The Wang and Xie Families of Old

Reading Qian Ji's "Old Times Wang Xie" and remembering the glory of Wei and Jin Dynasties "Old Times Wang Xie" is like a letter sent from the depths of troubled times, with the pen and ink of Wang Langye as the paper and the turmoil of the Eastern Jin Dynasty as the seal, and is solemnly delivered to the hands of every reader who is willing to listen to the breath of history. Qian Ji, with his profound historical literacy and delicate literary touches, has opened up a long scroll of the early Eastern Jin Dynasty for us. On this scroll, there is not only the political pattern of "the king and the horse share the world", not only the flames of Su Jun's rebellion, but also how the souls living at the top of the clan find their own way in the torrent of fate. What moved me the most was the "Wang Lang" woman - she walked on the blade of troubled times with an almost divine clarity, and became the bone within the bones of the whole story, the moon within the moon. Wang Lang's characterization is the biggest highlight of the novel. She is not a "cool heroine" who immediately cheats after time travel, but a "person" who has memories of past lives but is truly living in this moment. Her wisdom is not a golden finger that comes out of thin air, but is based on the author's in-depth study of historical data, careful analysis of the current situation and public opinion, and precise insight into human nature. She begged Tian Wenshe to support her soldiers and prepare for war; she studied swordsmanship in order to kill with one blow at the critical moment; she made friends with Xie Zhenshi, admired Xie Shang, and finally fell in love with Xie An. Every step she took had the shadow of foresight, but her true warmth was revealed in the details. What I admire is the author's portrayal of Wang Lang's inner world. She watched the buildings rise and fall, and regarded the beauty as white bones. This was an almost philosophical state, but it did not make her cold and heartless. On the contrary, her dependence and protection on her brother Wang Yunzhi, her respect and closeness to her clan brother Wang Yue, her longing for her mother Liu, and even her sympathy for the Xianbei Princess all show us her heart that is still beating hotly in troubled times. She does not want to be Wang Yuanji, but wants to be her own "King Xuan" - this ambition is not greed for power, but the control of destiny, and the persistent pursuit of the three immortals of "establishing morality, meritorious service, and establishing reputation." The characters in the novel are equally brilliant. Wang Yunzhi's cold face and enthusiasm, Wang Yue's gentleness and jade, Xie Shang's frankness and coquettishness, and even the young Xie An's composure and affection beyond his age, every character has flesh and blood and comes alive on the page. Wang Yunzhi's words to his sister, "If the mountains don't smile, I feel that my family's sunshine is never shining," which expresses the transcendent affection between brothers and sisters. Wang Yue's waiting at Fangshan Ferry, and his words, "It's natural for him to resent me for taking away his sunshine," vividly portray the helplessness and success of the children of the aristocratic family. The emotional line between Xie An and Wang Lang is the most touching part of the book. From the first encounter on a moonlit night in Mount Lu with "a lot of lies", to the temptation of "nothing, no basis" on the Jiangzhou passenger ship, to the promise that "this person will be my minister in the future", and finally to the night talk in the wedding room that "you don't understand people, I will teach you", the development of this relationship includes both the romantic romance of celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the trade-offs of real politics, and the mutual warmth of two lonely souls. Xie An's words, "The pain of longing for each other comes from the heart, and the long-lasting words of the public are born from the outside. You can know which one is near or far, why is it urgent or not?", Which expresses the persistence of the young Mu Ai; Wang Lang's final choice of "accomplishment" rather than "possession" reflects her pattern and ambition as a politician. What is particularly worth mentioning is that the novel's detailed description of the "Six Rites of Nobility" not only demonstrates the author's in-depth research on ancient wedding customs, but also becomes a key node in plot advancement and character creation. From accepting gifts, asking for names, and accepting gifts to receiving gifts, asking for dates, and welcoming in person, every step was full of games and struggles between the Wang and Xie families. In the end, in the compromise of "the husband and wife worshiped at the same time instead of paying homage at the same time," a rare "equality" and "respect" in that era was achieved. And Xie An's phrase "I'm not going to be an official, and you're not getting married, wouldn't it be just right?" Seems to be a joke, but in fact it is the biggest rebellion against the traditional concept of marriage - what they are united with is not family status, not interests, but two hearts longing for freedom and understanding. From a broader perspective, "Old King Xie" moved me because it touches on an eternal proposition: How can individuals stay bright in dark times? Wang Lang chose to face the darkness and tried to become the light that illuminated the darkness. She knows that "it is not impossible to see peonies blooming in the middle of winter, but it requires hundreds or thousands of times more effort than late spring." However, she still chooses to do that "extra heat applied to peonies in cold winter." This kind of courage to do something even though you know it is impossible, this kind of persistence to go against the current is exactly the spiritual strength that our era also needs. In the novel, he laments that "what is written on paper and pen is inherently limited", declares that "in life, one only cares about virtue, merit, and words but does not have a clear ear, and does not care about the west or the east", and the recitation of "the fine health will fill the sea with a tiny tree", all exude a kind of idealism that transcends the times. It allows us to see that even in the darkest times, there are still people who choose to look up at the stars and believe that "extraordinary achievements must be treated by extraordinary people." Qian Ji's writing has a warm texture like ancient jade. When she writes about scenery, "the mountains and rivers complement each other, making people overwhelmed"; when she writes about people, "the expression is clear and the appearance is beautiful, giving people a sense of nature without carvings"; when she writes about feelings, "it is hidden in the center, and how will it be forgotten". This language style of white and white not only retains the charm of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, but also retains the readability of modern novels. Reading it is like drinking mellow wine, with a long aftertaste. It's the New Year, and there's the sound of firecrackers outside the window, but my thoughts are still lingering on the bamboo shadows in Wuyi Lane and the misty rain in Kuaiji Mountain. Thanks to Qian Ji, this work has built a spiritual bridge for us to thousands of years ago. May we be like Wang Lang and keep the courage of light in the darkness; may we be like Xie An and stick to our original sincerity during the long wait; may the years be gentle and the mountains and rivers be safe. Happy New Year, may the fragrance of books always accompany you, and may there always be a bright moon in your heart to illuminate the way forward.

