Chapter 37 Postscript Rivers and mountains are always the end of the world
At the beginning of "Song History Su Shi Biography", there is a record of Su Shi's ambition as early as his childhood:
Because of Su Shi’s father Su Xun’s study abroad, his mother Cheng taught him to read when he was young. Every time he read the success or failure of ancient and modern times, Cheng analyzed the essentials for him in detail; one day, Cheng taught him to read "Fan Pang" in "Book of Later Han" "Biography", I couldn't help but sigh after reading it; ten-year-old Su Shi asked her: "If I follow Fan Pang's aspirations and deeds, will you agree?"
Cheng replied, "If you can imitate Fan Pang, can't I imitate Fan Mu?"
Although this short paragraph records the reasons that influenced Su Shi's life and actions, it also clearly shows how lofty and admired the ambitions of Fan Pang and his mother are in the eyes of the mother and son!
Fan Pang was one of the sacrifices in the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Disaster of the Party"—in order to oppose the dark politics dominated by eunuchs and relatives at that time, a group of honest, upright, upright scholars who insisted on ideals and integrity used public opinion to comment on current affairs and criticize people. , Stimulate the turbid and promote the clear, forming the power of "clear flow", of course, it has become the object of disgust, persecution, and murder of those in power.Fan Pang has an upright personality and hates evil like hatred. He not only feels the darkness of current politics, but also has the ambition to clarify the world. He was arrested; in prison, he suffered all kinds of tortures, but he was still unyielding. He showed admiration for his fearless spirit during the interrogation and was admired by more people. When he was released from prison, he returned to his hometown Ruyang and passed through Nanyang At that time, there were thousands of Che Yu who came to meet him.
When it came to the second disaster of party imprisonment, he died for the integrity he insisted on at the age of thirty-three. The record of this historical event in "Hou Han Shu" is: Runan Governor Wu Dao He was ordered to arrest Fan Pang. When he arrived in Zhengqiang County, Fan Pang's hometown, he closed the door of the post station and cried bitterly on the bed with the imperial edict in hand.When Fan Pang found out about this, he said, "It must be for me." So he voluntarily went to the county and was imprisoned.
County magistrate Guo Yi always respected Fan Pang, and was shocked to see him thrown into prison. He untied his seal ribbon and wanted to flee with Fan Pang, saying: "The world is so big, why are you waiting here to die at the hands of traitors!" Fan Pang rejected his offer, saying: "When I die, the calamity will be over. How dare I implicate you and cause my old mother to be displaced because of me?"
Before his execution, Fan Pang's mother came to bid him farewell.Fan Pang said to his mother: "Your brother Zhongbo is filial, enough to support your old man; I will go to the spring to serve my late father, and each will have his own place. Please cut off the unbearable kindness, mother, and don't be sad!"
His mother understood righteousness very well, and said to him calmly: "You can now be as famous as Li Ying and Du Mi, two respected and upright gentlemen. Why should you hate death? If you have a good name, why bother to seek it at the same time?" What about longevity?"
Fan Pang knelt down to respect his mother's instruction, and bid farewell——
This historical fact is heartfeltly touching. Fan Pang's upright character made the people who were ordered to arrest him cry bitterly, and made the magistrates prefer to abandon their posts and accompany him to flee; but Fan Pang was willing to die because he did not want to hurt others. The hands of traitors, especially Fan Pang's mother, even when she endured the pain to see her beloved son being tortured, the words she taught her son were still a fearless spirit, ignoring life and death, and emphasizing integrity, showing a strong And great mind.
After reading this record, Su Shi's mother and son spontaneously developed the belief of admiration and imitation—in fact, it was not just Su Shi's mother and son who were moved and influenced. Intellectuals have never been interrupted, whether it is Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming——
The darker the age, the more it can hone and strengthen the human mind, so that the power of the mind and spirit can be brought into full play——
The Donglin Movement in the late Ming Dynasty was just like the disaster of the Danggu in the Eastern Han Dynasty—the meaning of the disaster of the Danggu is described by historians: "In this era, intellectuals inherited the atmosphere of discussing politics of the previous generation and the rich cultural heritage of the sages, and resolutely provoked In order to clarify the important task of the world's morality, only relying on a little backbone of a scholar, he had direct friction with the fatuous and fatuous establishment." What he got was "expressed the mind of intellectuals when they were worried about the country, and formed a political culture that maintains A central force that does not fall."—Although the process of the two is not the same.
