Those remote and isolated places(遐方絕域)
Li Qingzhao is the most famous female poet
in China's long history.
The Northern Song Dynasty of China lasted
from 960 AD to 1127 AD, and the Southern Song Dynasty from 1127 AD to 1279 AD.
Li Qingzhao was born in 1084 and died in 1155, living through a very turbulent
era.
She was married twice. Her first husband,
Zhao Mingcheng, was three years her senior. They were close in age, both loved
literature and art, and had a very good relationship.
Zhao Mingcheng had a unique hobby: he
enjoyed studying inscriptions on ancient Chinese bronzes and stone carvings. He
also loved Chinese calligraphy. He wrote a series of books to record his
research findings, with the help of Li Qingzhao, and the 30-volume set was
finally completed.
In 1132 AD, the books were finally
published, and Li Qingzhao wrote a preface for them.
The first paragraph of this preface
translates as follows:
This 30-volume set was written by my
husband, Zhao Mingcheng.
It collects numerous precious bronze
artefacts and stone carvings from various periods spanning 3,000 years of
Chinese history, from the Xia dynasty to the Song dynasty.
These carvings cover a wide range of topics
and origins. Later researchers will make rubbings of these carvings and study
them. Through these inscriptions, we can glimpse the wisdom of the ancient
Chinese people and China's long historical trajectory.
My husband spent many years collecting
2,000 rubbings of these inscriptions. He verified the authenticity of each one
and studied the meaning of the characters, finally including those he deemed
worth preserving in this book.
As I write this, I am suddenly overcome
with sadness as I recall some famous stories I have read about ancient China.
Two Tang Dynasty officials were passionate about Chinese calligraphy and
painting. They amassed a vast collection of precious works, but never imagined
it would later bring them disaster. During the Jin dynasty, there was an
extremely wealthy minister who was incredibly rich yet also extremely stingy
and had a peculiar obsession with money. Another famous Western Jin Dynasty
official was an avid collector of various editions of the Zuo Zhuan, a
historical text, finding it utterly captivating.
Although these individuals were obsessed
with different things, I believe the essence of their actions was the same.
I married my husband in 1101 AD. He was 21
years old that year and was still studying at an official school in the
capital.
Both my father and my father-in-law were
officials in the central government. While our families weren't poor, they
weren't wealthy either.
I remember that on the 1^(st) and 15^(th)
of each month, a market would be held in front of a famous temple in the
capital. My husband would take time off to go to those markets and collect
rubbings of inscriptions he liked.
In the first few years of our marriage, I
also remember us often admiring and studying the rubbings he had bought
together, commenting on and analysing them. That simple joy remains
unforgettable to this day.
Two years after we got married, my husband
graduated from school and started working for the central government. I
remember him telling me, 'In my life, I must find every possible way to travel
to those remote and isolated places to collect those precious rubbings of
ancient Chinese characters scattered throughout China, and study their
meanings.' I'd rather go hungry and wear simple clothes than not fulfil this
dream. I want to become a professional scholar specialising in the study of
ancient Chinese characters.'
This idiom refers to remote and isolated
places.
Dear friend, what did you find interesting or inspiring about this story?
Are you particularly fascinated by such things? Which period of your life do you cherish the most?
I hope this story brings you
some new insights.
遐方絕域(Those remote and isolated places)
中國漫長的歷史上最著名的女詞人的名字是李清照
西元960年到西元1127年的這段期間是中國的北宋王朝，西元1127年到西元1279年是中國的南宋王朝，李清照出生於西元1084年死於西元1155年，她生活在一個非常動亂的時代。
李清照結過兩次婚，她第一任丈夫的名字叫做(趙明誠)，趙明誠比李清照大3歲，他們兩個人年齡相近而且都很喜歡文學與藝術，他們兩個人的感情很好。
(趙明誠)有一個很特殊的愛好，他喜歡研究中國古代的青銅器與石刻上面的文字，他也很喜歡中國的書法，他曾經寫過一套書籍來記錄他的研究心得，李清照協助趙明誠一起完成了這部多達30本的套書。
西元1132年，這本書終於有機會出版，李清照為這本書寫了一篇序文。
這篇序文的第一段的大概意思如下。
這套總共30本的套書是的作者是我的丈夫，他的名字叫做(趙明誠)。
在這套書中總共蒐集了中國的夏王朝開始到宋王朝之前長達3000年的歷史中的很多珍貴的各種不同的青銅器具或是石頭上的各個時代的文字雕刻。
這些文字雕刻的內容很廣泛而且來源很多，後代的研究者會把這些文字雕刻拓印到紙上然後加以研究，從這些文字中可以看到中國古代的一些有智慧的人的文字，也可以看到中國漫長的歷史的脈絡。
我的丈夫經過多年的時間蒐集了2000篇的文字拓印，然後他會針對每一篇文字拓印去查證其真實性，並且針對其中的文字的意思加以研究，最後把他認為值得保留的寫入這本書中。
寫到這裡，我突然覺得悲傷，因為我想到我讀過的中國古代的一些名的故事，唐王朝有兩個著名的官員非常熱愛中國書法與中國繪畫，他們蒐集了許多珍貴的作品，但他們沒有料到他們所蒐集的這些作品後來會為他們帶來災禍。晉王朝有一個非常富有的大臣，他極度有錢但也非常的吝嗇，他對錢有一種特殊的迷戀，西晉王朝另外一個著名的官員，他非常的喜歡左傳這本書，他蒐集了各種不同版本的左傳的出版品，左傳這本書對他有極度的吸引力。
這些人雖然沉迷的東西不一樣，但是我認為其行為的本質都是相同。
我在西元1101年與我的丈夫結婚，那一年我的丈夫21歲，那一年他還在首都的官方所設立的學校念書。
我的父親與我的公公當時都是中央政府的官員，我們兩個家庭的生活雖然不算是窮苦，但也沒有富有的程度。
我還記得那個時候，每個月的1號和15號，首都內的一座著名的寺廟前會有市集，我的丈夫就會請假到那些市集上去蒐集他喜歡的文字拓印。
我還記得我們跟結婚的那幾兩年，我跟他常常一起欣賞與研究他所買到的那些文字拓印然後一起評論與研究這些文字拓印，那種單純的快樂讓我至今難忘。
我們結婚兩年後，我的丈夫從學校畢業了，他開始進入中央政府工作，我還記得他對我說。
我這一生中，一定要想盡辦法到那些遙遠的地方和偏遠隔絕的區域去蒐集那些失散在中國各地的珍貴的文字拓引並且研究裡面的文字的意思，我寧願餓肚子與穿的簡單的衣服，我也要完成我的這個夢想，我想要成為一個專業的有關於中國古代的文字研究的學者。
這句成語的意思是些遙遠的地方和偏遠隔絕的區域。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有什麼樣的或有什麼樣的啟發呢
你是否有特別的迷戀那些東西呢?你最懷念你的人生中的那一段時光呢?
我期待這個故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為李清照-金石錄後序