After reading the extra chapter of "Old King Xie", I had a wonderful feeling, as if I was standing on the top of a mountain, overlooking a river that has been flowing for thousands of years. The vague dark lines in the main text are illuminated one by one in the extra chapters; those deep thoughts that were once covered up by the plot finally surface and become another dark river that is parallel to the main line and even deeper. If the main text is a legend with Wang Lang as the protagonist, then the extras are the "footnotes" and "afterglow" of this legend - it tells us that the reason why the legend becomes a legend is not only because of the protagonist's brilliance, but also because of the shadows that support the light: Director Wang's wiliness, Liang Yan's perspective of all living beings, Jiang Shang's grand layout, and the gaze of the "other" brought by the Liangzhou mission. 1. Jiangzuo Guan Yiwu: The background of power and the fate of the clan The extra chapter's portrayal of Director Wang can be called one of the most wonderful "disenchantments" in the book. Director Wang in the text is the prime minister who is "good at winning people's hearts" and the elder who is full of laughter at the gathering. In the extra chapter, we see another side of him - the "Chief Architect of the Southern Crossing Plan", an ultimate chess player who has defeated remote barbarians, indigenous clan thieves, northern refugees, poor nobles, local tycoons, Jiangdong gentry, and royal family members in twenty years through extremely clever political skills. He said: "Chu Zhongcai is of no use to the world. He has no human feelings. Once he takes charge of the army and has no one to control him, he actually has the ambition to seize Zuo. If this happens again, the rebellion of the Eight Kings will be insignificant. China may be wiped out by all the barbarians, and I will never tolerate it." The coldness and sobriety of this passage are chilling. He is not without ambition, but has internalized his ambition into a higher political blueprint - clan politics. He didn't learn from Sima Yi, because he knew that after being emperor for two generations, he would decline; he didn't learn from Zhuge Liang, because he knew that Liu Chan only needed one eunuch to destroy Zhuge Liang. So he invented a third way: to let the nobles take over the king, which would weaken the power of the top while reducing the cost of changing the leadership. This is a very forward-looking political design. Director Wang knew very well that "there is no final conclusion about the superiority of a virtuous person." The Qin and Han Dynasties abandoned the promotion of virtuous people and passed them down to descendants in order to suppress the desire for competition. However, those who faced difficulties in the Wei and Jin Dynasties had to use all their strength to resist foreign humiliation. It was beyond the power of a middle-aged man to resist with all his strength, and the descendants could only be virtuous for three generations. His clan politics is precisely to solve this knot. However, he also clearly realized that this set of rules was unfavorable to Wang Lang - "Linlangxi is a woman and not the emperor's mother. She is naturally at a disadvantage under the current rules, which cannot be eliminated by ordinary wisdom." He was willing to overcome all difficulties to use her, but "wanted to give the Wang family an extra layer of insurance to force Yu Liang not to easily monopolize power." This is the truth of politics: Even if "Jiang Zuo governs Yiwu", even if he appreciates Wang Lang's talent, his first consideration is still the interests of the family. Wang Lang's situation is very similar to that of Zhong Hui and Du Yu back then - they were both "tool men" being exploited and expendable chess pieces. 