Chen Zizhuang

Chen Zizhuang

Chen Zizhuang (November 13, 1596 - November 6, 1647), born in Qiutao, was born in Shabei Township, Nanhai County, Guangzhou (now Shabei village, Shijing Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province). The Minister of Ming Dynasty, together with Chen Bangyan and Zhang Jiayu, was called "three loyalties in Lingnan"..

In the 47th year of Wanli (1619), he was awarded the title of editor of Hanlin Academy. During the reign of Chongzhen, he moved to the Minister of rites. Hongguang regime was established in the Southern Ming Dynasty and served as the Minister of rites. In the first year of Yongli (1647), he moved to Dongge as a bachelor and Minister of the Ministry of war. They united with Chen Bangyan and Zhang Jiayu to fight against the Qing Dynasty. They held back all the forces of the Qing army in Guangdong and prevented them from advancing westward. They persisted in fighting for ten months. They were finally defeated by the Qing army and captured. They would rather die than surrender. After emperor Yongli succeeded to the throne, he bestowed the posthumous title of "Wenzhong" on the Marquis of Panyu.

Chen Zizhuang's works include Yuncong collection, lianyaotang manuscript and Nangong collection.

Life of the characters

Try again and again

Chen Zizhuang (1596.11.13-1647.11.6), whose name is Jisheng, is Qiu Tao. He was born in Shabei Township, Nanhai County, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province (now Shabei village, Shijing Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province). His father Chen Xichang was a Jinshi in the 25th year of Wanli (1597), and his Uncle Chen Xishao was a magistrate of si'en Prefecture in Guangxi.

Chen Zizhuang was born in the former residence of gaoritang in jiuyaofang, Guangzhou. He is a child prodigy of "seven year old Nengwen". One year, there was no moonlight in the Mid Autumn Festival. A guest at a dinner party in Chen's family was very sorry, so he chanted two ancient poems: "what's the God's idea tonight? Don't let the silver light shine on the blue waves.". Chen Zizhuang, who was only seven years old, said casually, "when I visit the garden next year, I will ask Chang'e about the flowers.". Once the poem fell, it won the applause and admiration of the whole hall.

In 1611, when Chen Zizhuang was 16 years old, he tried to be a member of the local disciple. In 1615, Chen Zizhuang was 20 years old. He was the eighth Juren in the local examination. In 1619, he was a Jinshi and won the first and third place in the palace examination (tanhuaji). He answered the prophecy of poetry. At that time, he was 24 years old and was awarded the title of editor of Hanlin Academy.

Without castration

In the first year of Tianqi (1621), he went to Guangzhou to worship Nanhai God. After returning to Beijing, he entered the National Museum of history. Three years later, he became the chief examiner of Zhejiang provincial examination. At that time, it was Wei Zhongxian who was good at castrating the party and was good at politics. There were some words in the test strategy volume that directly stabbed the castrating party. In order to show his respect, the local authorities have set up ancestral halls for Wei Zhongxian. They want to ask Chen Zizhuang to write the word "Yuanxun" as a flat forehead for the ancestral hall. They also say to Chen Zizhuang, "if you write this word, you can get a good official.". Chen Zizhuang refused. Wei Zhongxian was furious: "Chen Zizhuang, who dares to go against my will!" Therefore, he picked out some words in Zhejiang provincial examination records, such as "Yong Zhu lost his power" and "Ying Zhu claimed his power", and falsely accused Chen Zizhuang of "defamation". At this time, Chen Xichang, the father of Chen Zizhuang, was also against the eunuch dictatorship because of his absence. Both father and son were dismissed from office on the same day and their citizenship was reduced to the people.

During this period, he revived the poetry society in Guangzhou and made outstanding contributions to the revival of the Lingnan poetry world, so he was praised as one of the "Twelve poets of Nanyuan". After Wei Zhongxian was convicted and lost power, he returned to the capital and returned to his official position.

