On the ancient land of1.400 million years ago, a high mountain rose silently. Somehow, it was destined to be unusual.
Wind, rain and erosion have smoothed its edges and corners, and Quaternary glaciers have given it new steepness. Pieces of black granite support its whole body, stretching into the sky for a thousand meters, and bring it its first name-Sishan, which means black.
Let's start with a more familiar world.
Five or six thousand years ago, this mountain welcomed its first distinguished guest. He led two ministers to climb the mountain and never came down again. People say that they became immortals and flew higher than the sky.
He is called the Yellow Emperor.
This history is always too mysterious, close to myth, just like a distant but beautiful dream. The story I'm going to tell has just begun, and it's too long to be abridged and ignored, but believe me. No one can tell the story completely. The story continues to this day.
This story is about this mountain and the people at its foot.
This mountain lies between wuyue, and there is soil between them. People do not dye other customs. First belongs to Wu, Wu belongs to Yue. In those days, wuyue was fighting for hegemony. It has been watching silently.
The stars change, and the war in the Central Plains intensifies. Under the threat of Qiang Qin, there are only a few more than 200 vassal states left.
There are more and more people at the foot of the mountain, some of them are the original Baiyue Mountain people, and many of them are immigrants from the north. Tired of years of war, the whole family moved, and Dashan embraced them with great heart, making them live and work in peace and contentment from now on. Later, the Qin Dynasty destroyed six countries and established counties. The one near the mountain is called yi county, and the one near the water is called Shexian. If it is disclosed in advance, this area will be Huizhou in the future.
It is not difficult to imagine that in troubled times, Huizhou people were born brave. If it weren't for the appearance of a person, this place might still be like this.
This man's name is Jong Li, the satrap of the Han Dynasty. He thought that "the more vulgar Danyang is, the more difficult it is to learn", so he set up a school himself. Let the mountain people know the ritual and righteous marriage instrument.
In this remote land, people and mountains are silent, but not decadent. They know that only by maintaining can they make a difference. In the past, there were more and more schools in Jong Li, and people became different. Confucianism is unique and noble, willing to be cold.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Song Huizong, the land under the mountain finally got its real name-Huangshan and Huizhou. This seems to indicate something.
During the Huang Chao Rebellion in the late Tang Dynasty, a man named Huan Zhu moved from Suzhou to settle down and spread to the ninth generation of Zhu Song. Zhu Song has a son. When he was born, he saw the volcano erupt, and he got the meaning of the word and fire, which is Zhu's.
Regardless of the evaluation of later generations, even at that time, Zhu was a legendary figure. From the fact that he impeached the prefect Tang to promote his friends, we knew that the prefect violated the law and discipline, took bribes and abused his power, but he was sheltered by the Prime Minister. Zhu wrote a dozen letters and finally dismissed the magistrate. The court valued his talent and entrusted him with an important task, but he refused to accept it. He set up education, wrote books and did things that were not understood by the world at that time.
Zhu has his reasons. What he always remembers is an idea called Neo-Confucianism by later generations. His thought is so vast that even the whole universe can be summarized by it. It is too difficult to explain his ideas one by one, even if a small part of them is taken out, it can be said to be a genius idea.
"There are two parts to human nature," said Zhu Dui. "One comes from nature, it is the goodness of nature, and the other comes from oneself, and evil is in it."
"Therefore, it is necessary to uphold justice and destroy human desires." Zhu's eyes lit up and he spit out this sentence unswervingly. From then on, it reverberated in the land of China. Whether it is guidance or imprisonment, this sentence has become the standard of self-discipline for countless people in later generations. If Zhu became prime minister, things might not be like this.
Zhu died in 1200, leaving a huge neo-Confucianism system. Interestingly, his Neo-Confucianism is all-encompassing, including the words of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. It is as broad as Huangshan in those days and can accommodate people from all directions.
Zhu Yisheng was proud to live at the foot of Huangshan Mountain, which was called Xin 'an in ancient times, so he often called himself New Xi.
After Zhu, the world was surprised to find that Huizhou was full of talents and Huizhou began to glow. Surprisingly, Huangshan Mountain has been ignored by the world, and this Huangshan Mountain, which gives Huizhou literati moisture and comfort, has also been ignored. Moreover, people are still saying, "outstanding people first, outstanding people later."
Huangshan is waiting for someone.
It once thought it had arrived. This man is free and easy, and his imagination is like a river. This man came to the foot of Huangshan Mountain for a Bai Niao. His name is Li Bai and he is called a poet.
It is conceivable that if Li Bai climbed Mount Huangshan and saw the tangled ends of the earth and the oblique peaks, his inspiration would be bursting, but he didn't enter the mountain. On that occasion, he got Bai Niao, left a poem and returned home on a whim.
It was not until the Ming Dynasty, when travelers entered the mountains, that Huangshan really ushered in a turning point of fate. This man is famous for a book, Xu Xiake's Travel Notes. He walked with a satisfied smile and sighed deeply: "There is no Huangshan Mountain in the world, and those who climb Huangshan Mountain have no mountains in the world."
