Zuofen

Zuofen

Zuo Fen (about 253-300 years, April 23) unearthed the epitaph Zuo Fen, whose character is Lanzhi. He was born in Linzi of Qi State (now Linzi of Shandong Province) and a poet of the Western Jin Dynasty.

Less studious, good at writing. He was a noble man of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. Today, there are more than 20 poems, Fu, song, Zan, Lei and so on, most of which are written in response to the imperial edict. The original collection has been lost.

Life of the characters

Brother and sister talented person

Zuo Fen was studious and good at writing since he was a child. His reputation is second only to his elder brother Zuo Si. When Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, heard that Zuo Fen was talented, he brought her into the harem. In the eighth year of Taishi (272 AD), Emperor Wu of Jin granted zuofen the title of Xiuyi. Later, he was granted the title of GUI pin, which was called Zuo pin in the world. Zuo is brilliant, especially good at poetry. Brother and sister also have a common shortcoming, is ugly. However, according to the Chinese aesthetic standard of "talented men and beautiful women", Zuo Si is much luckier than Zuo Fen. Because of Zuo Si, Zuo's reputation gradually spread in the literary world, and one day it spread to Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. The emperor was originally a lecherous and licentious person, but brought the ugly woman Zuo into the harem just for her "poet" status. Some emperors like to recruit literati as officials to win a reputation of cherishing talents, while Emperor Wu of Jin chose to marry a literati as his concubine. It seems that if a poet's concubine is accepted, his own taste will be improved. The book of Jin records Zuo Fen's life after he entered the palace: "his appearance is crude, but he has no favor. Many people suffer from physical disability and often live in a thin room. " There were so many beauties in the harem of Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty that they didn't know who to be lucky with. So they often got on the sheep cart, went around the harem and stayed overnight wherever they stopped. Because of his ugly appearance, weakness and illness, Zuo Fen was not favored by the emperor and could only live in a "thin room". It can be seen that Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty did not marry a woman, but only a "poetess". The talented woman Zuo Fen was just a literary prop chosen by the emperor. It is not much different from an antique vase in the palace and a famous calligraphy and painting. Although she is not in favor, she still has to fulfill her duty as a talented woman to write poetry and Fu and play a role of literary ornament. She "received the imperial edict to write a melancholy essay" and completed the emperor's proposition composition "Li Si Fu", which can be regarded as Zuo Fen's representative work. Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty was very satisfied with her ability of reciting poems and writing Fu. "The emperor emphasized the rhetoric, and every thing that had a special treasure would be called Fu Song," and "when it comes to the meaning of the text, the words are beautiful to Tsinghua University. As a result, Zuo Zhen was always asked to write some touching or gorgeous poems and Fu when there was a wedding in the palace. In fact, Zuo Fen is more like a royal poet than a concubine. There are more than 20 poems, Fu, song, Zan, Lei and so on, most of which are written in response to the imperial edict. Among the poems and Fu she was ordered to write, there are many works with sincere feelings, but how can she get rid of the works in the form of the scene? Therefore, for Zuo Peng, what he suffered was double suffering. First of all, from a woman's point of view, she did not get sincere love, nor daily love between ordinary couples. Secondly, from the poet's point of view, she does not have the freedom to write. She has to write some works that are suitable for the situation. In the nearly 400 words of Li Si Fu, Zuo Fen expresses his sorrow to his heart's content: "the accumulation of hidden worries, the depression and complaint alone"; "the restlessness of the night, the yearning of the soul, the dawn of the day"; "the feeling of sorrow, the absence of tears"; "the cloud, the flow of tears, the towel"; and even "the sorrow, the blood" Resentment. In the double agony mentioned above, Zuo Peng added a deep pain of missing his relatives. Qian Zhongshu once commented on Li Si Fu in this way: "the poems and Fu of palace resentment are mostly about the feeling of waiting to see, such as Sima Xiangru's changmen Fu and Tang Xuanzong's Jiangfei's Loudong Fu, especially the author. Zuo Fen is not proud of serving the supreme, but resents being separated from his closest relatives. He is ambitious. "Despite his ambition, Zuo Fen was unable to escape fate, and it was because of his ambition that he suffered more. Since entering the palace, Zuo has always lived a life without freedom and depression. Later, Emperor Wu died and Jin dynasty fell into the hands of his daughter-in-law Jia Nanfeng. The court of the Western Jin Dynasty was still full of licentiousness and extravagance, murder and fighting. Although there is no record of Zuo's life in the historical books, the desolation of his later life can be roughly imagined.

He entered the palace only because of his talent

After Zuo Si became famous, Sima Yan, then Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, heard that Zuo Si's younger sister was also very talented and famous, so he ordered her to be selected into the palace. In fact, the reason why Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty brought zuofen into the harem was to fish for fame and reputation, and to be mediocre and elegant. In fact, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty was far more brilliant than his ancestors Sima Yi and father Sima Zhao. At that time, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty inherited the land laid down by his grandfather, and when he saw that three points belonged to the Jin Dynasty and the world was unified, he indulged in pleasure. Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty not only accepted all the beauties in the harem of Shu and Wu, but also wantonly selected folk beauties into the palace. Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty selected Zuo Fen into the palace. Zuo Fen was not very beautiful. In the book of Jin, Zuo Fen was called "poor in appearance, poor in physique, and often lived in a thin room". In other words, Zuo was ugly and sick, so he was not favored by Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. The concubines who are especially favored or have status are qualified to expand the palace or live in a better house. Since Zuo Fen is not favored by Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, the house she lives in is naturally a "thin room".

