吴梅村书写的南明政权及其批判

The Southern Ming Regime As Critically Depicted by Wu Meicun

公元1644年的"甲申之变"导致大明政权的崩溃,然而在南京另立新政权的南明弘光帝却荒淫无道,臣下则陷于内斗,以致政权迅速瓦解,其他南明政权亦相继败亡。偏安无望、恢复无谋,吴梅村虽如众遗民般在余生均陷于亡国的无尽悲哀之中,然却以诗歌书写其亲身经历而不为正史所载的重大事件,对南明政权做出无情的揭露与鞭挞。至于忠臣勇将以及抗清民众,吴梅村则予以热情的歌颂,为后世留下极为珍贵的甲申诗史。

In 1644, the 21st year of the sexagenary cycle of the lunar calendar, known as the Jiashen year, China underwent a cataclysmic upheaval, leading to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. Having established a new regime in Nanjing though, Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming regime led a profligate life and ruled ruthlessly, whose inferiors were also engaged in political infighting. This resulted in the rapid collapse of the Southern Ming regime and many others that followed. Seeing no hope of restoration, Wu Meicun, though trapped in endless sorrow and melancholy of being subjugated for the rest of his life like the other adherents of the defunct Ming Dynasty, turned to record his personal experiences or hearings about major events of the time which were left out by official history. In his writings that proved to be of important data and academic value for later generations, Wu mercilessly castigated the corrupt Southern Ming regime while extolling heroic and moving deeds which had emerged in the anti-Qing movement.