The Life and Heart of Zhang Wen,a Captured Soldier of the Jin Dynasty
During the Liao and Jin dynasties,Shuozhou was one of the most important towns in the western part of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun,and because of its military position in controlling Yanmen,it became an object of contention between the two sides during the Jin-Song Wars.As a soldier of the Jin Dynasty who grew up in this area,Zhang Wen's tombstone describes the scene of his life,the course of his life,and his inner world,showing the life trajectory of an ordinary man under the influence of social change and the intertwining of state power.This paper analyses Zhang Wen's life course and inner activities to understand his personal be-liefs and regional social culture in his time.Born in the fourth year of Tianqing(1114)of the Liao Dynasty,Zhang Wen spent his teenage years in the midst of war.Against the backdrop of the death of his parents and elder brother,and the constant orders of the Jin Dynasty to"sign the army",he replaced his cousin in the army and became a soldier.Zhang Wen's military career began in the eleventh year of the Tianhui(1133),when he was guarding Ruicheng,and ended in the thirteenth year,when he was captured.After the Jin army lost the battle on the Huai River,Zhang Wen was forced to surrender with the army and became a prisoner of the Southern Song Dynasty.He was first placed in Zhenjiang and Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty,and was later transferred to Fujian Province.His encounters in the Southern Song Dynasty constituted an important opportunity for him to change his be-liefs.His life in exile brought him into contact with Taoism,which was popular in Lin'an and other places,and he became interested in it.Afterwards,with the easing of relations between the Jin and Song dynasties,Zhang Wen was fortunate enough to return to the Jin Dynasty,and once again returned to his hometown of Shuozhou.Upon his return,he built a Taoist temple with his own financial means and continued to socialize with Taoist priests and monks in the surrounding area.In his later years,Zhang Wen basically immersed him-self in a life of burning incense and chanting sutras,and observed religious precepts such as abstaining from alcohol and meat.From the burial ceremony after Zhang Wen's death,it is clear that his family also followed the relevant norms of Taoism.The depth of Zhang Wen's thought contained three cultural factors,namely Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism,which reflected the different social cultures of the north and south at the time of the Liao and Jin dy-nasties.During the Liao and Jin dynasties,the ruling class strongly advocated and worshipped Buddhism,which was quite popular among the people in the north.From the scriptures of Zhang Wen's monasticism,it can be seen that there are certain elements of Buddhist beliefs in his thoughts.The fact that Zhang Wen,as a Taoist priest,adopted cremation also shows that Taoist believers were influenced by local Buddhist burial prac-tices,and that beliefs and customs merged.If Buddhist and Taoist cultural factors are more evident in Zhang Wen's spiritual world,Confucianism is rooted in his daily life.Zhang Wen named his son Zong Shi(宗奭),with the character Shi Zhao(师召),which implied his great hope for his offspring to go through the imperial examinations and reach the career peak.The fact that Zhang Wen,as a monk,still expected his descendants to actively join the civil service and assist the king reflects the Confucian element in his thinking.Zhang Wen died in the 26th year of the Jin Dynasty(1186)at the age of seventy-three.In his later years,Zhang Wen was well known in the township and gained high social prestige.In Shuozhou,where Bud-dhism was more prevalent,the fact that the founder of the Taoist temple could achieve such a social status re-flects the local social culture of Confucianism,Buddhism,and Taoism.The transformation of his identity from"soldier"to"monk"was not only a result of Zhang Wen's personal choice,but also a reflection of the socie-ty's transition from chaos to peace.Zhang Wen's life experience and inner world,although rich in his per-sonal characteristics,reflect to a large extent the social changes from the end of the Liao Dynasty to the mid-Jin Dynasty,as well as the complexity of the regional society.
Jin Dynasty inscriptionsZhang WenShuozhouJin-Song Wars
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