Decades of war, famine and plague [1] led to a sharp drop of 90% in the population of the whole country, and there was a tragic scene of "white bones exposed in the wild, and there were no crows thousands of miles away" [2]. In 220 AD, after decades of war, Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of Wei, accepted the abdication of Liu Xie, Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty, and established Cao Wei. Then, Liu Bei and Sun Quan proclaimed themselves emperors in the southwest and southeast successively, and established Shu Han and Soochow (Three Kingdoms), and China entered the Three Kingdoms period. The three countries each implemented a certain policy of recuperation, which made the social economy in this period experience a relatively stable recovery period. However, even so, due to political opposition, there is still war between the three countries. In 239 AD, Wei Mingdi Cao Rui died young, leaving no son. His adopted son, Wei Shaodi Cao Fang, was only 8 years old. On his deathbed, Cao Rui appointed Cao Shuang, the imperial clan minister, and Sima Yi, the prime minister, as assistant ministers to assist the young emperor in presiding over state affairs. In the early days of Fuzheng, the two ministers of Fuzheng were able to share power and live in peace. Later, Cao Shuang reused Deng Kui, Ding Mi and other confidants and listened to their suggestions. On the one hand, he put Sima Yi in the position of monopolizing power, on the other hand, he appointed officials who advocated new ideas to change the old laws and regulations, which led to a sharp deterioration in his relationship with Sima Yi and conservative officials represented by Jiang Ji. In 249 A.D. (the first decade), the potential forces of Sima Yi launched a political revolution known as the "Gaoping Rebellion", opposing the ruling forces in Cao Shuang. As a result of the coup, Sima Yi induced Cao Shuang to voluntarily give up resistance on the condition of not killing, but afterwards Sima Yi broke the contract and wiped out Cao Shuang and his followers, including many celebrities such as Yanhe, who were related by marriage to Ji Kang, and the Jiba family in Cao Shuang. "The slaughter that day halved the celebrities."
This cruel behavior initiated Sima's usurpation of Cao Wei's regime, and also aroused the dissatisfaction and vigilance of the forces loyal to Cao Wei. After taking the upper position, Sima began to gradually overhead the power of Cao Wei's royal family and eradicate dissidents. Some people who are loyal to Cao Wei and afraid of Sima Shi's atrocities are unwilling to sit still and fight for power. There are coups such as Jiaping Rebellion and Ganlu Rebellion in the central government, and military rebellions such as Huainan Three Rebellions in local areas. Every confrontation ended in Sima's victory, followed by another round of killing and cleaning. Many contemporary celebrities, such as Li Feng, Xu Yun, Xia Houxuan, Zhuge Dan and Jing Wong, were killed because they were involved in or involved in these struggles. The changeable political weather makes some scholars choose to stay at home to avoid being killed in the political struggle. On the other hand, after repeated counter-insurgency, Sima wiped out the remnants of Cao Wei one by one, stabilized his own power, and gradually revealed his ambition to usurp the throne. Some literati who did not recognize the legitimacy of Sima's regime also chose not to be an official to express their dissatisfaction. In response, and out of the need to maintain the rule, the Sima family often used high-handed means to force suspected disgruntled people to become officials to show their political attitude. At the same time, people loyal to the opposition were killed by cruel means, and Ji Kang was killed under such a background. Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties [Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone", Confucianism has been identified as the mainstream thought advocated by the government. After hundreds of years of development, it has become the absolute dominant position of social ethics and people's spiritual beliefs in the Han Dynasty.
However, the chaos in the late Eastern Han Dynasty had a great impact on its dominance. The cruel reality and extreme living environment made the social order based on Confucianism in the Han Dynasty on the verge of collapse, and some anti-traditional ideas such as Cao Cao's "meritocracy" and Kong Rong's "unfilial parents" appeared. Taoist thoughts such as Taiping Dao and Wudou Mi Dao also began to sprout and flourish. Most of them used magic and water to treat others, and soon believers spread all over the country. People from all walks of life began to consciously or unconsciously explore deeper issues such as life and death, man and society from a higher angle in order to re-establish a new ideological order. Metaphysics came into being under this background. It happened in the period of Shao Wei and was actively advocated by Yan He and Wang Bi. At first, Yan He and others explained Confucian classics from the Taoist point of view, trying to reconcile the contradiction between Confucianism and Taoism and build a new ethical system with Confucianism and Taoism as the main body. Due to the active advocacy of authoritative scholars, the atmosphere of philosophical research and debate once flourished, and academic activities were extremely active, which was praised by later generations as the voice of creation. However, with the high Ping Ling incident, leading figures such as Yanhe were killed one after another, and the metaphysical movement came to an abrupt end. Followed by "bamboo metaphysics" headed by Ji Kang, Ruan Ji and other seven sages of bamboo forest. In view of the dark political pressure in this period, bamboo forest metaphysics changed the attitude of combining metaphysics with Confucianism and Taoism, vigorously praised Taoism's "natural" thought, and fiercely rejected the "bright coke" thought advocated by Confucianism and Sima's official.
