慈禧太后坐汽車

擁有第一輛汽車的中國人，有史可查的是慈禧太后。1902年11月，慈禧太后迎來了六十大壽，為了討好慈禧，直隸總督袁世凱花了1萬兩白銀，從香港購進了一輛美國產小汽車作為壽禮送給了慈禧。

慈禧一生生活奢侈，汽車這種洋玩意倒是頭一次見，于是她興致勃勃地乘坐汽車游頤和園，隨從們則抬著大橋在后邊跟著。然而，汽車剛剛開出宮，慈禧突然發(fā)現擔任司機的太監(jiān)孫富齡不僅與自己一樣平起平坐，而且坐在自己前面。慈禧頓時大怒，喝令孫富齡跪著開車。被嚇破膽的孫富齡只好跪下開車，可是由于跪姿無法用腳操作，他的手又要顧及方向盤，又要代替腳來踩油門、點剎車，駕駛實在困難，汽車便左搖右擺起來，差點釀成中國第一起汽車車禍。這下可嚇壞了慈禧，隨從們更是怕得要死，紛紛下跪乞求慈禧下車。慈禧于是換了大轎，也對汽車這個新鮮玩意兒失去了興趣，將這輛車丟棄在頤和園。得知此事弄巧成拙，袁世凱后悔不已。（史誠）

梅蘭芳祖父焚燒債券

梅蘭芳的祖父梅巧玲不僅是梨園名角，且工書畫，寫得一手好漢隸，當時，很多士大夫都以能和他交往為榮。有一位早年花錢捧過梅巧玲的朋友，出身世家，曾為太史，后終因揮霍過度而傾家蕩產。從此，他經常向梅巧玲借錢，日積月累，達二千金之多。

咸豐十一年，那位朋友客死北京一僧寺中。死者的一位同鄉(xiāng)為幫治喪，在鄉(xiāng)黨中到處募捐。鄉(xiāng)黨們大多道貧嘆苦，“無肯先下筆者”，從早到午未募滿百金。正當主募者唇焦舌燥，無可奈何之時，忽報梅巧玲到。主募者大吃一驚，以為梅巧玲是向死者親屬要債來了，這可如何是好。不料梅巧玲向柩前一揖，從衣兜里摸出債券來，當即點火焚毀了，說道：“太史生前，嘗負我二千金。今既亡矣，母老子幼，吾尚忍言舊債耶！”接著，他又掏出二百金交給主募者，說：“聞太史喪歸尚無資，謹贈金二百，為執(zhí)拂之助。恨所操業(yè)賤，未能從豐，以報知己也?！泵輪T之德藝雙馨，由此可見一斑。（月江）

用《老殘游記》助友

清末四大譴責小說之一的《老殘游記》，1903年在上?！独C像小說》開始連載。劉鶚作此小說的起緣，是為了幫助朋友補貼家用。

1903年，在北京進行的地下反清活動的湖南“自立軍”首領之一的沈藎，有一天到天津與天津《日日新聞》社長方藥雨談到《中俄密約》的內容，旋即方藥雨即將其揭之報端。慈禧太后聞報大怒，命嚴究泄密者，不僅將沈藎逮到刑部立即杖斃之，還下令追緝同黨，沈藎的好友連夢青亦在追緝之列。連夢青借某使館幫助，只身逃到了上海。商務印書館辦有《繡像小說》，經朋友介紹，連夢青便以千字五元銀洋向該刊售稿，開始發(fā)表他的長篇連載《鄰女語》。后來，連夢青將母親接到上海時，他的賣文收入顯然難于維持家用。劉鶚是連夢青的摯友，很想用銀洋資助他，但連夢青為人性格孤傲，不愿無端受人錢財，于是便寫了一部小說，將殺青后的稿子送給他。連夢青感激劉鶚的用心良苦，不得不受，便將此稿賣給商務印書館。

劉鶚送給連夢青的小說稿就是《老殘游記》，稿子連載了八卷。由于第八卷刊出時編輯以“迷信”為由，刪去了前一章，連夢青十分氣憤，即中止售稿，劉鶚也暫停了《老殘游記》的寫作。（月江）

徐悲鴻不送裸畫

畫只能由畫家主動送你，而不能向畫家討要，這是規(guī)矩，也是修養(yǎng)。章伯鈞有不少齊白石的畫，卻沒有一張徐悲鴻的畫。其實，章伯鈞跟徐悲鴻的關系要比齊白石深得多，也早得多。章伯鈞認為悲鴻的油畫，特別是裸體女人畫，是他最好的作品。有一次在李濟深家中，徐悲鴻對章伯鈞說：“伯鈞，我送你一匹馬吧。”章伯鈞說：“我不要你的馬，我要你的女人。”徐悲鴻聽了，搖頭說：“那些畫，是不能送你的?！保ㄉ⑷~）

五花八門“中狀元”