Deep palace life

At that time, the harem was as beautiful as a fairy, and it was hard to get a special favor, not to mention its general appearance. According to historical records, "Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty was lazy in political affairs and did a lot of traveling and banqueting. He selected five thousand maids of Wu SUN Hao to enter the palace, and nearly ten thousand people were killed in yeting. When they arrived at Yan's bed, the palace people competed with each other to insert bamboo leaves into the house, and spread salt on the ground to attract the emperor's chariot.... " There are too many beauties in the harem of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. They are too lazy to turn. They just sit in a small car pulled by sheep and turn around to see the beauties. They sleep where they like. Later, the palace maids came up with a clever way to attract the sheep by "inserting bamboo leaves into the house and sprinkling salt on the ground", so as to attract the attention of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. Before emperor Wu of Jin became emperor, he had a wife named Yang Yan. Later, of course, she became Queen. The famous fool emperor in history, Emperor Hui of Jin, was her son. Among the dazzling beauties, there is another concubine named Hu Fang, who is favored by Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. Her father is a military general. Hu Fang was bold and straightforward. When she was chosen as an imperial concubine, she burst into tears on the spot. People nearby said, "keep your voice down. Be careful that the emperor hears it." Hu Fang, angry and sad, said, "I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid of the emperor." After hearing this, Emperor Wu of Jin appreciated her and made her a concubine. Hu Fang was very bold and straightforward. He once played the game of Chupu (an ancient gambling game) with the emperor. He got into a dispute with Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty and broke his hand. Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty was very angry and said that "you are really the daughter of a rude general". Hu Fang said that Gongsun of the northern expedition, who refused Zhuge in the West (referring to Sima Yi, the grandfather of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty), was not also a general? For her boldness and frankness, Emperor Wu of Jin didn't think she was disobedient. Instead, he gave her the treatment second only to the queen. She gave birth to a daughter named Princess Wu'an. However, Zuo Peng may never have been favored by Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. At most, she was asked to write at the palace party. "The emperor attaches great importance to fenci, and every thing has its own special treasure, so it must be called Fu Song". Zuo's great talent can only become a kind of decoration for the emperor to embellish and show elegance after he has had enough to eat and drink, just like the song of a singing girl and the dance of a dancing girl. In addition, she also acted as a royal instrument, and Zuo wrote all kinds of Fu for the royal family.

Late scenery of talented women

In 290 ad, Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty died. In 291, Jia Nanfeng (the empress of emperor Hui of Jin Dynasty) took control of the Imperial Palace and the imperial government, and starved to death the Empress Dowager Yang Zhi (Yang Yan's younger sister, who asked Sima Yan to marry her when she died), and all the maids who served Yang Zhi were starved to death. After Jia Nanfeng manipulated the fool emperor, he did whatever he wanted and violated the palace restrictions. He sent his confidants out of the palace to look for beautiful teenagers and loaded them into the palace. After enough playing, he killed them one by one. And killed the prince Sima Li. At this time, the palace was turned upside down, and Zuo Peng was left out in the cold. Zuo Peng died on March 18, the first year of Yongkang (300 years). On April 25 of the same year, he was buried in the West Road of junyang mausoleum.

Historical evaluation

Cai Dongfan: 1. Cao family members often continue their history, and the younger sister of the left family returns to Nengwen. From the knowledge of the great, there is no bias Yu, many talented women are also anecdotes. ② Zuo guipin's eulogy and eulogy are too many words to be trusted, but a woman's talent is enough to make a man sweat.

personal works

There are more than 20 poems, Fu, song, Zan, Lei and so on, most of which are written in response to the imperial edict. "Gan Li Shi", "Li Si Fu" and "peck wood poem" are his representative works. Among the poems and Fu she was ordered to write, there were many works with sincere feelings, but for Zuo Zhen, her days in the palace were a double suffering. From a woman's point of view, she did not get the emperor's favor, nor the ordinary love between husband and wife. In the nearly 400 words of Li Si Fu, Zuo Fen expressed his sorrow heartily. It is full of palace resentment that "the accumulation of hidden worries, the depression and complaint alone"; "the restlessness of night, the longing of soul, the coming of dawn"; "the feeling of sorrow, the self vanishing of tears"; "the rising of clouds, the dripping of tears, the touching of towel"; and even "the feeling of sorrow, the weeping of blood". In the double pain mentioned above, Zuo Peng added a deep pain of missing his relatives.

Historical records

Book of Jin, Volume 31, biography No.1

member of family

Zuo Fen's father: Zuo Xi, Zi Yanyong, Taiyuan prime minister. The governor of Yiyang. Brother: Zuo Si wife: Zhai Shi. Zuo Si

Chinese PinYin : Zuo Fen