Chapter 22 Section 8 Letters from Han, Wei and Six Dynasties

The family education of official families in the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties took various forms, and one of the most popular and important ways was the family letter.The so-called family letters are family letters. Du Fu once said: "Family letters are worth ten thousand gold." Using family letters to teach his children has become a great tradition of family education in ancient Chinese official families since the Han Dynasty, and it has been maintained until today. .The characteristic of family letters is that they are sincere, and the lines between the lines are filled with the heartfelt affection between father and son, and the utter devotion to each other.It moves with emotion, understands with reason, and is full of appeal and educational effect.

Among the famous ministers in the Han Dynasty, there were many who wrote family letters and edicts to teach their children.For example, Liu Xiang once wrote the "Book of Precepting Zixin" to Liu Xin, his son who was successful in youth. The lesson of the teacher: "The one who hangs is at the door, and the one who congratulates is at the house." Don't act impetuously, let extreme joy beget sorrow, and invite disaster. Ma Yuan, a famous general in the Eastern Han Dynasty, served in Jiaozhi (now northern Vietnam). Knowing that his brothers Ma Yan and Ma Dun liked to ridicule the people of the time and make friends with knights, he was very disturbed. Parents’ names can be heard by the ear, but not spoken by the mouth. They like to talk about people’s good and bad, and they are false and wrong. This is my greatest evil, and I would rather die than hear that my children and grandchildren have this kind of behavior.” ("Book of Later Han·Ma "Biography of Biography") He advised his nephews to learn from Long Bogao, who is honest, cautious, unscrupulous, modest, thrifty, honest and dignified, and not to follow the example of Du Jiliang, who is heroic, righteous, and troublesome, because following Du Jiliang will become a "frivolous man". Zi", "Drawing a tiger is not an anti-dog" (ibid.).Ma Yuan is quite clear about the fact that Jiangmen's children like to be brave and brave, if not done well, they will do evil, recruit hooligans and ruffians to run rampant in the village, and finally break the law and commit crimes, implicating the family.

Wang Xiu, a famous official at the end of Han Dynasty and the beginning of Wei Dynasty, was the Minister of Agriculture in the State of Wei in his later years.His son was also an official in another place, so he was very worried and wrote a sincere commandment book, saying: "If you are now over the county, crossing the mountains and rivers, leaving your brothers and wives, you want to see what is appropriate for you to act." , look at the high people's distant festivals, hear three things, aim at good people, and be careful not to be careless." He was warned to make good friends when he was an official outside, to use friends to support virtue, and to speak and do things with "sentiment and reason" ("Yiwen Class clustering "Volume 23).He said: "A father wants to make his son good, but he can't kill himself" (ibid.), his words are sincere and sincere, and his love for his son is beyond words.

The "Book of Commandments" written by Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu, can be described as a masterpiece handed down through the ages, and the families of officials from generation to generation have mostly used it as the motto.Zhuge Liang said: "The way of a gentleman is to cultivate one's morality through tranquility, and to cultivate one's virtue through frugality. Without indifference, there is no ambition, and without tranquility, there is no way to go far. To learn, you must be quiet, and to be talented, you must learn. Without learning, you can't broaden your talents, and without ambition. There is no way to learn. If you are obscene and slow, you will not be able to stimulate your energy, and if you are dangerous, you will not be able to cure your nature. The years pass by, and the will fades away, and then you will become withered. If you are out of touch with the world, if you stay in a poor cottage, how will you recover!" ("Zhuge Liang Collection") Zhuge Liang not only wrote to his son exhorting to strengthen moral cultivation, but he also wrote to his nephew to teach him how to be a man.He wrote in "Book of Commandments to Nephews": "A husband's ambition should be lofty, admiring the sages, abandoning lust, abandoning doubts and stagnation, so that the aspirations of the common people can be revealed and preserved, and they can be felt with compassion; Ask, get rid of miserliness, although there is lingering, what is the harm to the beauty, why is it not helpful. If the will is not strong, the intention is not generous, the mediocrity is stagnant in the vulgar, the silence is tied to the love, and the mediocrity is always hidden, it is unavoidable It’s dirty.” (Ibid.) He paid great attention to making friends with his children, and warned his son to make friends with people who know each other, not to make friends with snobbish friends, because “It is difficult to go far with friends who are snobbish” (Ibid.). The friendship will last forever, and it will be stronger through hardships and dangers.Zhuge Liang's life experience talks are very philosophical, and they are regarded as good words of gold and jade by later generations.

In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, many famous ministers and virtuous men once tutored their children's education by means of family letters in different places away from home.For example, Wang Chang [Chang Chang], a famous minister of Wei State, wrote "Commandment to Brothers and Sons" and "Family Commandments".Ji Kang, a famous scholar during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, wrote "Family Commandments" in prison, which is actually a suicide note.Shi Xianglang, the prime minister of the Shu Kingdom, wrote "The Last Words of Commandments" when he was over eighty years old.Yao Xin, Taichang Qing of Wu State, wrote "Commandment Son".Lei Cizong of the Southern Dynasties wrote "Book with Nephew and Nephew".Yan Yanzhi wrote "Ting Gao".Wang Sengqian wrote "Book of Commandments".Xu Mian wrote "Commandment to Zi Song Shu".Yan Zhitui of the Northern Dynasties wrote 20 pieces of "Yan's Family Instructions", which are regarded as family education norms by later generations.

In ancient my country, official families used family letters to educate and guide their children in self-cultivation and education, which showed the literati's deep concern and expectation for their children's growth.The content of the family letter is rich and colorful. Whether it is to guide further studies or to guide moral cultivation, they all follow the principle of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, and the effect is quite good.