Study is an indispensable space for modern intellectual families, but "study" is actually a popular term in modern times. Most of the ancients liked to name their study with the words house, hall, house, residence, stone, security, customs, land, porch, garden, pavilion and cave.
Such as Pu Songling's Liaozhai, Ji Xiaolan's Yuewei Caotang, Liu Yuxi's Humble Room and Lu You's Laoxue 'an, among which "Zhai" is one of the most commonly used words in ancient people's study.
In ancient times, when it was emphasized that "faithfulness, faithfulness, family heirloom, poetry and calligraphy were handed down from generation to generation", learning culture was naturally highly valued. So, what was the study of the ancients like? How are they arranged?
What was the most ideal study for the ancients?
"Why is the room elegant? Not many flowers. "
Why did "Zhai" become one of the most commonly used words in ancient learning? What is "fasting"?
Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Eastern Han Dynasty explained: "Fasting, abstinence." The implication is that fasting is a clean place, which contains respect and lust, and this is the highest state that the ancients pursued and achieved when they were studying-quiet and elegant, avoiding dust and refined, studying wholeheartedly, reading poetry and cultivating self-cultivation.
The study of the ancients who pursued this realm was generally simple and didn't have much furnishings. Liu Yuxi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Humble Room Inscription": "The mountain is not high, but the immortal is not famous. The water is not deep, and the dragon is the spirit. I am a humble room, but I am virtuous. " Although the study is simple, it has a piano to play and books to read, which can avoid secular interference and official fatigue. So Liu Yuxi quoted Confucius as saying, "What is ignorance? ! "
Many ancient people's study is famous for its ugliness, such as Bai Juyi's "Caotang", which is both a place to live and a place to study. It is so humble that it can even be said to be shabby. He said in "Caotang Collection": "It's just Mu Cha, without Dan; It's just a wall, not white.
Stone for building steps, paper for electric windows; The bamboo curtain is awkward. "It probably means that the wood used to build a house is cut with an axe without painting; Just paint the wall with mud, not lime white. Stones for building steps; Paper windows, bamboo curtains and linen tents. Everything is simple.
The ancients not only did not ask for luxury in the study, but also did not care about the size of the study. Lu You, a writer in the Southern Song Dynasty, said in his poem "Opening a Small Room": "There are only a few rooms on the roof. In the east is the reading window, and the first day is full of paper ... "When this small study, which can only accommodate a few people, was newly opened, Lu You was over eighty years old, but he was quite satisfied with the hut:" The window is poor and secluded, and the book is ancient. "
Ji Xiangxuan, the study of Gui Youguang, a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, is also known as "small": "The room is only the abbot and can accommodate one person." Even the imperial study is not very good. For example, the "Sanxi Hall", the study of Emperor Qing Qianlong in hall of mental cultivation of the Forbidden City, is only eight square meters.
Although the ancients did not pursue the luxury and spaciousness of the study, they were quite particular about the environment. Take "Xiangjixuan" as an example. It is a century-old house with a door facing north and leaking rain. Gui Youguang doesn't mind its size, but he doesn't want to deal with the surrounding environment at all. He personally planted orchids, sweet-scented osmanthus and bamboo in the courtyard, and transformed the external environment of the study very elegantly: "On the fifth night of March, the moon is half full, the laurel shadow is mottled, the wind is moving, and it is late. Similarly, Liu Yuxi's Humble Room is also "the moss on the stage is green, and the grass in the curtain is green"; Bai Juyi's "Caotang" was built on the scenic Lushan Mountain, which is located between the incense burner peak and the Ai Yi Temple. " Its scenery is superior, and it is also Lushan Mountain. "
As can be seen from the celebrity study above, the ideal study in the eyes of the ancients is actually "why should the room be elegant and not spend too much?" So this sentence is often written as a couplet by the ancients and hung in the study.
How did the ancients like to decorate their study?
"The bird's tail spits on the screen window of the pot, and it smells like the stove."
The ancients' pursuit of an "elegant" word, a desk, a chair, a lamp and a few books, is enough to become a study, but it is not a simple matter to make the study elegant, exquisite and pleasing to the eye. Li Yu, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, once said: "Those who store things in containers should be suitable in vertical and horizontal directions, so that people can enter their homes and watch their halls, and everything is affectionate."
In the study of the ancients, in addition to the basic items such as tables and chairs, cupboards, lamps and pens, ink, paper and inkstones, there are several couches, musical instruments, incense sticks, water containers, calligraphy and painting, antiques, pearl jade articles, potted plants and so on. Often added.
How are these utensils and supplies displayed?
Gao Lian gave a decoration scheme in Eight Chapters of Respect for Life. Some excerpts are as follows: "A long table in Zhai Zhong, a piece of ancient bronze water injection, an ancient kiln pen grid, a spotted bamboo pen holder, an ancient kiln pen washer, a paste bucket, a piece of water, and a copper stone paperweight. There is a couch on the left, under which there is a footstool, a small bed, a bronze flower statue on the top, or a kiln bottle.
When you spend flowers, arrange the flowers in a full bottle and collect the fragrance; When you are free, put pushstones on the floor and collect morning dew to make your eyes clear. Or buy a tripod with a burning seal. Winter heater number one. There is an guqin hanging between the walls, and there are several in the middle. Such as Wuzhong Yunlin, the style is good. There is a picture hanging between the walls, but there are only two pictures in the book; Landscape comes first, flowers and trees take second place, and birds are not harmonious. Or in famous landscapes, Buddha statues can also be used. Famous people, with elegant poems, can do things ... "
The decoration of Gao Lian's study is really high-grade, but it must be a rich family. In ancient times, most people's study was just "one desk, one chair and several books in Yi Deng".
