Cai Wenji

Cai Wenji

Cai Wenji (the year of birth and death is unknown), whose name is Yan and whose name is Wenji (the word is Zhaoji). In the Jin Dynasty, he avoided Sima Zhao and called Wenji. Chen Liu county (now Qi County, Henan Province) is a female writer in the Eastern Han Dynasty and the daughter of writer Cai Yong.

Erudite, good at literature, music, calligraphy. First married in Wei Zhongdao, her husband went home after his death. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Central Plains was in chaos and the vassals were separated. The southern Xiongnu, who had been surrendered to the Han Dynasty, took the opportunity to rebel. Cai Wenji was captured by Zuoxian king of the Xiongnu and gave birth to two children. After Cao Cao unified the north, he spent a lot of money to redeem and married Dong Si.

There is only two sad and indignant poems and Hu Jia's eighteen pai in the book of Sui. The story of Wenji returning to the Han Dynasty is widely spread.

Life of the characters

Cai Wenji was knowledgeable and proficient in temperament. In her early years, she married Wei Zhongdao in Hedong. Wei Zhongdao died early, and they had no children, so Cai Yan went back to his home.

In the second year of Xingping (195), there were Dong Zhuo, Li Yi and others in the Central Plains who made trouble in Guanzhong. The southern Xiongnu took the opportunity to rebel and plunder. Cai Yan was taken away by Zuoxian king of Xiongnu. Cai Yan lived in the north for 12 years and gave birth to two children.

In 207, Cao Cao always loved literature and calligraphy. He often had literary and calligraphy exchanges with Cai Yong, Cai Yan's father. Seeing that Cai Yong had no offspring, Cao Cao redeemed Cai Yan from the southern Xiongnu with Jinbi and married him to Dong Si.

After Dong Si committed a capital crime, Cai Yan went to Cao Cao to plead with him. At that time, Cao Cao was having a banquet with famous officials. He said to all the guests, "Cai Yong's daughter is outside. Let's see her today." Cai Yan, with his hair scattered and bare feet, kowtowed his head and pleaded guilty. He spoke in a clear and orderly way, and his feelings were bitter and sorrowful. All the guests in the hall were moved. However, Cao Cao said, "but the document of committing a crime has been sent out. What should we do?" Cai Yan said, "there are thousands of good horses in your stable, and there are countless brave taxi drivers. Do you still grudge a fast horse to save a dying life?" Cao Cao was finally moved by Cai Wenji and pardoned Dong Si. When Cai Yan pleaded for his husband Dong Si, it was very cold. Cao Cao saw that Cai Yan had no shoes and his hair was scattered, so he gave Cai Yan a scarf, shoes and socks.

Cao Cao then asked Cai Yan, "I heard that there were many ancient books in your family. Can you still remember them now?" Cai Yan said: "at the beginning, my father left me more than 4000 volumes of books, but few of them were saved because of the war. Now I can only write down more than 400 books." Cao Cao said, "can I send ten people to write it down with my wife?" Cai Yan said, "give me a pen and paper, and I'll write it to you by myself." So Cai Yan wrote down the contents of his ancient books and gave them to Cao Cao without any mistakes.

After returning home, Cai Yan wrote two sad and indignant poems. Since then, there has been no relevant record of Cai Yan, and the year of his death is unknown.

Character evaluation

Fan Ye: there is a trace of duancao, and there is a capacity for leisure. District Ming strong wind, Zhao I tube Tong.

Chen Tao: tune Huan Yi flute, talent Cai Yanqin.

Xu Jun: this life has been divided into old dust. Who can redeem gold. I'll stop being angry when I'm 18 years old.

Hao Jing: first, Wen Ji's ability to argue was unfortunately lost. However, those who can pass on their father's deeds and avoid their husband's death are well known. A gentleman blames them for their dishonesty. ② Graceful delivery of ladies, and scholars juxtaposed. To soft move just, Tong tube Wei section.

Luo Jianlin: after leaving Zhonglang alone, the rest of his life will be lost. Surprised to see the wild geese in the south, shy to spin in the north. Don't press Hu nubo. It's still handed down to the master of Wei. Never redeem one's name, but hate one for thousands of years.

Lu Shiyong: Cai Wenji is talented. Reading "Hu Jia Yin", you can make Jing Peng sit and vibrate, and the gravel flies. It's really a fierce embrace.

Qu Dajun: tiying can replace his father, but Cai Yan is not suitable for home. After the jade is burned together, the sound of the fragrance vibrates to the end of the sea.

Wang Jinyu: Cai Yan, the earliest female calligrapher recorded in Chinese historical records, is Cai Wenji. Her fame is closely related to her father Cai Yong and her twists and turns of life.

Character achievement

literature

After returning to the Han Dynasty, Cai Yan wrote two poems, one in five character style and the other in Sao style. Among them, the one with five characters focuses on "sentimental disorder", which is a narrative poem based on emotion. It is the first autobiographical narrative poem written by literati in the history of Chinese poetry. Zhang Yugu, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, once wrote a poem praising Cai Yan's five character poem: "Wenji wants to oppress Wenjun, and the long essay of grief and indignation is a great one. Old Du guzong Cao seven steps, do incense can also and hairpin skirt The main idea is that Cai Yan's talent overwhelmed the talented woman Zhuo Wenjun of Han Dynasty. Cao Zhi and Du Fu's five character narrative poems were influenced by Cai Yan.

