Yuan Mei (1716-1797) was a poet and essayist in the Qing Dynasty. His courtesy name was Zicai, and his nickname was Jianzhai. In his later years, he was named Cangshan layman, Suiyuan master, and Suiyuan old man. He was Han nationality and a native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province). He became a Jinshi in the fourth year of Qianlong's reign and served successively as magistrate of Lishui, Jiangning and other counties. He had political achievements and returned home at the age of forty. Build a garden at the foot of Xiaocang Mountain in Jiangning and chant in it. He recruited many poetry disciples, especially female disciples. Yuan Mei was one of the representative poets during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods. Together with Zhao Yi and Jiang Shiquan, he was known as the "Three Great Masters of Qianlong"; together with Zhao Yi and Zhang Wentao, he was known as the "Three Great Masters of Xingling School". His representative works include "Collection of Poems and Essays by Xiaocang Shanfang", "Poetry Talk of Suiyuan", "Essays of Suiyuan", etc.
1. Personal life
Growth experience
Yuan Mei
Yuan Mei was a rare talent and was good at writing poetry. In the fourth year of Qianlong's reign ( 1739) At the age of 24, he participated in the imperial examination. The test question was "Fu De Yin Feng Xiang Yu Ke". There is a wonderful line in the poem "When you come to the forbidden courtyard with doubts, people seem to be separated by the Tianhe River". However, the CEOs thought that "the words are not solemn." "Sun Shan will be placed there." Fortunately, Yin Jishan, the then chief minister (Minister of Punishment) stepped forward and was saved from failure. He was awarded a Jinshi and was awarded the title of "Jinshi" by the Hanlin Academy.
In the seventh year of Qianlong (1742), he was transferred to serve as an official. He served as magistrate of Shuyang, Jiangning, Shangyuan and other places. He promoted the legal system, did not avoid the powerful, and had considerable political achievements, which was very suitable for the time. The appreciation of Governor Yin Jishan. When his father died at the age of thirty-three, he resigned and adopted his mother. He purchased the Sui family's abandoned garden in Jiangning (Nanjing), renamed it "Suiyuan", built a house and settled there, and was known as Mr. Suiyuan in the world. His good friend Qian Baoyi wrote a poem to praise him: "Crossing the river is worthy of being a true celebrity, and he who retires from the hospital is like an old monk; after ten years of being a minister, he wears a turban and wild clothes." He also wrote a couplet: "If you don't become a high official, you will be like an old monk." It is not an unlucky life but laziness; it is difficult to become an immortal or a Buddha. I love reading poetry and flowers." Since then, he has lived a leisurely life in Suiyuan for nearly 50 years. He said in a letter to his friend Cheng Jinfang: "I. If you live in a prosperous age and have no big quirks or absurdities, you should not be punished by the literati." In his later years, Yuan Mei traveled to famous mountains in the south and interacted with poet friends. Throughout his life, he liked to praise people for their kindness, reward scholars, advocate women's literature, and recruit many female disciples. He was a leader in the poetry world at that time. Yuan Mei, Zhao Yi, and Zhang Wentao (Cuanshan) were known as the three major masters of the Qianjia Xingling School.
