Why did his father send him to the boy's house?

The narrow door of talent promotion is guarded by the only buyer-the imperial court, so many families who want to take shortcuts to get rich quickly naturally cultivate quite excellent talents.

In the east of Jinxi County, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province, there is a mountain peak with an altitude of 1278 meters. It is not as famous as Lushan Mountain, but its name may make people curious: prodigy peak. There is a bird called "prodigy bird" in the mountains, which often crows in the forest: "Father wants his son to succeed, and father wants his son to succeed." It is said that this was changed by Fang Zhongyong, a prodigy in the Song Dynasty. Fang Zhongyong is not only a prodigy in Jiangxi.

Prodigy Fang Zhongyong.

90 years ago, there was a famous child prodigy named Fang Zhongyong in Jiangxi. Fang Zhongyong was born in a poor peasant family, smart, lovely and talented. When he was five years old, one day, he cried at his father's skirt and insisted on pen and ink. Father was forced by him to borrow Four Treasures of the Study from the only poor scholar in the village. Always smile through tears, pen holder in hand, a five-character poem emerged from his small mouth:

Four sides of the sea, the center of Wulong plate; If you meet a genius, fly out and write an article.

Father was shocked and it took him a long time to wake up. He was ecstatic to the sky and kowtowed again and again. It is incredible that a five-year-old mountain boy, without any education, was born to recite poems and write them correctly. Soon, people outside the mountain talked about it, "There are prodigies in the mountains!"

Since having a son Zhong Yong who can recite poems and write, his father has been so happy that he has been carrying Zhong Yong around in the street all day. People also like to see some precious things. As soon as Zhong Yong came out, he recited poems on the spot, and the rich man returned a few pieces of silver. Once, my father took Zhong Yong to a small town. An old teacher wanted to test whether Zhong Yong was a god, and made a couplet: "A son rides his father like a horse." Who knows that Zhong Yong didn't even think about it, and answered loudly and correctly: "Father wants his son to succeed." There was an uproar. The old teacher gave a thumbs-up and praised again and again, "prodigy, prodigy, true prodigy"!

Wang Anshi, a great statesman and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, is also a twelve-year-old child. That year, he went with his father to visit relatives at Uncle Jinxi's house. He once met Fang Zhongyong. Wang Anshi intends to try Zhong Yong's poetic talent. When he saw a man chopping wood, he read, "A blunt axe can chop wood, but three sticks and four sticks can't open it." Zhong Yong glanced at the cook who was cutting the lotus root and casually replied, "Cut the lotus root quickly, and the lotus root will keep breaking." Wang Anshi was very moved.

However, when Wang Anshi went to Jinxi for the second time at the age of 19, he asked about the prodigy Fang Zhongyong. People told him that a prodigy is no longer a fairy, and he can't write or compose poems correctly like ordinary people. Wang Anshi was very sentimental when he asked about it. He wrote a short article about it. This is the famous essay "Shang Zhong Yong", in which there is a passage: "Zhong Yong knows everything, and he is also blessed." It is also the day of acceptance, and talents are far away. If you are everyone's pawn, you will not be accepted by others. "

What Wang Anshi means is that Fang Zhongyong's general understanding is innate, and the acquired cultivation method is wrong, which caused this tragedy.

Prodigies all have their own specialties.

In the Song Dynasty, there were many prodigies like Fang Zhongyong. Duan Youzhi, a native of Kaifeng, recited four books and five classics at the age of eleven, and Song Zhenzong gave birth to a "boy" for him. Shao Huan, born and raised, can write poetry and fu at the age of twelve, and the true Sect is "saving books"; Chongke, a civilian child of Nankang Army, could recite the Book of Changes at the age of six and use it for divination. The real Sect gave birth to a boy; Xu Shichang, a native of Chuzhou, can recite the Five Classics at the age of twelve. What a boy. Xu Shichang's younger brother Xu Shichang, who can recite three classics at the age of eight, is really a boy; Zhu Tianxi, a native of Raozhou, could recite the Seven Classics at the age of nine. God gave birth to a boy and gave him 50 thousand yuan. Zhu Tianxi's younger brother, Zhu Tianshen, could recite the top ten classics at the age of twelve, and God gave the boy a birth. Zhu Junzhi, a native of Raozhou, could recite the Six Classics at the age of nine. God gave the boy a life and gave him twenty pieces of silk. Zhu Junzhi's brother Zhu could recite the Ten Classics at the age of ten. God gave the boy a life and gave him thirty silks. Zhu, a native of Raozhou, can recite seven classics and shoot arrows at the age of ten. He can assemble an army. The official title given to Wu Zhi by the emperor was "Cheng Xinlang". Zhang Rou is from Raozhou. At the age of nine, I can recite nine classics and write ancient poems. The emperor named him "Di Gong Lang".