"Donglin" was originally not a deliberately organized group, but a group of like-minded intellectuals who shared the same ideas and naturally gathered together—as early as Gu Xiancheng was dismissed as a citizen and rebuilt in the 26th year of Wanli. Before "Donglin Academy", even before he passed the Jinshi examination and became an official, there were already many people around him who talked about learning and caring about state affairs, such as younger brother Yuncheng, student Gao Panlong, and grandson of teacher Xue Fangshan Xue Fujiao and so on; and when he was an official in the court, he even kept in touch with a group of honest men in the court. No matter the officers or colleagues, they were all because of the common sense of intellectuals in each other's hearts. Like him, these like-minded friends, like him, are not tolerant of the dirty politics of reality because of their noble character and stubborn ideas of choosing the good, step by step. Following in his footsteps, one after another dismissed from office and returned to his hometown. Shi Menglin, Yu Kongjian, An Xifan, Xue Fujiao, Qian Yiben, Liu Yuanzhen—in just a few years, they all went from being in the court to being out of office; Of course, regardless of their status as officials or civilians, they have the same concern for state affairs deep in their hearts. Even if they have been reduced to civilians, they still get together from time to time to discuss knowledge, criticize the current situation, and issue strong opinions. There was a call for reform, so the group "Donglin" was gradually formed.
Donglin Academy was originally a private lecture institute founded by Yang Shi, a great Confucian in the Song Dynasty. It is located in Wuxi County, Changzhou Prefecture. Because of the convenient location-Gu Xiancheng, Gao Panlong and others are all from Wuxi-this group of like-minded people The cronies rose up and rebuilt it as a place for lectures and gatherings; this plan was supported by Ouyang Dongfeng, the prefect of Changzhou, and Lin Zai, the prefect of Wuxi County, and was quickly put into practice, and the reconstruction was completed in the 32nd year of Wanli.
After Cheng Cheng, everyone agreed to hold Donglin Lecture Hall on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of each month; Gu Xiancheng made the meeting appointment, Gao Panlong wrote the preface, and clearly established the mission of Donglin Academy to "protect the way and save the time", and With Gu Xiancheng as the head of the mountain—he is the veritable Donglin Academy and the spiritual center of all the participants—the speeches of each lecture are printed and circulated, so that those who cannot attend can also get the lecture At the same time, he and other scholars of Donglin Academy often go to other nearby academies to give lectures, which further expands the influence; under such multi-faceted dissemination, the reputation of Donglin Academy has spread in a short time to the whole country.
And just as the couplet written by Gu Xiancheng and hung in the Yiyong Hall of Donglin Academy said: "The sound of wind and rain, the sound of reading, the sound of reading, family affairs, state affairs, world affairs, and everything concerned." He and all Donglin scholars They are not scholars who hide in the ivory tower and study knowledge. His academic views are applied in the world. He thinks that the first priority of intellectuals is to save the hearts of the world; therefore, he is actually a scholar based on academics. It is recorded in the history of the Ming Dynasty: "In addition to lectures, he often satirizes the government, judges people, and those who are admired by court officials are so far away."
Therefore, although the "Donglin" group has no name or organization as a "party", it has vaguely formed a substantial "opposition party" with a high degree of political influence, such as opposing mining taxes and other actions. And achieved certain results; and used this influence through public opinion several times to interfere with the appointment and removal of officials in the DPRK and China; for example, Shen Yitong, a scholar, was forced to resign, and Wang Xijue declined to join the cabinet again , and Governor Li Sancai was greatly supported by public opinion because of his friendship with Gu Xiancheng—no matter which one you look at, the degree of political involvement and political strength of "Donglin" have reached a considerable level.
Of course, in this way, "Donglin" also had serious conflicts with certain vested interests in the court; moreover, the basic standard for "Donglin" to mobilize public opinion is "the distinction between a strict gentleman and a villain". He vigorously supports and praises the gentleman he considers in his mind, and attacks the villain in his mind. In this way, all the villains are forced to unite and deal with "Donglin" together.
