The best idlers of the Tang Dynasty

Ever since Li Chengqian passed the mansion, every three to five days, Li Chengqian would come to the Du mansion to ask Du Rui for advice. Every time the king came, he had to bow to him, and Du Rui smiled wryly. Finally, under Du Rui's insistence, the two began to call each other brothers.

As he became familiar with each other, Li Chengqian came more diligently. Sometimes Li Chengqian arrived just after dawn, watched Du Rui teach Du Pingsheng martial arts, and was overjoyed to see Li Chengqian. Li Chengqian also clamored to learn. She is coquettish and pretentious, and her temperament matches Du Rui's even more. Over time, the two became close friends.

Every day, Li Chengqian followed Du Rui's martial arts essays and studied the way of governing the country together. Li Chengqian also made great progress. Emperor Taizong was also very happy to see him. He still had great expectations for the eldest son, always thinking about the dynasty in his hands , can continue to prosper under the hands of Li Chengqian, so he has always been quite strict with Li Chengqian, and it took a lot of brains to choose the Donggong teacher, but he didn't want those old masters to fail to teach Li Chengqian, but Du Rui This young man led Li Chengqian into the right path step by step.

Du Rui didn't blindly teach Li Chengqian by precepts and deeds, talking about those empty principles. He just kept using his own actions to guide Li Chengqian, letting him know what was right and what was wrong.

And Li Chengqian is also open-minded. In this point, he has inherited Emperor Taizong's open-minded temperament, and after all, he is the blood of Emperor Taizong and Empress Changsun. In addition, he has been smart since he was a child, and he has a good understanding. Also happy.

On this day, Li Chengqian arrived early again, these days he must come every day, Du Gui got Du Rui's order, and there was no need to report Li Chengqian's visit, in the Du mansion, except for the back house, the rest of the place, Li Chengqian is unimpeded.

"Chengming! Chengming!"

Li Chengqian walked towards the courtyard where Du Rui practiced martial arts on weekdays, while shouting Du Rui's name. Du Rui was young and had not yet reached the age of crowning, but Du Ruhui died young, and he was kicked out of Laiguo's mansion by the Du Gou brothers. No one would remember his coronation, so Du Rui added an epithet to himself-Cheng Ming!The implication is to inherit Du Keming. Although Du Ruhui is not a good father, he is a good minister who governs the country. Du Rui gave himself such a name, which also meant to motivate himself.

Du Rui was instructing Du Ping to practice martial arts in his life. When he saw Li Chengqian arrived, he wiped off his sweat and said with a smile, "Brother Qin came so early today!"

Li Chengqian said angrily: "What's wrong!? Chengming doesn't welcome you as a brother!"

Li Chengqian has been raised by the current emperor since he was a child, and he is more familiar with those cousins ​​than his own brothers. However, after Xuanwumen, those cousins ​​disappeared overnight, and after returning to his parents, He couldn't get close to those brothers no matter what, and now that he is the prince of the East Palace, he has become a thorn in the eyes of those brothers, so Li Chengqian didn't feel much about the brotherhood when he grew up. After Du Rui, Li Chengqian felt that kind of sincere, unguarded brotherhood, so he cherished it even more.

Du Rui smiled and said: "How can it be! Elder brother can just wait a while, and come to accompany me when I go to change my clothes!"

Du Rui washed up briefly, changed into clean clothes, and when he got to the front hall, he saw Li Chengqian standing and reading a word he had written a few days ago, which was just mounted yesterday, "Ai Lian Shuo" by Zhou Dunyi of the Northern Song Dynasty , but now there are hundreds of years before Zhou Dunyi was born, the author of the original text, naturally, was assigned to Du Rui.

"Flowers of plants and trees on land and water are very lovely. Jin Tao Yuanming loves chrysanthemums alone. Since Wude, the world loves peonies very much. Yu Du loves lotuses that come out of mud but are not stained, clean and ripples are not demonic, and the middle is straight and the outer is straight. No vines or branches, the fragrance is far and clear, and the pavilions are clean and planted, which can be viewed from a distance but not be played with. Yu said that the chrysanthemum is the hermit of flowers; the peony is the rich and noble of flowers; the lotus is the gentleman of flowers. The love of chrysanthemums is seldom heard of by Empress Tao; the love of lotus, who is the same as the one who gave it? The love of peony is suitable for everyone.”

Li Chengqian was thinking, and suddenly turned around to look at Du Rui, and praised: "Brother Chengming is really good-natured!"

Du Rui also knew that he was born in this era. If he wanted to be famous in the world, his literary thief would have to sit down, but he didn't think much of it when he heard the words, and said with a smile: "Brother is ridiculous."

Li Chengqian said with a smile: "Since my virtuous brother likes lotus so much, how come this mansion doesn't see them!"

When Du Rui heard this, he knew that Li Chengqian was deliberately teasing him, so he said: "Loving love is the virtue of loving a gentleman!"

Hearing this, Li Chengqian couldn't help but feel admiration in his heart, turned his head and looked at the words again, and couldn't help but wonder: "My brother, I don't know what kind of calligraphy is used for this word, I have never seen it before!"

Du Rui used Dong Qichang's running script in the Ming Dynasty. Although Dong Qichang's character is not worthy of compliments, no one can deny his calligraphy accomplishments, especially his running script, which flows smoothly and smoothly. , born with an ethereal and elegant atmosphere, coupled with this "Ai Lian Shuo", it complements each other even more.