Official career
Yuan Mei was a famous poet, literary critic and a well-known county magistrate in the Qing Dynasty. He was born in Qiantang, Zhejiang (now Hangzhou). He was a Jinshi during the Qianlong reign and was a scholar of the Hanlin Academy. From the eighth to tenth year of Qianlong's reign (1743-1745), he was appointed magistrate of Shuyang County. At this time, it was the so-called "prosperous age of Qianlong", but among the people of Shuyang, it was a reality where thousands of households were desolate and ruthless officials were rampant. In Shuyang County, there were "300,000 hungry people, and countless people died of starvation." Faced with the tragic situation of "people dying of hunger on the road and mourning in the wild", Yuan Mei took up a pen dipped in blood and tears to express his emotions: "Death of a hundred is unbearable, death of starvation is painful, wild dogs bite skulls, and bones are so thin that there is no flesh." , I hate myself as a parent, and I don’t want to have ears and eyes.” With his sharp pen, he ruthlessly criticized those corrupt officials who “are as cruel as tigers and cruel as locusts” and who disregard people’s lives and deaths. He wants to "relieve the country and the people, and ultimately bring happiness to the people." Therefore, soon after taking office, he opened warehouses to provide disaster relief, exempted and exempted taxes, led the people to control floods, and built the famous Liutangzi Weir. A variety of anti-disaster measures were taken to restore and develop agricultural production, and achieved results relatively quickly. He also strictly controlled his family members, subordinates, and government officials, and was not allowed to disturb or harm the people. In terms of handling lawsuits and prisons, according to historical records, he "worked in politics and sat in court all day long." Whenever "the officials and the people were engaged in everything, small lawsuits and prison sentences were made without any reason." Major cases were also settled quickly. In addition, he managed well and maintained social order. Formerly stable. He interacted with farmers, silkworm women, craftsmen, traders, and scholars. He not only cared about agricultural affairs, but also participated in the market. He "concerned about rice prices and asked Jiangdong" and cared about people's livelihood. In the feudal era, due to class limitations, it was extremely rare for Yuan Mei to be able to do this, and the people called him a "great official." Because Yuan Mei was an upright person and disliked the strife in the officialdom, he resigned from office at the age of 40 and settled in Jiangning (now Nanjing City). He lived at the foot of Xiaocang Mountain and built Suiyuan. He called himself Cangshan layman and Suiyuan old man, and lived a leisurely life. middle.
When he left Shuyang in the 10th year of Qianlong's reign, the people lined the streets to see him off, climbed on cars and drank wine, and shed tears to say goodbye. In the fifty-third year of Qianlong's reign (1788), 73-year-old Yuan Mei was invited by Lu Yiting, a well-known figure in Shuyang, to visit Shuyang again. Some people from all walks of life in Shuyang came 30 miles to welcome him. Faced with the people who supported him so much, Yuan Mei wrote the sincere "Report to Shuyang". In this short article, he said with deep feeling: "Those who regard the people as their home, and those who live as officials and cannot forget the place where they live, will not be able to forget the people in the place." Officials love the people, and the people love the officials. This is true. Example of a parent officer.
It has been more than 200 years since Yuan Mei governed Shu. A wisteria he planted in Shuyang County Government Office (today's ***) is still vigorous today, and its leaves are listed as one of the key protected cultural relics in Shuyang County.
Literary career
Yuan Mei, Zhao Yi and Zhang Wentao were also known as the three major Xingling schools in Qianjia poetry circle. He has been active in the poetry world for more than 40 years and has written more than 4,000 poems, which basically embody the theory of nature and spirituality he advocated, with a unique style and certain achievements. The main feature of the ideological content of Yuan's poems is to express the soul and express the reality of personal life experiences.
Feelings, interests and insights are often unfettered and sometimes contradictory to tradition. In art, he is not imitating the ancient times and is eclectic. He expresses his thoughts, feelings and captured artistic images with skilled skills and fluent language.
