In the 29th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (1September 24th, 550), Tang Xianzu was born in a scholarly family on August 14th. Originally living in Li Wenchang, Linchuan (now Tangjiashan, Taiping Street, east of Wenchang Bridge, Linchuan), he moved to Shajing Lane and built "Yumingtang" (including Lanxiulou, Qingyuan Pavilion, Yuyichi Pavilion and Jinjie Pavilion). ), and was named Qingyuan Taoist, cocoon Weng in his later years. Four generations of his ancestors had literary names: great-grandfather, great-grandfather's collection of books, and Haowen; Grandfather Tang Maozhao, with a new word, read widely, elaborated on Huang Lao and was good at writing poems, and was praised as a "famous poet" by scholars. Father Tang Shangxian is a learned Confucian scholar. He was a famous scholar, health care scientist, Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi bibliophile during Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, and attached importance to family education. In order to promote Confucianism, he founded "Tangjiaxue" in Tanggong Temple in Linchuan City, and hired Luo Rufang, a master of Neo-Confucianism in Jiangxi Province, as a teacher to teach clan children, and successively gave birth to Tang Xianzu, Tang Ruzu, Tang (Tang), Tang Huizu and Tang. Uncle Tang Shangzhi loves opera and has also engaged in opera activities. My mother has been familiar with poetry collections since she was a child.

Although Tang Maozhao and Tang Shangxian's father and son have different sects, they are both learned men. The serious attitude of their ancestors left a deep imprint on Tang Xianzu's young mind. Tang Xianzu is talented, influenced by his family since he was a child, and he is diligent and studious. At the age of five, he went to a home school to study. 65,438+02 years old, able to write poetry. 13 years old (forty-one year of Jiajing), studied China's ancient poems under Xu Liang. 65,438+04 years old, making up all the students in the county. 2 1 year won the prize. According to his talent, people expect him to be worthless in his official career. However, the imperial examination system, which degenerated with the whole Ming society, has become corrupt, and the examination has become a behind-the-scenes transaction of corruption and bribery by the upper ruling group, and a scam to determine the hereditary status of aristocratic children, instead of taking people by their talents. In the fifth year of Wanli (1577) and the eighth year of Wanli (1580), Zhengshi Zhang wanted to arrange for his son to take the examination of Jinshi, in order to hide people's eyes and ears, and wanted to find a few people with real talents and learning as a foil. He found that the most famous juren at sea were Tang Xianzu and Shen Maoxue, so he sent his uncle to woo them. It is claimed that as long as he is willing to cooperate with the Prime Minister, Xu Xianzu will be in the first place. With the power of the prime minister and the temptation that many people dream of, Shen Maoxue and others betrayed themselves and really won the high-tech class; However, Tang Xianzu was completely honest and unmoved. Although he did not oppose Zhang's political reform, as an upright intellectual, he hated this corrupt atmosphere, so he refused it twice. He said, "I dare not lose my virginity." The result can be imagined: Tang Xianzu's name fell on Sun Shantou. In addition, in the years when Zhang was in power, he was always the last one to come to power. However, Tang Xianzu was praised by domestic people for his noble personality and white integrity. After Zhang's death, he took photos one after another and promised him to pull Xianzu into the screen as an academician, but Xianzu refused. At the age of 34, Tang Xianzu won the Jinshi with a very low ranking and began his career full of thorns. He first observed politics in Beijing (as a trainee), and the following year he went to Nanjing as a doctor of Taichang Temple as a seven-product official. Seven years at a time Nanjing has been the capital of the Ming Dynasty since Yongle. Although there are various yamen, they actually have no power and exist in name only, especially Taichang Temple. Someone chanted in the poem: "Yin Chuang's high house cleans the dust yarn, and it smells buzzing twice a day." Its leisure and silence can be imagined. However, Nanjing at that time was a place where scholars gathered together. Poets and poets, that is, dramatists, are famous before and after Yao, He and Jin in Heng and Zang Maoxun. Tang Xianzu is here, learning to sing with some people who have poems and songs, while learning knowledge and writing books. Although it is midnight, the sound of books is endless. Someone asked him, "What is the old doctor's book addiction?" Answer: "I don't ask for a doctor unless I am a doctor." This quiet and complacent life is in sharp contrast with the literati who were severely punished for taking refuge in Zhang at this time.

