Night tour to Zhang’s Ancestral Hall

Zhang Yuanqian, whose courtesy name was Zhongzong and also known as Luchuan Jushi, was also known as Lucuan Old Man in his later years. He is the author of ten volumes of "Return of Luchuan Collection" and two volumes of "Luchuan Ci". His style of poetry is passionate and desolate. He is one of the representatives of the bold and unconstrained poets in the Song Dynasty. He pioneered the patriotic poetry school and directly influenced the poetry creations of Xin Qiji and Lu You. Establishing his indelible position in the history of Chinese literature.

The night is deep and the long street is silent. Songkou Ancient Town, which was noisy during the day, now seems very quiet. A huge statue stands quietly at the three-way intersection in the center of the ancient town, which is especially awkward in the dark night. This is a statue of the patriotic poet Zhang Yuanqian that the government just erected last year. The Zhang Yuanqian Memorial Shrine (also the Zhang Ancestral Hall) is located 300 meters away from here on the street.

The dim street lights revealed that less than half of the white paint on the outer wall of Zhang's ancestral hall had peeled off, showing mottled marks. The main entrance of the ancestral hall is closed, and a new wooden sign has been erected on it, with the words "Patriotic poet Zhang Yuanqian Memorial Temple" written in block letters.

I entered through the small wooden door on the side. I have been to the ancestral hall twice, but the first time I came at night. The ancestral hall looked dilapidated, and a light bulb the size of a fist hung alone on the beam, emitting a pale yellow light. Several incense burners of different sizes are scattered around on the old wooden table in the center of the hall. On the hall hangs a golden plaque given to Zhang Yuanqian by Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, "Although there is no charioteer, it is as if I were traveling in person." There is a couplet in the hall that reads: "The vitality is connected." Yuezhou, I am happy to see the fragrance of five branches of osmanthus; Qiancai spreads to Yongyi, and I am happy to see the long flow of Songyang sect. "I don't know who made it. The hidden head "Yuan Qian" coincides with the patriotic poet Zhang Yuanqian. Zhang Yuanqian's former residence is located on the bank of Taohua Creek in Yuezhou Village, Songkou (formerly known as Songyang). His grandfather Zhang Jianmeng and his five sons successively entered the high school and were praised by the people at the time as "Five Branches of Dangui", which means that the five sons have passed the imperial examination.

From the calligraphy and paintings on the bleak walls of the ancestral hall, we can learn about the deeds of some patriotic poets. In the first year of Jingkang of the Song Dynasty, Zhang Yuanqian served as Li Gang's staff and actively resisted the Jin Dynasty. Later, Li Gang was dismissed and he was demoted to the south. He strongly admired Li Gang's war thinking and wrote the words "Congratulations to the Bridegroom and to the Prime Minister Li Boji". The second half of the poem wrote: "I dream of Yangzhou Road every ten years. I rely on the cold, worry about my homeland, and rush to swallow the barbarians. I want to kill Loulan with a three-foot sword, and I will regret the old saying of Pipa." The poet wrote down his opposition to peace talks and his determination to advocate war. In the eighth year of Shaoxing, Hu Quan wrote a letter opposing the peace proposal and asked Qin Hui to be executed in public. Qin Hui planned to demote Hu Quan to Guangzhou, and the scholar-bureaucrats did not dare to contact Hu Quan for fear of being implicated. In the twelfth year of Shaoxing, Hu Quan was exiled to Xinzhou again. He passed by Songkou, and Zhang Yuanqian, who had retired to his home, saw him off. He was so indignant that he wrote "Congratulations to the Bridegroom, Farewell to Hu Bangheng to be banished to Xinzhou". Ji Xiaolan wrote this poem It is regarded as the final work of "Ashi Chuan Ci" and is considered to be "generous and sad. Hundreds of years later, I still think of its restrained and upright spirit." There is a sentence in the poem that says: "God's will is always high and difficult to ask, but human circumstances are always sad and difficult to complain about." It is said to be a sentence that Mao Zedong often recited. In his later years, Mao Zedong was especially fond of Zhang Yuangan's poems, and even asked people to record them on tape so that he could listen to them.

There is a portrait of this patriotic poet on the wall of the ancestral hall, with a pale face. In the dim light, the expression on the painting is indescribably desolate, as if the decline of the Southern Song Dynasty has penetrated deep into his bones. His own downfall. The first two times I came to the ancestral hall were in the daytime, and I was accompanied by friends. While chatting and laughing with friends, I could not truly understand the poet's feelings of concern for the country and the people. Tonight, one can carefully appreciate the poet's helplessness and helplessness in being unable to help the world. The anti-Japanese war ambition of "killing Loulan with a three-foot sword" and the generous desolation of "you know where the country is thousands of miles away".

Coming out of the ancestral hall, I sighed for a long time.