Pursuing an artistic style that is honest, natural, fresh and dexterous. Among them, there are two main types of outstanding masterpieces: travel poems that are lyrical about the scene and epic poems that lament the past and satirize the present. Yuan Mei also wrote articles, including prose such as "Essay on Sacrifice to Sisters" [1], "Record of Feiquan Pavilion of Xiajiang Temple" [2], etc., and parallel prose such as "Books with Jiang Tiansheng", "Rebuilding the Monument of Zhongsu Temple", etc., which are passed down as famous. articles. Yuan Mei was also one of the major poetry commentators during the Qian and Jia dynasties. Following the Gong'an School and Jingling School in the Ming Dynasty, they held the Xingling Theory. "Suiyuan Poetry", "Supplement" and "Continued Poems" are his main works on poetry. In addition to expounding the theory of human nature and spirituality, "Suiyuan Poetry Talk" also contains many comments on the works of poets of the past dynasties, the evolution of schools, and the poetic circle of the Qing Dynasty. "Continued Poems" is a work imitated by Sikong Tu's "Twenty-Four Poems", with 36 items. It uses four-character rhymes to briefly summarize the specific experience and experience of poetry creation process, methods, cultivation, skills, etc., which is the so-called "painstaking effort" in creation. Compared with the Gong'an School, Yuan Mei's theory of human nature is more anti-Taoist and anti-traditional, pointing out that poetry is not a means of preaching, but should express human nature. He combines "spirit" and "knowledge", takes temperament, talent and learning as the basis of creation, and pursues authenticity, novelty and life. He did not universally oppose the emphasis on rhythmic ornamentation and the use of eloquent allusions in the form of poetry, but only demanded that it should be subordinate to the expression of spirituality. Yuan Mei's theory of nature and spirit is a step forward than that of the Gong'an School, comprehensive and complete, and is considered to be the main representative of the theory of nature and spirit in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Yuan Mei’s literary thoughts also covered various aspects such as literary theory, literary development, and the role of style, which were of progressive significance at that time. However, his literary theory is not as influential as his poetic theory.
Hobbies
Yuan Mei is a person who values ??the interest in life. He loves the graceful beauty of Jinling. When he was the magistrate of Jiangning County, he bought it for 300 gold at the foot of Xiaocang Mountain in Jiangning. Suiyuan. Suiyuan used to be the Weaving Garden (that is, the Grand View Garden in Cao Xueqin's works). At that time, "the garden was leaning and decadent... all the flowers were withered and the spring breeze could not bloom." It had been abandoned for a long time. After Yuan Mei purchased it, it was renovated because it was "along with its surroundings". The scenery of Sui Garden is described in "Za Xing Shi":
"Building a house is not too small, opening a pond is not too many; a house is not too small. Covering the mountain, there are plenty of ponds, and there are many ponds. The fish are one foot long, and they dance in the clear waves during the day. Knowing that I love lotus flowers, I dare not set up a net. "Such a poetic and picturesque scene makes people want to see it. It's no wonder that Yuan Mei is so contented and unrestrained. Return to the idea of ??becoming an official. There are no walls around the garden. On sunny days, there are many tourists. Yuan Mei also allows them to come and go without any control. He even wrote on the door couplet: "Let the cranes go to find the mountain birds, and let people come to see the flowers of the four seasons."
Yuan Mei took literature as his lifelong career. He was a litterateur in the Qing Dynasty and an advocate of the Xingling School creative theory. Xingling is temperament. He believed that "Poetry reflects human temperament, and there is no poetry other than temperament." He also said: "The poets are all spiritual beings, regardless of stacking." He believed that poetry is the voice of the heart and the truth of temperament. reveal. The article is best known for its parallel prose style, which has the physique of the Six Dynasties, and has enjoyed the reputation of the article for decades. He is as honest as a writer, honest and frank, hates pretentiousness, but attaches great importance to friendship. After the death of his friend Shen Fengsi, because there were no heirs, Yuan Mei paid homage to his grave every year for thirty years without interruption. His deep affection for his friend is very touching. move.