At this time, the government has become chaotic. Emperor Wanli has not been in court for many years, and the decline of the Ming Dynasty has already appeared. There have already been "little people forming cliques" in the court. There are three factions that have formed faintly. Different from the "Donglin" which is united due to like-mindedness, these three parties are mainly combined based on geographical divisions and fellowship; one is the Zhejiang Party, and its main members are Shen Yiguan and his supporter, Shen Yiguan. He is from Zhejiang, hence the name.The second is the Xuan Party, headed by Tang Binyin, and the third is the Kun Party, headed by Gu Tianjun.Later, the three parties were reorganized and changed into the Zhejiang, Qi, and Chu parties. Shen Yiguan had resigned, so Tang Binyin was the head.
Of course, these three parties possess considerable strength and power in the imperial court. In order to compete for political interests, they soon confronted "Donglin".
For the first time, the two sides brought the struggle that was originally only in secret to the stage. The fuse that triggered the open conflict was the election of Li Sancai to the cabinet. Li Sancai's resignation or death caused a vacancy, and the replacement candidate became the object of open and secret competition; people who support Li Sancai's reason is that in the past, most of the cabinet scholars were appointed by ministers. Insufficient understanding of the people's sentiments in all parts of the country affects the performance of the administration, so it is considered that the candidates for the supplement should be selected from among foreign officials; Li Sancai is extravagant. Therefore, it is the most suitable candidate.
However, Li Sancai's political opponents and other candidates who intend to join the cabinet and their supporters also immediately launched actions, collected a lot of evidence and vigorously attacked Li Sancai, and the two sides launched a fierce battle; on the surface, this dispute It is only to support or oppose Li Sancai's appointment as a cabinet scholar, but in essence it is a big struggle between the two groups.
Of course, there were quite a few courtiers who supported the "Donglin", including Ye Xianggao, one of the few remaining academicians in the cabinet, and Sun Piyang, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, who were actually of high political status; Gu Xiancheng personally wrote to the two of them, praising Li Sancai's ability; Yu Shi Wu Liang had always been on good terms with Li Sancai, so he attached these two letters to the residence newspaper and made them public. Busy—the attackers of Li Sancai have found a clue, pointing out that Li Sancai has a close relationship with Donglin, this time the political turmoil is manipulated by Donglin behind the scenes—the courtiers’ formation of cliques is expressly prohibited by the Ming Dynasty government In the past, even if there were small circles or even three parties in the court, they could only be formed secretly and privately. The relationship between Li Sancai and Donglin had already committed a taboo, and those who attacked him simply used the term "Donglin Party" To deepen Emperor Wanli's resentment; in such an unfavorable situation, Li Sancai had no choice but to resign voluntarily.
In this battle, "Donglin" lost the battle; however, it immediately regained the city with the help of "Jingcha". He appreciates it very much, and of course he attaches great importance to his opinions and suggestions; in the thirty-ninth year of Wanli's Beijing inspection, among the officials of the big plan, Sun Piyang vigorously proposed the impeachment and dismissal of incompetent officials. Many of the three parties People were impeached, even the two leaders Tang Binyin and Gu Tianjun were unavoidable; in this round of battle, Dong Lin had the upper hand.
Next, Sun Piyang's action was to recommend Gu Xiancheng, Gao Panlong and others to take up official positions to Emperor Wanli; At that time, Sun Piyang was nearly eighty years old, and he was in a waning mood. He went to Yidu suddenly, and when he was not allowed to resign several times, he "returned to the Shu" in February of the next year.
And this year—the 40th year of Wanli (AD 1612)—Donglin suffered even greater losses: Gu Xiancheng, who had always been the de facto leader, died of illness in this year.
It was Gu Xiancheng's student Gao Panlong (1562-1626 AD) who succeeded Gu Xiancheng in presiding over the Donglin Academy and leading the Donglin Movement.
Gao Panlong is diligent and knowledgeable, and has achieved high academic achievements, but he was as unhappy as other Donglin figures in his official career; He just went to the capital to be elected and worked as a pedestrian department. In the second year, he was demoted to Jieyang, Guangdong to be a minor official who added annotated history because of the incompetent cabinet scholar Wang Xijue. When he returned to his hometown, he suffered the pain of bereavement, so he simply resigned and stayed at home.