Advocating avoiding the world, advocating not being bound by secular teachings and returning to humanity and conscience. They opposed "Zoroastrianism" and "Nature" and laid the main proposition of metaphysics later-the dispute between "Zoroastrianism" and "Nature". After Ji Kang was killed for speaking, the study of metaphysics was interrupted for a time, but with the activities of Le Guang, Guo Xiang and others in the Western Jin Dynasty, the study of metaphysics became active again. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty moved south, it combined mysterious theories such as alchemists and immortals, and even introduced Buddhist thoughts in the later period, which had a far-reaching impact on the development of Taoism and Buddhism in later generations. With the rise of the gentry class, metaphysics has become a prominent school, even popular in social clubs and sought after by the upper class. In the Southern Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, metaphysics was officially established as the official school, and it became the four schools alongside Confucianism, literature and history, which played an important role in the formation of China's thought and social outlook from the third century to the fourth century. Ji Kang's ancestor was originally named Xi and lived in Shangyu, Huiji (now Shangyu, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province). Later, in order to avoid enemies, he moved to Luo County (now Suixi County, Huaibei City, Anhui Province) and changed his surname to Ji. [b] According to the literature, Ji's family is a Confucian family [6], so Ji's family is considered to belong to the upper gentry. However, some people questioned this, thinking that there was no change of surname at all. Ji's surname was originally a base surname, and lied that your surname was changed to improve the status of your family. Ji's family is the hometown of Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei, and participated in the Cao Wei regime during the war at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In fact, Ji Kang's father's generation started to make a fortune. Ji Kang's father's name is Zhao Ji, and his word is Gong Yuan. In Cao Wei, he served as an adviser to the governor's grain management book. [8] Ji Kang died when he was young, and Ji Kang was raised by his mother and brother.
Ji Kang has two brothers. They have information to test. Among them, brother Ji is recorded in history. In the Western Jin Dynasty, he served as Yangzhou secretariat, teacher and Zong Zheng. [9] Between him and Ji Kang, there are poems such as "Poems on Giving Brother a Scholar to Join the Army". Ji Kang showed a completely different attitude towards joining the WTO in his reply, which made later generations speculate that this difference in political stance and values had a negative impact on their brotherly relationship [10]. Ji Kang's other brother, who raised Ji Kang, left no name and deeds in history, and was once considered as Ji Xi [1 1]. However, according to the analysis of relevant data, scholars believe that Ji Kang's elder brother should be older than Ji Xi and die earlier, thus confirming his existence. [12][ 13] He raised Ji Kang with his mother, which had a great influence on Ji Kang. Ji Kang also has deep feelings for him, and mentioned their kindness many times in his works such as Two Poems to Guo. Later, both he and his mother died before Ji Kang, and Ji Kang expressed his deep sorrow in Breaking Up with Mountain Juyuan and Poems about Homesickness. Ji Kang's father died as early as when he was a baby. His mother and brother tend to spoil him and lack strict control [14], which makes him develop an unruly and free character. According to records, Ji Kang showed great intelligence when he was young. He did not receive orthodox Confucian education by learning from teachers or entering schools, but completed his early education through self-study [15], which is considered to be related to his good family cultural environment [16].
Ji Kang dabbled in a wide range of contents, including history, music and Laozi and Zhuangzi's theory, which had a profound influence on him later, so that he won the reputation of being versatile [17] in later generations. Ji Kang lived a comfortable life in his early years because of his rich family and the care of his eldest brother [18]. Although he is handsome and talented, he is unwilling to modify his appearance, cultivate his reputation and prepare for his career promotion, but leads a free and independent life [19]. As an adult, Ji Kang married Changle Pavilion [c], the daughter of Cao Wei's imperial clan, became an official doctor, and then moved to Form 3. [22]。 [d] These official posts are clean and idle, and Ji Kang's activities in the official posts have not left a record. Although living in seclusion has a good family background, Ji Kang is not keen on being an official and seeking wealth, leaving no official trace. He yearned for the life in which he was born, lived in seclusion in Shanyang County, Hanoi County (now Jiaozuo City, Henan Province), made friends with Ruan Ji, Dan Tao, Liu Ling, Xiang Embroidery, Ruan Xian and Wang Rong, and created a large number of works to express his thoughts, which attracted people's attention at that time and was called "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest". Later, he became neighbors with Lu 'an and Xiang Embroidery, earning a living by forging iron [23], and refused to be an official. It is also said that Ji Kang does not make a living by striking iron. [24] At that time, the general Si Mazhao wanted to hire Ji Kang as an official of his general shogunate, and he fled to Hedong County to escape the conquest. Zhong Hui, a captain in Li Si, prepared a grand ostentation and extravagance to visit him, but he gave him a cold shoulder. Dan Tao, a good friend, recommended him to take his place. He wrote a letter to break up with Shan Juyuan, listing his "seven insufferables" and "two unavoidable", indicating his unwillingness to be an official.