Yuan Mei devoted himself to writing and wrote quite a lot, including "Xiaocang Shanfang Poetry Collection", "Suiyuan Poetry", "Suiyuan Essays", "Suiyuan Food List"... Among them, "Suiyuan Food List" is a work that systematically discusses cooking techniques and dishes from the north and south. The whole book is divided into instructions list, diet list, seafood list, miscellaneous vegetarian menu, snack list, rice and porridge list...tea and wine list, etc. Fourteen aspects. Some people say that there are many cooking methods in this article "Food List" that they heard from them, but they don't know how to cook. In the instruction sheet, he clearly stated: "The way of learning is to predict before proceeding, and the same is true for diet. Make an instruction sheet." This article can be used as a general guideline for diet, and the precepts say: "It is better for a politician to eliminate one disadvantage than to create an advantage. If you can get rid of the evils of diet, you have already thought about it halfway and made a list of precepts." This article is worth mentioning the "Tea and Wine List", which reviews famous teas from the north and the south, and also records many teas. The food is quite unique. Among them is a kind of "noodle tea", which is made by boiling the noodles with coarse tea juice and adding condiments such as sesame paste and milk. The noodles exude a light tea aroma and are delicious; while the "tea legs" are smoked with tea leaves. The ham is red in color, delicious in texture and fragrant with tea. It can be seen from this that Yuan Mei is a person who has considerable research on tea and diet. After the age of sixty-five, Yuan Mei began to like traveling in mountains and rivers. He traveled to famous mountains and rivers, including Tiantai, Yandang, Siming, Xuedou and other mountains in Zhejiang, Huangshan in Anhui, Lushan in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, and Fujian. As a tea lover, he naturally tasted famous teas from various places and recorded them one by one. He described Changzhou Yangxian tea: "The tea is dark blue in color, shaped like a bird's tongue, and like giant rice, and the taste is slightly stronger than Longjing." When it comes to Dongting Junshan tea, he said: "The color and taste are the same as Longjing tea. The leaves are slightly wider and greener, and they are picked the least." In addition, Liu'an Yinzhen, Meipian, Maojian, Anhua tea, etc. also have their own characteristics. Comment.
In addition, he also wrote many tea poems, such as the poem "Testing Tea": "Fujian people grow tea like farming, and their carts can carry thousands of them; I came to enter the world of tea, and my thoughts are quite close to my heart. "Quiran..." describes the common situation of tea cultivation in Fujian, and being in it feels like entering the world of tea. "Poetry on Miscellaneous Things on the Lake": "The hazy stone house has two flat chapters, crossing the water and wearing flowers to take advantage of the setting sun; thousands of green clouds are a bit springier, and the sarong skirt is red and the tea picker girl." It describes the tea picker girl in a red sarong skirt in "Ten Thousand Pieces of Clouds" Picking tea in the sea of ????tea in "Green Cloud" is particularly eye-catching. Also written in "On the Yuliang Road": "The mountains in the distance are towering and green, and the mountains near are low, and the flowing water is in front of the stream and connected to the stream behind. Every time I come here, I stand idle for a long time, and the tea pickers scatter in the west.
"It can be seen that when he traveled, in addition to admiring the beautiful scenery of mountains, mountains and streams, he also did not forget to pay attention to the local "tea culture", which shows how much he loves tea.
Yuan Mei 70 When he was at the age of 18, he visited Wuyi Mountain and became particularly interested in Wuyi tea. His previous impression of Wuyi tea was that "the tea tastes strong and bitter, like drinking medicine", so he never liked Wuyi tea. However, in the 51st year of Qianlong's reign ( In 1786, when he came to places such as Mantingfeng Tianyou Temple in Yishan, his impression of Wuyi tea completely changed. He recorded the situation at that time in "Suiyuan Food List. Tea and Wine List": "The monks and Taoists competed for the tea. The tea is presented, the cup is as small as a walnut, the pot is as small as a citron, there is only one or two in each pour, and I can't bear to swallow it. I smell the aroma first, then taste the taste, chew it slowly and considerately, and it is indeed refreshing and fragrant, and there is a lingering sweetness on the tongue. After one cup, I tried another one or two, and I felt that although Longjing was clear, it tasted thin; although Yangxian was good, it had a different flavor than jade. Therefore, Wuyi enjoys a great reputation all over the world, and it can be brewed up to three times without exhausting its taste.” This tea expert has carefully considered the teapots and tea sets used, the steps of drinking tea, and the characteristics of Wuyi tea. He gave a detailed and vivid description that a cup of good tea can indeed wash away worries and soothe irritability.