In addition, incense burners, bonsai and plaques were the most valued by the ancients. This can be seen from the literati paintings after the Song and Yuan Dynasties. For example, the Southern Song Dynasty painting figures now collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei are relatively simple and refreshing. The most prominent thing is the potted flower in front, and there is a "photo shoot" hanging on the screen at the back.
Of these three things, incense burner is essential for studying ancient times. Burning incense, a habit formed in the pre-Qin period, like drinking tea, later became a way of life of ancient literati and was called "elegant learning". Lu You's "Incense Incense Fu" wrote: "The bird's tail spits out the pot, and there is still fragrance in the kitchen"; Sun Zhiwei, a beginner in the late Ming and Qing Dynasties, also recorded in "Collected Works of Guan Tang": "Celebrities who are poor will burn incense and sip tea ..." Burning incense has many uses and beauty, and you can know the time after burning incense. This is what Yuan Mei, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, said: "Reading on a cold night forgets to sleep, and the incense burner is smokeless." Incense can also soothe the nerves, disinfect the air and purify the indoor environment. Gao Ming Panlong's "Gao Zi Zhu Shu Shan Ju Class" said: "Sip tea and burn incense to refresh your mind, and then read."
It is worth noting that in the study of the ancients, there was a lounge chair as a necessity. Why did the ancients love to put a couch in their study? Wen Mingzhenheng's article "Several Couches" in "A Chronicle of Long Stories" says: The couch in the study "must be quaint and lovely, and it is convenient to sit and lie." More importantly, you can also put things, which can be used in several situations: "Yan Li's leisure time is used to show classics, read calligraphy and painting, Chen Dingyi, Luo Yao nuclear, and give pillows. Why not? "
Where did the ancients put the books?
"Broken cypress is used as a bookcase, and the cabinet is strong."
Of course, the most important and core thing in the study is the book. Where are the ancient books? Early people's books, like clothes, were mostly hidden in boxes, and the word "secret" of precious books came from this.
Storage appliances such as boxes, boxes, cupboards and cabinets were commonly called "furniture" in ancient times. They are made of different materials such as wood, bamboo, leather, etc. Smaller than boxes are called "boxes", which are easy to carry. Putting books in boxes is one of the traditional ways for ancient literati to store books. In Su Shi's poems, there is a saying that "the family keeps ancient and modern stickers, and the ink color shines on the box". It describes what he saw in Lu Yi's home in Ganzhou. It is common to put books in boxes, even in modern times when bookcases are prevalent.
Book box
At first, the cupboard was not for books, but for kitchen utensils. Fang Yizhi's "Ming Tong Ya Miscellaneous Uses" said: "Because of the storage of food, it is also called' kitchen', commonly known as' cabinet'." During the Jin dynasty, there was a phenomenon of storing calligraphy and painting works in cabinets. "Biography of Gu Kaizhi in the Book of Jin" records: "Kai often sends a cabinet of paintings to Heng Xuan." According to the Biography of Southern History and Lv Cheng: "Wang Jian plays, and Lu Gong writes about cooking."
The cupboard has officially become the standard in the study. In the Tang Dynasty, when the study flourished, Bai Juyi had wooden bookcases in his study. He said in "Essays": "A broken cypress is put into the bookcase, and the cupboard is firmly restored. Whoever collects and stores is entitled Bai Letian. " Pi Rixiu's "Autumn Night Visiting the Historical Residence" also said: "The bookcase mouse grinds the kitchen, and the bamboo garden is idle after the orange frost." Interestingly, Pi Rixiu also described the phenomenon that rats bite people, which is the most taboo for bibliophiles.
The exquisite bookcases in the Tang Dynasty are quite exquisite. Tang Su 'e's Du Yang Miscellaneous Notes records: A good fairy, "The horse's brain is three feet square, and the deep color is made of money, which is very clever. It is used to store fairy books and put them by the account. " This agate cabinet is a tribute of Bohai State.
In the Song Dynasty, bookcases in the study were often made into compartments or drawers, which could be locked. Li Renfu specially made ten bookcases when compiling the Long Edition of Continuing Education as a Mirror. The article entitled "Historical Revision" in Zhou Mi's "Returning to the Heart and Miscellaneous Knowledge" (later episode) in the Southern Song Dynasty said: "In the past, Li Renfu was a long editor, with ten wooden kitchens, and each kitchen painted twenty boxes, each marked with Jiazi. Everything that happened this year has to go back to this box, and it is orderly and orderly. " According to Song Zheng Jing's Notes on Dream Zhai, there are dozens of bookcases in the study of Fu Bi, a famous figure in the Northern Song Dynasty, one of which is tightly locked.
There is a difference between bookcases and bookcases in ancient times. The former is tall and the latter is short, and the table top can be used as a table top. In the Ming Dynasty, the production of bookcases had reached a high level. According to Lian's "Eight Notes on Yan Xianqing's Appreciation of Respect for Life": "It's wonderful to have a bookcase system in the early Ming Dynasty. On the last flat plate, the sides are tilted upward to place the paper roll. The next space is full of books, and the side panels are carved into a lattice ring. Gold-doped copper rolling lines on both sides of the portal. The middle compartment is a small cabinet with four panels on the left, which are opened and closed by the door. Gold-doped copper hinges are extremely ingenious. " Bookshelves, which are very popular in modern study, began to be used in the Ming Dynasty and are called "bookshelves". The bookcase is open, most of the front is not equipped with doors, and the sides and back are empty, so you can see the books on the bookcase.