These prodigies have their own specialties, but most of them rely on chanting. Reciting is a quick solution for prodigies in Song Dynasty. Once upon a time, there was a boy named Wan Qing who volunteered to write poems. The emperor pointed to the golden spittoon and asked him to write one, but he couldn't write a word. This kind of child will probably only "write" some carefully prepared poems. In the list of prodigies listed above, several of them are from the same place: Raozhou. Raozhou, located in Jiangxi Province, was the place with the largest number of prodigies in the Song Dynasty, and it was also the place where parents asked their children to endorse most severely. Some parents hang their children from trees in order to train them into prodigies, which is a scene in Raozhou. Once you become a child prodigy, you can bypass the highly competitive imperial examination and climb to the top. This mentality even leads to parents' superstitious behavior. Get up, wash your face and have breakfast. According to the unique customs of the Song Dynasty, children need to do two things: "Tie onions to bamboo poles and get out of the window to show their cleverness;": Garlic is tied with colored thread and hung between heart and heart, indicating that it can be calculated. "

Parents like to "mature" their children prematurely.

In ancient China, "prodigies" did not only exist in the Song Dynasty. Since the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court has specially set up the Boy Scouts, which is an examination subject specially set for young candidates in the imperial examination. Anyone who is under 10 and can pass the exams of Xiao Jing and Analects of Confucius can take the exam. Try to recite 10 Buddhist scriptures every volume. Those who pass the exam will be awarded official titles, and those who have passed seven subjects will be born. Today, it is equivalent to taking the "College Entrance Examination" before 10 years old.

So why did parents in ancient Jiangxi like to "ripen" their children prematurely? This is related to the whole Jiangxi's love for the imperial examination. The whole imperial examination system lasted for 1 300 years, and more than 700 champions were born, nearly 1 654,38+0,000 champions and millions of juries. The number of Jinshi in Jiangxi accounts for more than one tenth, about eleven thousand, ranking first in the country. These 11 thousand scholars are enough to illustrate the studious atmosphere of Jiangxi people. Behind these scholars, there must be a more intense dispute between scholars and juren. It is really difficult for Jiangxi people to get ahead through the imperial examination. So this also makes many parents have the idea of taking shortcuts. Why not try it through the "boy family"?

Zhu Tianxi, a prodigy in Raozhou mentioned in the article, "can recite seven classics at the age of nine, and God gave the boy a birth and gave him 50 thousand yuan." It may have a strong demonstration role for parents in Raozhou.

Ouyang Xiu's son-in-law Pang once wrote a story in the article. "The fifth day of April, don't comment on Z.

Hundreds of people endorsed it and saw that it was really a star. Perhaps it is the existence of this ethos that makes Raozhou's prodigy "industrial chain" particularly developed. From 100 1 to 1 73, there are 30 boys in Jiangxi, 2 boys in Raozhou, 4 boys in Fuzhou, 2 boys in Luling, 0 boys in Jizhou and 0 boys in Linjiang. It is worth noting that from 1 124 to 1 173, there were 23 incidents of raising boys in Jiangxi * *, of which 19 occurred in Raozhou, showing that in the fifty years of the Southern Song Dynasty, especially in Raozhou, there were almost no incidents of raising boys in Jiangxi.

The narrow door of talent promotion is guarded by the only buyer-the imperial court, so many families who want to take shortcuts to get rich quickly naturally cultivate quite excellent talents. Some people may ask, why didn't Fang Zhongyong's father let him take part in Teenager's Lift to become famous? Fang Zhongyong's achilles heel is that he can't recite classics, but only write poems, which may be the reason why he can't get the recommendation from the county officials. Without grassroots recommendation, it is impossible for the emperor to pass the imperial examination without five passes and six passes.