Yuan Mei believes that in addition to good tea, it must be stored properly to preserve it for a long time, and a good pot must be brewed. In addition to having good spring water for tea, the control of fire is also a very important knowledge. He also has a wonderful description of this: "If you want to cure tea, you must first hide the water, and the water will benefit from cooling." How can one put a post in one's home? However, the natural spring water and snow water can store it. When the water is fresh, it tastes spicy, and when it is old, it tastes sweet. The tea grown on the top of Wuyi Mountain is the best. 1. However, the tribute cannot be much, what about the people! "He believed that to make good tea, you need good water, so he once again praised the tea produced in Wuyi Mountain as the best in the world.
Then he went on to mention the method of collecting tea: "Secondly, it is better than Longjing. The former of Qingming is called Lotus Heart. It tastes light, so it is better to use it multiple times. Before the rain, make a flag and a gun, green as jasper. The collection method must use small paper. Pack, put four taels per pack in a lime jar, replace it with ancient ash after ten days, and cover it with paper, otherwise the gas will come out and the color and taste will change. "It can be said that the cooking method has been studied quite deeply. , he also has a unique and wonderful method: "When using martial arts, use a pierced pot to boil it once it is boiled. If you boil it for a long time, the taste of the water will change! If you stop boiling and steep it again, the leaves will float. Once you boil it, drink it, and cover it with a lid, and the taste will change. Changes have occurred. There is no time to publish this news. Shanxi Pei Zhongcheng said to people: "I had a cup of good tea after I passed Suiyuan yesterday, wow!" [4]
Yuan Mei did not want to compete in the officialdom. Chasing fame and wealth, he was able to live his own life without restraints and freedom, so he lived to the age of eighty-two. Interestingly, although he did not want to be involved in officialdom, Yuan Mei once had a unique political vision. When the brothers Heshen and Lin were young, he wrote this sentence about the two brothers: "To support the sky and support the sun, each brother will share equally." Later facts proved that Heshen later became the most popular person around Emperor Qianlong. , and He Lin became a famous general, reaching the rank of first-class duke.
2. Personal works
Introduction to writing style
Yuan Mei’s ancient poetry has long been valued. In fact, the creation of ancient poetry embodies the genius of Yuan Mei's poetry. It is surging, unbridled, full of vitality and creativity, and presents aesthetic characteristics that are different from the creation of modern poetry. It is an indispensable part of our comprehensive understanding of Yuan Mei's poetry. Yuan Mei was the most famous and influential poet in the mid-Qing Dynasty, ranking first among the "Three Great Masters of Qianlong" and leading the poetry circle for nearly 50 years. During the Qianjia period when textual research was in vogue, he was unique and extraordinary with his poems full of creative spirit and genius in the poetry world that emphasized classics and knowledge.
Literary works
Yuan Mei is the author of "Collection of Xiaocang Shanfang"; 16 volumes of "Suiyuan Poetry Talk" and 10 volumes of "Supplement"; 24 volumes of "Xin Qixie" and "Xu Xin Qixie" has 10 volumes; more than 30 kinds of prose, rulers and tablets.
Yuan Mei's younger sister Yuan Ji is also very knowledgeable, and has biographies in "Rugao County Chronicles", "Hangzhou Prefecture Chronicles", and "Manuscripts of Qing History: Biographies of Lienu". Yuan Ji died in the 24th year of Qianlong's reign (1759). Yuan Mei's representative prose work "Essay on Sacrifice to Sisters" written eight years later was elegiac and sincere and has been circulated for a long time. Classical prose commentators compare it with "Essay on Sacrifice to Twelve Langs" written by Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty. carry.
Yuan Mei collected many ghost stories and wrote the notebook novel "Zi Buyu" with concise and clear writing style, which is as famous as Ji Xiaolan's "Yuewei Cottage Notes". Yuan Mei was also a gourmet and wrote the famous "Suiyuan Food List", an important work in the Qing Dynasty that systematically discussed cooking techniques and dishes from the north and south. The book was published in the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong (1792). Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House has published eight volumes of "The Complete Works of Yuan Mei".
