The legendary "Tiger King steals his relatives"
Legend has it that zhou wenbin is one of the four great talents in Jiangnan. But there is no clear record about zhou wenbin in the history books. However, zhou wenbin, Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan and Wen Zhiming are all called the four great talents in many TV dramas about the four great talents in the south of the Yangtze River.
It is said that zhou wenbin is the youngest and the most handsome of the four gifted scholars. He was born in a noble family, and he was gifted and quick-thinking. He was a scholar when he was a teenager. One year, on the 15th day of the first month, Zhu Zhishan held a lantern riddle meeting in Huqiu. The handsome newcomer won the first guessing game, and Miss Wang, the daughter of Suzhou Monopoly, won the second place. On that day, she disguised herself as a man and called herself brother Wang. Zhou and Wang had a good talk, and both admired each other's knowledge and intelligence, so they agreed to exchange positions in Hanshan Temple one day and make friends. At that time, zhou wenbin arrived at the meeting place on time and found that she was a stunning beauty. On closer inspection, it turned out to be Wang Lao-di, with sudden affection, and Miss Wang also made eyes at her.
When zhou wenbin came home, he told his parents his love for Miss Wang and proposed to them. After investigation, Zhou's father found that he was well managed and upright, and the two families were also suitable, so he decided to promote this matter to fulfill his son's wish. However, the Wangs were eccentric, and many officials' children wanted to marry their daughters in the Qin Dynasty, but they were all rejected. It is estimated that it is impossible to propose by yourself. When the father and son were worried about it, Tang Bohu gave them an idea. He said that Miss Wang has a brother named Wang Tiger, who is an uneducated and lecherous prodigal son. We can make a fuss about this person.
On this day, zhou wenbin, dressed as a girl, walked slowly through the city and appeared in the place where King Tiger had to pass. Wang Laohu is a womanizer. How can he stand such teasing? He made an appointment with some dude and prepared a sedan chair, intending to rob him. At noon this day, Wang Laohu and his party suddenly found that this prey was standing alone on the North Gate Bridge, and its skirt fluttered like a goddess falling from the sky. Wang Laohu felt that the opportunity was rare, so he let his men rush in and kidnapped him into the sedan chair. When the "girl" saw the villain coming, she was too scared to say a word. Later in the sedan chair, Yingying said that she came from a big family and was willing to serve Wang Tiger, but she had to have a wedding, otherwise she would rather die than follow. Wang Laohu was elated at this. He decided to take the girl into the palace and let her live in her sister's room for the time being. In the evening, he invited relatives and friends to hold a wedding reception and meet the bride. When Wang Dahu heard about it, he was very unhappy, but he was afraid that if the wedding didn't take place, his son would be punished for stealing relatives, so he had to agree.
Zhou wenbin and Suzhou Cuisine Miss Wang lived in the same room, and then they showed their true colors and told Miss Wang the plan. Early the next morning, Miss Wang said that men and women were not close, ashamed to meet people, and clamored to hang themselves. Mr. Wang and Mrs. Wang rushed over, but they didn't listen to all the advice. At this time, silk and satin cloth shops, wood shops and small department stores have sent dowries. Just as the family was anxious and embarrassed, Wen Zhiming, a great genius, came to join in the fun and pretended to do calligraphy and painting business with Wang Dagu. Because Wen Zhiming has a close relationship with Miss Wang's mother, Mr. Wang told one or two stories about the scandal at home. Wen Zhiming laughed after hearing this, saying that it is better to confuse the real with the fake, and making a mistake is making a mistake. Marrying Miss zhou wenbin, two suitable people, beautiful women and talented people, is a marriage. After listening to Miss Wang, she burst into tears and smiled. The Queen Mother didn't mind, but she was afraid that the man wouldn't agree. He said, "I will take care of the work of Zhou and his son. You can prepare for the wedding ceremony. " At this time, the Wangs had no choice but to agree to this marriage. A little later, Wen Zhiming announced that zhou wenbin's parents agreed to get married on the same day. At this time, Wang Laohu also hurried home, just to pay homage at night. Unexpectedly, the beautiful "girl" became a handsome niche.
That night, the two families held a wedding reception at Zhoujia. All shall be well, jack shall have Jill with Miss Wang.
Zhou wenbin didn't find such a person.
