憂國憂民 琴鶴鄒平

○范仲淹

憂國憂民 琴鶴鄒平

○范仲淹

ZOU PING, CONCERNED ABOUT FATE, WAS MORALLY LOFTY AND CLOISTERED

“塞下秋來風景異，衡陽雁去無留意。四面邊聲連角起。千嶂里，長煙落日孤城閉。”“居廟堂之高，則憂其民；處江湖之遠，則憂其君。”每當讀到范仲淹這些千古不朽的詩文，多少仁人志士、莘莘學子無不慷慨激昂、拍案而起；無不為報國拯民而悲歌前往。然而你知道嗎？北宋著名政治家、軍事家、文學家范仲淹是在山東鄒平成長起來的偉人，鄒平的泉水和米粥養育了一代名相。

范仲淹出身于封建官僚家庭，而其青少年時期卻生活在社會最底層，受盡窮困。這在《宋史》和《鄒平通史》（曲延慶著）中多有記載。范公的青少年閱歷被認為是“先天下之憂而憂，后天下之樂而樂”思想形成的最原始土壤。

據考，仲淹之生父在徐州為官，死于任上。其母謝氏貧困無依，遂改嫁當時任平江府推官的山東長山人朱文翰。朱先后易地湖南、安徽等數地為官，仲淹母子便相隨游居，僅得溫飽。約公元1004年（宋景德年間），朱文翰調任山東淄州長史（官五品），仲淹母子定居繼父故里長山朱家村，時年15歲，始名朱說，至26歲（1015年）考中進士，離家為官，呈皇帝恩準復名范仲淹。算來，范公在鄒平朱家居住的時間（包括外出求學）長達十二年之久。

在鄒平的十多年時間，對于范公的成長成才至關重要。其母望子從商，或習技藝，仲淹均婉辭，一心讀書，立志治國撫民。在朱家，母為繼室，子為繼子，備受封建禮教習俗之歧視凌辱，這種處境更為仲淹的“掃除人間不平”思想奠基。事有巧合，當時的當朝諫議大夫姜遵對仲淹的少年立志非常贊賞，多所鼓勵，于是仲淹決然到離家不遠的醴泉寺讀書，拜僧為師。廣為流傳的“劃粥斷齏”故事就發生在這里，此正是《宋史》中記載的“糜粥繼之”的具體寫照。傳說范仲淹苦讀期間，每日煮米兩升，盛入盆中，待冷卻凝成團狀，將其切成四塊，早晚各吃兩塊。再到山地挖些野韭菜回來，切碎加鹽，佐粥而食。

傳說，范仲淹在醴泉寺讀書時，一天在寺外看見一只大老鼠竄進洞里，他追蹤前去掏鼠窩，沒摸到老鼠，卻發現洞的深處藏有很多金銀。這是身外不明之財，仲淹雖貧苦卻毫不動心，將其悉數放回原處。

若干年后，范公已為朝廷命官，老僧千里迢迢去看望這位當年的愛徒。臨歸時仲淹僅送給僧師一包普通茶葉，老僧感到他待師不恭，回到寺里便將茶葉扔在一邊。數日后老僧有所省悟，念及范公為人篤厚，這茶不用于心不安，便打開小包，見包里有張紙條，指明在寺的某某方位有個偌大的鼠洞，洞里左有金，右有銀。老僧依言將金銀取出后，一半用于修整寺院，一半分給眾僧聊補生計之缺。

古老的故事，神話般的傳說，有真有假，其演繹成分居多。但是即使是假的，這也代表著人民的美好期盼，放在誰身上便是對其人格魅力的肯定與贊揚。這樣可貴而高尚的精神品質，焉能不千載流傳！

Fan Zhongyan lived at the bottom of society in his youth. Zhongyan and his mother settled down in his stepfather’s hometown—Zhujia Village, Changshan. During the decade in Zouping, Zhongyan studied in the Liquan Temple which was not far from his home, becoming a monk’s student. One day, he hollowed out a mouse-hole and found a lot of gold and silver. This was an unknown fortune. Though Zhongyan was poor, he was not tempted by the gold and silver and put it back. Several years later, Mr. Fan had become a government official. When his teacher came to visit him from a great distance, Mr. Fan told him the location of the gold and silver in the form of writing on a tea bag. According to his hint, his teacher took out the gold and silver from the hole, and spent half of it in restoring the temple, and gave the other half to other monks in the temple to improve their livelihood. This ancient story represents people’s pursuit and appreciation of virtue.