Since then, people have known the existence of Huangshan Mountain, as if to make up for it. People come here in an endless stream and praise it in the most beautiful language. What do you mean, "This will be a fairy couple; Come back, there will be no laity, and what "all the stones on the earth are slaves"; There are no mountains in the world to be brothers. Since it is not among the five mountains, it is said that "the grandeur of Dai Gu, the glow of Heng Yue, the waterfall of Kuanglu, the coolness of Emei and the combination of Huangshan". People also know why Huizhou is prolific and talented. Later generations praised: "Huangshan Mountain is absolutely natural; Ancient Hui literati were full of romance. "
If what Feng Shui said really exists, Huizhou, with Huangshan as the center, should be full of flowers in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. At that time, there were many talents, and Xin 'an medicine was in full swing. Xin 'an bonsai and Xin 'an prints are the only art forests. It is worth mentioning that a group of painters took root in Huangshan and enjoyed it with great concentration. People say there are three distances from the mountain: climbing from the bottom is high; Looking at the mountain from the front is far-reaching; Looking far from the near mountain is called the plain. It's really weird. It's the wonder of Huangshan Mountain, that's all. Huangshan's scenery and people's aesthetics are surprisingly consistent. It's like a treasure house of art, and everyone has different tastes. Some people's works are simple and profound, and some people's works are as cold as ice, so they are divided into factions, but everyone's understanding comes from Huangshan, so they are collectively called Huangshan Painting School.
Maybe we should also talk about the new philosophy. Since Zhu, children in Huizhou have understood his theory most thoroughly. At this time, Neo-Confucianism has become the official orthodoxy. Anyone who dares to say "no" is guilty of decapitation. Zhu is a saint, competing with Confucius and Mencius. During the Yongzheng period, Xie Jishi, an imperial envoy, annotated "University" in the military camp and replaced Zhu's opinion with the opinion of "Book of Rites". He was sentenced to death and later changed to hard labor. Such a thing, I'm afraid, was unexpected by Zhu.
The river of wisdom is still flowing, seemingly calm as before, but it is gradually settling in the depths, with more and more sediment, slower and slower flow rate, and even the source is gradually withering, and the whole river is in danger of drying up.
Dai Zhen came at the right time.
Walking from the foot of Huangshan Mountain and from Zhu's hometown, he is destined to be different.
Different from other scholars, Dai Zhen studied under Jiang Yong, a master of mathematics, and made great achievements in Confucian classics.
Dai Zhen learned very well. At the age of 22, he completed the calculation of the second volume, accepted scientific ideas at the same time, and added a little rationality to his passion. From then on, he began to inspect Zhu's legacy. He saw that the old people blamed the young people with "reason", and the noble people blamed the humble people with "reason". He has seen countless Zhen Xuan memorial archways, and people told him that this is the retribution for obeying "reason"
What is "reason", who can give a definition, or can be arbitrarily explained by the people above, Dai Zhen began to wonder, and then he was awake. He wrote in a letter: "The ignorance of post-Confucianism to the point of regret is called reason, and its so-called reason is the same as that of cruel officials." The cruel officials killed people by law, and the post-Confucianism killed people by reason. "
What a post-Confucian who kills people by reason. However, when countless people are convicted for their words, it is tantamount to self-destruction to publicly say this sentence. So Dai Zhen buried himself in his paper and took notes for Mencius, but his thoughts were all between the lines. Mencius said, "A pure heart is not good at lacking desires." He said, "Obviously, you can't have everything you want, just a few."
Westerners say, "Some birds can't be caged. Because their feathers are too bright. " Even if the literary inquisition is rampant, it will not prevent Dai Zhen from becoming a master. He carried forward Pu Xue, also called textual research, and introduced analytical methods in mathematics into Pu Xue. He entered the Museum of Sikuquanshu, edited three volumes of Li Yizhi's Book by Zhang Chun from Yongle Dadian, and revised Li's Li Yiji's Book into thirty volumes.
Even his students have a heavy weight in the history of literature. Listen to this long list of names:
Dai Zhen's philology spread to Wang Niansun and Duan Yucai, Duan Yucai to Gong Zizhen, Wang Niansun to Yu Yue, Yu Yue to Zhang Taiyan, and Zhang Taiyan to Huang Kan. ......
Dai Zhen died at the age of 55, but the story is not over.
Until today, when you see the No.1 memorial archway in the center of Shexian County, you will know that the story is not over yet.
Even if today's Huizhou is no longer the past, I always believe that Huizhou will not decline, because there are Huangshan Mountain and a culture that has been deposited for thousands of years. Huangshan and Huizhou have been intertwined since ancient times, and it is difficult to separate them. They used to be unknown together because they were remote, and at the same time they tended to be prosperous. The noble personality of Huizhou scholars, the self-control of etiquette virtue, Ren Xia's bold character and the temperament of wild cranes in the clouds all coincide with Huangshan's strange and secretive character.
Time rushes forward, leaving history behind and following it.
In our story, there used to be kings, generals, poets, travelers, famous ministers, businessmen, chess players and thinkers.
This is not the end, temporary dormancy means the rise of the future.
Although I just want to stop here, the story goes on.