Original title: Chen Biao's poetry and family motto
Chen Biao is the first Jinshi in the history of Hongta District, Yuxi City, and is famous for his "iron face against history". After returning to his hometown, he taught by example and words, and set up a family motto in the 35th year of Jiajing's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1556), strictly requiring his descendants to "govern the family with diligence and thrift first, and encourage learning with pure heart". In his life, he not only trained a large number of talents for his hometown, but also left poems and essays such as "Caochi Collection" for future generations, some of which were included in "Yuxi Wenzheng". Today, reading these poems and ancient sayings can still alert people and enlighten them deeply.
The unity of personality and style
Chen Biao, who was sacked for punishing the Huai'an Prefecture Chief, once roamed the south of the Yangtze River. In the seventeenth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1538), he was 49 years old, and gradually became homesick, and finally decided to embark on the journey home.
On the way back to Yuxi, he could hardly restrain the joy of reuniting with his family in his hometown and the resentment of his ambition. He wrote more than ten poems to express his thoughts and feelings. According to relevant documents, Chen Yinzi wrote in "Chen Yinzi has a short rest in Xingfu Temple": "Where should we thank for the hardship? When we come back, the Lotus Society will lead the green mountains." Chen Biao expressed his dislike of the Ming Dynasty officialdom with the allusion of "Lotus Society" in Buddhism, and also showed his sincere love for his hometown.
It is out of love for his hometown that he left many beautiful poems for future generations. Among them, his representative work, Caochi Collection, shows his lofty, indifferent and caring feelings for people's livelihood with simple, pure and profound poems. His poetry style is fresh and lively, and his language is vivid and fluent. He is good at sketching scenery, which is based on emotion. Some poems seem to be written carelessly, but they can depict a vivid picture and express profound connotation. For this reason, during the Republic of China, when Li Hongxiang, a local celebrity in Yuxi, presided over the compilation of Yuxi Wenzheng, he included the poems on display, and he became the earliest poet included in Yuxi Wenzheng. There are 51 poems and 11 articles in the list, which can be read in Yuxi Wenzheng. Most of the articles on display were written in his later years, such as The Stele of Han Zhong Wu Hou Shrine, which was written by him when he was 73 years old. While showing his diligent, tenacious and enterprising spirit, it also annotated the unity of his personality and style with a simple, lyrical and sincere style of writing.
The admonition of ancestors
For more than 500 years, the Chens who have lived in a smart and beautiful family for generations have been adhering to Chen Biao's ancient admonition of "managing the family with diligence and thrift first, and encouraging learning with a clear mind", and practicing the ancient principle of "those who want to balance their family, first cultivate their body".
In Chen Gongci, Chen Biao's family motto was hung on the wall, which read: "All of you should be diligent and thrifty in managing your life. You should not rely on the situation to be in arrears. You should work hard to become Li Jia, be diligent in your studies, be diligent in your achievements, and not be arrogant and extravagant... You should show mercy to the villagers, and be generous and apologetic when arguing. All my descendants should work together." The big idea is that you should abide by the family style of diligence and thrift in your future life, Do not rely on your family's situation and default on the food payment that should be handled. We should not be arrogant and complacent. We should study hard and make achievements with real talent and practical learning; Don't be lazy... Make sure that people in difficulty are taken care of, and those who need help must help. My younger generation should encourage each other and abide by them.
Chen Yuetong, a local, is the 18th generation grandson of Chen Biao. Talking about her ancestral motto, she said: "According to the instructions of our ancestors, our elders taught us from childhood to be diligent and frugal, study hard, respect our elders, and live in harmony. When we greet or address our elders here, they will use the old saying" your home "to show their respect for the elders. We don't need to address our peers with the word" home ". When I was young, I also made mistakes in honoring elders. When I made mistakes, my parents always taught me to use honorific titles to address elders to show respect for them. Gradually, it has become a habit to call elders' your family '. "
Perhaps it is this naturally formed "habit" and the tireless teaching of the Chen people to the younger generation that makes this family discipline, which has gone through hundreds of years, be integrated into the daily life of the Chen people, and become their foothold in society. (Gu Shidan)
(Editor in charge: Mu Shengyu, Zhu Hongxia)
