Wen/Li Peishan

I have to eat duck when going to Nanjing, and I also have to go to Qinhuai River.

There was no sound of oars or shadows of lights in the Qinhuai River during the daytime, so I went to Wuyi Lane for a stroll first. There are no swallows in front of Wang Xie Hall, and a Wang Dao Xie An Memorial Hall has been built in an antique building, which mainly displays the history of the Six Dynasties and various aspects of the Wang Xie family, lacking some interest. After wandering aimlessly outside, I came across a small courtyard gate with the words' Mustard Seed Garden 'inscribed on it.

Oh, 'Mustard Seed Garden'. I remember that Lu Xun also bought the "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual", and the "Mustard Seed Garden" in the manual is Li Yu's other business in Nanjing. The owner of Mustard Seed Garden, Li Yu, is a wonderful person that cannot be ignored.

Entering the park, passing through the entrance hall, there is a unique cave. It is said to be a cave, but there are only a few sides, which is actually a mustard seed. But inside the snail shell, a unique dojo was created, with a curved corridor stretching back and forth on the outer ring, a pool of koi swimming and jumping inside, and a rockery path and high pavilion in the middle, forcefully pulling out the ups and downs of the scenery and ingeniously embedding the water pavilion stage as the "finishing touch". For someone like me who is immersed in virtual spaces such as games, it is common to experience the beauty of "box court" aesthetics in game levels, but being able to witness its beauty in real-life scenes is still quite shocking.

(Mustard Seed Garden)

Unfortunately, the mustard seed garden in front of us is not Li Yu's original garden, nor is it on the original site. I checked my phone and found out that it was designed and reconstructed by a team from Southeast University. Construction began in 2016 and was completed in 2017. I also tried my best to follow the words left by Li Yu, presenting the interesting message of "mustard seeds absorb the beard" and seeing the big picture from the small. For Li Yu fans who are familiar with "Idle Love", there are also some Easter eggs from the "Holy Land Tour" that can be found.

For example, in a corner of the mustard seed garden, there is an inconspicuous small house with the words "Yifangshan" written on it. The white walled wooden door is just ordinary, but there are two green spots that are quite eye-catching: two wooden plaques next to the door, made in the shape of green banana leaves, with clear and distinct leaf tips and veins.

(Mustard Seed Garden, banana leaf couplet in front of "Yifangshan")

The banana leaf couplet is a masterpiece described by Li Yu, a "playboy," in his book "Idle Feelings and Occasions. The process is not without its troubles, it requires drawing leaves first and then handing them over to the carpenter. After the carpenter finishes, the painter applies a gray cloth to prevent the board from shattering. Finally, write and draw leaf veins. The tendons should be black, and the characters should be in stone yellow. You can mix a little gold, not all gold, 'using all gold letters would be too vulgar'. But Li Yu not only pursued ingenuity, but also emphasized the importance of "cost-effectiveness" earlier than today - to look good, durability is also necessary. He talked about window grilles and railings, starting with "hardness" and then discussing "poor workmanship".

Yes, 'cost-effectiveness'. In ancient times, the "old playwrights" could be wealthy with "five flowers, horses, and precious gold fur" and "sing with the wind at the bottom of the peach blossom fan", while they could be poor with "the clear breeze on the river and the bright moon in the mountains, unlimited and inexhaustible" and "chewing peanuts and dried tofu together, with a ham flavor". And how to carve out patterns for the latter kind of days is precisely where the "old playwrights" invest their financial and mental resources in various ways.

When Li Yu lived by West Lake, he had a lifelong wish to buy a lake boat. The window frame consists of only two curved woods and two straight woods, without seeking novelty. It is simply made into a fan-shaped boat window, with the picturesque scenery of lakes, mountains, clouds, smoke, bamboo trees, and even people and horses depicted in the painting. Shake a oar, become like a statue, prop up a pole, change the scenery. Even if the cable stays still and the wind and water move, the scenery changes constantly. From the outside to the inside of the ship, between several cups and plates, people who drink, sing, and sleep at will have become a fan-shaped figure, "not only entertaining themselves, but also entertaining others".

I hate someone who has the heart but is powerless, unable to handle this boat, and it has become a debt. My lifelong wish has turned into a regret. After moving to Nanjing, Li Yu had no choice but to "use his machine to a small extent". "However, it was not his founding intention, only his system existed". He set up this kind of toilet window at the top of the building "to catch a glimpse of Zhongshan's complexion". In addition, he also created a "Mountain Viewing Void Pavilion" at Fubaixuan, named "Foot Window" and also known as "Heartless Painting".