Li Chengqian saw that Du Rui didn't speak, and instinctively thought that this style of writing was created by Du Rui, and he couldn't help being even more shocked. Yu Shinan was the most popular calligrapher in the dynasty, and the rest of Chu Suiliang, Kong Yingda and others were just based on the foundation of the predecessors If you can add your own style to it, you will become a unique family, but like Du Rui, it is not easy to create a brand new style of writing.Although Du Rui told him several times that poems and books are nothing but small ways, but seeing that Du Rui was young, he not only created an original style of writing, but it was almost perfect, so he couldn't help but value Du Rui more in his heart.

"Brother! I have a merciless request for my brother! I don't know~~~~~~"

Before Li Chengqian finished speaking, Du Rui knew what he was going to do, waved and smiled, "Take it!"

Seeing this, Li Chengqian couldn't help being a little embarrassed. After all, he was looking for someone to ask for something. As a prince, he really couldn't open his mouth. Seeing Du Rui's generosity, he also smiled embarrassingly.

Put away the volume of running script, and the two sat down as guest and host.

"I don't know why my virtuous brother taught me today!" This sentence almost became Li Chengqian's mantra in Du Rui's residence.

Du Rui thought for a while and said: "Since my brother likes that "Ai Lian Shuo", today I will talk about a gentleman, the way of a gentleman!"

A few days ago, what the two of them discussed was the way to govern the country and stabilize the country. Li Chengqian didn't understand why Du Rui wanted to talk about the way of a gentleman with him today, but seeing Du Rui's serious face, he became interested and asked: "Then according to my virtuous brother, what is the way of a gentleman!?"

Du Rui said: "The so-called gentleman's way began with Confucius. However, Confucius' discussion of the gentleman is not limited to the word 'gentleman', but also includes 'scholar', 'benevolent man', 'sage', 'adult', 'adult man'." ', 'sage', etc., are all related to 'junzi'. If all these discussions are included, the book "The Analects of Confucius" undoubtedly discusses the most about the gentleman. The gentleman can be said to be the personality ideal of Confucius, and the gentleman Take benevolence and righteousness as our own responsibility. Of course, a gentleman also advocates courage, but the premise of courage must be benevolence and righteousness. A gentleman must do things just right and be moderate. People are not born gentlemen. To become a gentleman, one must strengthen self-cultivation. Self-cultivation includes not only inner Spiritual cultivation also includes the cultivation of literature and art. Confucius talked about the gentleman, mainly from the point of view of moral character. A gentleman has evolved from a person with a position in the original sense to a person with an ideal personality in Confucius’ mind. Although Confucius It also talks about sages, but in Confucius’ view, sages can be encountered but not sought. “I can’t see a sage, but I can see him if I can see a gentleman.” In Confucius’ view, the opposite of a gentleman is a sage. People. In The Analects of Confucius, there are many pairs of gentlemen and villains. Confucius compared the gentlemen and villains in order to highlight the qualities of gentlemen through comparison.

The era in which Confucius lived was an era of "ritual collapse and music decay", and the social order was in a state of chaos.Faced with a serious social crisis, all factions are seeking a cure for social ills.Taoism regards governance through inaction as the way to save the world, and Mohism uses both love and non-aggression as the art of calming chaos.Confucianism represented by Confucius believed that in order to maintain social order, a set of etiquette norms established by the Zhou Dynasty must be restored, that is, "returning rituals".How to 'return to the ritual'?Confucius felt that simply taking coercive measures would no longer be effective.Because the princes separated their regimes at that time, the prestige of Zhou Tianzi had been lost.So Confucius creatively explained "Li" with "benevolence", thinking that "Li" is rooted in human benevolence, but it is only the external expression of human benevolence. "People are not benevolent, how about etiquette?"People are not benevolent, how happy are they? ', without 'benevolence', of course there would be no 'li'. To revive 'li', we should start with the word 'benevolence'.If we say that 'ritual' is the starting point of Confucian thought, then 'benevolence' is the core of Confucian thought.How to be benevolent?Confucius believed that doing benevolence is up to oneself. "For benevolence, it's up to you, but it's up to others?" ',' I want benevolence, and Siren is perfect. ', practicing benevolence is internal and external, and is a conscious behavior without any external coercion or profit-driven behavior.As far as the individual is concerned, if a person can voluntarily practice "benevolence" without external coercion or interest, then such a person is a so-called gentleman.In this regard, "benevolence" is implemented by a gentleman.Confucius' theory of benevolence depends on the theory of the gentleman, and the theory of benevolence must point to the theory of the gentleman.

Confucius once said: "A gentleman has nine thoughts: seeing and thinking, listening and listening, thinking and looking warm, looking respectful, speaking and thinking loyal, doing things respectfully, doubting and asking questions, thinking about anger and difficulties, and thinking about righteousness when seeing." A gentleman has four things. : First, a gentleman does not act rashly, and moves in a proper way. Second, a gentleman does not speak in vain, and his words must be reasonable. Third, a gentleman does not ask for anything, and what he asks must be righteous. Fourth, a gentleman does not act in vain, and his actions must be righteous.In my humble opinion, this is the so-called way of a gentleman. "

The reason why Du Rui told Li Chengqian these things today is to regulate Li Chengqian's behavior through the theory of a gentleman, so that he can truly cultivate himself. Learning how to govern the country is also biased. Du Rui doesn't want to teach Li Chengqian to be a prince who is full of utilitarian thoughts but forgets propriety, righteousness and shame. Can't spare him.