2. Liang Yan: Stars in the Eyes of All Living Beings This petty official from a poor family in Zhe County experienced the destruction of his family and his family during the Eight Kings Rebellion, experienced the fall from the son of a county official to the son of a tenant farmer, and finally became Wang Lang's assistant. His perspective is the true "perspective of all living beings" - he is not a genius and has no extraordinary talents. He even admits that he is "a talent among others. Especially when dealing with Guo thief's subordinates, he lacks intelligence and has no ability to make decisions." But he has one quality: obedient, loyal, and contented. "His talents have not improved much, and his official position has always been that of a secretary. It's just that the prefix of the attributive has increased along with the master. From being a secretary to the prefect, to being a secretary to the general who conquered the west, to being a secretary to the general. It's all like smoke." This plain narrative contains the joys and sorrows of little people in troubled times. He is not a star, just a pearl of rice, but he is also gently picked up by history, and he also finds his place in the torrent of the times. When he recalled his misjudgment of Wang Lang - thinking that she would definitely die if she entered Jiangzhou alone, but she killed Guo Mo as easily as a chicken - the shock and surrender were truly from the heart. Wang Lang said to him: "Young man, please put yourself in my shoes and think about it. What's the benefit of killing me to avenge Guo Mo?" He couldn't answer. After Wang Lang pointed it out, he thought he understood it, but found that Guo Mo's followers didn't think about the pros and cons at all. At that moment he understood a cruel fact: the gap between people is sometimes wider than the gap between people and birds. "The height that a barn swallow can reach no matter how long it flies, is not as high as the gentle flapping of its wings by a penguin." But he was not jealous or unwilling, but chose to surrender. Because he knew that meeting such a master was the greatest luck in troubled times. History has not only those heroes who raised their arms and responded, but also countless little people like smoke and dust. They may not be smart or brave enough, but they are also participants in history and are equally worthy of being seen. 3. Jiang Shang: The Standard of Civilization If Wang Lang's story is "skill", then Jiang Shang's revelation is "dao". From an almost divine perspective, he revealed to Wang Lang the true nature of the God List - not a magic weapon to regulate luck, but a technical means to extract "group characteristics". What he wants to collect is the unique "romantic charm" of the Wei and Jin Dynasties - "It is unique in exploring the soul and breaking the shackles, and because its gestation was interrupted and died young, the potential has not burst out, but there is room for fine-tuning intervention." This passage reveals the ultimate proposition of the entire story: Why Wei and Jin? Why Wang Lang? Because this is an "unusual number". Among the historical cycles since the Qin and Han dynasties, the Wei and Jin Dynasties were a special case—the flower of civilization bloomed in the darkness, but died just before it was about to bear fruit. What Jiang Shang wants to do is not to directly transfer the civilizational achievements of later generations, but to "guide the people of the time to gather direction" so that the "potential" of this era can burst out. And he chose Wang Lang as the "surgeon-in-charge" because her female identity can fundamentally shake the "patriarchal ethics based on the concept of yin and yang" - "Let a female ruler leave a mark at critical moments and leave loopholes in the foundation, which can have the effect of self-defeating." This is a "dimensionality reduction strike" in the true sense. Not overthrown by force, not enlightened by thought, but by existence itself, leaving a crack in the ultra-stable structure that can never be healed. Jiang Shang said: "That is someone else's story." Yes, Wang Lang's story is just the beginning, and the real ending will have to wait until hundreds of thousands of years later. This vision that spans time suddenly broadens the scope of the entire story - it is no longer the counterattack history of a time-traveling woman, but a civilization experiment that spans thousands of years. 