The history of Wu Cheng'en's former residence

In the twenty-nine years of Jiajing, Wu Cheng'en's ambition of seeking fame at the age of forty-five has not been realized. According to the imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty, anyone who has obtained the qualification of a scholar for a certain number of years and has repeatedly failed to pass the provincial examinations will be submitted to the court by Xuezheng (the highest official in charge of culture and education in the province) for proper arrangements, which is called "tribute". So, Wu Cheng'en became an old gongsheng, and went to Beijing to wait for the court to appoint him or arrange other ways out. Wu Cheng'en, who had been waiting in Beijing for more than two months, was disappointed. He didn't get an official position, but he was arranged to study in imperial academy. After more than ten years, until Wu Cheng'en was fifty-nine, he had been studying in imperial academy. Until about sixty years old, Wu Cheng'en got the post of Changxing Xiancheng (Zhengbapin), which is equivalent to a deputy county magistrate. Because Wu Cheng'en was born with integrity, of course, he didn't adapt to the officialdom in the dark ages. After only working for more than a year, Xian Cheng greatly annoyed his boss and was dismissed and detained for "corruption and bribery". Soon the case came to light and was released. Later, the imperial court granted Wu Cheng'en the title of Jing Fu Ji Shan (Jing Wangfu, located in Qizhou, now Qichun County, Hubei Province, and also the hometown of Li Shizhen), and he was the rank-positive eight-product official. Work as a teacher in Jing Wangfu. Time is not long, because of old age and illness, Wu Cheng'en resigned and went home. After returning home, Wu Cheng'en devoted himself to sorting out manuscripts and writings, and finally wrote a shocking literary masterpiece, The Journey to the West.

This is the front fender of Wu Cheng'en's coffin, which is engraved with "Jing Fu Ji Shan". It is the discovery of this coffin plate that enables us to know about Wu Cheng'en cemetery, find Wu Cheng'en's remains and relics, and thus determine many conclusions. Speaking of the discovery of this coffin, there is an unusual story:

In December, 1974, several farmers privately excavated the tomb without the owner and wanted to sell the coffin board. I accidentally dug up the coffin of Wu Cheng'en and his wife, but I didn't know it was Wu Cheng'en's coffin. As a result, the coffin was confiscated by the production brigade and resold to Madian Middle School, ready to be converted into school doors and windows. At that time, the carpenter who made doors and windows was surnamed Wu. When he changed it into a coffin crosspiece, he found that there were ten words on the board, such as "Jingfu Jishan Sheyang Wu Gong coffin". At this time, someone joked at the scene: "Master Wu, the owner of this coffin may not be your ancestor!" Master Wu's heart moved, leaving the upper part of the horizontal board. This is the board engraved with the words "Jingfu Jishan" that you see now. "Ji Shan" is an official of the Ming Palace, and it is a unique official position in the Ming Dynasty. According to textual research, this tomb belongs to the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, there were four people in Huai 'an who held the post of "Ji Shan", and the other three people held the post of "Ji Shan" in other palaces. Only Wu Cheng'en had the supplement of "Jing Fu Ji Shan" after his dismissal from Changxing. Besides, the tomb owner's surname is Wu, so-called "Sheyang Mountain Man", and Wu Cheng'en is the only Huai 'an person who meets these conditions, so who else can the owner of this tomb be if it is not Wu Cheng'en?

If Wu Cheng'en was born at a bad time, then his coffin never met a good time to see the sun again. 1974 was the late civil strife of the Cultural Revolution, and the protection of cultural relics was often a "sin", so the general public's policy concepts and related knowledge about the protection of cultural relics were very weak. Because Wu Cheng'en's name was not directly written in the coffin, people who knew about the excavation didn't understand its historical value, and people with professional knowledge didn't understand this specific situation, which caused many important cultural relics of the survivors to suffer losses, which really made people lament.

This is a photocopy of the new collection of flowers and plants edited by Wu Cheng'en. This epitaph was written by Wu Cheng'en for the parents' book of his children's in-laws Shen Kun.

East Wing: This rubbing is a picture about bamboo, which is very unique. Please take a closer look and see if you find anything. By the way, in fact, this is a bamboo leaf poem and painting, which is found in many places in China. This bamboo leaf poem and painting is to commemorate Wu Cheng'en, and several painting and calligraphy lovers in our region borrowed the poem of Wu Ju, a poet of the Song Dynasty, to describe the former residence of Wu Cheng'en. Did you see the details of the poem? The content of the poem is: "By the bridge, the weeping willows descend to Bixi, and Junjiayuan (Yin Xuan) is in the west of North Bridge. When I came, it was not like the human world, and the flowers were warm and the birds were singing. " It can be seen that the environment of Wu Cheng'en's former residence is fresh and beautiful.