中國的科舉制度自唐至清，共出596名狀元。狀元分文武兩種，這里介紹幾則文狀元的怪聞。

新科狀元的選取往往取決于皇帝的好惡。清代龍如言未第前，在某都統(tǒng)家里坐館。這年，仁宗皇帝（嘉慶）做壽，某都統(tǒng)叫他代做祝詞。龍胸無點墨，寫不出詩詞，只得抄錄康熙乾隆兩人的御詩以進。仁宗閱后，大為贊賞。曰：“南方士子，往往不屑讀先皇詩。今此人熟讀如此，可見其愛君之誠?！北阗n為舉人，叫其參加會試，結果名落孫山，仁宗對主考官大發(fā)脾氣。主考官向近侍太監(jiān)探聽，得知底細。次科會試，主考官選龍如言為狀元。仁宗大喜，曰：“朕所賞，果不謬也?！?/p>

在考場中，還有交白卷而被錄取的。江南名士馬世琪某年參加會試，試題《淵洲其淵》一句。他想獨占鰲頭，不肯輕易落筆，時已放牌，尚未成一字，就在答卷上題了一詩“淵洲其淵實難題，悶煞江南馬世琪。一本白卷交還你，狀元歸去馬如飛?！被实壅J為他有名士之風，平日文章也寫得不錯，就點他為狀元。

康熙丁丑科李蟠參加會試。他文思不捷，書法欠佳。殿試那天，所有考生都已交卷出場，只有他還在搜索枯腸，直至鼓敲四更，他才完成。康熙皇帝得知后，慨然嘆曰：“此也苦心之士也。”便點為狀元。

明代邢寬則是因為名字被成祖皇帝看中而點為狀元的。永樂二十一年秋闈，主考官呈上的錄取名單，狀元是孫日恭。成祖御覽時，眉頭緊鎖，說：“日恭乃暴也，這怎么行呢？”提筆就劃去，繼續(xù)看下去見有一個叫邢寬的人，眉頭頓時舒展開來，說“邢寬，不就是刑寬嗎？與暴正好相反，好！”于是欽點邢寬為狀元。（兆子）

Literary Anecdotes

Cixi’s Automobile Ride

Empress Dowager Cixi is said to have been the first one in China to own an automobile. Her 60th birthday fell on November， 1902. Yuan Shikai， then the governor of Zhili Province， imported a saloon car from Hong Kong for a price of 10，000 silver dollars and presented the gift to the empress for the birthday.

Fascinated by the luxurious gadget， Cixi decided to take a ride around the Summer Palace. Her entourage followed， carrying a sedan chair. But the empress was astounded to find the driver， a eunuch， sit in front with the back toward her. The angry dowager ordered the eunuch to kneel down and drive， but the eunuch had never learned to drive that way. As he was not able to maneuver the steering wheel as well as the accelerator and the brake with his hands， the ride became so bumpy that China might have witnessed its first car crash there and then. Frightened， the following entourage begged the empress not to continue the ride. So China’s first royal car adventure came to an end. Cixi lost her interest in the automobile and it was left unused at the Summer Palace. Yuan Shikai regretted the costly gift which failed to please the empress on her birthday.

Mei Lanfang’s Grandfather Burned the IOUs

Mei Qiaoling (1842-1882)， grandfather of Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) who was China’s most famous Peking Opera master， was more than a Peking Opera artist. He was also a virtuoso of calligraphy and painting. Many of his fans were scholar officials who took pride in making friends with him when the actor was in his prime time. One of the fans was a second-class compiler at the Hanlin Academy. From a wealthy family， the compiler used to throw money at Mei Qiaoling， but the prodigal son finally dissipated his fortune. He often borrowed money from Mei. Living in poverty， the compiler’s debt to Mei added up to more than 2，000 gold dollars， a huge fortune at that time.

The compiler died in a temple in 1861. A fellow villager of the late compiler organized a donation among fellow villagers in the capital to raise money for the funeral back in his home village. But as most of them were poor， the amount contributed added up less than 100 gold dollars. Then Mei Qiaoling arrived. The relatives of the deceased were worried， thinking that the artist had come to demand repayment of the huge debts. Mei bowed to the coffin and then fished out the IOUs and burned them. He explained， “The compiler did owe me 2，000 gold dollars. But he has passed away and I don’t have the heart to demand repayment from his family which has the old and the young to take care of.?Then he gave 200 gold dollars to the family， saying， “I hear that the family has not yet raised the fund to send the coffin back to the home village for the funeral. I hope the 200 will help. I hate that I can’t help my bosom friend more， as I do not make big money out of my work.?

Author Wrote to Help a Friend

The Travels of Lao Can， one of the four major accusation novels in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)， was first serialized in 1903 in Shanghai. It was to help a friend out of a financial difficulty that author Liu E (1857-1909) penned the book.