He built a "kelou" on the edge of Taihu Lake, lived in it to study, and meditated to cultivate his mind and think; Accepting Gu Xiancheng's academic guidance, he has been more influenced in the spiritual field; even, his aspiration and mission are the same as Gu Xiancheng's - as an intellectual, he also bears the burden of "taking the world as the first priority". own responsibility".
However, the current situation after 40 years of Wanli, the footsteps of corruption are passing by day by day; in politics, there is certainly a struggle between Donglin and the three parties, but it is even more difficult economically and financially. Emperor Wanli built Dingling. Expenditures such as the military expenditures for Ping Ning Xia's worship, aid to North Korea, and Ping Southwest Yang Yinglong's chaos in the past few years, as well as the wedding expenses of several princes and princesses, and the manors of the princes, have not only exhausted Zhang Ju. Just as the country has accumulated wealth for ten years, it is necessary to increase taxes on the people again and again, and the originally abundant world has become a cruel wasteland where people's livelihood is withered and people are mourning everywhere; Nurhachi with Liaodong has grown stronger day by day——
In the forty-three years of Wanli, a "striking" case occurred in the palace. Under the instigation of others, a man named Zhang Cha broke into the palace with a wooden stick in his hand, intending to beat to death the prince who had been established as the crown prince. Chang Luo—Of course this is a major event that caused a stir in the whole country, but after investigation, it was discovered that the mastermind behind this matter was Zheng Guifei, who was the favorite of Emperor Wanli, so everything had to be "let it go"; However, the negative impact caused by this incident, from the relationship between Emperor Wanli, Concubine Zheng, and Crown Prince Chang Luo, the reaction of the courtiers, and the public opinion of the people, has paid a heavy price, and the associated The two cases of "Hongwan" and "Yigong" that caused the subsequent cases caused incalculable damage to the entire Ming Dynasty.
But in such a dark age, the common feeling in the heart of any intellectual with ideals and aspirations is pain; fortunately, the attitude towards life held by "Donglin" is both positive and worldly, although in the real environment They suffered setbacks and failures repeatedly, and did not give up any efforts; under the leadership of Gao Panlong, the people in Donglin continued to pursue an ideal future world through lectures, so as to maintain the hope in people's hearts, and continued to use various At the same time, they have also successfully cultivated the next generation of outstanding talents; The Jinshi passed the five-year examination; many of the younger generation who participated in the lectures of Donglin Academy have begun to emerge and become officials in the mid-term examination, which has brought a new hope to "Donglin" and inspired everyone in Donglin to make persistent efforts unremitting efforts -
In July of the forty-eighth year of Wanli (AD 1620), Emperor Wanli died of illness, and Crown Prince Chang Luo Jili proposed the word "Taichang" as the year name for the second year's change of Yuan, but it was not used at all—he just The emperor who had been working for more than 20 days died suddenly because he ate a "red pill". temple number.
The court had no choice but to change the emperor again—Chang Luo's eldest son, the sixteen-year-old Yu Xiao, took over the throne, and the next year was the first year of Tianqi.
And in the process of changing the emperor, the case of "moving the palace" happened: it turned out that Zheng Guifei, in order to avoid Chang Luo's succession to the throne, would argue with her, and in order to curry favor with Chang Luo, she tried her best to win over Chang Luo's most favored servant "" Xi Li", the two conspired to seize power after Chang Luo's sudden death, and Xi Li occupied the Qianqing Palace and refused to move out. After Yang Lian Zuo Guangdou and other ministers argued for reason, the problem was successfully resolved, and the new enthroned The Tianqi Emperor was able to move into the Qianqing Palace where the emperor traditionally lived.
The "three major cases" have finally come to an end on the surface. Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and other Donglin people in the "Yigong" case also received rewards in a short period of time. Wang Wenyan, another rising star of Donglin, He cleverly connected with Wang An, the great eunuch who was very influential to Emperor Tianqi. With the operation of these several relationships, Donglin quickly gained the upper hand in the imperial court.