As for the reason why he didn't want to be an official, Ji Kang himself explained in "Breaking Up with Shan Juyuan" that he was unwilling to pursue fame and gain because he was lazy and had the ambition to live forever. Ji Kang not only advocates Taoist thought of freedom, but also believes in Taoist thought of longevity after eating. During his seclusion, he personally went up the mountain to collect herbs, intending to take health care as his lifelong career, not to choose officials. Literature records his friendship with Sun Deng, Wang Lie and other hermits. He also wrote "Theory of Health Preservation", which advocated that besides alchemy and taking food, there was also a health preservation mode of abstinence and no desire to cultivate one's morality, which was highly praised by people at that time. Most scholars in later generations affirmed this reason, but many people still think that there are political factors that make Ji Kang choose not to be an official. One view is that it is self-protection in a bad political environment. There is also a view that he is somewhat dissatisfied with Sima's regime and does not cooperate with Sima by not being an official. There is also a view that he chose not to cooperate with Sima because he was loyal to Cao Wei. Behind Jue Jingmei was the wife of Ji Kang's good friend Lu An, who was drunk and raped by Lu An's brother Lu Xun [25]. In a rage, Lu An wanted to report Lu Xun and told Ji Kang about it. Ji Kang had friendship with Lu Xun and Lu An, and knew Lu Xun before Lu An, so he advised Lu An not to expose the family scandal, so as to clear his reputation with the whole family. Lu Xun immediately took a solemn oath, and Lu An gave up the idea of reporting Lu Xun out of trust in Ji Kang's guarantee. However, Lu Xun was still uneasy afterwards, so he took the initiative and secretly falsely accused Lu An of being unfilial.
However, Lu An was found guilty because he believed Lu Xun's previous oath and did not expose Lu Xun's evil deeds [26], and moved to a remote border county. Lv An wrote to Ji Kang complaining [25][e]. After Ji Kang was informed, he wrote a letter to break up with Lu Changyi, broke up with Lu Xun [f], and resolutely came forward to testify for Lu An and redress the grievances, so he went to prison with Lu An. Ji Kang's imprisonment immediately caused great repercussions in the society. Many heroes and celebrities expressed their willingness to go to prison with him, demanding his release with [29] * * * * *, and the relevant departments came forward to dissuade him. 3000 college students jointly wanted his life and asked him to teach at the college. However, these efforts have not yielded results. At that time, Zhong Hui, a school captain favored by Si Mazhao, said that Ji Kang's political influence was great, which might threaten Sima Shi's plan to seize the world, and suggested taking this opportunity to eradicate Ji Kang. Therefore, Ji Kang and Lu An were sentenced to death by citing the Spring and Autumn Case of "Confucius Tu Shao Zheng Mao" [30]. Ji Kang reflected on his life in prison, wrote "Mourning Poems" and "Family Instructions" to warn his son Ji Shao. On the day of execution, Ji Kang looked at the shadow of the sun on the execution ground, asked his brother for a piano and played Guangling San calmly. After that, he sighed: Yuan Xiaoni wanted to learn Guangling San from me, but I never wanted to teach it. "Guangling three unique today!" Then he was executed at the age of forty in Luoyang, the eastern capital [3 1].
