" to send a copy of a Ming Dynasty poet's work to a tabloid, and the editor was fooled by me and published it.In addition to the newspaper editor, my British master Johnston was also fooled. He later translated this poem into English and included it in his book "Twilight in the Forbidden City", taking it as one of the examples of his students' "poet temperament".
The worst of my academic performance is my Manchu.I have studied it for many years, and only learned one character, which is that whenever a Manchu minister greets me, kneels on the ground and says a sentence of greetings in Manchu language as usual (meaning: slave so-and-so kneels to ask for the master's peace), I The one who must answer: "Yili (get up)!"
When I was nine years old, they figured out a way to boost my studies by pairing me with companion students.Accompanying readers can get a reward equivalent to eighty taels of silver every month, and they will be paid in addition.Although it had entered the era of the Republic of China at that time, it was still regarded as a great honor among the children of the royal family.There are three people who have received this honor, namely: Pu Jie, Yu Chong (the son of Pu Lun, who reads Chinese with him), and Pu Jia (the son of Seventh Uncle Zaitao, who reads English with him, since I was fourteen years old).There is also an honor to accompany the readers, that is, to take responsibility on behalf of the emperor in the study. "If the king has made mistakes, he will be scorned." Since this is an ancient rule, when I do not study well, the teacher has to teach the companions.In fact, the emperor's younger brother Pu Jie couldn't accept this, and Yu Chong was unlucky.Among the three Chinese students in Yuqing Palace, Pu Jie did the best homework, because he had another teacher at home to teach him, and he came to Yuqing Palace every day, but it was just a waste of time.Yuchong's grades were the worst. It's not that he didn't hire another teacher, but because he was reprimanded because he read well and badly, which made him not interested in studying.Therefore, his poor grades can be said to be caused by professional reasons.
I was really naughty when I had no companions.When I was studying, I took off all my shoes and socks when I was happy, and threw the socks on the table. The teacher had to tidy them up for me and put them on for me.Once, I saw Teacher Xu Fang's long eyebrows were fun, and asked him to come over and touch them for me.When he bowed his head over as ordered, he pulled out one of them unexpectedly.When Xu Fang died later, the eunuchs all said that it was because the "Long Live God" pulled out his eyebrows.Another time, my master Lu Runxiang was so troubled by me that he forgot all the "monarchs and ministers".I remember that time when I couldn’t finish my studies no matter what, I just wanted to watch the ants fall into their nests in the yard. Teacher Lu first persuaded me with a lot of euphemistic words. Looking around there, twisting around.Master Lu saw that I was still uneasy, and said something like "A gentleman is not serious if he is not serious; he is not strong if he is knowledgeable." Instead, Suo Xing stood up and was about to go to the ground. At this time, he was anxious, and suddenly shouted: "Don't move!" !” I was taken aback and became more honest.But after a while, I thought of the ants again, and writhed in my seat.
After the companion came, it really got better, and I could sit still in the study.If I have made any mistakes, the masters also have methods of persuasion and warning.I remember one time when I walked into the study room bouncing around, I heard Mr. Chen say to Yu Chong who was sitting still, "Look at how frivolous you are!"
I study every day from 8:00 am to 11:00 am, and later I added English classes from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.Every morning before 8 o'clock, I arrived at Yuqing Palace in a yellow sedan chair with a golden roof.I said: "Call!" The eunuch responded and went out, calling the teacher and accompanying readers in the annex.There is also a certain procedure for them to enter the palace: in front is the eunuch holding the book, followed by the teacher of the first class, and then followed by the accompanying students.After the teacher entered the door, he stood there and looked at me for a while. As a greeting, I don't need to return the gift, because "although I am a teacher, I am a subject, and even though I am an apprentice, I am also a king", which is stipulated in the etiquette law.Then Pu Jie and Yu Chong knelt down to me.After the ceremony, everyone sit down.The single seat on the north side of the table facing south is mine. The master sits on the west side seat on my left, and the reader's seat is next to him.At this moment the eunuchs put their hats on their caps and filed back, and our work began.
I found a three-page diary I wrote when I was fifteen, and I can see the living conditions when I was studying.After the 1911 Revolution, Xuantong’s reign title was kept in my circle, and these pages of the diary are from “November of the twelfth year of Xuantong”.