Shen Jin was one of the leaders of the Independence Army of Hunan Province， a secret anti-government organization in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty. One day， Shen talked with the director of a Tianjin-based newspaper about a secret treaty between China and Russia. A report was published about the treaty in the newspaper. Exasperated by the leak， Empress Dowager Cixi ordered to execute Shen Jin by beating. The Board of Punishments issued an order to arrest Shen’s buddies.

Lian Mengqing was on the wanted list. With the help of a foreign embassy in Beijing， Lian fled to Shanghai alone. Lian made a living by selling his novel to a literary periodical published in Shanghai under the Commercial Press. Later Lian Mengqing brought his mother to Shanghai to live with him. The royalty from the novel was not enough to take care of the family expenditure. Liu E wanted to help Lian， but knowing that his close friend， a proud man， would never accept cash as charity， he wrote The Travels of Lao Can and sent the novel as a gift to Lian.Grateful to Liu for the thoughtful gift， Lian accepted the gift and turned the manuscript to the Commercial Press. This is how the novel first got published.

Xu Beihong Declined to Give Away Nude Paintings

It is a rule with artists that an artist can offer to give you a painting but you can never take the initiative to ask an artist for a painting. It is more than a rule; it is a courtesy that reflects one’s manners. Zhang Bojun (1895-1969) had many of Qi Baishi’s paintings， but his collection had none of Xu Beihong’s paintings， though Xu was Zhang’s friend for many years and Zhang knew Xu much better than Qi Baishi. Zhang believed that Xu’s oil paintings， his nudes in particular， were the best compared with his masterpieces in other genres. One day， the two friends met at the home of Li Jishen. Xu， best known for vivid horse images in traditional Chinese painting， offered to give Zhang a painting of a horse. Zhang replied， “I don’t want your horses; I want your women.覺u shook his head and said， “These nudes are not for you.?

The Way They Became Zhuangyuan

The imperial examination system produced 596 Zhuangyuan (principal graduates who won the first place at the triennial Palace Examination) from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). These graduates came in two groups: literary graduates and military ones.

Some scholars became national number one in the literary category not because of their excellent essays in the final examination， but because of their auspicious names， or personalities， or their attitude to the examination itself. The following stories briefly relate how four scholars became Zhuangyuan.

Long Ruyan was a minor assistant to a general in the years of Emperor Jiaqing (1760-1820) of the Qing Dynasty. One day， the general asked Long to prepare a letter of congratulation for the birthday of the emperor. Not a scholar of great knowledge， Long was unable to write anything significant. So he just copied two poems by Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong and submitted them. Emperor Jiaqing was pleased to read the birthday card， commenting that “Scholars in the south never deigned to read poems by the late emperors. But this one has read the poems by my forefathers so well that he must be a very loyal one.?So the emperor granted Long a provincial graduate status， which allowed the lucky scholar to sit for the national examination. Naturally， the poor scholar was flunked. Learning Long’s failure， the emperor scolded the chief examiner furiously without explaining why. The chief examiner was utterly at a loss why the emperor was so miffed. Enquiring discreetly about the matter， the chief examiner learned the truth from the eunuchs close to the emperor. Long was selected as Zhuangyuan in the next examination. Hugely pleased， the emperor pontificated， 襀ow right I am about the scholarship of the man I favored!?Ma Shiqi， a prominent scholar from the south， sat for the national examination one year. Aiming to produce the best essay， the ambitious scholar spent a lot of time in search of an exceptional idea to elaborate on the subject， but failed to find any inspiration in time. As time was running out， he wrote a short poem on the test paper to explain away his failure in a way that was both joking and respectful at the same time and handed in the paper. The emperor read the poem and， on the basis of Ma’s personality and scholarship， decided that Ma Shiqi should be the principal graduate that year.

Li Pan sat for the national examination in 1676， the 36th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi. Li was by no means a scholar of fast thinking and he was by no means a scholar of excellent penmanship. On the day of the palace examination， he worked so hard and so meticulously at his test essay that he did not submit the essay until two o’olock in the next morning. Learning about Li Pan’s performance， the emperor observed that the scholar was a man who would strive for perfection at any cost. So the emperor handpicked Li Pan as the number one graduate of that year.

After the national examination in the 21st year of the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)， the chief examiner submitted a list of all the finalists to the emperor. The number one on the list was a man named 孫日恭. The emperor frowned when seeing the scholar’s given name， for the name read like 暴 when the two characters of the given name were written and read perpendicularly with 日 above 恭. In Chinese， 暴 suggests violence and high-handedness in making administrative decisions. It would have been utterly inauspicious and inappropriate to award the country’s finest scholastic honor to a man with such a name. The emperor examined other names on the list and found a man whose name was 邢寬 (Xing Kuan). Pleased， the emperor commented that 邢寬 could mean meting out punishments sparingly and judiciously on the basis of lenient and kind-hearted consideration and that it was exactly opposite to 暴. So Xing Kuan became the Zhuangyuan that year.

(Translated by David)