The Strange Circle in The Scholars

The Scholars is a novel of Wu in Qing Dynasty. The author deeply criticized and mocked the corruption of bureaucracy, the malpractice of imperial examination and the hypocrisy of ethics at that time by realistic means. Read through this book, in addition to expressing admiration for its superb satirical artistic achievements, but also vaguely see a circle.

The circle in The Scholars is of course about fame and fortune. Speaking of this circle, people can't help but think of Fortress Besieged, which is known as a "new Confucian". Besieged cities and circles are ironic, but they are different. "besieged city" means that people outside want to go in and people inside want to come out; The circle in the Scholars is that everyone is digging their brains and sharpening their heads to drill in. Of course, there are also very few people born with eyes, who see through fame and fortune and live as "outsiders"

If you want to ask how the circle in The Scholars was formed, most people will blurt out: the imperial examination system. In fact, the imperial examination system is only the direct factor of this circle, and the deeper factor is the ideological level.

"Official-oriented" is a kind of values with official as the foundation, official as the priority and official as the main content. The official-oriented culture originated from Shang Yang, a thinker in the Warring States Period. In Kaisai, there is a saying that "the next world is expensive and the official respects". "Official standard" became the official culture of China after being unified by Shang Yang's thought in Qin Dynasty, and it penetrated into all levels of China society under the influence of feudal autocratic culture for more than 2,000 years. In ancient times, local governors had great control over the economy, culture and even military affairs within their jurisdiction, so it was generally believed that "officials had money". If a person wants to improve the life of himself and his family, being an official becomes the first choice. How to be an official involves the system of selecting officials.

The imperial examination system is a great pioneering work in selecting talents in ancient China, which began in the Sui Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, there were many subjects in the imperial examination, such as scholar, Ming Jing, gentleman, scholar, Fa Ming (law), Zi Ming, Ming suan (mathematics) and so on. The content of the exam includes current affairs strategy, composition, etc. Many talented people have made contributions to the development of the country by passing the imperial examinations. For example, the famous Di in history was born in Ming Jing.

During Chenghua period of Ming Dynasty, in order to imprison intellectuals' thoughts, the rulers began to adopt "stereotyped writing for selecting scholars". The scope of the proposition is limited to four books and five classics, and the style is strictly limited to eight-part essay. Candidates cannot give full play to their personal opinions. Therefore, reading has become a dead book, and many people only know stereotyped writing, dismissing learning poetry as miscellaneous heresy. Many people who have been admitted to the official have no real talent and practical learning. In this way, stereotyped writing of scholars greatly limits the promotion of scholars. The ruling class is full of corrupt scholars such as Zhou Jin and Jin Fan, while real scholars are useless.

In The Scholars, scholars who are eager to get ahead often read only sage books, hoping to be an official in high school, but they are not allowed to do anything, so they are poor and unable to make a living. In this way, it is not surprising that Zhou Jin, who is old and has repeatedly failed, intends to hit his head in Hiram's Hospital, and Jin Fan, who has also repeatedly failed, looks on coldly and is ecstatic because he won the prize in the exam. Even so, those who have no way out in the imperial examination still hope to gain some fame through "reading" in order to obtain the title of a celebrity and make life easier.

Scholars are still like this, and people at the bottom of society are more enthusiastic about those who have been elected. In The Scholars, whoever is poor in the village will come to congratulate him, not relatives but also relatives, not friends. With the help of several businessmen, Zhou Jin donated a Guo-zi-jian diploma, and with the qualification of Guo-zi-jian diploma, he was admitted to Juren. As a result, his relatives and friends suddenly increased, and even the school where he taught was dedicated to the "longevity card" of "Master Zhou". These people who haven't studied are actually not people in the circle, but their pursuit has made more people work harder to enter the circle.

Therefore, the so-called strange circle exists not only in the society where people live, but also in everyone's mind.

The Scholars spans a long time, from the end of Yuan Dynasty to the beginning of Ming Dynasty to the forty-four years of Ming Wanli, lasting about 248 years. The author uses the technique that one character leads to another, so there are many characters in the novel, each with its own characteristics. From the circle point of view, these characters can actually be divided into two categories: insiders and outsiders.

People in the circle are naturally inseparable from fame and fortune. Among them, Wang Hui, who was caught in a rebellion and became a fake official, was wanted by the court and had to flee the Jianghu, change her name and surname, cut off her hair and become a monk. Zhou Jin and Jin Fan were lucky enough to be frustrated many times, but they finally found a faithful wife. Yang Zhizhong and all the people who don't need this kind of down and out are poor, but they are arty and greedy for fame and profit; There are fickle, hypocritical and cunning people like Kuang Superman who are filial and diligent, and then hook up with street gangsters, resulting in the death of their wives. There is a famous Du Like Shen Qing, who spends a lot of money and is different everywhere, but he is arrogant and hypocritical ...

These people pursue fame and fortune, although the outcome is different, but in short, they are all fame and fortune ups and downs, which makes people glimpse the unbearable after the smog of officialdom and Shilin. However, not everyone in the circle is obsessed with fame and fortune. Although in the circle, I can remain true to my heart.