Be cynical and outspoken

Chen Chongfu and his son were defeated in 1628. In the process of Chen Xichang's moving to Li Ke, Chen Zizhuang's official Zuo Chunfang and Zuo Yude. Soon after his father died, Chen Zizhuang kept filial piety at home. In 1631 (the fourth year of the reign of Chongzhen), he was appointed as a junior member of Zhan Shifu as well as a bachelor's degree in the Imperial Academy. In 1632, the emperor Chongzhen compiled the yudie and promoted it to the official position, which was of great benefit to the emperor.

At that time, the peasant uprising army offended the emperor's mausoleum, and Emperor Chongzhen summoned the court officials. Chen Zizhuang said: "today's urgent task is to win the hearts of the people. It is advisable to issue an edict against ourselves to inspire loyalty." Chongzhen took his advice. As a result, Chen Zizhuang and other ministers listed 12 items, such as rent, prison clearance, excuse and so on. Because of the unfavorable situation, Chongzhen was eager to recruit talents. He issued an imperial edict to quote "Zuxun": among the princes and grandchildren of the county, those who had civil and military talents and could take on great responsibilities could be granted official positions and promoted as usual. Therefore, Chen Zizhuang put forward three reasons of "inevitability" and five reasons of "infeasibility". He thought: Zongzhi changed to teach, suitable to open the door of fluke carbuncle. He was the governor of the state. Chongzhen was so angry that he went to court with his "Ju Zhao Jian Qin". At this time, there was the king of Tang Shangshu, who quoted stories from the previous generation and slandered Chen Zizhuang. Chongzhen then removed Chen Zizhuang's name and ordered him to go to prison. Thanks to the Empress Dowager's intercession and some ministers' application for salvation, Chen Zizhuang returned home in April of the next year by way of Nanhuan.

In 1637, in Baiyun Mountain, Guangzhou, biyuncong Academy was set up. It collected Du Fu's poems and wrote a couplet outside the door: "how ever there were mountains and rivers in the world? I can't grow Artemisia." In the following year, he repaired Nanyuan poetry club with his younger brother Chen Zisheng and 12 people, including Li suiqiu, Qu Huairui and Zeng Daowei, who were known as the twelve poets of Nanyuan. Later, he taught in Yushan Academy. In 1643, a famine broke out in Guangzhou and several neighboring counties, and the price of grain was rising. There were more and more beggars in Guangzhou. Chen Zizhuang not only made his own contribution, but also ran around to raise money and organize relief. He set up districts in the city and gave porridge to the hungry people every day. According to the general annals of Guangzhou, thousands of people survived because of his relief.

Anti Qing Dynasty and restoration of Ming Dynasty

In March of the 17th year of Chongzhen (1644), the court officials recommended to the court one after another. Chen Zizhuang was appointed as the former official to assist Zhan Shifu. Before taking office, Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, and Chongzhen emperor hanged the coal mountain. Zhu Yousong, the king of fortune, founded his country in Nanjing and appointed Chen Zizhuang as the Minister of rites. At that time, Ma Shiying, the first assistant, had the power to fight against Ruan Dacheng and Chen Zizhuang. Every time Chen Zizhuang had a strategy, he was hindered and could not carry it out. Chen Zizhuang successively discussed with Zhao Zhilong and Qian Qianyi on countermeasures, which were all invalid. He sighed: "today's death is imminent. It's the time for people and officials to pledge their allegiance to the death. But people are all of one mind. In this way, the country will be defeated!" In June of the same year, Nanjing was captured by the Qing army. Zhao Zhilong and Qian Qianyi were the first to leave the city and surrender to the Qing army. Chen Zizhuang fled to Guangdong in disguise. He learned that Zhu Yujian (emperor Longwu), the king of the Tang Dynasty, who was based in Fujian Province, had promoted him to be a Bachelor of Dongge. Chen Zizhuang had a grudge with the king of the Tang Dynasty because he had talked about the imperial clan before, so he left.