Donglin figures who had lost their positions in the political battles began to return to the political stage. Gao Panlong was reinstated from the position of Guanglu Temple Chancellor, and was soon promoted to Guanglu Shaoqing. Zou Yuanbiao, Zhao Nanxing, Ye Xianggao and others also all In the third year of Tianqi (1623 AD), people in Donglin once again used the opportunity of the "Jingcha" plan to successfully eliminate and purge their political opponents. The members of the three parties who were regarded as "villains" were expelled, and there were not many people left; the important positions in the court were almost all held by Donglin figures, such as Ye Xianggao as a cabinet scholar, and Zhao Nanxing as a minister of officials , Gao Panlong served as the censor of the capital, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong, Li Yingsheng, Zhou Zongjian, Miao Changqi, Zhou Qiyuan, Zhou Shunchang, Huang Zunsu—all took important positions.
However, it is precisely because "Donglin" is not a tangible organization, nor a political party, but an invisible group that is naturally gathered together by a group of educated and honest gentlemen. They emphasize integrity and integrity, and they are full of ideals of contributing to the country and the people, but they have no actual political ideas and policies; therefore, although this group of honest gentlemen took up important positions one by one, they could not come up with any specific methods. Save the decline of the Ming Dynasty and solve all kinds of diseases - whether it is the serious decline of people's livelihood in the country, or the serious foreign troubles of Nurhachi's invasion of large and small cities in Liaodong.
Moreover, the knowledge that people in Donglin emphasize is not only based on the requirements for personal morality, but also takes integrity and integrity as an absolute assessment standard for a person. And the villain, and included all the villains in the list of exclusions, forcing all the "villains" to have nowhere to go, so they had to unite and try their best to fight back against Donglin-they one by one He attached himself to the wing of Wei Zhongxian, an eunuch who enjoyed a lot in front of Emperor Tianqi, in order to seek political backing and to resist Donglin's exclusion.
Compared with Wei Zhongxian, with the attachment of so many people, his strength has gradually grown. When Donglin was in full swing, a "eunuch party" headed by Wei Zhongxian was quietly formed; The people in Donglin, who value personal integrity, did not notice the approaching crisis at all, and took measures to prevent the incipient development, which finally led to tragedy, and a tragic disaster occurred——
Wei Zhongxian was originally a rogue in the market, because he lost money from gambling and could not repay it, he simply worked as a eunuch from the palace, went to the palace to serve, and made a living; The eunuchs who entered the palace at a young age naturally knew more about the world and were better at pleasing others. Soon he was appreciated by the great eunuch Wang An, and he also formed a fake couple with Emperor Tianqi's wet nurse Hakka—the term in the palace It is called "counter food". Although ordinary court ladies and eunuchs cannot become a real couple, "eating together" is like a couple. It was allowed in the palace of the Ming Dynasty, and it was a common phenomenon.
And the Ke family occupies a very large weight in Emperor Tianqi's mind-Emperor Tianqi is not a normal person psychologically, he has an abnormal attachment to his nanny; this abnormal psychology is not just his personal factor, but the whole era It was caused by the tragedy, and the evil cause had been planted long before he was born.
He was born in the 33rd year of Wanli. At that time, although his father Guangzong Zhu Changluo had been established as the crown prince, he was still not favored by the Wanli Emperor, and he was still living under the shadow of Zheng Guifei. All the treatment was very poor. , life is not easy, and the care that can be given to his son is of course very limited; his biological mother, Wang Xuanshi, died early, and in his immature childhood, only the embrace of the nanny was warm and safe.
He was only eleven years old when the "tampering" case happened—even his father's safety was threatened, and the blow to such a motherless child's young heart can be imagined. Therefore, he He is even more attached to his nanny; after becoming the emperor, although there is no longer a threat to his sense of security, this attachment has already taken root in his heart.
Therefore, he gave special preferential treatment to the nanny's nominal husband who also "loves the house and loves the crow", so that Wei Zhongxian got many opportunities to get close to him——Wei Zhongxian, who is sophisticated and considerate, also took advantage of this opportunity and won his favor. and reuse.
Due to the evil causes of psychological abnormalities buried in his childhood, Emperor Tianqi had no interest in political affairs, but only preferred carpentry; since he got Wei Zhongxian, who was loyal to him and reliable, he simply put the All affairs were handed over to Wei Zhongxian to handle, and he concentrated on making various wooden utensils in the palace.