Looking up the History of the Ming Dynasty and other official histories, we can see that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Suzhou did have the theory of "four outstanding men in the south of the Yangtze River" and "four talented men in Wuzhong". However, according to Biography of Wen Yuan in Ming Dynasty, the four gifted scholars in Suzhou are Zhu Yunming (Shan Zhi), Tang Yin (Bohu), Wen Zhiming and Xu Zhenqing, while the legendary zhou wenbin can't be found in any ancient books. Therefore, it can be concluded that Xu Zhenqing was replaced by later zhou wenbin.
Xu Zhenqing, a native of Changgu, Wuxian (Suzhou, Jiangsu), was a scholar in the eighteenth year of Hongzhi (1505) and was a doctor of imperial academy. Xu Zhenqing was born poor and ugly, but he was smart, diligent and knowledgeable. He is the youngest of the four gifted scholars, with the highest imperial examination and the greatest official career. He and Tang Bohu are neighbors, but also "friends". He and Zhu Zhishan are "friends who have forgotten each other" (age difference 19 years old), and Wen Zhiming is a "verbal friend". Tang Bohu appreciates Xu Zhenqing's talent very much, and once recommended him to Shen, a master in painting, and Yang Xunji, a celebrity. Xu Zhenqing is famous for his poems. He, Li Mengyang, He Jingming and Bian Gong are also called "four outstanding poets". He, together with Wang Tingxiang, Kang Hai and Wang Jiuen, was called the "first seven sons" of Ming Dynasty, which had great influence at that time and even in the whole literary history. Shi Ming called him "the highest poet in Wuzhong".
It can be said that Xu Zhenqing's memory is superior, and he knows everything without books at home. He is also extremely clever. As a teenager, he has become a poet, which accords with the characteristics of a gifted scholar. But why should he be expelled from the list of "four gifted scholars"? There may be four reasons.
First, Xu was born in poverty, and we don't know his marital status, but people subjectively think that his marriage will not be so romantic, but it is more likely to have a family crisis because of poverty.
Secondly, Xu is ugly. According to historical records, Xu Zhenqing was born with a pair of triangular eyes, sharp eyes ("double-pupil candle man") and white eyes. This is terrible, and it will make people feel that this person is gloomy and cunning. So when he was admitted to the Jinshi, Ming Xiaozong wanted to keep him around, but after being summoned, he gave up the idea of reuse because of his appearance. As far as appearance is concerned, he is obviously not qualified to perform romantic stories of talented people and beautiful women. On the contrary, the fiction is charming, coming from a wealthy family, which is integrated with the legend of Tang Dynasty. Replacing Xu Zhenqing with Zhou Wenbin can make the four great talents more famous.
In fact, according to the existing historical data, although Xu Zhenqing is ugly, he has no bad track record, and he is a well-behaved and accomplished scholar. This really answers the old saying "judge a book by its cover".
Third, unlike the other three gifted scholars who died in Wuzhong, Xu Zhenqing stayed in Beijing after being a scholar. Later, his literary concept also changed. He had frequent contacts with Li Mengyang and He Jingming, and gradually "regretted his small works". Instead, he praised the Han, Wei and Tang dynasties, ranking third among the "first seven sons". Since then, he has become one of the mainstream literati and parted ways with some rebellious Wuzhong literati. This is probably an important reason why he was expelled from the list of "gifted scholars".
The so-called "First Seven Scholars" is a literary school in Hongzhi period of Ming Dynasty (1488- 152 1), with members including He Jingming, Bian Gong, Kang Hai, Wang, etc., represented by Li Mengyang and He Jingming. In order to distinguish the seven sons, such as Li Panlong and Wang Shizhen, who appeared in the late Jiajing period and Qin Long period, the world called them "the first seven sons". The first seven scholars were all scholars, who were full of negative integrity, dissatisfied with the corruption in the political affairs of the court and had low morale. They strongly opposed the stereotyped writing habit of "being slow and being redundant", which was popular at that time. His literary proposition was summarized by later generations as vigorously advocating "literature must be in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and poetry must flourish in the Tang Dynasty", aiming at pointing out a new way for poetry creation and saving the flagging poetic style. It can be seen that Xu Zhenqing is a literati with a sense of mission.
Fourthly, among the four gifted scholars, Tang, Zhu and Wen are all literati artists, such as Tang Yin, Zhu's paintings and Zhu Yunming's ci, which are all outstanding achievements. Although they can also be good at poetry and prose, they don't regard it as their "main business". Their main achievement should be in the field of art. Only Xu Zhenqing, who is famous for his poetry, is a writer in the pure sense. In this respect, Xu Zhenqing is quite different from the other three talented scholars. This may also be one of the reasons why he was finally fired.