In the second year of Longwu (1646), Emperor Longwu was captured by the Qing army and died. After that, Chen Zizhuang took part in Ding kuichu and Zhu Youlang, the son of King GUI of Ming Dynasty, to ascend the throne in Zhaoqing. At the same time, Su Guansheng suggested that Zhu Yuxuan, the younger brother of the king of the Tang Dynasty, and Chen Zizhuang, who could not stop him, should retire to Jiujiang village. Chen Zizhuang was appointed as a bachelor and Minister of the Ministry of military affairs, and promoted the military affairs of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi and Huguang provinces. Zhu Yuxuan was held to death in the fall of Guangzhou. Chen Zizhuang and his younger brother, Chen Zisheng, destroyed their families to relieve the hardships. They donated money to recruit soldiers and held up the flag in Jiujiang, Nanhai. Emperor Yongli of the Southern Ming Dynasty granted him the position of the grand Bachelor of Dongge, the official title of the Minister of military affairs and the minister of rites. He led the military affairs of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi and Huguang. He, Chen Bangyan, Zhang Jiayu and other rebel forces acted as mutual horns in the suburbs of Guangzhou, Zengcheng, Qingyuan and Gaoming to attack the Qing army. They also gathered more than 6000 boat divisions to attack Guangzhou by warships. Unfortunately, they were defeated because of the internal mistakes in the city. In this battle, Chen Zizhuang's eldest son, Chen Shangyong, died bravely. Later, the Qing army divided its forces to attack Jiujiang and Gaoming City. Chen Zizhuang retreated to Gaoming City and led the whole city to defend the city day and night. Zhang Jiayu and Chen Bangyan died when the city broke down. Zizhuang, father and son in the picture above led the remaining 500 volunteers to fight in bloody battles, and all of them died.

go to one 's death like a hero

On November 6 of the first year of Yongli (1647), Tong Yangjia, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Qing Dynasty, threatened to kill Chen's young son in an attempt to force him to betray. Chen Zizhuang, however, would rather die than surrender, saying, "it's not Zizhuang who controls the power.". Tong Yangjia failed to force him to surrender. He was too shy to be angry. He thought of a vicious plan to make an example of Chen Zizhuang. He sentenced Chen Zizhuang to inhuman "sawing", that is, sawing people from the top of his head down into two pieces. But because of the human body shaking, can not saw down. It is said that at this time, Chen Zizhuang yelled to the Executioner: "fool, the boundary (SAW) people need wood!" The executioner understood the method of execution with a saw. Up to now, the allusion that "people in the world must use boards" is still circulating among the elders in Guangzhou. At the time of execution, Tong Yangjia "summoned all the gentry in Guangzhou to sit in the hall and watch them be punished in order to be afraid of them", and also asked ferociously, "are you afraid of all the gentry?" However, Chen Zizhuang still cursed, generously chanted the poem: "where is the Golden branch, and whose is the jade leaf? Laogen was willing to die and vowed not to let spring flowers bloom. " His younger brother Chen Zisheng hid in the mountains with his mother. His mother knew that Zizhuang was dead and hanged herself. Zhang Yuqiao, Zizhuang's concubine, was accepted by Li Chengdong as her favorite. She often thought of turning against the Qing Dynasty and reviving the Ming Dynasty, and soon committed suicide.

When Emperor Yongli learned of this, he gave Chen Zizhuang a posthumous title of "Wenzhong" as the Marquis of Panyu.

Relative members

Father: Chen Xichang, to Shizhong

Son: Chen Tuotu (yuan), commander of the royal guards.

Commemoration of later generations

Memorial Hall

The Guangzhou Municipal Administration of cultural relics has established the Chen Zizhuang Memorial Hall at the Chen ancestral hall of Shabei village as a municipal cultural relics protection unit to commemorate Chen Zizhuang's achievements. Chen Zizhuang memorial hall is located in the ancestral hall of Doctor Chen of Song Dynasty in Zhongyuan Li, Shabei village, Jinsha street, Baiyun District. The ancestral hall of Doctor Chen was built in the Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, covering an area of 795 square meters. It was rebuilt in 1847 (the 27th year of Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty). Since 1986, the ancestral hall has been repaired, and the Chen Zizhuang memorial hall is planned to be built. On August 9, 1993, it was announced as the fourth batch of cultural relics protection units by Guangzhou Municipal People's government. Now it is under the charge of Baiyun District government and originally under the management of Shijing town government.

Chinese PinYin : Chen Zi Zhuang