Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Duan Zhengxing, the last king of Dali Kingdom, happily moved to a new residence in Kaifeng.

The last emperor of Xixia, Li Renxiao, had already moved from Kaifeng to Luoyang. He really couldn't pass the Taixue group, and even failed to pass the Taixue graduation exam. After failing the exam for two consecutive years, the emperor gave him a special graduation spot.

After graduating from Taixue, he automatically became a Juren, and then Li Renxiao could directly take the examination.

But Li Renxiao finally gave up. He had been recognized by the Ming Dynasty officials, so he asked the emperor for a title and official position. This was the promise given by Ju Ming at the beginning. If Li Renxiao failed to pass the Jinshi examination, he would still be made up for.

His title is Duke, and his official position is Hanlin Literary and Historian Official.

Li Renli was also serving as an imperial historian and an authoritative expert on Xixia studies, and happened to serve as Li Renxiao's academic mentor.

In addition to Li Renli and Li Renxiao, there are several Xixia scholars, all of whom are classified as researchers in the Xixia Group of the Hanlin Academy of Literature and History. The first draft of "Book of Western Xia" has already been published, and the second draft was revised and approved last year. However, new historical data were discovered and a third draft was being compiled.

Because the imperial court banned Xixia writing, a large number of folk books were confiscated and shipped to Luoyang. The official historical materials of Xixia have been studied, but only a small part of the folk books have been sorted out, and the rest are piled in several rooms in the warehouse.

Not enough manpower!

Hearing that the two kings of Dali had come to Beijing, Li Renxiao pretended not to know and was too lazy to go and exchange experiences on destroying the country.

As usual, he came to the warehouse to work.

The handymen were called to carry out a large wooden box. These boxes were sealed and the source of the books was also marked. The wooden box opened at this moment comes from a Nestorian temple in Xiliang Prefecture.

Li Renxiao's job was to preliminarily organize and classify them, and then send them to the Xixia Group of the Museum of Literature and History for research.

Ordinary officials really can't do this job. Because in addition to Chinese characters and Xixia characters, there are also Uyghur, Sogdian, etc. Even preliminary sorting requires skills.

Li Renxiao was sorting out these in Luoyang, but more than a dozen painters were copying the cave murals in Shazhou.

It has been several years since Zhu Guoxiang sent him.

The reason why he sent painters to Shazhou at that time was because he heard that the Mogao Grottoes had exquisite murals from past dynasties. Moreover, the painting style is very different from that of the Central Plains, so some painters were invited to have a look and practice their painting skills by copying.

Zhu Guoxiang did not know which cave the Dunhuang suicide note came from, so he naturally could not specify the location of the secret room.

What makes Zhu Guoxiang even more unexpected is that the Mogao Grottoes are not the same as the Dunhuang Grottoes, because the Dunhuang Grottoes are a group of grottoes. They are everywhere in Shazhou!

Even the Hanlin painters went to Shazhou and asked the local monks, but in the first year they could not find out the whereabouts of the Mogao Grottoes - the locals called it Thousand Buddha Cave.

There are two Thousand Buddha Caves, and the Mogao Grottoes belong to the East Thousand Buddha Caves.

The murals in Mogao Grottoes were not uncommon in Shazhou at this time, and many local grottoes had similar works.

More than a dozen Hanlin Academy painters came to Shazhou and copied them in six grottoes. Mogao Grottoes was just one of them. Of course, the Mogao Grottoes have the most painters, because someone discovered the inscription "The Story of the Mogao Grottoes" and knew that this was the place where the Emperor named him.

Due to the suppression of Buddhism by the Ming Dynasty, all grotto construction in Shazhou was stopped. Many small grottoes even gradually became deserted, and even nearby temples were banned.

But in several large caves, believers still come to worship the Buddha and offer incense.

Zhou Cong is 32 years old and has been copying murals in Shazhou for five years. He can only communicate with his wife twice a year.

This job is quite hard, but Zhou Cong doesn't complain.

He studied under the famous master Li Tang and was only a registered disciple. His painting skills are okay, but they are just okay, and he cannot be ranked in the Hanlin Academy of Painting. Being able to improve his painting skills in Shazhou will be of great help to his future development.

There are many murals here, and Zhou Cong especially likes the Wei, Jin and Tang Dynasty styles.

They usually live in the Thousand Buddha Temple east of Mogao Grottoes. There used to be more than 200 monks there, but now there are only a few dozen left. The remaining monks were forced to return to secular life and share the fields with Han immigrants for farming.

The craftsmen hired to dig the caves were all registered with the government and were uniformly assigned to resettle in various places.

The entire group of large and small grottoes in Shazhou has only been suspended for a long time during wars from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the present. Once peacetime arrived, monks or believers would raise funds to dig new caves. Historically, they continued to dig new caves until the fall of the Yuan Dynasty.

It’s another new day, and Zhou Cong and his friends go to work.

They also hired monks to serve as handymen in the temple and do chores to help carry things.