Zheng Banqiao, a "playboy" who was quite content with poverty, was probably Li Yu's childhood friend. In autumn and winter, he would cut off the skeleton of his own fence at both ends and install it horizontally as a window frame. He would paste a thin and pure white paper on it, and when the sunlight and moonlight shone on it, the bamboo shadows on the window paper would be pleasing to the eye. When the wind is warm and the sun is warm, he even finds it interesting to hear the "Winter Winter Drums" of frozen flies touching window paper. Of course, this may also be a "professional demand" - Zheng Banqiao is famous for painting bamboo.

I saw a lot of bamboo in the mustard seed garden. Li Yu's mustard seed garden back then also had bamboo. Compared to the thatched cottages and clean houses depicted by Zheng Banqiao, Li Yulue, who can afford to raise a theater troupe, is more like a "little bourgeois". He talked about bamboo shoots in the food department of "Idle Love" and quoted Dongpo as saying, "I would rather eat without meat than live without bamboo." He then said to himself, "I don't know how to cure the common people, but I can also cure thinness, but there is a difference between bamboo shoots that have already become bamboo and bamboo shoots." He was fond of eating bamboo shoots as "plain water is better than meat, and fat pigs are better than meat. Eat vegetarian, boil white, add soy sauce slightly; Eating meat, using fatty pork to cook for a sweet taste, but removing the fat after cooking. Keep the soup for blanching bamboo shoots and mix it with other dishes.

Probably among the ancient "old playwrights", Li Yu was also extremely rare. After entering the Qing Dynasty, he no longer sought officialdom and instead turned his hobbies into a career. He weaves plays, carves books, runs a bookstore, and teaches his own theater troupe. In today's terms, it is a 'full process industry chain', but the final income is not stable.

But he is a true opera enthusiast, and his daily life cannot be separated from teaching opera. When writing plays, he is even more meticulous. "Li Weng holds a pen in his hand, but appears with his mouth. He represents the pear orchard with his own body, and then surrounds it with his divine soul, testing his eyes and voice. If it is good, he writes directly, otherwise he stops writing." As he writes, he appears himself to test the play, and both eyes and voice must be personally experienced. This kind of 'playing without playing' is also a state of mind.

(On the stage of Mustard Seed Garden, the plaque reads "The sounds of man and nature")

Unfortunately, my trip was rushed and I didn't go to Suzhou. Li Yu often goes from Nanjing to Suzhou to watch music festivals. A friend once participated in a night tour at the Wangshi Garden and said that there were opera actors dressed up in complete costumes on the water pavilion, singing "Who's home for the pleasure?" with great emotion. Another local friend in Suzhou told me that there is an immersive Kunqu opera called "Six Records of a Floating Life" at Canglang Pavilion, which has been scheduled for many performances this year, but there are also concerns about the crowds.

What's so scary about crowds. To learn from the 'old playwrights', one can both' enjoy themselves alone 'and' enjoy themselves with others'.

Zhang Dai wrote about the Mid Autumn Festival night in Huqiu in his book "Dreams of Tao'an". As soon as it got dark, there were a hundred or ten places beating gongs and drums, so noisy that even the people on the other side couldn't hear what was happening. Until late at night, the drums stopped and the orchestra began to play; At the second shift, the orchestra also stopped, leaving only the flute and singing; At the third shift, there was only one person sitting on the stone, without the flute or clapper, singing softly and softly alone. Those who listened were afraid to clap, only nodding.

If it weren't for Suzhou, how could we seek knowledge! "Zhang Dai was extremely satisfied with this night. Translated into plain language, it means that if it weren't for Suzhou, where would we go to find so many experts who truly understand appreciation?

The essence of the philosophy of "old playboy" is that one can appreciate oneself alone, but the most detestable thing is being too lofty and too few.

Yuan Hongdao served as Supervisor of the County of Wuxian County for two years and climbed Tiger Hill six times in two years. The last time before leaving office, he sat on the Shenggong Stone with his friends waiting for the moon. However, when the singers heard that the county magistrate was coming, they all avoided. This made Yuan Hongdao very unhappy. "What a pity, the horizontal black gauze and the vulgar Zaoli!" Yuan Hongdao swore at the moon, "One day when I go to the government, there will be someone who doesn't listen to the music on this stone, like the moon!" When describing this experience, he had already been dismissed from office and was grateful that he could call himself a "Wu guest". At the end, I still asked, 'The Moon of Tiger Hill, do you know any remaining words?'

Li Yu also loves this' shared joy '. In his book "Idle Love and Occasion", he proposed to use the method of borrowing scenery "in the public sea" to make "everyone happy" - "But in the moment of triumphant singing, he would shout loudly at the hat man, so that the dream soul could be with him. It would be a pleasure for people, and I would also be with him. That's enough for my wish

During the National Day holiday, it is time to enjoy the joy of being together.

(Author Li Peishan)