Among them, "Huang Sheng's Theory of Borrowing Books" in "Ogura Sanfang Collection" is included in the first semester (lesson 22) of Chinese language in the second grade of the Shanghai Education Edition
Literary Proposal< /p>
Yuan Mei formed his own family of writers, and was as famous as Ji Xiaolan, and was called "Southern Yuanbei Ji" at that time. Advocate the "spiritual theory". He advocated that one should express one's own personality when writing poems and believed that "from the 300th poem to the present day, all those who have passed down poems are spiritual and have nothing to do with stacking." It advocates expressing one's feelings directly and writing about personal "temperament and experiences".
He advocates the combination of "spirit" and "knowledge", takes temperament, talent and academic qualifications as the basis of creation, and pursues "truth, newness and life" in creation. Only in this way can innate conditions and acquired efforts be combined to create excellent works. He believes that "The writing style used in poetry is like a beautiful woman's hair, skin, and smile, which is innate; the writing style used in poetry is like a beautiful woman's clothes and jewelry, which is acquired." He advocated that literature should evolve and should have the characteristics of the times, and opposed the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. He ridiculed the Shen Yun School as "poor and proud", the Style School as "puppet acting", the Texture School as "opening an antique shop", and the Zong Song School as "beggars moving around". He also opposed Shen Deqian's theory of "gentleness and honesty" and believed that "those who believe in Confucius's poetry are 'interested in the resentment of the masses'; those who are not trustworthy are 'gentle and honest'". He advocates equal emphasis on parallel prose and prose, and believes that parallel prose and prose, just like the odd and even in nature, cannot be neglected. The poems are fresh, timeless and flow freely. The scenery poems are elegant and beautiful. Among them, poets whose poetic ideas and styles are similar to his include Zheng Xie, Zhao Yi, Zhang Wentao and Huang Jingren. Zhu Tingzhen commented on Yuan Mei: "Yuan regarded the nature and spirit of cunning children as his sect, and specialized in the diseases of Xiangshan and Chengzhai. He mistakenly regarded vulgarity and superficiality as natural, sarcastic and cunning as cleverness, joking and games as humor, and crudeness and decadence. He was bold and heroic, frivolous and despicable as innocent, obscene and dissolute as lust, and advocated evil ways and evil words to defeat the defenses of poetry and religion."
Yuan Mei's literary thoughts have a developmental perspective, and he has a progressive view of feudal orthodox literary views and formalism. Thoughts have an impact. In addition, he emphasized the existence value of parallel prose as an aesthetic literature, which has certain positive significance. However, his poems mostly describe the trivial matters around him, and are full of romantic chants. They lack social content. Some of his poems tend to be gaudy, shallow and even flashy.
Perspectives
Yuan Mei served as magistrate of Lishui, Shuyang, Jiangpu and Jiangning counties throughout his life. In addition to winning a wise political voice, he also left many literary works, including "Little Cangfang" "Collection of Poems and Essays", "Poetry Talk of Suiyuan", "Essays of Suiyuan" and the notebook novel "Zi Buyu", etc. "Suiyuan Poetry" is his representative work, with unique literary insights. He proposed the "Spiritual Theory" and raised objections to Confucian poetry. Some poems attack Han Confucianism and Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and declare that "the Six Classics are all dregs." He advocates expressing one's feelings directly, emphasizing naturalness in words, opposing conformity to the past, and emphasizing the spirit of self-creation, which is of progressive significance in the history of Chinese literature. Yuan Mei advocated the expression of temperament in poetry, and following the Gong'an School in the Ming Dynasty, he promulgated the "Xingling Theory". This kind of literary argument corresponds to the progressive literary, philosophical and historical trends of Wu Jingzi, Cao Xueqin, Zheng Xie, Zhang Wentao and others at that time. He believes that poetry must have the poet's innocent heart
Yuan Mei hand-made copper-sprinkled gold bowl-style furnace
"True Self", opposes the traditional Confucian poetic theory, and believes that erotic poetry can do. His poetry theory brought a breath of fresh air to the poetry world of the Qing Dynasty and played a positive role in eliminating imitation of ancient works. Most of his poems express personal leisurely feelings or lament the past and present. They are often written casually, full of interest and artistic conception, and pursue a clear, fresh and clever artistic style. His prose ideas are sharp, and some of his works directly expose the darkness of reality and official corruption. Lyrical works are sincere in emotion, full of appeal, fresh and natural, and vivid in writing. He advocated writing poems to express one's own personality, and believed that "from the 300th poem to the present day, the Texture School is "Ling".