Wei Zhongxian's power became stronger and stronger. After he designed to kill Wang An, he became the number one important person in the palace. Zhongxian does not know that there is an emperor; in the capital city, people know that there are Zhongxian, but do not know that there is an emperor.” ——The footsteps of history reached the fourth year of Tianqi.
This situation is of course a great disadvantage to Donglin—since most of the members of the "eunuch party" are members of the three parties who were originally regarded as villains by Donglin, once they have the strength and influence, of course they will start to fight. Ready to launch a counterattack against Dong Lin.
Just at this time, Yang Lian, who has a new personality, did something impetuous, which became the fuse that led to the tragedy in Donglin. He stepped forward and wrote a long letter eloquently, impeaching Wei Zhongxian for the twenty-four major crimes committed, and disregarding the opposition and dissuasion of other people in Donglin, rashly submitted it to Emperor Tianqi.
Perhaps, Yang Lian's original intention was to risk his own black gauze hat and life to awaken the heart of Emperor Tianqi; however, the actual situation was much worse than he imagined; In Emperor Tianqi's mind, he was not the only one who lost his life after the disaster happened——
He himself was "responsible" after a few days in Shangshu, and was dismissed four months later; then, Zhao Nanxing and Gao Panlong were also dismissed under Wei Zhongxian's order; in March of the fifth year of Tianqi in the following year , Wei Zhongxian insisted that Luo Zhi's charges against Xiong Tingbi were involved with the Donglin people. He first arrested Wang Wenyan and tortured him, and then arrested Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong, Yuan Huazhong, Zhou Chaorui, and Gu Dazhang. He was tortured to death inhumanely; and then, the spearhead was pointed at Zhou Qiyuan, Gao Panlong, Zhou Shunchang, Miao Changqi, Li Yingsheng, Zhou Zongjian, and Huang Zunsu. Some of these people have been dismissed from office, and some have become foreign officials. Not all of them are in Beijing. He also sent the "White Boot Captain" to arrest them everywhere, and wiped out this group of people on the "blacklist".
Among these people, only Gao Panlong was not arrested—he committed suicide by throwing himself into a pool at home the night before the Tiqi sent by Wei Zhongxian arrived.
After his death, Donglin Academy became a piece of rubble under Wei Zhongxian's order to destroy the Tianxia Academy; other officials in Donglin, even if they were saved from being persecuted to death, were mostly forced to dismiss them. The court has become a world of eunuchs; all good people in the court are empty, and the country that is already riddled with holes, after such a major devastation, is even more vital, and the day of extinction is getting closer.
However, Wei Zhongxian’s end came long before the Ming Dynasty’s demise—in August of the seventh year of Tianqi, Emperor Tianqi died of illness. Due to childlessness, the throne was taken over by his younger brother Zhu Youjian, who was changed to Yuan Chongzhen in the second year; His temperament is very different from that of Nai brother, and he is not willing to be a puppet emperor. Of course, he cannot tolerate the arrogance of Wei Zhongxian, who is "nine thousand years old". After a period of preparation, he successfully eliminated Wei Zhongxian, the Ke family, and The main figures in the eunuch party, who were persecuted by the eunuch party and dismissed from office in the past, were reinstated one by one, and the characters of Donglin once again raised their heads.
As a result, another cycle of political struggles began again—even though Emperor Chongzhen repeatedly expressed his disgust for ministers forming cliques, and issued repeated orders to prohibit them, the calm situation on the surface did not mean that the situation in private There is no turbulent undercurrent; and even though all the heavyweights in Donglin and the Eunuch party have died after the last cycle, and the remaining people are only "second-level" figures, they still cannot stop each other. The battles between the small ones, such as the struggle between Qian Qianyi, Wen Tiren, and Zhou Yanru, and the big ones, such as Yuan Chonghuan, who was the only one who could stop Nurhachi, Huang Taiji and his son from the southward invasion, were executed because of the persecution of the eunuch party and the suspicion of Emperor Chongzhen. ——In the end, the entire Chongzhen Dynasty, and even the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the two sides were constantly fighting. It was not until the entire Ming Dynasty fell, and Chinese history reached the Qing Dynasty. A truce; however, the price for such "peace" is a painful change of dynasty——
From a simple intellectual's deep-hearted wish to save the world and save the world, to a group that uses the power of academics and public opinion to influence politics, and even dies with its own body. The disaster is compared with the Donglin Movement in the late Ming Dynasty, and the extreme efforts made by this group of intellectuals in fighting against the dark political realities and corrupt powers, and the moral courage they have shown in ignoring life and death and emphasizing integrity are fully displayed. Intellectuals are noble and tragic on the spiritual level; even if their efforts ultimately fail, they leave a brilliance of human spiritual power in history; Charles O.Hucker even proposed the term "glorious failure" As a positive evaluation of the Donglin movement.