4. Liangzhou: The gaze of others The addition of the Liangzhou mission adds another dimension to the story - the gaze of the other. When looking at Jiangzuo from Liangzhou, it looks like a "remote place" and looks like a "foreign land"; when looking at Liangzhou from Jiangzuo, it looks like a "civilized center" and looks like a "borderland". This intersection of dual perspectives creates a wonderful chemical reaction. Zhang Chun's observation is astute: Jiangzuo's political operations are "as strange as a foreign land" to Liangzhou people. Clan politics, imperial power, and the rule of prime ministers and auxiliaries, this kind of pattern that has been accustomed to Jiangzuo is simply unbelievable in the eyes of the conservative-minded Liangzhou people. Li Chong's view is the wishful thinking of Jiang Zuo's main militant faction - "one white can cover up all ugliness, one unification can cover up all disadvantages". He believed that as long as the Central Plains could be expedition northward and unification restored, all the institutional drawbacks, large and small, could be alleviated. Zhang Chun complained in his mind: "This man can survive until now, thanks to his low official position." This gap in perspective allows readers to think beyond the plot itself and think about a deeper question: Are the so-called "orthodox" and "center" really the only answers? Liangzhou has its own historical tradition, its own governance logic, and its own wisdom for survival. It may not be a representative of "civilization", but it is also a part of this era that cannot be ignored. And when Zhang Chun used Zhuge Liang's old plan of "connecting with Sun Quan on the outside and crossing Jingyi on the inside" to test Li Chong, we saw a historical cycle - the strategy a hundred years ago is still being discussed a hundred years later; the regrets a hundred years ago are still being made up for a hundred years later. History does not simply repeat itself, but it always revolves around similar dilemmas. 5. Conclusion: Seeing a dragon in the field brings civilization to the world The title of the extra chapter "Seeing a dragon in the field brings civilization to the world" is taken from the "Book of Changes". The appearance of the dragon in the fields symbolizes the rise of great virtue, and the world will be brightened by literature and culture. Is Wang Lang that dragon? Maybe so. But the extra story tells us that the rise of the dragon requires soil - Director Wang's plan is the soil, Liang Yan's loyalty is the soil, Jiang Shang's layout is the soil, and even the arrival of the Liangzhou mission is the soil. Without these, no matter how great a dragon is, it cannot soar. The real "civilization" is not the achievement of one person, but the light created by a group of people. Director Wang's political wisdom, Xie An's affection and government, Wang Yunzhi's cold and warm heart, Liang Yan's contentment and loyalty, and even the Liangzhou envoy's caution and curiosity, all of these together constituted the unique "romantic charm" of that era. Qian Ji's writing style has both the coldness of a historian and the warmth of a poet. She writes about Director Wang's coldness, but also about his love for his son; about Liang Yan's mediocrity, but also about his growth; about Jiang Shang's divinity, but also about his trust in Wang Lang; about the temptation of the Liangzhou mission, and about their confusion in facing a strange world. This kind of complex and three-dimensional writing makes "Old King Xie" transcend ordinary historical novels and become a meditation on history, civilization and human nature. We cannot travel through time and space like Wang Lang, nor can we overlook thousands of years like Jiang Shang, but at least, through these words, we can touch the pulse of that era and feel the lives that were once alive. And this is the greatest meaning of reading.

You once said that you could write 100,000 words about siblings. You were so excited at the time, but now you just want a side story.

Huo oh, this is such a silly thing! But it was quite refreshing to hear him brag about Shanshan. Before Xi Jian died, he wanted Shanshan to take over the Beifu Army, Zhenjingkou, and Shanshan to pacify Shu. Didn't this happen? Food transportation is indeed a big problem. Liangzhou turns out to be a conservative among conservatives, laugh to death

The feeling finally came to an abrupt end. I also want to watch Northern Expedition 🐶

N, when will Madam have time to come up with some extras 🥺, I like the chapters/biographies/anecdotes/forums!

General Wang and Taifu Xie, hey hey, it's another year of peace for us!

Feel free to update a chapter, the Chinese New Year is almost here.

Damn, can you write about Zhuge Liang? He is really good. Stars fall in the autumn wind in Wuzhangyuan, so sad.

When will the author update again?