The master was from Yuanhe, Jiangsu Province. He was a bachelor and passed away within a year of teaching me.Yi Ketan, who taught Manchu, was from Zhengbai Banner of the Manchu nationality. He was a scholar in Manchu translation and had taught me Manchu for more than nine years.Chen Baochen, who came with Lu and Yi, is from Min County, Fujian Province. During the time of the Queen Mother, he was a cabinet bachelor and a minister of the Ministry of Rites. He is the master I have been with for the longest time.After Lu's death, Xu Fang, who taught Chinese and served as Guozicheng, Zhu Yifan, the Hanlin of the South Study Room, and the famous pine planting in front of Guangxu Mausoleum were added.The master who had the greatest influence on me was Chen Baochen first, followed by the British master Johnston who later taught English.Chen was known as a gifted scholar in Fujian. He was a Jinshi in the Tongzhi Dynasty. He was a member of the Imperial Academy at the age of twenty.Later, he didn't like Zhang Zhidong's ability to steer with the wind. In the 17th year of Guangxu's reign, he was demoted by five levels on the pretext of failing to handle Nanyang affairs well.He was not appointed until the eve of Xinhai. He was originally released as the governor of Shanxi. Before he took office, he was left to be my master. He never left me until I went to the Northeast.Among the elders around me, he is the most stable and cautious one.In my eyes at that time, he was the most loyal to me and to the "Great Qing".He was my only resource until I felt his prudence get in my way.There is no matter how big or small, it is salty to make a decision.
"Although the king is small, he is a son!" Master Chen often praised me with a smile.When he laughed, his eyes narrowed into a line behind the presbyopic lenses, and one hand slowly stroked his snow-white and sparse beard.
What interested me even more was his small talk.After I got older, almost every morning, I always listened to him talk about some news about the Republic of China, such as the discord between the North and the South, the war between the warlords, and the feud between the government and the court, all of which were his topics.After saying this, he had to use another tone to recall "Tongguang Zhongxing, Kangxi and Qianlong". Of course, he especially liked to tell the story of how he dared to admonish the Queen Mother of the West.Whenever he mentioned those old ministers who served as officials in the Republic of China, he was always indignant.He thinks that people like Xu Shichang and Zhao Erxun should be included in the biography of Second Officials.In his mouth, the revolution, the Republic of China, and the Republic are the roots of all disasters, and the characters related to these words are all juxtaposed with thieves. "Those who are not saints can't do it, and those who are not filial have no relatives. This is the way of chaos." This is his general conclusion for everything that is not pleasing to the eye.I remember he recounted to me a couplet written by an old survivor: "The people are still the same, and the country is still the same. How can the north and south be divided? All in all, generally speaking, it is not east and west."He added a horizontal comment: "The bystander is clear."In addition to admiring him, he told me the story of trying hard work and the principle of "observing the time and biding the time".After he talked about the current situation, he often commented like this: "The Republic of China is only a few years old, and the sky has long been angry and people have complained. The country has been benevolent for more than two hundred years, and people's minds are clear, and heaven will return to people."
Master Zhu Yifan didn't gossip much when he was teaching. I remember that he was always a little depressed. Later, I found out that he loved to play cards, and he played all night, so he didn't have enough sleep.He can see a doctor, and sometimes I ask him to check my pulse when I am sick.Master Liang Dingfen is very talkative.The difference between him and Master Chen is that he talks about himself more than Master Chen.There is a story that I have heard him tell several times.After Guangxu's death, he vowed to stay in front of Guangxu Mausoleum and guard the mausoleum until his old age.The story happened when he was guarding the mausoleum.One night, while he was reading history books under the lamp, suddenly a burly man jumped out of the yard and broke into the house with a bright dagger in his hand.He asked without changing his face: "Where did the strong man come from? But he wants to take Liang's head?" The uninvited guest was moved by him and couldn't do it.He put down the book, and said with a sigh of relief: "I, Liang, can die in front of the late emperor's mausoleum, I wish enough!" The man finally put down the dagger, knelt down on both knees, claiming that Yuan Shikai ordered the assassination, and advised him to leave quickly to avoid Unforeseen.He calmly declined the advice, expressing that he was never afraid of death.I was very moved when I heard this story.I also saw a photo of him in Chongling, wearing Qing Dynasty court clothes, with a pine seedling beside him.Later, Chen Baochen wrote a poem: "How about mending the sky and returning to the sun? The crown belt is facing the wind and the hoe is in the wind. If you don't see the pines and greens, your heart will never die. You should hide your soul and be close to the mountain." How did he change the vow to die beside the mausoleum to "I don't see you?" Song Qing's heart is never dead", and why he ran into the city without waiting for Song Qing, I still haven't figured it out.