It's going to snow soon and the weather is a bit cold.

Zhou Cong copied all morning, his hands and feet were cold and he ran out to exercise, jumping up and down and chatting with friends.

"When will Brother Lu Dao return to Beijing?" Zhou Cong asked.

Liu Cunzhong said: "I will go back in the spring next year. If I don't go home, my children will no longer know their father."

Zhou Cong said: "I also plan to go back in the spring."

Zhu Guoxiang did not set a time. He just mentioned it casually at the Hanlin Academy of Painting, and the Hanlin Academy sent more than ten painters.

Liu Cunzhong said: "I went home to rest for a while, and then I applied to go to other Buddhist caves. There are so many famous caves in the world, and there must be some with completely different painting styles. I gained a lot from this Mogao Grottoes. In the future, I will travel around the country and learn from others' opinions. Maybe it can be integrated.”

Zhou Cong praised: "Brother Lu Dao has such a great ambition!"

Liu Cunzhong said with a smile: "Even if I can't become famous all over the world, there are so many copied paintings passed down to my family, and my descendants can also eat from this bowl of rice in the future."

For painters since the Tang and Song Dynasties, their skills were often passed down from father to son.

The painter will make his own library of materials for his children and grandchildren to copy from an early age.

Without leaving the house, children can paint flowers, birds, insects and fish in a realistic manner and master various basic painting techniques of realism, including spatial perspective, etc. When they grow up a little, they can go further by observing real objects.

"Da Da Da Da..."

A sound of horse hooves sounded, and an official came running and shouted: "The letter from Luoyang has arrived, with the "Da Ming Monthly" for the past six months. If you want to write to your family, it is best to finish it today. I will take it to the Shazhou camp tomorrow and send it away with the letters from officials, soldiers and immigrants before it snows. Please tell each other!"

"Thank you!"

The painters came out of the cave one after another.

In remote areas, post station messengers are very popular and they can get by wherever they go.

Zhou Cong and others did not copy, and returned to the temple to receive the family letter.

Not only the family letter, Zhou Cong also received an embroidered purse.

The wife said in the letter that her daughter would be embroidered in two years, and her craftsmanship was getting better and better. Half of the patterns on the purse were embroidered by her daughter. She also said that someone came to propose marriage, and one of the families was good, and was a distant relative of the wife. The young man was not only of good character, but also had been admitted to the state school at the age of fifteen. Both parents thought it was suitable, and wrote to ask Zhou Cong what he thought.

Zhou Cong read the family letter again and again, and then looked at the purse embroidered by his daughter again and again.

After a silly smile, Zhou Cong picked up the pen to write back.

He first expressed his longing for his wife and children, then wrote that he was in good health without any illness, and then mentioned the interesting things and troubles he encountered. Finally, he said that his painting skills had made great progress in the past six months, and he planned to return to Luoyang to reunite with his family after the spring.

After thinking about it, Zhou Cong asked his wife not to agree to his daughter's marriage yet, and wait for him to go back and personally inspect the young man.

After writing the reply, Zhou Cong opened the family letter and read it several times before running to find the newly delivered newspaper to read.

In order to save money, the painters in Mogao Grottoes subscribed to a copy of "Da Ming Monthly". After everyone took turns reading it, the monks of Qianfo Temple would come to borrow it, and even sell it in the city at a low price.

Before Zhou Cong entered the house, he heard his friend Zhang Luqing shouting: "The king's teacher destroyed the Dali Kingdom and changed the Dali Kingdom to Yunnan Province! The former Qianzhou's tributary states, as well as some counties in Xiangxi, were also changed to Guizhou Province. Suddenly, two more provinces were added!"

"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

The painters who were reading the newspaper in the house shouted in celebration.

Although they were far away in Shazhou, they knew the major events happening in the country through the "Da Ming Monthly".

Soon, a painter named Yang Juhou, holding another newspaper in his hand, said: "This summer, the court sent envoys to Qiangtang, and a total of 52 Tubo tribes surrendered, and each sent envoys to Luoyang to pay tribute and meet the emperor."

The crowd cheered again.

Soon, someone read about the Huainan corruption case, as well as the personnel and system changes in the court, and everyone sighed.

Zhou Cong went in and sat down, picked up a newspaper that had been read by others, and sat there happily reading quietly.

The next day, he continued to copy the murals.

My friend Liu Cunzhong changed a cave, and the hired monks helped to lift the stool, and Zhou Cong also helped to get some painting supplies.

"Bang!"

A monk was blocked by the high stool and could not see what was going on in front of him, so he suddenly hit the stool against the stone wall.

The leading monk reprimanded: "Be careful!"

Zhou Cong frowned: "There seems to be a hollow echo."

During the Guangxu period, the Dunhuang manuscripts were discovered because a poor scholar was invited by Taoist Wang to copy scriptures. When he knocked his pipe on the wall, he noticed something strange.

The wall is empty, there is a secret room!

Zhou Cong picked up the stone paperweight and knocked it against the wall twice, then looked at Liu Cunzhong in surprise.