It's not peaceful to stay. There is a fierce literary and ideological struggle here. As early as the Jiajing period, the ethos of "literature must be in the Qin and Han Dynasties, poetry must flourish in the Tang Dynasty" advocated by the first seven scholars headed by Li Mengyang and He Jingming prevailed in the literary world. During the Wanli period, the later seven sons, led by Wang Shizhen and Li Panlong, followed in their footsteps. As far as ethos is concerned, there are so-called first five sons, last five sons, wide five sons, continuation five sons and last five sons. Among them, Wang Shizhen is not only talented, but also has status and influence. In the eleventh year of Wanli (1583), he went to Nanjing to be the magistrate of Heaven, and later served as assistant minister and minister of punishments, with a prominent position. Scholar-officials are eager for it. Many people ran to his door. A few words can "flatter Zhang Xianhao and brag about his talent" and become a literary leader. But Tang Xianzu is a man who respects literature and does not yield to power. He emphasized innovation and opposed retro. He paid attention to absorbing all the excellent literary heritages in ancient times and was not limited by the scope stipulated by the retro school. His literary thoughts and themes are quite different from those of Wang Shizhen. Therefore, although he is with Wang Shizhen and is a direct relative of Wang Shizhen's younger brother, he doesn't want to go back with the Wang brothers. He wrote to a friend and said, "If you don't want to catch up with the kings in the north, you can't catch up with them." More interestingly, in order to expose the true face of the literary retro school, Tang Xianzu also invited friends to dissect the poems of Li Mengyang, Li Panlong and Wang Shizhen, and took out the words that imitated and copied the Tang poems of Han Dynasty, smearing and commenting on them one by one. Wang Shizhen know, what, didn't take it to heart. This shows that Tang Xianzu is not only disobedient to power, but also has his own opinions and specialties, and will never go with the tide. This is not to say that Tang Xianzu has a congenital rebellious character, but it is actually the result of his acceptance of ancient excellent cultural thoughts under the historical conditions at that time, especially the anti-neo-Confucianism, anti-tradition and anti-authoritarian thoughts in the embryonic period of capitalism. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, with the emergence of the seeds of capitalism, deviant thinkers such as Wang Gen, He, Luo Rufang and Li Zhi appeared in the philosophical circle. Although their views are different, they all denounce hypocrites who talk about morality but feel rich with their earth-shaking ambitions and the spirit of tying dragons and snakes with their bare hands, and pretend that "nothing can be done without holiness." It has had a great influence on ideology and culture. Tang Xianzu was a student of Luo Rufang in his early years. He studied Taoism and read Unholy Books from his childhood. Later, I made friends with Bai Zi, a radical Zen master, and especially admired Li Zhi, a radical thinker. After reading his book Burning, I admired him very much. He said, "People like Mr. Mingde (Rufang), in my heart forever. Regard him as a hero of Xia (), listen to the hero of Li Baiquan (wisdom), and find his subordinates, such as getting a beautiful sword. " Formed his resistance and struggle in politics and literature, also known as "crazy slave", so he was not only unwilling to go along with the autocratic rulers in character, but also sharp-edged in politics.

In the 19th year of Wanli (159 1), when Tang Xianzu was a Taoist in Bi Li Temple in Nanjing, he wrote an article on assistant ministers and ministers, severely impeached the records of ministers Yang Wenju and Hu Runing, and exposed their crimes of stealing power, accepting bribes and plundering the hungry. This article criticizes the politics of Wanli for 20 years. When Wen Shu came out, Zong Shen was furious, and the imperial edict demoted Tang Xianzu to xuwen county in Leizhou Peninsula as the official history. A year later, he was pardoned and moved to Suichang County, Zhejiang Province. In Suichang, "cutting off poker (killing people), beating poplars (putting on torture devices to tie prisoners with their feet or necks), cutting down rules and regulations, and saving opportunities", a shooting range was built and an academy was built. Sometimes I go to the countryside to persuade farmers, and I compare words with Qingxian Zixiu all the year round. This style of ancient officials finally greatly improved this remote and barren land in central Zhejiang, and cattle, sheep and livestock in Sang Ma also flourished. Perhaps Tang Xianzu regarded this place as his ideal kingdom. In addition to the above-mentioned good governance, he even allowed the prisoners in prison to go home for the New Year without authorization, and let them go to the streets to watch lanterns during the Lantern Festival, and pursued their political opinions without scruple. This made his political opponents finally seize the handle, and when it was time to assess officials, they came out to slander them. Tang Xianzu naturally knew that someone wanted to get rid of him. In the 26th year of Wanli (1598), I heard that the imperial court would send tax envoys to Suichang to disturb the people. He couldn't bear to wait for others to attack him and submitted his resignation to the official department. Without waiting for approval, he left and went back to his hometown. Later, when the official department and Douchayuan formally punished him for being "impetuous", he gave up the job three years in advance.