Indeed, as far as the ideals and persistence in the heart of an intellectual are concerned, no matter whether they are from the party, Donglin, or even intellectuals born in any other dynasty, their aspirations left in the history books It is awe-inspiring to read; Fan Pang's mother and son's aspirations won the respect of Su Shi's mother and son, and even gave birth to the heart of "imitating". What arises in it is reverence—
However, the dynasties were destroyed after all, and the historians of later generations will inevitably point out with great sorrow when studying the key to their rise and fall, that the most direct negative impact caused by the disaster of the party is that the benevolent and elites are emptied, and the country and society lose a large number of powerful people. People with ideals, virtues, and ideals lost an invisible force, and their vitality was seriously injured, and they soon went to the road of extinction; the same was true for the Donglin Movement in the late Ming Dynasty.
After all, history is the development process of human beings as a whole, rather than the single activities of a few individuals; the people in the party are certainly celebrities for a while, and everyone in Donglin is also a scholar with both learning and morality, and everyone is excellent. The ideals they pursued and insisted on are also lofty, but they failed in the end. The reason is that the external factors of the times are important, and the inner ideology of this group of intellectuals is more worth exploring.
Most intellectuals have a strong tendency of "perfectionism", and the ideal world they pursue in their hearts is perfect without any blemishes; the same is true for people's requirements—especially for political figures, which not only require perfection in talent , but also requires to achieve zero defects in learning and morality-this ideal is bound to have a serious conflict with reality; in this world, who is perfect?
What's more, moral ideals are not equal to political ideals, and political ideals are not equal to real politics—once the requirements of the three are overlapped, tragedy is inevitable.
It is true that the political environment of the Ming Dynasty has been corrupted to the extreme since Zhang Juzheng’s death, and Donglin’s clamoring for moral demands shows the conscience of intellectuals; On this point, Donglin has failed quite a bit—that is, in terms of their moral requirements for politicians, Li Sancai, who was strongly supported by them and tried to be elected into the cabinet, has very problematic integrity; moreover, they Although they vigorously commented on the government when they were in opposition, when many of them took up important positions, they still could not come up with a set of specific measures to improve the government; They are the political opponents of "little people"; and their standard of judging people is an absolute and strict dichotomy. Immediately regarded as a villain; in fact, how can there be an absolute standard for measuring people in this world?Wei Zhongxian, who was originally a small villain and a small villain, has gradually evolved into a villainous Wei Zhongxian in the political environment. Does it still contain many questions worth exploring and thinking about?
When reading history books, I often think from multiple perspectives, multiple perspectives, and multiple levels; history itself is a broad field of vision, and in the process of studying the rise and fall of a dynasty, it often triggers many revelations, from human nature to politics. , from the spiritual realm to the real environment, there are endless treasures to be excavated in the vast thinking space.
However, I can't help expressing emotion and lament from the bottom of my heart from time to time; the ultimate goal of historical research is to observe the past and know the future, but many tragedies in history always repeat themselves again and again; When people read history, how much can people get some reflection on "supervising the past"?From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, almost every dynasty had historical events of party struggles and internal strife, and the Yin Jian, the "disaster of the party", seemed to have no effect. The same is true for the Donglin Movement.
The relics of the restored Donglin Academy are still there today. The little moss on the roof tiles and stone steps are traces of the years. The furnishings and green trees in the academy have passed hundreds of years leisurely; but history Ruthless, what it does is an objective review.
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