Library

Yan Ruzhen wrote many poems and essays throughout his life, and he also wrote numerous works. The "Paradise Poetry Manuscript" published during the Daoguang period inevitably omitted many poems and essays. Some poems will be added during this compilation. For example: "Continuation of Hannan County Chronicles" majored by Yan Ruzhen, Volume 29 contains poems such as "Visiting Tiantai Mountain", "Zhanba Jinchiyuan", "Qing Master Daolin Temple", "Winter Night Passing Jitou Pass", "Dingjun Mountain Visiting Zhuge Wuhou Temple". But in Volume 29, "Two Poems to Show the Students of the Academy" and "Paradise Poetry Manuscript" are titled "To Show the Students of the Fuwen Academy in Xunyang", Xunyang is today's Xunyang County, Ankang City. Volume 13 of Guangxu's "Xunyang County Chronicles" "Art and Literature Chronicles" contains four poems "Xunzhou Bamboo Branch Poems" in addition to "Two Poems by Students of Shifu Academy". This group of poems was written when Yan was appointed magistrate of Xunyang County, that is, between the sixth and eighth years of Jiaqing (1801-1803).

Yan Ruyuan (1759-1826) was a native of Zhangchi, Xupu County, Hunan. His courtesy name was Bingwen, his nicknames were Zifeng and Suting, and he also named himself Paradise. At the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yan family moved from Tongxiang, Zhejiang, to Xupu. "He was familiar with border affairs, and when Miao people were in trouble, he repeatedly declared his strength." Yan Ruzhen was influenced by his family since he was a child. "When he was still young, he heard anecdotes about his great-grandfather Du'an Gong and Yuren Gong's brothers." Although he was young, he had a "different nature" and his heart was "devoted to filial piety and loyalty to friends." In particular, his father, Junji, said to the Bachelor of Humanities, "he will always come home, enjoy the evening and drink, so that his brothers can leave their jobs and improve their quality, and their money will stay for ten days, without a tired look." Therefore, Yan "study the ten lines of reading, and play with the group of children, that is, the art of war department, the father is amazing, so Yan is a famous teacher who teaches very strictly." In the thirteenth year of the year, in response to the boy's examination, he wrote two poems, "White Peach Blossom" and "Lotus Pearl", as well as "Nostalgia for Youyang" and "Pastoral Miscellaneous", which were highly appreciated by the scholars and were used to supplement the city and Xiang. At the age of seventeen, he "eat a lot of food, that is, he talks about the classics of the world, and pays more attention to military matters." He also admires Fan Zhongyan's meaning of "worry first and then rejoice," and calls himself Paradise. Yan Ruzhen later entered Yuelu Academy and studied under the famous scholar Luo Dian, and since then he has laid a good academic foundation. Luo Dian "taught the academy for twenty-seven years. It must be a strict nature and cannot be used for personal gain. In addition to providing food and clothing, all the people who study every year are used to renovate the academy. In their free time, they plant flowers and cranes to nourish their temperament." After following the teacher for six years, I learned about his academic foundation and always kept in mind that "the teacher established teaching to enable scholars to cultivate their natural interests, strengthen their moral character, and be aware of current affairs." In the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign (1792), Yan Ruzhen became the lecturer of Mingshan Academy until the sixty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign (1795). During this period, he took the exam, entered Yuelu Academy, and lectured at Mingshan Academy. His resume did not seem to be particularly outstanding, and the academic community did not pay more attention to it. The 60th year of Qianlong's reign and the 37th year of Yan Ruyi's reign were, after all, an extremely precious stage in life. When he was the head of the imperial family, Mr. Yan was "high-spirited and heroic, and he claimed to have reached the top of his career". Then he entered Yuelu Academy, where he admired and studied under Luo Dian. "Although Mr. Wang has been famous for his craftsmanship for a lifetime, his mental concentration is on the classics. His treatment of classics is based on the simplified writing of the ancients, with no gaps left. That is to say, exegesis of the classics and combing them into sentences. All of them have precise footnotes, which makes it possible to understand one chapter and the whole article. If the whole classic is blocked, it will waste sleep and food, day and night, and it will be coherent and then safe." He "attended Master Shen Zhai's lectures for six years" and was ordered by Luo Dian to "compile various miscellaneous notes". After that, he returned home and lived there for four years. However, this kind of study of classics was not Yan Ruzhen's pursuit and interest. He hesitated for a long time: he was a servant for more than ten years, exhausted and exhausted, engaged in useless writings, unable to establish himself, and changed his mind when he saw different things. He was not confident. When I think about it, my clothes are wet with sweat. After the weak crown, he became angry with wine, admired the Zhu family and Meng Zhi as a man, and wanted to join the army. He marched thousands of miles away and performed extraordinary feats. He was far away from Fu Jiezi and Ban Ding through the ages. The wine is intoxicating and the ears are hot, and they often sing and dance wildly. Think about it from now on and be polite. A man's nature is fair and he has infinite career. It is better to be like this than to become a hero!