Yu Yide is one of the few true Confucian scholars. He lost his mother at the age of three and his father at the age of fourteen. Thanks to the help of Qi Taigong in the town, he taught him geography and fortune telling, and advised him to learn stereotyped writing for the exam. Yu Yide is a casual person with Zhuangzi style. He made a living by sitting in a museum before the mid-term exam. When he was 32, no one invited him. His wife asked him what to do. He replied that the money he earned was fixed. If he earns less here, he may earn more there. He has the tolerance to protect himself and help the world. At the age of fifty, Yu Yide was a scholar, and others lied about their age for reuse. Only he didn't care and reported it truthfully. As a result, the son of heaven thought he was old and gave Dr. imperial academy a sinecure. Although Yu Yide took stereotyped writing as an official, he did not support stereotyped writing. This is because he once said to Du Shao Qing, "I don't care about his children. Now, after studying, I teach my children to study for a doctorate so that they can make a living. Why should I be an official? " You can see.

As for Xiao Yunxian, he is a unique figure in The Scholars. He is both civil and military, and heroic. He can really use Kyle to defend the enemy, dismount and protect the people. Songpan Bian Wei is in a state of emergency. Xiao Yunxian's father Xiao Haoxuan heard that it was an old friend Ping Shaobao who went to collect money, so he ordered Xiao Yunxian to join the army. Xiaoyunxian led his troops to recover the border town. After Xiao Yunxian entered Qingfeng City, he went out to appease refugees, reclaim land, build water conservancy projects, start schools, and have fun with the people. Witness Mr. Shen called him "Today's class is far away". According to the accounting of the Ministry of Industry officials, he said that he was "floating at will" and should recover more than 7,500 taels of silver. It was only after his father Xiao Haoxuan ordered him to sell his property and return it to the public that he was able to calm the matter down.

It can be said that Yu Yide, Xiao Yunxian and other figures are the last fig leaf of the Confucian forest written by the author.

People outside the circle are actually divided into two categories. The first category is real celebrities Mian, Zhuang Shaoguang and Du.

Wang Mian is the pioneer of The Scholars. He is aloof and vowed not to be an official, which is the ideal sustenance of the author in this article. There are real people in history, so I don't want to say more here.

Zhuang Shaoguang is a talented, intelligent person who knows how to advance and retreat. He has real talent and learning, but Taibao tried to put it in the door wall but declined. When he was recruited by the emperor, he carefully formulated ten educational strategies. After he found a scorpion in the headscarf, he knew that the imperial court would have nowhere to live, so he presented Ten Strategies for Education together with a play "Begging for a Return to the Mountain" and then returned to Wuying Lake to live a leisurely life. It can be seen that Zhuang Shaoguang is not greedy for money, but he does not live in seclusion in the mountains. He really has independent intentions and the ability to help the world.

In contrast, Du's indifference to fame and wealth and contempt for powerful people are quite thorough. Du was born in an official family with "three generations under one roof, four generations under one roof and six ministers", and he has his own arrogance. The salt merchants in the county hosted a banquet for Wang Zhi-xian and invited Du to accompany him many times, which made him quite unhappy. He said, "He really admires me. Why didn't he come to worship me first and ask me to worship him? " Besides, learning is unlucky. When you meet the magistrate of this place, call him a teacher! I don't want a scholar in the ashes of the Wangs. He worships me as a teacher. What would I do to him? "He doesn't like to be an official. When he met the emperor's conquest, the court officials recommended it, and everyone else welcomed it, but he refused. Du was originally rich in furniture, but he was kind and generous by nature, used to being a "big old official" and gradually dissipated his family wealth. After that, he only made a living by selling literature in Nanjing. Before going to visit, Du said that there was "the joy of friends between mountains and rivers", and "the husband and wife took a few children and were indifferent." It can be seen that Du is really indifferent to fame and fortune.

Zhuang Shaoguang and Du have many opportunities to enter that circle, but they know that personality determines fate, and there is no soil for them to live in that circle, so they are determined to stay away from it, don't have to struggle with fame and fortune, and live indifferently.

Just as not everyone in the circle pursues fame and fortune wholeheartedly, not everyone outside the circle is as indifferent to fame and fortune as Du. They are the second kind of people outside the circle. These people live at the bottom of society. They are not envious of the scenery in the circle, and they are not qualified and have no way to enter the circle. So he enthusiastically sought after people in the circle, which gave birth to countless rays of light and made more people hope to enter the circle.

It is very difficult to break this circle in the feudal era written by the author, which requires the rulers not to bind the thoughts of scholars, to give them more ways to live, and to strive to improve the living conditions of the people at the bottom of society. However, in order to strengthen its rule, the ruling class will not let the scholars think about it, but will destroy the ideological trend that threatens it at all costs.

Today, this circle has largely collapsed. Reform and opening up, emancipating the mind, more than forty years. Being an official is no longer the only pursuit of people, and even many people don't want to "overwork". All walks of life have advanced by leaps and bounds, with a real number of 360 lines, ranking first in all walks of life. Reading has a way out, and moving bricks and farming can also lead a moist life. You don't have to envy me and I don't have to envy you. This circle naturally has no conditions for existence.

As for those who are still troubled by fame and fortune, it is another matter.