After Ji Kang's death, Ruan Ji, one of the seven sages of bamboo forest, also died in Jingyuan in the winter of four years. Xiang embroidery, one of the seven sages of bamboo forest, accepted Si Mazhao's call to be an official. Ji Kang's son Ji Shao was later recommended by Dan Tao as an official and later became a servant of the Jin Dynasty. He was martyred to protect Hui Di in the Eight Kings Rebellion and became a famous loyal minister of the Jin Dynasty. However, the death of his father became the biggest controversy about his personal evaluation. [32]。 Fang said, "Zhong San was punished because of his dragon nature, and Ruan Gong was protected by Sima, but his personality was different." [33]. Later generations influenced artistic achievements. Ji Kang loves music, especially guqin. Before his execution, he looked at the shadow of the sun and calmly played a song "Guangling III", lamenting that "Guangling III is unique today", leaving a unique story about Guangling for future generations. His guqin music Wind Into the Pine, as well as four piano pieces, such as Changqing, Short Qing, Long Bian and Short Bian, are called "Ji's Four Pavilions" and "Cai's Five Pavilions" created by Cai Yong in the Eastern Han Dynasty are called "Nine Pavilions". [34] He is also the author of "Sound without Sorrow and Music", which is an important musical theory work in the history of ancient Chinese music. According to literature, Ji Kang is also good at painting and calligraphy. In the Tang Dynasty, it was recorded that he had seen his cursive script "A Letter of Breaking Up with Mountain Juyuan", which was highly respected and was rated as the second cursive script in ancient and modern times, second only to Zhang Zhi, a calligrapher of the Eastern Han Dynasty who was known as "the sage of grass". Among the records of famous paintings in past dynasties, there are two records of Ji Kang's "Bird's Nest Washing Ear" and "Lion Beating Elephant". But these works have not been passed down to this day. [35]。 Ji Kang and Ruan Ji are representatives of literature in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and they have made great achievements in literature. They have similar ideas, so they are called "Ruan Ji".
Compared with Ruan Ji's expertise in poetry, Ji Kang's literary achievements are mainly reflected in prose, so Liu Xie, a literary theorist in the Southern Dynasties, generally commented on the two men in Wen Xin Diao Long: "Teacher Ji Kang writes poems with his heart, while Ruan Ji writes poems with his life." There are more than 50 poems handed down by Ji Kang, most of which are four-character poems. The poems of Ji Kang, Sending Scholars into the Army, mostly adopt the sentences in the Book of Songs, advocate indifference and expound quietism's philosophical thoughts. Its ancient artistic style inherited the Jian 'an style in the early period of Cao Wei, which also had an important influence on the maturity and prevalence of metaphysical poems and poems about immortals in later generations, and was in a connecting position in the history of poetry development. However, this form of mixed discussion in poetry has also been criticized [36] and is considered to have a negative impact on the artistry of poetry. . Ji Kang's poems have strong * * * color and strong appeal, and are praised as "cheerful" by Liu Xie. Many poems are filled with indignation, frank and sincere, and have no disguise, such as Answering Erguotou and Poems of Distressed Anger written in prison [37]. Ji Kang's poems are full of momentum, such as "Giving a Scholar to Join the Army". Ninth, he described the heroic spirit of soldiers galloping, made good use of duality, and had a strong tone [38]. Ji Kang also has the wonderful and lofty realm of his works, which inspires readers, such as "Giving Scholar to Join the Army" (No.14 [39]. Ji Kangyou 15 articles are well preserved and uncontroversial, including 9 essays. His prose is casual and literary, and his masterpieces are Fu Qin and Dear Chrysanthemum Garden. On the other hand, his paper is full of ideas, and Lu Xun praised him: "The ideas are novel and often oppose the old saying.
His representative works "On Health Preservation" and "On Sound without Sorrow and Music" were highly respected in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties. [40] Religious influence Although there were no mature Taoism and religious ceremonies in the Ji Kang era, Ji Kang himself was considered to have Taoist beliefs. His ideas of "immortals exist" and "immortals can learn" in the book On Health Preservation were inherited and developed by later Taoist scholar Ge Hong, and became the basic theory of immortal Taoism. After death, it is considered to die under the guise of immortality. In fact, it is an immortal, divorced from the secular world, and is recognized as a corpse fairy by Taoism. [4 1] For the following articles, please refer to Dai Ji Zhu and The History of the Three Kingdoms. Poetry? Nineteen poems for brother musicians to join the army. A poem of resentment, a poem of narratology, two poems of wandering immortals, a poem of six words, ten poems of remaking four words, seven poems of homesickness, three poems of answering two questions, a poem of cocktail party, seven miscellaneous poems and a book of breaking up with Shan Juyuan. The theory of sound without sorrow and joy, the theory of health preservation, answering difficult questions, explaining private affairs, managing talents, being aboveboard, answering difficult questions without good or ill luck, and learning from nature. Qin Zan, Deng Ming, Bu Yi, Tai Shizhen, Family Training, Biography of Sages and nobles, Biography of Zuo Shi in Spring and Autumn Period.