3. Home of Books
A famous poet and bibliophile in the Qing Dynasty. The courtesy name is Zicai, the nickname is Jianzhai, the first is Suiyuan, and the late nickname is Suiyuan Laoren. A native of Qiantang, Zhejiang (now Hangzhou). In the first year of Qianlong's reign (1736), he entered Beijing to take the examination. Among the nearly 100 teachers and sage scholars present, he was the youngest. In the fourth year of Qianlong's reign (1739), he became a Jinshi (Jinshi) and was promoted to a Jishi in the Hanlin Academy. At the age of 39, he resigned from his official position and built a garden under the Stone City of Jinling, named "Suiyuan". Scholars called him "Mr. Suiyuan". Plant bamboo in the garden, water the flowers, and write about it all day long. He was addicted to books when he was young, but he had no money to collect books. After becoming an official, he used his salary to exchange books, accumulating 400,000 volumes, and built library buildings "Xiaocangshanfang" and "Suohaxuan". I note what "what I like" is, taste, color, flowers, bamboo, gold and stone, calligraphy and painting, all are sometimes limited, and only the collection of books, regardless of young and old, hungry and cold, there is unlimited reading; I also wrote a special article "Xuan Ji". In the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign (1773), he issued an imperial edict to request suicide notes. All the rare copies of the collected books were presented to the Qing court, and "Sanshu" was written to record them. The books in the collection are printed with "Daosu Gate", "Hundred Stone Mountain House", "Huali Immortal", "Qiantang Su Xiao is a fellow villager", "Happy Here", "Zicai Yiyue", "Suiyuan Collection of Books", "Xiao Xiao" Seal of the Cangshanfang Book Collection" and so on. Writing poetry advocates expressing one's temperament and opposes Confucian poetic teaching. Some poems criticized Han Confucianism and Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and declared that "the Six Classics are all dregs." Most of the works express his leisurely mood. He is the author of more than 30 kinds of works, including "Xiaocangshanfang Poems and Essays", "Suiyuan Poems", "Suiyuan Rules and Letters", "Zi Buyu", and "Suiyuan Essays".
Memorial Place
Yuan Mei’s Tomb
Yuan Mei was buried in Suiyuan after his death. His tomb is located in Baibucang, Suijiacang, Nanling, Xiaocang Mountain. It was originally a provincial document protection unit. The tomb originally had a stone archway, with nine characters engraved on it: "The tomb of Mr. Yuan Suiyuan, the late Qing Dynasty", and a stone tablet "The tomb of Yuan Jianzhai, the official who was appointed by the imperial decree to serve as a political official" was erected. The inscription was written by the ancient writer Yao Nai. All were destroyed during the "Ten Years of Troubles". In March 1974, due to the construction of Wutaishan Gymnasium, the tomb was cleaned up by the Nanjing Document Preservation Committee with approval.
Starting on March 18, and lasting three days, the police cleaned three tombs. They are all brick chambers, about 2.5 meters long, and only wide enough to accommodate a wooden coffin. Except for Yuan Mei herself, the other two tombs are for women, who must be Yuan Mei's wives and concubines. The burial objects include 3 gold hairpins, 2 pairs of gold earrings, and 20 pieces of jade belt. As well as jade tubes, bronze mirrors, porcelain jars, etc.
Yuan Mei’s former residence
Suiyuan, located in Qingliang Shandong, Nanjing, at the foot of Xiaocang Mountain, is the former residence of Yuan Mei, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty.
4. Evaluation
"The old fox is so drunk that it often shows its tail when it is drunk." This is Hong Liangji's evaluation of Yuan Mei in "Beijiang Poetry Talk".