Because of its lyrical purpose, the first and last sections of Sao style poem of grief and indignation are relatively brief about the experiences of being captured in Hu and returning to the Han Dynasty. The natural scenery in the middle is used to exaggerate Cai Yan's sad mood when he left his hometown. In these descriptions of scenery and human feelings, Cai Yan talks about the differences between them and her hometown, so as to describe his deep grief and indignation in this very different environment .

music

Hujia 18 Pai is a song of ancient Chinese music, with 1297 words. It is a set composed of 18 songs. It was originally published in Volume 59 of Yuefu Poetry Anthology by Guo Maoqian of Song Dynasty and volume 3 of Houyu of Chuci by Zhu Xi.

Lu Shiyong, a man of the Ming Dynasty, said in a general introduction to Shijing: "with the declining style of Tokyo, Cai Wenji is talented. Read "Hu Jia Yin", you can make Jing Peng sit vibration, gravel from fly, really fierce people embrace

Calligraphy

Cai Yan's father, Cai Yong, was a great calligrapher who created octant font. Cai Yan himself is also good at calligraphy. Han Yu once said, "Zhonglang (Cai Yong) has women who can pass on their careers." At the request of Cao Cao, Cai Yan wrote ancient books silently, saying that he could write them in both real and cursive script.

Anecdotes and allusions

Wen Ji returns to Han Dynasty

Wenji's return to the Han Dynasty is an art story adapted from the story of Cao Cao redeeming Cai Yan. Peking Opera and other operas all have Wenji's repertoire, and there are also comic works such as Wenji's return to the Han Dynasty painted by painters in the past dynasties.

On Qin

When Cai Yan was nine years old, his father, Cai Yong, played the piano at night and suddenly broke a string. Cai Yan said, "the second string is broken." Cai Yong said, "it's just a coincidence." So he deliberately broke one and asked her. Cai Yan said it was the fourth one. The story of CAI Wenji's distinguishing Qin also appears in the Three Character Classic.

Character controversy

Husband dispute

There are different opinions about whether Cai Yan married Zuoxian king in the north. According to the records of the later Han Dynasty, Cai Yan was not married to Zuoxian king, and the wives of Xiongnu kings were generally known as the "kan family". However, Cai Yan did not have this title in the north for 20 years, so he thought that Cai Yan and Zuoxian King were not husband and wife Cao Cao paid a lot of money to redeem Cai Yan, which was far more than the price of ordinary slaves. It can be seen that Cai Yan's position in the Xiongnu side was not low. Some literary works, such as Beijing opera, portray Cai Wenji as the princess of Zuo Xianwang. It is still controversial whether the two views are right or wrong.

Disputes over works

When Guo Moruo overturned the case for Cao Cao, he published a paper questioning whether Cai Yan's works were created by Cai Yan. Guo Moruo and others think that the sad and indignant poem recorded in Houhanshu was not written by Cai Yan. The main reasons are as follows: 1. According to the biography of Dong Si's wife in Houhanshu, Wenji was "captured by Hu Qi, not by Zuo Xian king of Southern Xiongnu", so it should not be said that she was driven by Dong Zhuo. 2. Cai Yong, Wenji's father, was highly valued by Dong Zhuo. He had a high rank in the central government controlled by Dong Zhuo. After Dong Zhuo died, he was killed by Wang Yun. Wenji's exile must be after Cai Yong's death. In the poem, it is said that he was driven into Hu by Dong Zhuo. 3. In the chapter of Sao style, there is a sentence of "Qiang man in adventure", which is inconsistent with the fact that Wenji was captured by the southern Xiongnu. In addition, there are two sentences: "the desert is choked with dust, and the vegetation is not glorious in spring", which is incompatible with the geographical environment of Hedong Pingyang, where the southern Huns lived at that time.

But Tan Qixiang thinks that none of the three items is tenable. The reasons are as follows: 1. Most of Dong Zhuo's troops are Qiang people and Hu people. In indignation, it is said that "Zhuo people come to the East" and "all the troops are Hu Qiang people". These Hu soldiers are not "Hu Qi"? 2. Since 188, the southern Xiongnu has been divided into two parts. One part migrated to Hedong, the other part is still in Hetao, Inner Mongolia. If "Southern Xiongnu" refers to a part of the people living there, the geographical environment is exactly in line with the description. 3. The discipline of Dong Zhuo's subordinates is very poor. At that time, Cai Wenji was captured in Guandong, and Cai Yong was far away in Chang'an. Three months after her capture, Cai Yong was killed. There is no way to get information, let alone rescue her. The Qiang Hu in Dong Zhuo's army are all from Guanzhong. It's no surprise that Cai Wenji was driven into Guanzhong after being captured. After entering Guanzhong, she went to the land of Qiang man. Therefore, it is certain that the second chapter of grief and indignation is actually the work of CAI Wenji.

Dispute over the year of birth

The date of Cai Yan's birth is 174 years and 177 years, but they are all conjectures and have no historical basis.

Commemoration of later generations

Memorial tombs

About 100 meters northwest of caiwangzhuang village, Sanli Town, Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, there is a tomb named Cai Wenji. The tomb is about 8 meters high and lush. It is a key cultural relic protection unit in Shaanxi Province. In the 1990s, a Wenji exhibition hall was built here in Lantian County to display Wenji's anecdotes and cultural relics unearthed in the territory. Hu Jia's 18 Pai was engraved on 18 pieces of blue marble with four body calligraphy. There is a statue of CAI Wenji in front of the tomb. However, the fate of Cai Yan has not been found in the history books.

Memorial Hall

Cai Wenji memorial hall was built according to Cai Wenji's tomb. In August 1957, it was listed as a provincial key cultural relics protection unit by the provincial government. There is a detailed introduction of CAI Wenji's life exhibition in the museum

Chinese PinYin : Cai Wen Ji