When Tang Xianzu was a teenager, he studied under Luo Rufang, the third generation disciple of Wang Gen of Taizhou School. This school inherits and develops the positive part of Wang Shouren's philosophy, which is the so-called "Left-wing Wang Xue". This school attacked Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism, doubted feudal dogma and opposed the bondage of individuality. Li Zhi was the most prominent representative of Wang Xue, a leftist in Wanli period. In terms of literary thought, Tang Xianzu echoed the repeated ancient prose thoughts of the public security school, and clearly put forward the idea that literary creation should first be "intentional" and put ideology first. These ideas are all embodied in his works. Although Tang Xianzu also wrote poems, the highest achievement was legend. He is another great dramatist after Guan Hanqing in ancient China. There are five kinds of his drama creations, namely, Four Dreams of Tang Yuming (or Four Dreams of Linchuan) and The Story of Zidi. Four Dreams of Tang Yuming are Purple Hairpin, Peony Pavilion, Handan and Conan. Among these four works, The Peony Pavilion is the most proud and influential one of Tang Xianzu.

After Tang Xianzu left Suichang, he met Li Zhi in Linchuan. After Li committed suicide in prison, Tang Xianzu wrote poems to mourn. He also praised the anti-Neo-Confucianism Zen master Bai Zi, saying that Li Zhi and the high officials were "heroes" and "outstanding" and that "finding their subordinates is like getting a beautiful sword". To a great extent, their influence formed the ideological basis for Tang Xianzu to expose corrupt politics, oppose Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism and pursue individual liberation in his creation.

Tang Xianzu despised feudal dignitaries all his life and often offended celebrities. In his later years, he was indifferent to poverty and refused to deal with county officials. This personality and style made him keep close contact with Gu Xiancheng, Zou Yuanbiao and other Lin Dong party member who paid attention to honesty and criticized corrupt politics at that time, and also made him pay attention to "Geng Jie" or "longevity" figures such as Harry and Xu Wei. This personality characteristic of Tang Xianzu is also evident in his works. "History of Ming Dynasty" records his generosity and poverty, which can quite summarize the essence of his life.

Tang Xianzu's thought in his later years was relatively negative, which was related to his devotion to Buddhism and his long-term isolation from political struggle after resigning from his post. He claimed to be "a wave of people in the state, the adherents of the prosperous times" and said that "everything in the world is just empty, just let it go." Later, it was named "cocoon Weng".

In Tang Xianzu's era, the literary world was dominated by the trend of archaizing, and the reputation of the "last seven sons" who inherited the "first seven sons" increased greatly. When Tang Xianzu was 2 1 year old, Li Panlong, the leader of the "last seven sons", had died, but another leader, Wang Shizhen, continued to be the leader of the literary world, "taking charge for twenty years". In his youth, Tang Xianzu criticized Li Mengyang, Li Panlong, Wang Shizhen and others, who were "the first seven poets" and "the last seven poets", accusing them of "adding and subtracting the literalness of Hanshu Tang Poetry" in their works. Later, he even criticized the works of "Li Mengyang and below" as "pseudo-literary works" and pointedly pointed out: "The fame and status of pseudo-writers are quite obvious ... Their writing style is related to the national style, and they are crowned with jade and can deceive people." The fundamental defect of the propositions of "the former and the latter seven scholars" and "literature must be in Qin and Han Dynasties, and poetry must flourish in Tang Dynasty" is to blindly imitate the words and phrases of the previous generation's works, and even make a face-lift and copy the words and phrases of the predecessors. Tang Xianzu thinks that "Han and Song essays are extremely interesting". He also stressed that the beauty of the article lies in the "natural gas field", not between step and form. His thoughts had a certain influence on the police faction that later exposed the anti-imitation banner. It can be said that Tang Xianzu was an important figure of the public security school headed by Li Zhi, Xu Wei and Yuan Hongdao in the process of anti-imitation. Tang Xianzu's poetry was influenced by the beautiful poetic style of the Six Dynasties in his early years. In order to resist the ethos that "poetry must flourish in the Tang Dynasty", he later pursued the difficult style of Song style. His creative practice is not enough to compete with imitators. Tang Xianzu's ancient prose is very long and distinctive. His letters are full of emotion and fluent, which is praised by later generations. He is also good at historiography. He revised the History of Song Dynasty, but he didn't finish the manuscript.

On April 4th, 20 15, China issued the stamp "Ancient Scholars in China", the first of which was Tang Xianzu.