At that time, there were many things that I didn’t understand. For example, Master Chen believed in divination the most, and asked the gods for me. He asked Emperor Guan about the future of my ancestors and my own future; ;Master Zhu recommended "Tianyantong" to me.
I used to think that the masters were too bookish, especially Chen Baochen's bookishness later made me impatient.In fact, speaking seriously, the masters have many actions that do not seem to be done by scholars.Scholars often don't understand the benefits of businessmen, but masters are not. They are very knowledgeable, and they are also very good at gaining fame.Now there are a few bounties that remind me of something.This is the record of "November 14th, eighth year of Xuantong":
There is also a list of "March 10th, Ninth Year of Xuantong", on which there is a "Photo Album of Famous Officials of Tang and Song Dynasties" for Yi Ketan and Liang Dingfen, a scroll of Zhu Yifan's "Fan Zhongzheng Xiafeng Picture", "Yun Shouping imitating Li Chengshanshui" axis.There were quite a few such things at that time, and the total number far exceeded the records on these few pieces of paper.At that time, I didn't know the quality of calligraphy and painting, and the reward items were all proposed by these experts.As for borrowing and not repaying without reward, it is even more difficult to say.
Once in the study, Master Chen suddenly told me that he accidentally saw two lines of poems: "The old crane has no appearance, but the Han Song has a heart."He thought of his upcoming 70th birthday, and asked me to write these two sentences into a couplet and give him a birthday couplet.Seeing that I agreed, he said to his colleague Zhu Yifan: "The emperor saw these two lines of poems and said that they were just like Master Chen. Since the emperor said so, he would write a model for the emperor to copy with a stroke of his pen. how?"
After these masters passed away, they all received posthumous posthumous titles that other elders envied.It seems fair to say that they got everything they wanted from me, and everything they wanted to give me.As for my academic performance, although there is no examination in Yuqing Palace, when I was twelve years old, I made the masters very satisfied with a practice of distinguishing "loyalty and treachery".
That year Yikuang passed away, and someone from his family handed over the will and asked for a posthumous posthumous title.The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent me the drafted words.As usual, I have to discuss with the masters. I had a cold for two days, and I didn’t go to class. The master was not around, so I had to make up my own mind.I read the posthumous posthumous law sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and I was very dissatisfied, so I threw it aside and wrote a few bad words, such as the absurd "absurd", the ugly "ugly", and the "you" of King You, King Li's "Li", as a bad posthumous posthumous title, was ordered to be taken by the House of Internal Affairs.After a while, my father came and stammered:
"The emperor still thinks about the sake of the clan, and give another..."
"How can that be done?" I said confidently, "Yikuang accepted Yuan Shikai's money and persuaded the Queen Mother to give up the country. The world of the Qing Dynasty for more than two hundred years was ruined in Yikuang's hands. How can I give it a beautiful posthumous title? It can only be This one: Ugly! Absurd!"
"Okay, okay." My father nodded quickly, took out a note with another written word on it, and handed it to me: "Then use this, the word 'offer', this word has a dog next to it, this this Bad words..."
"No! No!" I saw that this was coaxing me, and the masters were not in front of me. This was bullying. I was anxious and angry, and cried: "Dog characters are not allowed! No, no, no! ... No Yes! Not a single word!"
My father panicked, and the Hualing in the back of his head kept jumping: "Don't cry, don't cry, I'll look for it and go to the study!"
The next day I went to Yuqing Palace for class and told Chen Baochen that he was so happy that his eyes narrowed again, and he repeatedly praised:
"It's right for the emperor to fight with the prince, it's right for the fight!... There is a king who is small but has a son!"
The Hanlin of Nanshufang finally drew up a word "secret". I thought it was not a good word, so I agreed. Later, when I saw "chasing the former secret" in Su Xun's "posthumous law test", I wanted to change it again. It was too late.But this time the argument with my father was spread by the masters, and it was praised among the elders for a while.Liang Dingfen wrote in his diary:
On the seventh day of the first month of the ninth year of Xuantong, Prince Qing Yikuang died.On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year's Day, the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs drafted a posthumous posthumous title of "Zhe", which is not allowed. ... On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Shixu, Shaoying, and Qiling were summoned, and the edict said: Yikuang corrupted the country by corrupting the country, and offended all the ancestors. My Qing Dynasty has been in the world for more than two hundred years.The posthumous title is "Secret".The posthumous posthumous method is to make up for the secret of the past.Yikuang committed a serious crime, and the world hated him.Rumor has it that this is the case, and all loyal ministers and righteous men will weep and say: "The Lord of True Heroes!"
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