They quickly found other painters and knocked the wall with the paperweight again.

Everyone discussed and decided: smash the wall.

Murals are everywhere in Shazhou, and they are not rare. Moreover, the mural in front of us belongs to the style of the late Five Dynasties, and it is even more common in the whole Shazhou.

Some more monks were found, and they smashed it with a bang, and soon the secret room inside was revealed.

The secret room was full of items, which could be loaded with 10 to 20 trucks.

Most of them are Buddhist scriptures, but there are also a lot of other things.

Zhou Cong went to search for a while and even found children's graffiti and kindergarten-level brush paintings.

This situation is very normal. When building large Buddhist caves or pagodas, believers around will copy Buddhist scriptures and send them for blessings, including things written by children.

In addition, some literate civilians (those who are roughly literate are also fine) will be hired to copy scriptures on site. If they are bored, they can even make some weird talismans.

When the construction of Buddhist caves and pagodas is completed, these scriptures used for blessing will be collectively sealed inside.

Yang Juhou flipped through the Buddhist scriptures and put them aside. Suddenly, he saw a stack of official documents. After carefully reading them, he saw that they were the judgments of the Hexi Jiedushi in the Tang Dynasty.

How could official documents of the Tang Dynasty appear in the Buddhist caves?

Everyone gathered around to read carefully. Out of curiosity, they went to look for other books and found many unfamiliar characters.

They didn't take it seriously, thinking that they were Buddhist scriptures copied in foreign languages.

In fact, there are not only Tibetan, Uighur, Sogdian, Sanskrit, etc., but also Kharosthi, Tocharian... and even Hebrew!

Everyone asked the monks to help sort and classify, and temporarily moved all of them back to the Thousand Buddha Temple.

A few days later, heavy snow fell, and the painters all stayed in the temple to sort out the books and scriptures.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Cong saw Liu Cunzhong trembling all over.

Liu Cunzhong held a few pages of paper in his hand, swallowed his saliva and said, "I...I want you to pay attention."

Zhou Cong smiled and said: "There are still Taoist scriptures in the Buddha's cave?"

Liu Cunzhong's voice was trembling: "I have also studied Taoist scriptures. This is not an ordinary Taoist scripture, this is "Laozi Xiang'er Commentary"."

"Is "Lao Zi Xiang Er Zhu" rare?" Zhang Luqing asked.

Liu Cunzhong explained: "This book was lost during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and Taoist priests in the Tang and Song dynasties have been looking for it. Although what I have in my hand is a fragment, it is enough to drive Taoist priests all over the world crazy."

Zhang Luqing held a book in his hand: "This is probably an orphan, a collection of miscellaneous songs from the Tang Dynasty."

Everyone looked at each other.

The collection of miscellaneous songs from the Tang Dynasty must be the earliest existing collection of lyrics and music.

Everyone continued to search and read.

The next day I found an anthology of female poets from the Tang Dynasty. Before that, there had been no anthology of poems by female poets from the Tang Dynasty.

There are also some works on mathematics, astronomy, and novels, which are also unique.

There were more scattered manuscripts, notes, inscriptions, official documents, and deeds, and no one had time to read them carefully.

One day, there was heavy snow falling outside, and Zhou Cong's hands were trembling. I don't know if it was because of the cold, or because I was shocked by what I discovered.

He waited for a while before shouting: "Qin Fu Yin!"

"What Qin Fuyin?" Everyone was puzzled.

Zhou Cong explained: "Wei Zhuang's long poem "Qin Fu Yin" had such a huge impact that Wei Zhuang bought back and destroyed all the published collections of poems. He also asked his relatives and friends not to include this poem when making a collection for him. poetry."

Liu Cunzhong asked doubtfully: "It's just a poem. Is it more amazing than "I Think About You"?"

"The inner treasury was burnt to ashes, and the bones of the princes were trampled in the street! Only these two lines of the whole poem are still circulating." Zhou Cong's face turned red with excitement. "Do you know how big a sensation the whole poem will cause if it is spread out? The whole poem is spread. All the literati in the world will go crazy!”

As more and more orphan works appeared in the world, the painters finally couldn't sit still.

It involves documents from more than ten regimes from the Three Kingdoms to Xixia, including collections of classics and history, official and private archives, medical astronomy, religious scriptures, poetry and literature... everything is included.

Everyone waited for the heavy snow to stop, copied a catalog of treasures, and hurriedly sent it to the Shazhou government.

The destination of these things is the Hanlin Academy, which has been studied slowly by several generations of Hanlin officials.

When these twenty carts of documents arrive in Luoyang, the Hanlin officials will be crazy with excitement, and they will definitely alarm the emperor and the emperor.

Zhou Cong lamented: "Only because the Holy Emperor is alive can these treasures see the light of day again."

Zhang Luqing guessed: "Maybe it was the Guiyi Army who hid it. They were helpless in the face of the aliens and they had to risk their lives to keep these things."